phuketrichard

After 24 years here in Thailand and the last 7 on a retirement extension I hav emoved to Cambodia.

I love it there, people are more relaxed , pace of life is slower. cost about the same

Got a 1 =year business visa multiple entry for $240 no papper work in 2 days. dont need work permiot to work, no tax's, all monies made can be exported. etc etc.

i Shopping mall in Phnom Penh and prices on par with Thailand

after 5 consectiutive years of a 1 year visa can get Cambodia citizenship, passport and buy land in MY name

Its a boom town and only one way to go is up.

Thailand will lse out when the next coup hits ( i expect it by end of year) once Takhsin goes back to the uk with his wifre and billions he stole

in Phuket the money MUST bre there 90 days or u will not get an extension.

no ifs ands or buts.

I just made mine for the 7th time and since they started the 90 day rule ( 3 yeasrs ago) it has been applied here

Just went up to Cambodia and rented an apt and applied for a 1 years visa multiple entry $240 took all of 2 days o issue.

no paper work at all

After 5 years of this visa i can apply for Cambodian citizenship, get a Cambodian passport (dont need to give up my us one ) asnd then buy land in Cambodia in MY name :-)

Bill from Paradise hangs out up in Bangkok all the time around Washington square

Bruce has his home down in Krabi and up country as well

Brian NEVER built a house. in Phuket, he only ever rented Yea he loved to sell 250% of the bars he owned. Really took John for a ride with Exactasy :-)

The only time he ever lost was when he got the land where the K Hotel is and his partenr took all control from him

Jeroen and Martin are stil around but do mostly all live aboards

Lots of others that started Patong still there but keep very low key now.

Its just not the same.

Ah the days! nice post m8

Brian was actually a Canadian, he bought and sold bars weekly, made millions, lost it / drank it all and left because he had to. Every year the new foreigners came to town and rebought the bars, went broke and he bought them back and then resold them at huge profits.. It was a production line.

BULLSHITTTTTTTT; Brian was from Hawaii and i knew him in Pattaya in 85, he went to Phuket in 86 and had to leave cause he sold the place in kata he didn't fully own

He stared off with a few small bars in what is now soi Katoey then ended up leasing the land at the end of soi bangla where Rockhard it. then leased the land across the street where the VIP bar is, Back then it wa sa row of bars down to the expat hotel There was alos the Titanic disco back on the rice fields behind the Expat, Greta disco and opened form 2 am to6 am

What gets me the most is i lived on sai nam yen and in the rainy seaosn for fun we would watch the tuk tuks get stuck in the mud now its a city back there. Someone offered me 6 rai there for 1,000,000 baht and i laughed at him!!!

Phuket was rougher around the edges back then, but friendlier and you didnt fear for your life on the way home on your bike. The police were great, they would help you back onto your bike after you fell of drunk and give you a push (im not condoning drinking and drving ). Those were the best days of my life..

Even only 10 years ago, you didnt see a car for 20 minutes as no one could afford one.

BULLSHIT again

The days of no Lotus, No Big C, no double lane roads and quiet beaches, great times!

I spent 12 years in Phuket and left due to the way of life, that it offers now. But hey, the world gets bigger and its not now the ideal quiet holiday town. It is now big business in all forms.

I spent 24 years there and have relocated to Cambodia and only look back at the good times and oppoturnites missed cause we all thought it would never happen.

I live in Bangkok now and I love it. I would never return to Phuket to live as its now out of control and very violent.

I think that will pass in the long term, its just the transition period of catching up on infrastructure, which ncludes more dilligent police etc.

apply for ur first retirement visa in the states and show them the 800,000 or equivilent in ur us bank

Then next year when u apply for ur EXTENSION. go the route that u recieve more than 65,000 baht /month with a letter form the Embassy

i am in the same position. I hold a 1 year retirement visa in Thailand BUT now have chosen to move here to Cambodia.

no problem where u work or how much u make

NO tax

a 1 year visa is $265 mulitple entry, no money in bank

easy life and costs are a little lower than thailand.

