pitrevie

"Do you know where I can get any shit?"

Lenny Bruce - American comedian.

"Never felt better"

Douglas Fairbanks Snr - American movie star.

"Bugger Bognor!"

George V - King of England.

"Born in a hotel room, and God da.mn it, died in a hotel room"

Eugene O'Neill - Nobel and Pulitzer prize winning dramatist.

"Sargeant, the Spanish bullet isn't made that will kill me".

William "Buckey" O'Neill - American adventurer, just before he got hit in the mouth by a Spanish bullet in the Spanish - American war.

"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist.....

General John Sedgwick - American civil war general.

"Don't let it end this way. Tell them I said something"

Pancho Villa - Mexican revolutionary to news reporters.

"Either this wall-paper goes, or, I do!"

Oscar Wilde - Irish playwright, author and humourist.

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I told them I was ill! On Spike Milligan's (Irish comedian) gravestone

I have just reached my 60th birthday and I would like to find some gym where I could do a daily workout nothing strenuous just enough to keep myself in reasonable condition. I will probably need some sort of advice regarding my training program but I don't envisage anything more complex than using a running machine. I live near Phaya Thai BTS which is near Siam City Hotel. Any suggestions please.

I'm not sure if this topic belongs here so please rediect me if needed.

I'm helping a friend (he's too busy with other business) sell his condo (looking for buyers) without going through any agents. The problem is that this is all new to me and need some advise. Maybe Steve or Greg can help out here...

My question is after I find a buyer, what would be the recommended procedure to seal the deal. A contract would be needed between the two parties upon confirmation of a sale. Is there a company that could supply me the required contracts for when this happens and also come in to finalize everything after initial work (finding/ showing potential buyers the condo) is done.

Thanks All.

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I'm afraid your answers bring water to my mill, particularly ProThaiExpat's. It is so typical, almost a caricature. And this is not the first piece of that kind of "literature" I have read for the past 40 years or so. Actually I have the impression I am always coming across them in the media or in fora like this one. Excuse me for being French.

Are you not also guilty of the same generalisations?

Sorry, but my experience has taught me that, basically, Anglo-Saxons are liars and dissemblers. Oh, I forgot, arrogant, too, the British in particular.

Please try to be more exact given there are approximately 60 million of these potential "Anglo-Saxons liars and dissemblers". That way we can see how representative a sample your informed opinion is based on.

Sorry, but my experience has taught me that, basically, Anglo-Saxons are liars and dissemblers. Oh, I forgot, arrogant, too, the British in particular.

Do please tell us how many Ango Saxons your experience is based upon.

Thanks for the replies, he is living very close to Pantip but to date has not found anyone there who can help. However he has read your posts and will give it another try. I move to the LOS in several months so I will be able to help him myself then rather than trying to advise him over the internet.

I have a friend in central Bangkok who has a laptop with which he uses to connect to the internet. His problem is that from time to time he gets in a knot with some of the software he uses and needs a friendly shop that he can take it to to sort it out for him.

I am in the UK until next year so my assistance is limited but is there any place you can recommend to help him out?

The price I cannot even remember now as it was so long ago but the shop I was in had an extensive range of them all shapes and sizes. I selected the one I wanted which was a display model and it was delivered a week later from their warehouse. I am moving condo soon and I will be going back to order another for my new condo rather than take the old one there.

HSBC charge 10 UK pounds for any transfer to the HSBC bank in Bangkok, this applies to any amount you transfer. First Direct in UK (part of HSBC) offered to assist me with opening the account in Bangkok and provided all the paperwork. As I have mentioned they required 800K baht on deposit otherwise you get a monthly charge. However this might prove useful if you need to keep money on deposit for your visa. However check out their Bangkok site and drop them an email on anything you are not sure about. I found them very helpful.

http://www.hsbc.co.th/th/personal/default.htm

When I was looking into this they quoted me the normal rates for transferring money from a UK based Citibank account to their Bank in Bangkok. I found the cheapest method was to open a HSBC account in Bangkok and transfer the money from HSBC in London at a cost of 10 UK pounds. The only snag is that they require a large balance to be kept in the Bangkok account otherwise you get monthly charges. This refers to transferring amounts of any size and not using an ATM card to withdraw from a UK account. For that it has been mentioned many times Nationwide are the best by far. However this applies to transfers from UK. I would be interested if anyone else has any updated information regarding Citibank

I got mine from one of the shops in MBK on the furniture floor. They delivered it to my 2nd floor condo (no lifts). I doubt any of them expect you to take it away yourself in a truck but will deliver it for you.

