Retirement dreams on Chiang Mai "Hi-So Hill" shattered as foreigner pensioners conned into buying forestry land

[madusa]

18 minutes ago, Naam said:

the only picture i get is that you possess a wealth of no idea how well paid, well fed and healthy our domestic employees are. 

Oh, I forgot to mention my maid is Burmese lady to me they all look sick I think they got worms. Anyway you are right. Your maids are Thais, oh, they are well fed all right. I also believe if they kick me I will fall down dead, because I could see their legs are nice strong legs. I am a leg fetish by the way.

So we talking about 2 different maids here, so excuse me I got it wrong then.

[Naam]

Just now, madusa said:

Oh, I forgot to mention my maid is Burmese lady to me they all look sick I think they got worms. Anyway you are right. Your maids are Thais oh, they are well fed all right. I also believe if they kick me I will fall down dead, because I could see their legs are nice strong legs. I am a leg fetish by the way.

So we talking about 2 different maids here, so excuse me I got it wrong then.

you are wrong again because our three live-in employees are Burmese, my assistant/handyman who also functions as driver is Thai.

[madusa]

19 minutes ago, Naam said:

you are wrong again because our three live-in employees are Burmese, my assistant/handyman who also functions as driver is Thai.

Too bad my perception of Burmese is always prejudiced, I must admit my fault here. You are loaded you got lots of people working for you. My envy.

[Naam]

2 minutes ago, madusa said:

Too bad my perception of Burmese is always prejudiced, I must admit my fault here. You are loaded you go lots of people working for you. My envy.

perhaps i should have mentioned that the employees i referred to are Myanmar citizens but not ethnic Burmese. but i doubt that this makes a difference in health and quantity of intestinal worms.

[madusa]

17 minutes ago, Naam said:

perhaps i should have mentioned that the employees i referred to are Myanmar citizens but not ethnic Burmese. but i doubt that this makes a difference in health and quantity of intestinal worms.

I was wrong on 2 occasions so I will just sit and watch the world goes like many Thais who are always happy doing so. Have a nice evening.......

[Naam]

Just now, madusa said:

I was wrong on 2 occasions so I will just sit and watch the world goes by as many Thais are always happy doing so. Have a nice evening.......Ps; does the moon looks bigger in CM?

i visited CM once and found the tap water colder than here.

[Tofer]

23 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Corrupt as it is, I have thoroughly enjoyed living in BKK these past 6 years.  Just like driving down a road with potholes, it's a minor adjustment to acknowledge the corruption and take steps to dodge those potholes.  But a lot of damage can be done if I don't adjust for the potholes.

 

 

And what a lot of the folks that have made money on their homes forget is that they are the ones that didn't get hosed.  So they don't factor the odds of getting hosed into their ROI claims.  Which is reasonable when you're looking back, but pretty risky to neglect if you're doing a look forward at a big investment decision. 

 

How risky?  I don't claim to know, and I definitely don't claim to know how thoroughly those risks can be mitigated with diligence.  But my gut tells me that the mitigation can't be 100% (or even close) in a system that's corrupt to the core.  Which is not to say that buying is a bad investment, or that diligence is a waste of time.  That's for each of us to decide for our own situation.

 

Which brings us back to the article in the OP...  They won't be among those claiming they made a good ROI, even if their next 5 home purchases go swimmingly.

A very reasonable and considered reply.

 

What I do know for fact is that we had far more drama with a rented property, 3 year court case sleeping with ears and one eye open, eviction with loss of our business and home because of a 'refusal to remain on the property whilst fighting the appeals', and a night in a cell (pure extortion) to boot, plus the loss of our financial investment in the lease and the refurbishment.

 

Our recent big investment decisions have been thoroughly vetted and I can happily say I don't lose a wink of sleep over them. 

 

[Tofer]

12 hours ago, impulse said:

 

When there are several ways of providing that very same roof, it only makes sense to compare the economics of one over the others.

 

Besides, for many people in the world, their home equity is their biggest store of their wealth. 

 

Having been a corporate gypsy most of my life, the economics of buying a home for a 2-3 year stay, then selling it to move just doesn't work out financially against leasing.  Unless the company relocation package takes care of the 10% or so cost incurred every time a home is sold.  And those packages are getting less and less prevalent.  So I rent, and don't feel "less than" others who buy.  When it makes financial sense, I can buy. Cash money.

 

Edit:  BTW, that "cash money" part was to pre-empt the smart asses who claim that only the destitute choose to rent.

Ouch... Was that edit directed at me by any chance.

 

By the way the discussion is regarding people buying a home / investment property, not transient corporate gypsies who really don't fit into that scenario.

[Tofer]

11 hours ago, MaeJoMTB said:

My wife loves me ever month when I make the home loan for repayment for her, another 22 years and she won't need to love me any more.

Briffault's Law ......... fun first, pay later.

Ah, but what an investment. Just think of all that loving and fun you've had over the last 22+ years.....

