moving 90 % of all my Cash to Asia and Thailand + Step by Step + stay liquid?

[alwaysrainsinUK]

There are thousands of horror stories from those that have invested in Thailand.

Before buying any property, read about the unfortunate investors on Samui that were evicted form their homes.

Foreigners who built expensive holiday and retirement homes on the Thai island of Koh Samui on ‘extendable leases’ leases have been kicked out and their property and their possessions seized.

Now their homes are being rented and sold to other foreigners.

GOOGLE: 'Foreigners evicted from Thai paradise island'

Thailand dont make life easy for itself with negative headline storys such as these .... i new a French guy the same thing happened to in another area too

He was half mad prob brought on by him being cheated in this way .

............................................................................................................................................

Ive years of living on the LOS and my advise to anyone new is keep your money in your home country do something there that allows u to live in the LOS

[WorkingTourist]

I was rather remiss in not considering FX rates. Assuming that the 8% p.a. is based upon property in Thailand (it's not clear), he'd actually have been significantly better off investing in the S&P500 which in THB, total return terms actually returned 10.8% over the last 12 months.

(S&P has increased 2.19%. FX rate has changed from 32.36 to 35.08 - an 8.4% shift.)

Yes, with perfect hindsight there are many ways in which he could have done better. But that isn’t what the thread is about nor would anyone argue against that.

Basically someone called into question that buying, renovating, and renting out condos could give an 8% ROI and furthermore said that an ETF was a better bet, which is why I brought up last years performance of the S&P 500, but my point was really about building a business based on what you understand versus putting your money into something opaque (don’t tell me that the stock market can be understood, as it’s multiple layers of people trying to predict what other people are predicting etc., yes, there is some fundamental value, but I can give many examples where stock prices seems completely decoupled from the actual fundamental value).

[LannaGuy]

ok thanks everyone I'm opting out of this thread as it's become slightly bizarre and, in places, a bit aggressive

I wish the OP, and everyone, good luck and good fortune as for my contribution I was trying to sincerely give the OP my experience and advice - take it or leave it

I came here 10 years ago and slowly liquidated (I thought the thread was about that) my UK houses and savings. I invested in condos which I renovated finding a farang who worked with Thais (yes he spoke 100% Thai) and after that I gathered a crew who worked with me over the years. In total i owned 22 condos and bought and sold and reinvested. I have now come to realise that things are changed and I, and my many friends, have liquidated and mostly stayed out of condo renovations. I have only a few rooms left. I made, on average 30%+ RoI on the condos I bought and sold and most I kept for a time and made 8% net income waiting for the right purchaser (who were not idiots).

I have learnt a lot over those years and have made mistakes too but, on average, what i have shared with you is genuine although a couple of posters have enjoyed 'suggesting' I may be lying (God only knows their reasoning for my motivation).

Best wishes to all here and good luck to the OP and my advice stays firm. Find the right units in the right location and you will always have tenants. The days of 'happy flipping' have past and I have made that very clear in my postings. Was I 'lucky' as one poster suggested? maybe but I worked hard at my 'luck'.

Now I have pensions in UK and a few very selective condos which give me 8% plus and my capital 10 years ago has grown exponentially but do NOT rely on that in the future - the market has changed.

No flaming please everything I have stated is a fact. Good luck to all and stay safe and thank you 'WorkingTourist' for bringing some sanity to this thread but I'm not sure I would bother again. Off to enjoy a nice red now before bed - goodnight and goodluck.

[uthaithanirules]

Adjusted for inflation 230,000 on 2,900,000 is not 8%.

With property the initial capital just sits there, that value doesnt compound regularly. Not only in real terms do you have to adjust for deflation of the capital, but the compound interest you are losing.

Then there are the exchange rates, transfers back to your home country, if any, sit and wait for the exchange rate to jump around, you can make an automatic 20% on something more liquid, without doing anything. Apart from all other economic pressures Thailands currency is seasonally dependant, as a big chunk of its economy is from tourism.

LannaGuy simply shared that over the last decade he had seen an 8% ROI for his condo rental business.

Exchange rates are irrelevant. The liquidity of the invested capital is irrelevant as well.

That the return is not reinvested for compound interests is also irrelevant for a ROI calculation. And it actually sounds like LannaGuy did reinvest his profit.

You’re coming at this like it was a witch hunt and at best grasping at straws.

Lets say you did as well with the other 17, I can guarantee you still would have done better with things like ETFs and jumping around with the exchange rate.

