dereklev

Congrats Jai Dee......

Hope you and your wife have a wonderful day! !

Derek

.

I played "chicken" and won. Must have been the first time ever. Lucky I encountered a farang with less courage than I.

I don't plan on getting behind the wheel again until Wednesday or Thursday at the earliest.

Glad you finally won at chicken Mike......

I drive expecting all Thai drivers to do something irresponsible whilst in front, behind or alongside of me! !

That way I am never overly suprised by the crazy way they drive.

My hubby wont fly with thai anymore either, they treat Thais crap.

Jst out of curiosity, the people why fly with EVA from LHR to BKK, do you book direct on the web or via lastminute.com or other agents? What is cheaper?

I book through WestEast Travel in London.

http://www.westeasttravel.com/user/default.asp

Always found them reliable and as cheap as any of the internet sellers.

I'm so lucky...

I liked the post from steveromagnino... seems sensible advice..

Best of luck ..

totster 

Me too, me too...lucky and advice.

Chok Dee Kap..

Derek

I read damage done and after give to some friend.

A very good read and it will prevent you to even think of smuggling drugs.

Alex

Why the <deleted> do you need to read a book to prevent you from smuggling drugs? ?

No brain, AlexLah?????

I dont no how you guys can live in a estate how boring and a 3 ft wall what is that going to keep in or out (nothing)

Give me the smell of pig shit while I have a beer and watch the cattle come home any day

In the middle east ?

No that would be camel shit Doc! !

Must be Isaan......

Surely you can find something better to do when you are horny other than post on Thai Visa!

If you need any suggestions let me know 

Thanks Soph... you had me in stitches!!! Not quite cured, but not so pissed off! Why are men so cruel?????

Men are cruel because they are men! Sounds like we are both down on men today!

Maybe Khall and Soph should not post on TV when they are pissed off with men, seeing as this is really man territory, and we are in the minority

Now that is CRUEL Soph........

Not all men are like that.....

Sorry to hear that Lampshade.

I however was a tad luckier than you...

I had my passport lifted from my wallet in Chinatown BKK. I don't usually carry my passport but for various reasons had it that day...

I must have felt something 'cos I touched my pocket and it was gone! !

As I was telling my wife it had gone a lady behind us told her that she had seen a kid in a green shirt take something from my pocket.

Ran down the alley looking for the kid but no luck.....

Another lady starts talking to my wife and points to some boxes at the front of a small shop. My wife starts rifling through the boxes and lo and behold pulls out my passport! !

I guess the kid thought he had lifted my wallet and dumped the passport when he realised what it was.

I could not believe my luck!

Oh happy days........

This is my current ride. Also got a Honda Jazz for the Missus.

Same same but different! !

I have the 3.0 D4D Diesel, also black and I love it......

I know that if i was to ask the forum a question like would i be able to buy a small house and buy into a small bar and live, with this kind of money. Then answer would be collosal with so many things and pitfalls to think about. But in general would a dream like this be possible or would i need a lot more financial clout and still need income from abroad.

... it appears to me that the major tendency of the advices given here, suggests that you wait a few more years before settling for an early retirement in Thailand... This, I believe, is probably owed to the fact that your question sort of indicates a wish of an early retirement.

However, where's the entrepreneur spirit? ... This guy is 43 years old and can raise a capital of about 7 million baht....

I'd call that a pretty good starting point !!!

Thailand might be the land of many a foreigner's broken dream, but it also is the land of many a foreigner's dream come true... A lot of things depend on spirit, however ...

Read what the OP says again! !

SMALL house, SMALL bar......nothing entrepreneurial in those words....

The Dude has read all of the advice given here thus far and would discard a good deal of it. Far and away the sanest, realistic and most solid advice is that of Dereklev. The Dude digs his advice so much that he feels he needs not post his own. I hand out a shovel to the OP to dig this advice also and take heed. On this advice: Learn it, know it, live it. Cheers    

Your right it's good sound, sane,safe advice. It's the sort of advice that I would of given myself when I was thinking about coming out here (it's also the advice everyone else gave me), the sort of advice your bank manager would give you for better or worse I did'nt listen though and came anyway and many other people do.

Nothing in life is certian, there are people that have came here with less and made a good life for themselfs, although there are many, many more who have came and lost it all. Some people will take a risk, others want cast iron garenties

Fortunatly I dont have to rely on the UK gov pension, but I still cant touch mine for an other 15 years.

RC

Thanks The Dude, I 100% do not think that someone aged 43 can sell their home in the UK be left with 100,000 pounds and expect to live a good life out here on the proceeds.

Random sure my advice is not to everyones liking but by the time th OP had blown his money he would be homeless and with very little chance of employment back home in the UK! !

By the way Random did I come across to you as a Bank Manager when we met at Richard's (Cheeky Farang) party.......

If it's not, and assuming even a modest interest accruing to bump it to 50K/month, a very enjoyable and quite pleasant lifestyle could be his for a lengthy amount of time without the pitfalls of throwing the money away on a bar.

I have to say I have great admiration for all of you who can live an enjoyable and pleasant lifestyle on 50K a month.

I can live well on that amount if I exclude my car repayments, insurance (home, car, health), travel in Thailand, nights out with the boys in Korat, buying spontaneous gifts for my wife and son...etc, etc

But then I guess I would not be having an enjoyable and pleasant life.....

He is only 43 what happens to the poor s*d when he is potless at 58! !

ahhh...the "what to do then" angle IS the only real hangup... as I suppose there's no real answer for that.