Only trouble i have seen so far is the food is not as good :-)

35,000/month for 2 and a million in the bank. NO way.

what if something happens or u wnat a trip back to the states once a year ( that alone is 100,000 baht+)

figure fo

The officer who accepted my money etc. has called me back and asked me to write my mobile/cell phone number on the front of my form.

This happened to me the last time I did a 3 month extention at Suan Plu back in February (different desk from the TV extentions). Like you I was called back to the desk and asked to provide my mobile number on the form, despite there being no requirement for it on the form or no obvious place to write it. They specifically asked for a mobile number. It only occured to me later - and someone please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this, maybe it's an urban myth - that owning a mobile with a Thai number is technically against the law unless you have a WP. So logically, you're actually being asked (by a police officer) to commit a criminal offence (perhaps they're after a foreign mobile number, but made no comment on the fact I provided a Thai number). No reason for the request was given and I really didn't feel much up to asking questions. I'm on a Non-Immi, so it didn't seem all that weird, seeing as it's obvious I'm here for an extended period. Does seem strange for a TV, but I'm sure it's nothing sinister...

I have always been asked for my mobile number when renewing my 1 year extension.

who cares!!! it's in my ex wifes name with an adrress that we havn't lived at for years.

Why are u making a big deal out of it??

When ever i call ais they ask who i am and i tell them so even though the sim is registered in her name they dont care.

AND yes u do need a work permit to get a sim card if ur paying monthly Post Paid (not just topping up) Where as a land line can be owned buy a farang with no WP

AS to Cambodia.

I am here now and everyone told me that only Khmers can buy a sim card. So i went in a local mobile office and asked if i could buy one. sure, no problem :-)

its not big deal , i have lost mine mroe than once.

Just go to immigration and tell them it got taken out, they will look in the computer and reissue u a new card.

DONT NEED GO TO POLICE

at leats thats here in Phuket

I am trying to give a couple of friends specific directions to get to the Airport Meter Taxi Queue so they can avoid all of the "limo" and other touts. I thought that the Meter Taxi queue is on the bottom floor. Keep going down till you can't go down any more and then go out. Is that right?

On the Airport websites it says that the Meter taxi Queue is on Level 2, arrivals. I am dead certain I always have to go down from the arrivals level.

Can you look at these directions and see if they are specific and accurate. Is the Queue outside on the bottom level or level 2 (like the website says).

"Keep going downstairs until you reach the bottom floor, then go

outside. Ignore anyone offering you a ride inside the terminal. When

you go outside, you will see the Taxi queue. At the Taxi queue, they

will use the meter."

OK?

Thanks, Drew

It is on the same level as arrivals..... about the 3rd or 4th exit door. Just ignore the touts until you get to the taxi desk.

As for going down if I am not mistaken when it first opened that was the plan, go down catch a bus to the taxi/bus station. But every time I have used a taxi it has been direct from the arrivals level, the last time was about 4 days ago.

Just flew back last week, same level same 50 baht surcharge

BUT it costs me over 275 baht to soi 8 vs 165 form Don Meung!!!!!

I think the cute girls in the arrival hall do a great job at getting the tourists to use their Limo taxis!!!

I just flew Qatar washington DC to Bangkok the 4th of this month.

The flight was full but the sector dc to Qatar was ok as it was a large plane, the second sector sucked>>

good food and plenty of moviees on the flight and at $645 one way a great deal!!

I have been told the business visa is NOT available at the land crossing.

ONLY at the airport

$25 is correct $275 thru an agent in Cambodia for 1 year and a 6 month and 12 mnonth is multi entry while anything less is not.

Gop tot he Cambodian embassy in Bangkok if ur not flying in, why pay at khao san?? A 1 month busienss visa can be extended in Cambodia

500 baht a day fine and/or death by hanging

Thats for overstay

for not reportingi ts 2,000 max.

I was late once in Phuket and just told them i forgot, they let it slide :-)

Maybe nearly there.

1. The building permit needs to be in my name

2. Proof that I purchased the materials (Documents From the bank + building material receipts) - Not 100% Sure about this.

