WinnieTheKhwai

Anyway, to add some personal information which should make MJM happy:

My wife bought the house. It's all owned by the bank though, as there's a mortgage on it the size of Mongolia. We have a shared account where the mortgage payments are withdrawn from.

Second house (still very much a work in progress) will be a wooden construction that can just be moved. I'll personally and officially make all the purchases and contract the work, which will show it's my house.

All of the above however works best when in an equal and genuine relationship. Ten years and counting. Two kids and counting.

your wife owns the house which is fine, did you provide the funds for deposits etc , if so under thai law that is illegal.

I wish I had funds to deposit! But no, I did not. I don't think a deposit was even required due to some creative financial arrangements with the bank and the seller. I think the issue is primarily with the land though, not so much with the structure on it.

if similiar circumstances were to apply in your own country, would you take the risk, i doubt it, but they do here, which i really just dont understand.

Well, I'm basically just contributing some 'rent' with the mortgage payments, shared with the Mrs. (and her company, which I believe rents (part of) the house from her. Not exactly sure, she's the legal eagle and financial brains in the family.

It is the way it is.. At least our kids one day will own it.

Question on active fans: would those be placed in the ceiling to push air out to the roof space, or near the gable vents to blow air out?

Yet another one who hasn't read the discussion. Oh well.

But, good clear air quality today. Can see the mountains.. Can even see the Sankamphaeng/Mae On mountains, which may have been hauled off to China the past three months for all I know.

Live in Mae Jo, work in town 2 weeks on/2 weeks off. When I am off, I try to avoid going into town and stick with the Rimping/Carrefour/Big C type places. Do go to Number 1 Bar on a thursday night as my dog likes the attention he gets there!

Stop doing that!!!!! I want all the attention for myself!!

Anyway, to add some personal information which should make MJM happy:

My wife bought the house. It's all owned by the bank though, as there's a mortgage on it the size of Mongolia. We have a shared account where the mortgage payments are withdrawn from.

Second house (still very much a work in progress) will be a wooden construction that can just be moved. I'll personally and officially make all the purchases and contract the work, which will show it's my house.

All of the above however works best when in an equal and genuine relationship. Ten years and counting. Two kids and counting.

my advice, dont do it!

for all the reasons YOU need to find out about, some of which are on here.

putting it in your thai wifes name is illegal full stop, yes there are folk that do it, but its totally illegal.

Why would it be illegal for a Thai person to own a house??

You're just talking gibberish. I'm very ready to accept that fake-company constructiosn are illegal, but honestly a Thai person can own a house.

the 30yr lease scheme as far as i know , hasn't gone beyond the 30yrs, because no one i know has being here long enough, hence no one knows if the next 30yr leases are for real.

Indeed they're not. Any extension is an option at best. Still, 30 years is more than enough for most Farangs I see around town. Unless they want to take it into the grave with them. At that time ownership will likely transfer to any kids, etc, which is exactly the same as when they would own it outright.

this is a country of political turmoil, which in the next year or so [ie the kings health] is going to get worse, ask yourself this question can i afford to lose the money i'm going to shell out for this project, if the answer is no, thats the ultimate reason not to buy, if it's yes ignore this e mail.

True. No guarantees about anything when it comes to Thailand. (Hmm. you're post does get more and more sensible as it progresses.. Kind of an interesting common-sense curve that you don't see so often. )

How about writing up the history when it's history?

(Also, I think the larger struggle will continue for a long time to come. )

How many airports do you know in Western Europe that are outside of urban centers?

(Regardless I would agree of course, allow all cargo flights and all regular daytime flights, and flights that pass through Europe during daylight hours)

Haven't seen it but I'd like to.

Maybe we can start our own. There is a restaurant in the basement of Union Mall across from Central Ladprao. They are red shirts supporters, but you don't realize this until after you have sat down and ordered. There was just one red cup inconspicuously placed at the cash register showing the restaurant owner supports the red shirts. You can't really see it until you sit down. We had already placed our order by the time we looked around and saw it.