As for the other aspects, on 50K one can certainly still travel and have nights out and buy gifts for loved ones...I guess it just depends on whether it's a 5 carat diamond or a dozen roses for the gift selection.

Never mind the "what to do then" angle, he would have died from worrying about his ever diminishing capital long before then.......

I don't buy 5K diamonds but I do often buy flowers....

as do I....

In actuality, I'm more in the camp that recommends renting the house out and living off the proceedings, provided the monthly rent obtained is enough.

btw, at what age can Brits obtain a monthly retirement stipend from the government? I do understand from a few older Brits I know here that it's at a reduced rate compared to what they can draw in the UK and I found that to be rather unsettling.

The problem with renting out is I fear he still has a mortgage to pay and that would take the majority of his rental money. I base this assumption on the fact he says he will have 100, 000 after selling his house.

At present it is 65 to get a pension from the government in UK. I have never heard it is at a reduced rate, but nothing would suprise me with New Labour! !

Sorry Andy but the best advice I can give you is get another job, save like mad, and come here in another 10 years.

If it's not, and assuming even a modest interest accruing to bump it to 50K/month, a very enjoyable and quite pleasant lifestyle could be his for a lengthy amount of time without the pitfalls of throwing the money away on a bar.

I have to say I have great admiration for all of you who can live an enjoyable and pleasant lifestyle on 50K a month.

I can live well on that amount if I exclude my car repayments, insurance (home, car, health), travel in Thailand, nights out with the boys in Korat, buying spontaneous gifts for my wife and son...etc, etc

But then I guess I would not be having an enjoyable and pleasant life.....

He is only 43 what happens to the poor s*d when he is potless at 58! !

ahhh...the "what to do then" angle IS the only real hangup... as I suppose there's no real answer for that.

As for the other aspects, on 50K one can certainly still travel and have nights out and buy gifts for loved ones...I guess it just depends on whether it's a 5 carat diamond or a dozen roses for the gift selection.

Never mind the "what to do then" angle, he would have died from worrying about his ever diminishing capital long before then.......

I don't buy 5K diamonds but I do often buy flowers....

If it's not, and assuming even a modest interest accruing to bump it to 50K/month, a very enjoyable and quite pleasant lifestyle could be his for a lengthy amount of time without the pitfalls of throwing the money away on a bar.

I have to say I have great admiration for all of you who can live an enjoyable and pleasant lifestyle on 50K a month.

I can live well on that amount if I exclude my car repayments, insurance (home, car, health), travel in Thailand, nights out with the boys in Korat, buying spontaneous gifts for my wife and son...etc, etc

But then I guess I would not be having an enjoyable and pleasant life.....

He is only 43 what happens to the poor s*d when he is potless at 58! !

Best thing is to let your GF guide you as to what you should do. But as BKK90210 said be careful about requests for large sums of money.  Normally a small donation is normal and given to the family in an envelope. Since you are not there your GF will/can handle that.

Thanks guys,

Its a bit late for flowers - I think he'll be gone before they would get there

Re: money - thanks for the advice -if she can handle it no problem, I look after her well.

I was more worried about the face issue

- should I be seen to be there to support her

at the funeral or as

a farang does that not matter so much?

tung tsz

If you are overseas then not much you can do about that.

If you were married then of course your non-presence would be frowned upon, as it would in any culture.

A bit of a sad/happy mix....

Just got back from my wife's uncles funeral in Loei....

But on the happy side it's my son's first birthday......

Go for it while it so high. 

Not sure what my wife would say to that Doc.......

Very tempting though as most of her substantial stash was bought at between

6-7K Baht....

she might slap me after she come back from Shaghai

Am I the only one who giggled at that mispelling?

No I had a good laugh at that too...

And yes Bambi has a sister who is every bit as lovely as she.....

UBC Korat - 044267991

Also Tai Fa Motors Korat are UBC agenys - 044269399

Legend - Bob Marley - Buffalo Soldier.

95 to the pound would be nice.

round up to a 100bht per quid - hate uneven numbers

Don't want to be greedy

Either would be great for those of us with income from outside Thailand! !

Wouldn't want to be earning a Thai salary, however high, with the inflation those exchange rates would bring........

You state: Collectively, we could wield political, economic, social and historical power equal (or greater) than the Chinese if we put our minds to it. Maybe not right away, but our children could certainly inherit our positive status and rise to the heights of influence in this country.

China will be the next world superpower. Thailand will never overtake it, no matter how disciplined or motivated her population is. Sorry, but I think your philosophy on this subject is the impossible dream.

I think he meant the power of the Chinese influence in Thailand and how we as farangs might be able to weild more power in the futre in Thailand. An impossible dream though I agree.

Saying that, maybe Thaksin could step aside and the next PM could be from Dagenham.

Can't see that that happening.....

But maybe, just maybe, the Luk Kreung of Dagenham man will become PM! !

Mayeb the imm lady was offering for him to spend the night with her, instead of paying the overstay fine...

and maybe not.

It amazes me that anyone is stupid enough to overstay here....

Maybe he was a Brit and thinks that Thailand treats overstays like we do in the UK, just let them disappear and get on with their lives! !

Love the new Avatar Doc.....

   

Sorry to Butt-in,  

but, what happened to Bus Stop on Soi 4, 

not there any more  ?

or has it been moved elsewhere.

Cookie did some great food there. 

They are rebuilding but still have a small bar and restaurant at the back.

Or at least they did 6 weeks ago when I was last in BKK.

Agree with you about the food.

Count me in for the trial G.

Me too George.

Another string to the TV bow.......