Emil

I think its called the Grand Hotel, on the same soi as where Ben is going to open his place.

Also, I haven't heard of anyone paying any property taxes.

Check out the Holiday Mansion. It's located on a soi just south of Centeral Pattaya Rd between Soi Buakaow and 3rd Rd. When I stayed there Nov-Dec 2004 the cost of the large rooms were 12K, the other rooms were costing 9k and 10K with the only difference between the two were that the 10K rooms faced the pool. Water and electric were extra and you only had house cleaning free once a week. My water/electric cost just under 1k for the month and I had a TGF keep the place clean in between housekeeping. You can pay for additional days of housekeeping. My room was very spacious and they had a very nice pool area and the pool was large enough if your into swimming laps.

Be aware that there has been talk (rumor) of a new motorway to be built that will connect to route 36 that could pass through this area. You could purchase a house that today is in a quite area only to find out that in a few years you could have big rigs buzzing by your house.

Not likely to happen as Medicare is in deep financial trouble and its doubtful that Congress would do anything that would increase expenditures of a program that the last I heard could be bankrupt in 10 years. Then again Congress is talking about giving illegal immigrants socail security credit so anything could happen.

Unless you have a crystal ball its impossible to forecast which is better. One of our boardmembers was renting his condo for a few months when the landloard offered him the place at a price which equaled 6 years 3 month of renting. If he would have continued renting after 75 months all he would have is rent stubs. I think the eky is if your going to buy,don't over pay. Expecting rent to remain stable is wishful thinking. I moved into a new place in Dec 04, after being open about 8 months they increased the rent 8%. Although you plan to stay for 30 years or more who to say that 15 years from now you decide to move to another location in LOS or elsewhere in the world. If that were to happen you would probably wish that you had an assest that had appreciated in value or had maintained its value.

I find a balcony very important, never sit there but use it to dry out towels and clothes.

I'm 6 for 6 in getting the freebies with United using only 60K miles. I always call and speak to an agent and get a reservation between 2 and 3 months in advance. Because I'm retired I have full flexibility when booking, just give then a date and tell them to start looking for anything on that date and any date thereafter. Only once did I get the entire trip on United and once the entire trip was with their partner Singapore. This June I will be flying the legs between SFO and Inchon on Singapore and the legs between Inchon and BKK on Thai. I've never tried to get a freebie between Christmas and New Years but do utilize the miles in the summer months and January when the ticket prices are usually higher. Also use the freebies when I plan on getting an extension as ticket prices are higher when you book for over 30 days.

You might want to try the new LK property on Buakaow up near Pattaya Klang. Just opened so they should have some promotional fares until the place gets popular.

I had heard that they had a cute dentist working there. When I went in they were going to give me a guy and I told them that I wanted a female. Couldn't remember the ladys name that Hilly and Pete used, but they assigned Dr Darika to me. Turned out it wasn't the same one as Hilly and Pete used but she was still cute and I've been very happy with her. She's now expecting a baby so it looks like on my next cleaning I'll have to settle on someone else. They have around 4 dentists working there that do the examinations, cleaning and simple work like fillings. When something comes up that require more detailed work you get assigned to a specialist as when I needed a root canal, another dentist performed the job.

Earlier this year I saw a sales pitch on TV about the Northshore development. At that time the salesperson said that they only had 10 units left to sell. Then he said that they were planning to build another development north of Northshore, 2 complexes with one around 50 stories high.

Everything that I've ever read is that the Thais need to own at least 51%. To achieve that percentage maybe thats why you see some of the condos called condotels. Those unsold individual Thai units are sold as a block and made into a hotel.

I stayed there in May 2004 and the cost was 600 a night and included breakfast. They are part of the Eastiny Group and Hub mentioned that when he stayed there you were allowed to use the pool at the nearby Eastiny Place.

You need to check out the various financial instutions, my credit union doesn't charge any ATM fees. You do need to keep a specific amount of money with them, but that can be accomplished by totaling your checking, saving, CD's and IRA's accounts with them.

Your electirc cost will depend on how large your unit is and how much you run the A/C. My average electric and water is around 900 a month. I've know other who kept the place like a refrigerator and their cost was 4K. You'll also have to pay extra for room cleaning unless you have a TGF doing it.

Unless the hotel has already posted weekly and monthly rates, always ask them how much they will charge you if you stay "x" amount of days if your staying more than a week. You need to do it when the manager is on site and not during their peak season. I have never failed to get a lower rate once they quote me a daily rate.

Try the Bella Vista between Soi 7 and 8. It's right in the middle of the action and plenty of places to eat close by. No pool, should cost you around 600 baht a night.

I don't think the place has opened yet, Soi 7 posted on another thread that he heard that the rooms with jacuzzis were around 3K a night.

I wish I would have bought 100 shares of Berkshire Hataway 30 years ago. I don't know how much of an increase this stock has experienced during this time but I do know that if I cashed out today I wouldn't have to stay in the small rooms at the Skytop as I could afford one of their suites. Also, although your income should be less when your retired ( could be higher if your selling off some stock ) that doesn't necessarily mean your taxable income will be less. If you sell your house and move to LOS your itemized deductions will be significantly less as your home interest and property taxes will be gone and if your living in a state like California or New York your state income tax deduction will be gone. You'll more than likely be better off taking the standard deduction. Also if the Democrates get back in power don't be surprised if the tax rates return to the pre Bush years or go even higher.

Pattaya International Hospital has done all my dental work for the past 3 years. I tried the place because it was recommended by Hilly and Pattaya Pete.

Increasing those numbers don't guarantee an increase in the Thai coffers as there is no requirement on how much you spend. Take Soi 7 for an example, he'll still spend approximately 20,000 baht a month to live. Those new figures aren't that difficult to meet as they are a combination of the 2. If you have a social security pension of $1200 a month you'll probably on need a deposit of around $25-30K USD. Does owning a home or condo help reduce the deposit requirement? The money on deposit requirement could turn out to be a blessing in disquise. One boardmember tranfered in USD earlier this year when the exchange rate was 41 to 1, on top of that the Thai bank gave him 5% interest on the money.

Areca is also on Soi Diana, less than a minutes walk to the Metropole.

I use a Pattaya based car service called KFC. They have cars with A/C and the cost is 1200 plus tolls. If you reserve a car I would give them your flight info, if your delayed in the air I don't think you can use your cell phone on the plane. I was delayed 3 hours back in January and my driver was still at the Airport at 3 AM waiting. If you don't like the heat I would bypass Bangkok as its usually a little hotter there and the air quality is poor. In Pattay you'll get a breeze off the gulf.

I will be arriving on United flight 881 at 11:05 PM (2305), immigration and customs should take another 30 minutes. Let me know if you would like to split the cost of a ride to Pattaya.

There's a library on Soi 6. Check out a book and read it at one of the nearby establishments.