This is funny. You basically throw all your weight behind the argument that LannaGuy is mistaken about his 8% ROI, and then you go on to say that he could have made a better return on the stock market

It’s still irrelevant though, as LannaGuy did not claim that he had found the best investment vehicle, he was simply sharing what he had done the last decade, and how it has turned out for him.

For LannaGuy, he might have more domain knowledge about the rental business than the stock market, so for him the former exposes him to much less risk, hence it was the right choice. The S&P 500 is basically at the exact same level as a year ago, so with comission, anyone who invested in this index is likely in the red, but LannaGuy still got his predictable 8% return on his initially invested capital.

This thread is about advising a newbie on how to spend his money

Anyone thats had any experience in trying to deal with thai builders or thai handymen. Is going to think you are full of it, or if successful, you are really in the business of conning newbie falangs.

I know if I could poor over your books as it were, Id find out the truth, a truth you are probably not aware of

I don’t think there is really any general advice for people who want to “spend their money investing”, be it Thailand or anywhere else. What would you say to someone asking about how to invest their money in the U.S.? People who ask these questions are generally naive, they think because they have a small fortune they can now start to get a passive income, but you don’t get something for nothing, and you’ll have to put work into it, this means at the minimum some research.

As for Thai builders/handymen, it requires more work (and sometimes money) to get things done to a high quality/standard here, but it’s definitely not impossible. I suspect that many of those who think “you are full of it” are dealing with migrant workers that get 300 baht/day and live in sheds or worse. No wonder these people won’t finish your bathroom to a Western standard without a lot of supervision.

1. Ditto on what Oxx said in post #88 in reply to that

2. Exchange rates, liquidity, compound interest are irrelevant.....Seriously?

3. If LannaGuy is what he says he is. He of all people should know no one is going to believe him. 130% resale everytime, 100% occupancy rates, even that ROI calculation was missing a few things.....If such a sure thing, why doesnt he just go to the bank, borrow another 10 million baht, but another 1/2 dozen of them....why isnt every fund manager across the world all over Thai condominiums?

4. A witchhunt, yes, becuase this is what guys like the OP and other green newbies need to watch out for. Whether its intentional, a newbie starts a thread, Oh where should I put all my money in Thailand? Oh, buy a couple of condos, plenty of very trustworthy falangs here ready to give you a great deal that will give you an awesome return and you never have to worry about anything again.....or its unintentional, tied to the make ego, theve spent a whole lot of time and money in one area, refuse to ever accept they may have got things wrong (not just talking about LG there, happens with a LOT, a LOT of guys)

5. You dont think there is really any general advice for people wanting to invest their money?, Well yeah there is, Diversify across a wide range of low and medium risk investments, ETFs for the most part over the last decade, employment insurance if they are under retirement age, for most average joes out there, their superannuation fund is likely to do better than anything they will ever do, just on the tax concessions alone. At least look into the effect of exchange rates, inflation, compound interest especially in the long term

6. Any guy that has a clue will just keep his mouth shut ( seemingly unlike me at the present time), because they know, do you flippin homework man! (directed at those newbies) How hard is it, especially nowadays, spend at least a couple days reading over the internet. Dont trust any one person or thing, including ones self

[uthaithanirules]

I invested $4500 USD into my Thai girlfriend's hair salon. She is now making about 60, 000 baht a month. The only condition for investing the money was I never give her another penny. I figure I have saved myself millions of dollars making this investment. I am not joking and I hope this helps.

if this is true it is the most successful thai girlfriend investment i have ever heard about. congratulations. my girl talked about starting a bar, i preferred to just pay her a salary to have kids. cheaper and more rewarding.

congratulations again. anyone else got a success story like this? they are pretty rare.

Yeah Ditto here, mine didnt know it at the start, but yeah I just am paying her a salary to raise, I'll say OUR kids, well becuase she is likely to live up to 50 years longer than I am. What they may be like at 25 is all kind of irrelevant, they themselves have really no idea how much they will be wrapped up in having kids 5,10 years later, how important having a bunch of kids is to THEM 30 years later

[LannaGuy]

1. Ditto on what Oxx said in post #88 in reply to that

2. Exchange rates, liquidity, compound interest are irrelevant.....Seriously?

3. If LannaGuy is what he says he is. He of all people should know no one is going to believe him. 130% resale everytime, 100% occupancy rates, even that ROI calculation was missing a few things.....If such a sure thing, why doesnt he just go to the bank, borrow another 10 million baht, but another 1/2 dozen of them....why isnt every fund manager across the world all over Thai condominiums?