[impulse]

2 hours ago, Tofer said:

Ouch... Was that edit directed at me by any chance.

 

By the way the discussion is regarding people buying a home / investment property, not transient corporate gypsies who really don't fit into that scenario.

 

Nah, that was directed at a series of threads over the past 6 years where the guys who rent claim buying is stupid, and the guys who buy claim that anyone who rents must be destitute.  Neither one is looking at it from the other guys' standpoint.   And I'm sure it went on even earlier, but I've only been in Thailand for 6 years.

 

It's not just corporate gypsies who rent, either. 

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎9‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 1:46 AM, Shaunduhpostman said:

Another vomit inducing situation. Land of smiles? Land of disgusted wretching. I reckon Thailand will soon be paying  the happy hippy karma piper  by something like being totally annexed by China within 5 years. Oh the outrage. There would probably be an improvement in the sea of infinite unending corruption based horrors that we all shrug off due to becoming numb, tho no beer on the beach at Pattaya and probably spell the end of your torrid strip club rampages. Oh well, there's always Cambadia and the Archypelargo of the Poleypines, innit?

Not so. LOS is easy to live in if one remembers the golden rule- NEVER buy property.

Don't own property, nothing to go wrong legally.

Karaoke starts up next door, no problem- move.

Rock grinding plant starts up next door, no problem- move.

Etc

Etc

Etc.

 

I did make the mistake of getting married and that hurt, but I never bought property, so just walked away. No horrid court cases, lawyers etc.

[Naam]

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Not so. LOS is easy to live in if one remembers the golden rule- NEVER buy property.

Don't own property, nothing to go wrong legally.

Karaoke starts up next door, no problem- move.

Rock grinding plant starts up next door, no problem- move.

Etc

Etc

Etc.

 

I did make the mistake of getting married and that hurt, but I never bought property, so just walked away. No horrid court cases, lawyers etc.

in my [not so] humble opinion somebody who posted recently "if i had an income of 60,000 Baht a month i'd be happy like a pig in sheet" should neither make up nor quote ridiculous "golden rules".

[bkk6060]

On 9/30/2017 at 6:45 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

Not so. LOS is easy to live in if one remembers the golden rule- NEVER buy property.

Don't own property, nothing to go wrong legally.

Karaoke starts up next door, no problem- move.

Rock grinding plant starts up next door, no problem- move.

Etc

Etc

Etc.

 

I did make the mistake of getting married and that hurt, but I never bought property, so just walked away. No horrid court cases, lawyers etc.

Good advice.

I own nothing in my life and planned it that way.  As I got older, I got rid of my non liquid type assets did not tried to accumulate more. Simple life no baggage.

My apartment here came with everything.

Oh, I did make a tough decision recently and bought a coffee maker.....  

[mettech]

In my money value 60000 bht/month is 2300. dollars per month pension  not a lot of people make that kind of pension net to them here good old Canada the land of heavy greedee tax collectors.

[bazza73]

On 9/29/2017 at 4:20 PM, madusa said:

The poor housemaid probably eating only handful of sticky rice with some chili and dried fish, completely lacking in minerals , vitamins and protein. Some of them probably have some parasitic worms in their intestine that suck  up whatever nutrients that happen to be there.

They don't look healthy to me though I am not a doctor. I think you get a pretty good picture now don't you?

The spices Thais eat, particularly chili, are strong enough to fell a buffalo. I doubt parasitic worms stand much of a chance.

IMHO the Thai diet is probably healthier than the lashings of fat, carbohydrates and excessive protein to be found in many Western countries. Thais are normally slim. The obese ones are the result of too much KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonalds.

[MaeJoMTB]

13 hours ago, bazza73 said:

The spices Thais eat, particularly chili, are strong enough to fell a buffalo. I doubt parasitic worms stand much of a chance.

IMHO the Thai diet is probably healthier than the lashings of fat, carbohydrates and excessive protein to be found in many Western countries. Thais are normally slim. The obese ones are the result of too much KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonalds.

 

Off Topic

Parasites are very common in Thais, liver flukes from eating Pla Ra (rotting fish sauce) or other uncooked freshwater fish/crabs in their Som Tam are widespread. The resulting liver cancer is one of the highest causes of death in rural areas.

[madusa]

6 hours ago, MaeJoMTB said:

 

Off Topic

Parasites are very common in Thais, liver flukes from eating Pla Ra (rotting fish sauce) or other uncooked freshwater fish/crabs in their Som Tam are widespread. The resulting liver cancer is one of the highest causes of death in rural areas.

Why do they still keep eating them even after the government inform them of the cancer problem. 

When I see those little crabs crashed in the pounding stone ware to make Som Tam I lost my appetite. Those little crabs all over the feces in the small river especially at low tide.

[JohnLick]

On 9/25/2017 at 1:53 PM, sfokevin said:

Kudos to the crack detectives at the Forestry Dept for getting on this before it got out of hand!.. 

 

Land's officers new homes?