Umpatan

This looks to be the one coming soon - the Honda PCX 125i - looks decent:

Guess you and I have different definitions of "decent"! Yuck!

How much does a scooter cost in Thailand roughly?

I'm currently renting a bike by the month but have decided to take the plunge and buy a new machine. I've driven both manual and automatic before, but my other half prefers an automatic so I'll probably go that route. I won't need anything over 125cc, so a scooter type effort will do. The bike would be used daily for short journeys around town, so mileage would be relatively low with an even mix of both one and two people riding (say 150kg combined), in addition to some occasional shopping on board.

I'm looking at Honda Dream 125, Honda Wave 125i and Honda Click-i Forward. Can anyone recommend any of these (or not) or any others given the above.

Thanks in advance

TCA

I once rented a scooter with 50cc for 80 baht per day in Chang Mai. It was a bit scary with the traffic.

A house built by 'the king' can be had for a moving in price of about 5kbht (300k-400k sale price on a 2 bed detached home )

Followed by payments of about 2bht a month.

According to my bank

Loans to buy homes are called 'home loans'

Loans to buy businesses are called 'mortgages'

A house costing only 400,000THB does not require a mortgage in my oppinion. Anyone should be able to bank aside that type of money in a year even if they only make $12.00/hour. I think I can just buy it outright. It is cheaper than a downpayment for a tiny condo in Vancouver, Canada.

So, putting numbers to make it easier to compare with Thailand, How much would one expect to spend in Singapore, to live the same lifestyle of a ~70k baht/month in Thailand (BKK)? I would assume at least twice as much?

70,000THB! Wow, that is nuts. I know I was able to live on 2,400thb/mo for accomodation in Bangkok.

And I thought I was stupid and spending too much because I was near Khaosan Road, at Mamasan's Guest House where lots of Japanese people go to. Considering I only made 100,000THB a month, and I don't think it was that much last year, I figured I needed to budget. This year is worse for me. I am only making a piddly 50,000THB a year, which is half of what I made last year. This is terrible for a 32 year old.

Foreigners taking over land in North, claims farmers' group

CHIANG MAI: -- Vast tracts of land in the North are now in the hands of foreigners, mostly through marriages to Thai women, a local farmers' group said yesterday.

Most of the land has been used for hotels and resorts put under the names of their wives, said Samarn Thadthieng, head of a group of farmers based in the Kuang River Basin in Chiang Mai and Lamphun. Plus, he said, there is an estate covering around 100 rai that only foreigners can rent.

He added that a large number of farmers also rented their farms to foreigners, and received payment in the form of rice instead of cash. In addition, he said, foreigners were also benefiting from the government's price-intervention scheme and were being given free rice seeds through other assistance programmes.

"This is dangerous, because these foreigners will turn from renters into beneficiaries exploiting Thai soil, sending remittances overseas and damaging the country's economy," he added.

He said government budgets were now being spent to benefit these foreigners instead of poor farmers, and those who have rented their land on a long-term basis to foreigners, end up encroaching on forests to obtain new land for themselves.

He called on the government and local administrative bodies to look into the matter.

In Chiang Rai, chief of a palm oil cooperative Inkham Namwong claimed that around 70 per cent of farmland and plantation in the province had been rented to foreigners. He said he was waiting for government funds to help set up a new cooperative that would help Thai farmers compete against foreign-owned palm plantations.

-- The Nation 2009-08-12

But how is this any different from what happens in America allegorically? AIG, General Motors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac receiving coporate bailouts to "stimulate" the economy? The devaluation of the dollar results, and and the poor take the brunt end of the deal while the rich fortune 500 executives receive large bonuses off the backs of taxpayers? The renting situation is the same where the foreigners are the large corporate executives and the thai people are getting screwed. Remeber, America is also a renter of money with US treasuries held mostly by China!

How will the Thais view the western expat after the Thai Bhat becomes stronger than the dollar?

they'll view us a cheap imported labour and we will have to work in their rice fields and tend buffaloes

And for some reason that I have not been able to fathom, the Thai men think that UK women are ATTRACTIVE! Maybe we'll see a few marrying Thai farmers for their MONEY

But Thai men do not succeed very often in getting UK women, although UK men take away Thai women creating a shortage of women. They are hurt even more than the Polish men who see their women running to UK men but the Polish men do not get the UK women as often as the reverse. Even the western expat women who are left single would rather stay that way than take a Thai man. Why is that?

For me farm land and a mortage free house is as well a safe-have, or a house with dwellings you can rent to others.

I heard that the Mormons (I am not one nor am I advocating their religion) hoard a year supply of food. When the economy bellies up in the USA, the state of Utah will be the breadbasket of the USA that people will be running to. Any Hurricane Katrina survivors would know how to work through hyperinflation and economic meltdown. The only difference is, there is no Hurricane. The National Guards not getting paid dollars that they can spend properly will not work properly too this time around.

Marines who say Semper Fi and Oorah won't have that loyalty when their country will betray them by giving them worthless hyperinflated dollars. Their Montgomery GI Bills will be worthless, so the US will focus on the problem back home, and ditch Iraq and Afghanistan as money wont be there for them. Obama being a democrat will probably just send the troops home to deal with policing within USA.

Imagine the sleeping security guards who get paid to play video games or read and took the job not because they wanted to be an authority figure but wanted a cushy job so they can watch DVD's all day or even practice Buddhist Meditation (The Art of Zen and the Security Guard) had to be given police powers that they dont want?

But seriously, this whole crisis exercise is by far one of the biggest looting operations ever performed on this planet. What a bunch of bull crap they are throwing at the people, don't you agree?

no i don't agree Alex. as much as i understand the common anger (i am f@cking angry too!) about wasting taxpayers' money and last not least everybody's money because of expected inflation and shoving the billions up the àsses of those who deserve that Sharia law for thieves is applied i still (think) i have the ability to weigh the shit we are presented vs. the shit² which we have to expect if the efforts fail.

Also, banks raising interest rates also bring about economic disparity. The rich get interest, but most people have to pay that high interest, being in debt.

How will the Thais view the western expat after the Thai Bhat becomes stronger than the dollar?

Special snip snip for 12

As Novembers article pointed out ( Bankrupt Britain Trending Towards Hyper-Inflation?) Britain is already on its way towards becoming a big version of Iceland as liabilities continue to soar, the greater the liabilities the greater the probability that the British economy will collapse into debt default and hyperinflation. Gordon Brown has already loaded the UK tax payer to the tune of £1.2 trillion of bankrupt bank liabilities, with the odds strong that this will pass above £2 trillion by the end of 2009. The amount of liabilities are truly staggering and really do risk the bankruptcy of the country, for example the total amount of revenue the government earns from taxation is just £550 billion AND CONTRACTING. Debt EXPLODING, Revenues CONTRACTING = Further sharp falls in the exchange rate towards parity to the US Dollar.

Well, the UK can just join the Euro now that it is close to parity. In fact the Euro will rise if that occurs, bringing 1 pound to equal 1 euro.

Now I want to ask, how about bringing money to Thailand? Would converting dollars into Bhat enable one to escape hyperinflation? People run to gold, silver, Chinese Yuan, but I want to know how will the Thai Bhat do? As an independent country, will it be immune from Hyperinflation? How would you feel if 1 dollar or 1 euro or 1 pound bought only 1 Thai Bhat?