Mine cost 5000 baht but was a very simple affair anyway. The firm I used are a very reputable firm. However my understanding coming from the UK is that you also have to make a Will for the UK as a Thai Will even though it is written in English does not apply there.

[For example a busdriver once asked my partner to ask me to explain to other passengers on the overnight journey not to put their feet on the headrests ]

Is this for real, does anyone in any country need to have this explained to them, sadly yes I see it all the time in England and on International flights.

Thanks for that link, I found it very interesting. My era is more the romantic one Beethoven Mozart etc and opera but lately I have heard some Handel so rapidly learning what I have missed. You appear to have a very extensive collection of GFH.

I am in London but moving to Thailand soon. Most of my CDs are in Thailand and I will probably run up against the same problem when trying to obtain classical CDs.

This doesn't answer your question but if you like Handel have you heard David Daniels (countertenor) Handel Oratoria Arias? I got it through Amazon in the UK and it is superb.

I dont think what you are proposing is practical. The seller has to pay I think it is a 3% tax on the property. If you were allowed to gift the property then I can see everyone trying to claim that it was a gift.

There is nothing stopping you putting the condo in your own name but to do this you must show that you have transferred the money to Thailand. When you withdraw the above-mentioned money for the purchase you should ask the bank officer to issue the Form Tor Tor 3 (8013). However my advice is to use a good lawyer. If you want a recommendation I can ceratinly give you the one I have used several times.

A book I am currently reading and which is one of the best I have read for some time is Irshad Manji’s ‘The Trouble with Islam’. Her website gives you a good idea of what it contains.

http://www.muslim-refusenik.com/

I think this is very similar to the thread regarding the second hand market in housing. Mostly Thai's prefer buying new, just my experience from buying and selling a condo.

George Bernard Shaw, the famous playright, was seated next to a society lady at an upmarket dinner; when he asked the lady if she would sleep with a man for £1000, she replied, flirtily, that it would depend how handsome the man was. He then asked if she would sleep with a man for five shillings (25p nowadays, plus inflation!) - she went puce and asked Shaw exactly what sort of woman he took her for. "We've already established that " he replied, "it's just the price we're haggling over now!"

My recommendation would also be HSBC, I am with First Direct and have had no problems. If you do it through a HSBC branch just make sure you tick the box, "to be transferred in sterling". Also if you are buying a condo this can be done in your own name but use a good lawyer. If its an house then its a little more complicated as farangs cannot own land so even more reason to use a good lawyer.

Hi,

I live in the UK and I am now close to retirement (59yo). Later this year I intend to move permanently to Thailand. I think through reading this forum I now understand the financial requirements. My question is: When I move what are the entry requirements to enable me to then apply for the 1 year retirement visa? Can I enter on a 30 day visa granted at Don Muang or should I apply to the Thai Embassy in London?

If you want the cheapest way, open an account with Nationwide. Just pay in what you need to transfer plus a bit extra as the exchange rate varies. Send the ATM card to your girlfriend and she can then use this in Thailand to withdraw from any machine. This incurs no charges and her limit is governed by the balance you keep in the account. If you dont want to use this method the cheapest method of transfer I have found is direct through the Bangkok Bank in London. You just send them a cheque for the amount you want to transfer plus 15 pounds for the charge.

This has been my experience and I get the impression the only buyers for used units are us farangs. I am moving to a new condo soon and will be selling my old condo which is completely modernised but there is no interest in it from Thais. I prefer buying used as it generally comes with all the fittings and furniture. When I vacate mine it will be fully equipped for someone to move in without having to buy a single piece of furniture.