3. Chanote needs to have my name on the back (Can possibly have multiple names)

The above will prove that I legally own the house!

This will allow me to get a Yellow Tabian bahn that gives me proof of where I live in Thailand.

Do I just sign something that will then give my partner (thai) and our daughter rights to have a blue tabian bahn book?

Many Thanks

Make it simply. This is how i did it in Phuket and i just sold the house and land, (after living there for over 6 years) with no problems

1. When u build the house your name is on the building permit and you sign all papers with your contractor. Usually payments

are made as such;

25% on signing contract to build the house

25% more after the basic structure is complete

25% more after the structure is closed in and interior work begins

15% when u do a final walk thru

10% after 6 months to cover in case they need to fix something.

All payments should come from YOU.

This shows U built and own the house.

2. THE owner of the LAND can apply for the BLUE tambien baan at any time, then after the house is 75% complete she can apply for electric

and a house number

3. First who owns the land? If it is your wife her name and your daughter will go on the taanbien baan. They don't need permission from you.

4. arrange a min 30 year lease between your wife and you, ( 30+30+30 years leases mean nothing as the orginal signer of the first 30 year lease needs to be alive to verify the second 30 year lease so this really is only good if a company owns the land, all legal papers have to have a copy of the signers id card and dated LESS than 3 months ago unless company owns the land) If she comes back with, "what don't u trust me?" tell her its for your daughters and your protection in case something happens to her.

You then go to the land office and have the lease registered and the lease with your name will be on back on the nor sor sam or Chanote paper

5. You can then have your name listed on the back page of the BLUE taambien baan showing u reside there. You do not need the yellow book if u do this.

6. In Phuket i never paid any yearly tax nor did I owe any when i sold the house and land

As i said this i what i did here in Phuket and had zero trouble or problems. When i sold the house and land we had to cancel the lease and then once that was done she could sell the house and transfer the land paper after paying tax of 4.5%. This was all done at the same time and took less than 1 hour

It seems so many people here make it more troble than it actually is. :-)

i am an american and went thru a lawyer to get a divorce. We were married in American. the Lawyer charged ONLY 50,000 baht. Went to family court here in Phuket and told my story . My ex did not show up so the court granted the divorce and FULL custody of my daughter.

Note to get your child a thai passport BOTH parents must be there untill she is 18 years old or you have the court order.

A US passport can be issued once the child is 14 with no parent needed.

If she does choose to fight the court and has money to pay for a lawyer it will be very difficult to get full custody as in most countries the mothers rights are higher than the fathers. UNLESS you can prove she is a unfit mother.

My suggestion is sit down and talk to her with a lawyer present and have the lawyer arrange Money. thats usaully all it comes down to and also explain that it is in the childs best interest to be educated in the UK. For her uk passport i assume you will need the mothers sig as well and if she doesn't give it you most likley will not have one issued until she is of age to get it herself.

finair is not the best deal.

I just flew them Bangkok to Pairs via Helsinki,

Small plane, bad service, lousy food.

NEVER again!!!

Dynasty grand on soi 4 2,600/night its fast but nothing like america

I am currently in the states and my sisters has fiber optics and get high speed access 3092 down and 1015 up!!!

Never seen speeds like this I love it

hello;

soinowinbkk .....unless you are holding a BOARDING PASS (and those are only issued on the day of departure). And I beleive the service there is limited to re-entry permits only - not extension of stays

IS this 100% correct?

I am retruning to thailand on june 6th and then will be heading out on june 8th to Cambodia. I hold a 1 year extension.

SO i can get my re-entry permit ONLY after i get my bording pass???

Where is the office located? do i merley check in , get my bording pass then go to immigration? I would really hate to lose my extension as have had it for the past 6 years.

Thanks

I always carry a zoom on my camera 18-70

it covers all the range i need

I always carry two cameras and some of the best shots i have gotten are when i give one body with a long zoom to some girls and then back off and shoot witht eh other one

stay at home, 20 Sonkrans are enough and why anyone would want to add to the parking jam in Patong is beyond me

No Idea where these figures came from but here are the real ones and i have been living in Phuket 20 years

Woohoo has given a very good summary.