4. A witchhunt, yes, becuase this is what guys like the OP and other green newbies need to watch out for. Whether its intentional, a newbie starts a thread, Oh where should I put all my money in Thailand? Oh, buy a couple of condos, plenty of very trustworthy falangs here ready to give you a great deal that will give you an awesome return and you never have to worry about anything again.....or its unintentional, tied to the make ego, theve spent a whole lot of time and money in one area, refuse to ever accept they may have got things wrong (not just talking about LG there, happens with a LOT, a LOT of guys)

5. You dont think there is really any general advice for people wanting to invest their money?, Well yeah there is, Diversify across a wide range of low and medium risk investments, ETFs for the most part over the last decade, employment insurance if they are under retirement age, for most average joes out there, their superannuation fund is likely to do better than anything they will ever do, just on the tax concessions alone. At least look into the effect of exchange rates, inflation, compound interest especially in the long term

6. Any guy that has a clue will just keep his mouth shut ( seemingly unlike me at the present time), because they know, do you flippin homework man! (directed at those newbies) How hard is it, especially nowadays, spend at least a couple days reading over the internet. Dont trust any one person or thing, including ones self

Edited April 18, 2016 by LannaGuy

[B1TcoinLife]

In this world of uncertainty gold is the choice of many.remember don't put all your eggs in one basket and do as much business outside of the Thai money pit as you can.a good 250kg safe with a 100kg safe inside is need in Thailand.

Tell that to the Japanese guy.... But he's dead

Wife paid the next door neighbor to do him because he had a nice big safe

He refused to open it and got stabbed to death

Police eventually opened it and he had over 3 million usd in it.... And some other currencies...

Keep your wealth a secret in thailand!

[Langsuan Man]

In this world of uncertainty gold is the choice of many.remember don't put all your eggs in one basket and do as much business outside of the Thai money pit as you can.a good 250kg safe with a 100kg safe inside is need in Thailand.

Tell that to the Japanese guy.... But he's dead

Wife paid the next door neighbor to do him because he had a nice big safe

He refused to open it and got stabbed to death

Police eventually opened it and he had over 3 million usd in it.... And some other currencies...

Keep your wealth a secret in thailand!

Or don't have a large attractive safe visible since poor people don't have safes

[B1TcoinLife]

In this world of uncertainty gold is the choice of many.remember don't put all your eggs in one basket and do as much business outside of the Thai money pit as you can.a good 250kg safe with a 100kg safe inside is need in Thailand.

Tell that to the Japanese guy.... But he's dead

Wife paid the next door neighbor to do him because he had a nice big safe

He refused to open it and got stabbed to death

Police eventually opened it and he had over 3 million usd in it.... And some other currencies...

Keep your wealth a secret in thailand!

Or don't have a large attractive safe visible since poor people don't have safes

I don't know if it was "large and attractive" but hard to hide it from your wife when it's being installed in the wall etc....

[Langsuan Man]

If it hadn't been there he would not have been in a position to have to refuse would he ?

[WorkingTourist]

Wife paid the next door neighbor to do him because he had a nice big safe

Is there a source for this story?

Only thing I can find is http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/863136-arrested-suspect-confesses-to-murdering-japanese-businessman-in-ang-thong/ from last October, but no safe is mentioned (only a safe house).

[B1TcoinLife]

Wife paid the next door neighbor to do him because he had a nice big safe

Is there a source for this story?

Only thing I can find is http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/863136-arrested-suspect-confesses-to-murdering-japanese-businessman-in-ang-thong/ from last October, but no safe is mentioned (only a safe house).

There's a thread on news forum if you can find it

The murfered guy was like 83-84 if that jogs anyone's memory...

[WorkingTourist]

There's a thread on news forum if you can find it

The murfered guy was like 83-84 if that jogs anyone's memory...

OK, fits the story that I linked to. It sounds like the wife ordered a hit on her husband, not a robbery.

“[the accused] allegedly said he was not told why Ms Paranee wanted her husband killed […]”

[Lukecan]

Real Estate investments are relatively risk free if you know what you are doing.

[phka]

I did exactly that and now only have my pension coming from Europe. Step by step over 8 years until my 2 houses were sold and money transferred. Obviously a FX account is first on the list. Personally I invested in condos for income and get around 8% net. Forget business but how old are you? don't even consider it under 50.

what is fx account

[LannaGuy]

I did exactly that and now only have my pension coming from Europe. Step by step over 8 years until my 2 houses were sold and money transferred. Obviously a FX account is first on the list. Personally I invested in condos for income and get around 8% net. Forget business but how old are you? don't even consider it under 50.

what is fx account

foreign exchange