My wife was so incensed she wanted to simply get up and walk out, but since they were already making the food it might have caused a problem. She settled for not leaving a tip. She took great pride in taking every single baht out of the book and handed it back to the waitress empty. There is a place we will never be returning to. Business owners should be smarter than that.

Can't remember the name, but it is in the basement on the south side. Be very careful if you eat in any of those restaraunts. Check first. You might be indirectly supporting Thaksin.

&

Happy family!

(While I have a lot of sympathy for the Red cause, this of course does not stop me from being a customer at PAD/Dem/Yellow establishments. That'd just be petty and silly. I think it's GREAT that finally the people in Thailand become politically active along ideological lines. That's an awesome development and I have a lot of respect for all that do, on EITHER side!! As a guest in this country I deeply respect the political views of my hosts, whatever they may be.

I would like to see it too, so I can support them.

When I see some Red paraphernalia at places I visit I usually give them a smile and thumbs-up.

And it's especially funny talking with staff at places that expats frequent; a lot of the old crusty whining-brigade seem to be anti-Red, so some staff expect all foreigners to be that way. Then they're VERY happy when they find out this isn't the case..

You probably didn't notice, but it's less and less about Thaksin.

This misunderstanding may very well turn out to be the establishment's downfall.

Excellent post, Danc!!

Wow excellent, they found an international publication that touts the Thai establishment's line!!! This in the face of article after article in all Western countries painting a much more balanced picture.

Good job.

And... I guess the same could be said of the News Clippings forum.. Hasn't exactly been overflowing with articles from the BBC, NY Times, ABC, etc, etc, etc. I wonder why.

If you spend more than 30K on women then you're doing it wrong. (Okay, 31K in months with 31 days.)

Viewed from the west bank of the Ping? That seems odd. Lovely poem, though.

Why is that odd? The North or South bank, that would be odd.

(Assume it's a condo on Charoen Prathet Rd.)

Make it 3 and we have a deal.

Excellent news; keeps the pressure on things. Hopefully we see some REAL CHANGE soon!

Yet another sad piece of garbage.

Thanks for posting it though, it's good to see the depths this 'newspaper' has fallen to.

As for the constitution referendum, if my wife is anything to go by. The booklet went unread, her excuse was I'm too busy. That's too busy watching tv and playing cards.

We found a very good use for it in the washroom.

There's HONEY in Phad Thai?! Palm sugar, okay, but honey?? Phad Thai is supposed to be made BY honeys or enjoyed WITH them, it's not supposed to actually go in there.

Map was of North America.

Right..... o--kay... Baby steps: it's Google Maps.. You're supposed to enter something like 'Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand' before clicking "Search Maps". (Once for the town, once for the province)

It's just lke with Google Search or Google Images, you don't actually get porn until you enter 'porn'.

it's pathetic to see a PM cling onto power when he has NO MANDATE -

NO MANDATE?

How many times have we been through this? And yet you still come back with exactly the same lies and mistruths.

Ehm.. Not Same.. Being legitimate is not the same as having your own mandate.. IMHO Abhsit's government is the former, but quite obviously doesn't have the latter. When you depend on bribing people from the opposition into your own coalition then quite clearly you donm't have a legitimate mandate directly from teh electorate. I thought we've been through that too..

the PPP was banned under the provision of article 237 of the 2007 constitution , that constitution was established by other cheaters , who came to power through a coup . So its cheaters with guns versus cheaters without .

And you know full well that switching governement from one party to its oposition WITHOUT consulting the people is totally undemocratic .

Please google: 2007 Constitution Referendum Thailand! 60% of the people showed up and the majority voted YES!

You seem to forget that campaning for a "NO" , under that military governement was not possible . Which explain the relatively low attendance . So do you think democratic ?

Yup... Some people seem to have very short memories.

And, apparently some forgot how this was forced down, when the junta leader actually said 'you can either vote for this consitution, or you will get one I hold behind my back'.

Super Thai Democracy in Action !

However to say he is "innocent" is patently false, if the govt tells you to move out of a area you are illegally rioting in,

Shame on YOU!