Here are some actual numbers to consider when drawing up a budget. The following would be for a bare-bones lifestyle in Patong, but it should give you an idea of what you can expect to spend at a minimum. As Woohoo says, the more disposable income you have, the more fun you'll have - but here's a starting point.

Accommodation - on a long term rental basis, you should be able to rent a nice, western-style 1 bedroom or studio apartment for about 15,000 baht/month. This would generally include cable TV, aircon and cooking facilities, and possibly internet access, but most likely no pool. A little less for fewer amenities. You can go lower if your budget is stretched, but this is a good entry level. If your apartment doesn't have laundry facilities, there are a few low-priced laundries where you might spend maybe 300 baht/month. When renting an apartment long-term, you'll also have to pay for water and electricity. Figure on about 1,500 baht/month assuming you don't run the a/c full-on.

Figure for a fancy apt/condo u will pay 25-35,000/month

For a nice apt in a thai complext like Patong or such 7-10,000/month

For a house in kamala ( where i live) 10-15,000 baht/month

add on UBC for 1,500

electirc for 1-1,200 if u run air

1 months landry wil run u 600-1,000/month

Phone 100 baht/month

Internet from 200-2,500/month

Transportation - you'll most likely have an apartment on a hillside, which means that walking everywhere may not be an option. You should be able to rent a decent motorbike for about 3,000 baht/month. Add a few hundred baht/month for gas. If you need to make periodic visa runs, the cost will be start around 1,500 baht for a one-day package.

You can rnet a bike ling term for less than 2,000/month BUy one if ur going to be here for a year as they are only 35-50,000 .

Gas 91 is 32 baht/lt

95 is 33.5

Food - If you really like Thai food, and don't need to eat western-style food on a regular basis, then you're in luck. A good Thai meal can be had in the small Thai restaurants and food stalls, just outside the main tourist areas for between 30 and 40 baht. It can actually be cheaper to eat at these places compared to buying food and cooking at home. Drinking water for home is only 10 baht for a 5 gallon jug. Assuming 3 Thai meals/day - that's about 1,000 baht/month. If you prefer to eat western food, you're looking at about 3-4 times that amount, at a minimum. A good lunch of Thai food at the beach will be about 80 baht +/-.

Thai food from 30 baht/dish/rice for 10 in a small thai rest 70-100 baht/dish in nicer rest.

western food 150-.....

I can eat a great meal on the beach in kamala for 2 for less than 400 baht

Entertainment - this is obviously discretionary. A beer in a bar costs between 40 and 120 baht, depending upon the venue and location. A small bottle of beer is 25-45 baht at the supermarket or 7-11. Movies at a theatre are about 150 baht, while bootleg DVDs are about 60 baht. A chair at the beach is 80 baht/day in low season (although its perfectly ok to bring a towel and sit on the sand). Riding around the island to see the sights on your your rented motorbike is virtually free, while eating in the large tourist restaurants and going to the tourist-oriented shows is expensive. You have a lot of options here.

Movies in Central are 120 baht

DVD's 80 baht

Beer cost 25-30 baht in the grocery store in a bar happy hour prices 50 baht, night time 70-100 baht except at Rock Hard where they cheat ya for 120

girls form 1,000-2,000 not including buying her drinks and bar fine

So - using the above as a baseline for basic necessities, you can live on about 16,500 for good accommodation, 3,000 for food, about 3,500 for transportation for a total of about 23,000 baht/month. This is bare-bones, no-frills, and probably not an attractive level of lifestyle to most. Add to this whatever you think you'd spend to maintain the sort of lifestyle you'd like to have (entertainment, variety of food, socializing, etc).

NOt a chance in hel_l u can live on 23,000/month

Figure if ur living alone and occasiolany bring home a guest it will cost u min 35,000/month to have an ok life but better to push that to 50,000

I live on 75,000 and own my own house BUT send my daughter to the international school which is 40,000/month

we eat in 4 nights a week and out 3 I dont hit the bars but once or twice a month and cook farang food at home

if You have had the house bult your name on the permit papers serve to show the house is yours (thats how mine is). Alos having bank recipts showing the money came in to purchase build the house.

