Bought my condo in 1997 and was spending 3 to 4 months per year there. Been here full time for 4 years and now reside in Na Jomtien after selling my original condo.

no full time in khon kaen, i go down every 60 days or so for a few days.

31 minutes ago, jimmyyy said:

no full time in khon kaen, i go down every 60 days or so for a few days.

Yup... it's called the 'reality check'. I lived in Udon and would pop down quarterly for mine. Now we live in Pattaya, we pop back up to Isaan quarterly for the same.

On 10/18/2016 at 9:38 PM, wpcoe said:

Bought a Jomtien condo in 2004 that I've lived in full-time, but took a break for 2.5 years in Hua Hin, a 9 month break to check out Mérida, Mexico, and currently on another one-year sabbatical in Hua Hin.  Bought another Jomtien condo in August (2016) and will be moving back full-time next month when the current tenants move out.

 

Even though I currently do not live in Jomtien full-time, I still visit every couple months since my original condo is sitting empty.  (Long story.  Don't ask.)   I usually spend about a week each visit.  During my condo search, my visits were more frequent, but shorter in duration.

 

So, to address the insinuation that folks posting here are probably out of touch with Pattaya, I consider myself very current on Pattaya/Jomtien affairs, hence am active in this forum.

 

(Not sure why I sound so defensive.  I'm too lazy to reword, the post.  It is what it is.)

 

I too have a condo in Jomtien and bought it about the same time as you bought yours. I no longer live there but do not rent it out. I like having a change of scenery every so often. I'll be visiting next week for a week of ten days. I rarely visit Pattaya. I got tired of the traffic, bright lights and noise.

I spend 8 months a year in Pattaya. Was more, but I had to sack one of my employees.

Due back in 12 days after working for the last four months.

+1, very interested to hear from somebody who has actually tried alternatives. Been here 20+ very active years and just wished I find the strength to move to another country and last adventure of my life. Have a nice day. MS>

Used to stay in Ensenada, La Bufadoro "Blowhole " Hussongs bar in town, nightclubbing, fresh seafood , Mexican food could eat that everyday, I love Mexico and the Food


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Parents basement...but it does have a "partial sea view" and is in the "heart of the eastern seaboard entertainment district".

On 10/18/2016 at 9:38 PM, wpcoe said:

Bought a Jomtien condo in 2004 that I've lived in full-time, but took a break for 2.5 years in Hua Hin, a 9 month break to check out Mérida, Mexico, and currently on another one-year sabbatical in Hua Hin.  Bought another Jomtien condo in August (2016) and will be moving back full-time next month when the current tenants move out.

 

On 10/19/2016 at 8:44 PM, Nice Boyd said:

Reasons Mex. didn't work out, thx

 

13 hours ago, moonseeker said:

+1, very interested to hear from somebody who has actually tried alternatives. Been here 20+ very active years and just wished I find the strength to move to another country and last adventure of my life. Have a nice day. MS>

 

Don't want this to start a long off-topic side discussion, but:

 

There were pluses and minuses in the Pattaya vs Mérida debate.  Probably the straw that broke the camel's back was that my belongings, and an unsellable condo, were in Thailand.  Inertia won out and I moved back to Thailand.

 

Most people (Americans, at least) think of drug wars and high crime when they think of Mexico, but Mérida is way off the narco trail and is very safe, possibly one of the safest parts of the country, so safety was actually one of the pluses.  Even the police there (for the most part) aren't corrupt, unlike elsewhere in the country.

 

One significant negative, surprisingly (to me, anyway) was a language issue.  I studied Spanish for four years in high school/college and thought with a brush up I'd regain fluency.  Folks there in sales and service positions would absolutely not slow down to let me understand them. It was like the counterpart of the Ugly American "If they don't understand you, say it again LOUDER."  Compare that to my six-month attempt at studying Thai and I get around just fine here.  (I'm tone deaf, which makes tonal languages like Thai, Mandarin and Cantonese difficult for me.)

 

Oh, another camel-breaking factor was wondering "what if."  Mérida is super safe today, but what about the future?  Supposedly, more and more non-Yucateros (non-natives) were moving in and bringing in their extended families.  There was concern that the crime (drug related, in particular) would begin to follow these newcomers.  Not sure if that were a valid concern, but I did give it some weight in my decision.

 

There was no real strong winner in the Thailand vs Mexico consideration.  In fact, I've revisited the thought of moving to Mérida again recently with the plunge of the Mexican Pexo (MXN).  When I lived there in 2014 it was around MXN13 to USD1.  This year it has been routinely above MXN19, and at one point almost hit MXN20.  That's a 50% loss in value of the currency.  A home that would have cost US$75,000 when I was there before would now only cost US$50,000.  Somewhat tempting.  BUT,  I'm still here.