Other than that make sure u have ur name on the back of the Nor sor sam gor or Chanot land paper and get ur name in the back of the Taam bien Baan house paper as the legal owner of the house

Should be no problem, particularly for someone who cannot work the search function on Thaivisa.

It will be nice to see that machine on Thai roads though you might not be happy about the new owner.

Perhaps you would care to explain your rather bizare post? I'm perplexed.

Okay, because you obviously have a California bike and have asked about finding organic food in Thailand as well as importing your parrots, I can assume we are dealing with someone from the left coast. So I will clarify it a bit for you since you asked.

If you would have simply used the search button located in the upper right corner of your screen, and done a simple search about importing motorcycles or vehicles or any such search term, you would have found around 19,000 other people have asked the exact same question as they were also technologically challenged. You would have then found around 6 million answers that range from "probably not" to "commit suicide before attempting to import".

If someone is so technologically challenged as to be unable to do a simple forum search, attempting to take on Thai Dept of Customs might be well outside their abilities. Dealing with them requires mastering the asian business manuals written by Douglas Adams and Lewis Carroll, and even then success is limited to your ability to pay and pay and pay and pay.

At best, you will fail and have your bike shipped back to Frisco slightly beat up from shipping but mostly intact. At worst, some happy Customs agent will tool around Bangkok on your bike so that you can catch a glimpse of it now and then, and that after many thousands of dollars in costs that are paid up front. I think Tuk Tuk Mike sees his car now and then, chime in if your out there Mike.

I dont know why but bikers seem completely unable to master the technology of searching. You dont see the same question being asked in the IT section every week and yet every week some biker thinks the secret to beating the Thai system is secretly hidden on Thai visa for them to learn after getting the secret handshake. The reason there are not a million big bikes in Thailand is because the door is for all extents CLOSED.

Mods, pleeeeeeeeeeeeze pin something well written about importing any vehicle into Thailand.

If ur in sf get urself a carnet. It cost about $200 and will allow u to import the bike . then bring it i with no problems. You will get a 9o day entry permit for it then u need to take it out of the country every 90 days.

I have lots of friends here in Phuket that do that.

OR u can try and just drive it in. BUT as ur bike is one of a kind they will stop ya. I did that 10 years ago with my 1970 Tirumph and its still running ca plates that expired in 98. It has not been out of the country and although i have been stopped many times they now know me

Have only had 1 ticket for expired plates 4 years ago.

There are plenty of Harleys here BUT ur bike will certainly stick out. Duty runs anywhere from 50% to 150% of the value.

I have one frien running Ca plates and his bike has not left in 5 years. Of course u always take the chance that if they do stop ya and ur an asshol_e and they woke up on the wrong side of the bed they can take it from ya and thats the end of that story.

And they deceide the value.

With ur bike i would leave it home

good luck finding a bank paying 2%

bangkok bank pays me .75% and i just put money in a term account that gets 2.75% BUT to get that account u need a work permit

I also live in Phuket, My neighbor built right up to the property line. When i saw him building and that there were windows that could open i went and got the poo Yai Baan and he had to elimiante all windows. Your not allowed any window's that open within 1 1/2 m of the property line. Their roof goes right up to their wall but to not allow water to run off the roof onto my land they had to install guters.

They had asked me to share in the building of the wall and I said no, i dont want it so the wall is it is built all on their property. i left my side of the wall bare as i have trees that cover it up

ON my right side i had sea views and they built this UGLY high wall for their house that is over 15 meters high totally blocking all my views. Since they are set back 2 meters there is nothing i can do other than hire someone with a stinger missle and blow the F@#king thing down. This wall i had someone come in and do the cement thing to smooth it out and then paint it. It was a lot more than 200 Baht/day!!

another case ot TOT.

Lowered my home value probaly a couple of mil.