Gary

Most condo complexes have a condo office. The staff, normally ladies, usually know which units are for sale and have a close estimate of the prices. Some owners are way behind on their maintenance dues and they know that too. That's how I found my unit. I found a complex that I liked, found the office and got my information from the office ladies. Be polite and tell them that you like the complex and are interested in living there. Make sure that they know you are not an agent looking for listings.

Toddlers are patient and more clever than we credit them. If they want to get somewhere, they will work at until they figure out a way and a balcony is like a magnet. Scary indeed.

Jacko hit on the big one. Make sure you get approval from the condo committee before making any changes. You may find yourself tearing your safety precautions back out. My condo committee is of the opinion that it is best to keep kids off the balcony. Putting a secure lock on the sliding doors to the balcony is the only option.

My wife drives my pickup once in a while. The only complaint she has about her Ford is that the Isuzu has a lot more power than the car. I find it amazing at how much power they are able to get from a 3.0 liter turbo diesel. The Isuzu also goes further on a liter of diesel than the gasoline powered car. The car can use E85 but the fuel economy suffers. She now uses E20 for better fuel economy even though it does cost more.

My wife has a fully loaded automatic transmission with all the bells and whistles Ford Ecosport. It drives nicer and rides smoother than my Isuzu 4X4. I would rather drive my manual transmission pickup. Why? I have no idea, I simply love my truck and the comfortable way it feels. A friend of mine drives a Mitsubishi Pajero. He seriously wrecked his Pajero. He also has a 4X4 Toyota pickup. The Pajero was in the body shop for four months being repaired (In most countries, it would have been a totaled wreck). He bitched about the rough riding Toyota truck every time I saw him. Different stro

For what many of those cars cost, I could buy many new pickup trucks not to mention many domestically built cars. It's an attempt to show that you have big money, thus a big face.

So, you're saying that my 4X4 pickup truck would look out of place?

I enjoyed my job for the most part and the pay was quite good. The main problem was that I hated Kalifornia. I had carefully planned my retirement. I was able to retire at age 59 and sitting on the LAX runway with a one way ticket to Thailand was probably the happiest day of my life. I had over estimated my Thailand living expenses and still enjoy a decent surplus from my pensions. No regrets here. You don't have to be wealthy to enjoy retirement in Thailand, I'm certainly not, but living on a budget would be a bummer. Sometimes plans turn to shit but my plans have worked out well.

I was interested in the Thai Elite Visa. That didn't take me long. As soon as I saw the 500,000 baht price I immediately forgot about it. I did read far enough to see that you still have to do 90 day reports. I can do many years paying the 1,900 baht per year and no way live long enough to get the money back.

I don't have any idea how they can legally get around the money requirements and that's the part that seems to be very clear. Obviously that is the main reason people are using an agent. Either you have the money in the bank or you don't. Using an agent, you don't have the money in the bank. As far as the lady, the last one I lived with was able to keep up her act going for three months before she ran out of patience. Three good months getting along great then six months trying to get her to leave. Actually she never did leave. She's the main reason I pulled the trigger and bought my con

I had thought the most recent changes would put the agents out of business. It is obviously not legal but now more people than ever seem to be using agents. The law seems to be quite clear, at least to me. I am by no means a rich man but if you cannot afford to keep 800.000 baht in a Thai bank account, you can't afford to live here. I am legally married to a Thai woman and could base my extensions on marriage. That would mean 400,000 in the bank. I like things as simple as possible and keep the retirement option. I live on my Thai bank account and rarely does it drop below the 800,000. I make

I bought my Jomtien condo many years ago. It took me a long time to find what I wanted. I hate high rises with dark and narrow hallways and worry about fires. My building is five stories built in a rectangle and open in the middle with plants. I have a corner unit on the third floor. I also wanted a separate bedroom. It is 60 square meters and very livable with lots of storage and a place for a washing machine. My friends were buying shoe boxes and told me I was paying too much and would never get my money back. I didn't buy it to resell, I bought it to live in. No way could I be happy living

I wouldn't know a good wine from a bad wine. That said I never drink wine when out and about. Once in a while, rarely, if I see boxes of wine, I will buy a box to keep at home. I usually buy red wine but white wine is OK too. I usually put a few ice cubes in the wine. I know that would horrify knowledgeable wine drinkers.

Pattaya isn't the only area with lack of water. We have been living in the boonies of Loei province for about 12 years or longer. One of our farm ponds has never dried up until this year. It is totally dry. I did take the opportunity to hire an excavator to deepen and enlarge the pond. As of today it is still dry. My wife was expecting 150 bags of rice from one of her farms. She got 90 bags even after drilling a bore hole and pumping water 24/7 for irrigation. That took a lot of diesel fuel. That farm also has a pond. The pond was pumped dry before she had the new borehole drilled. Fortunately

You certainly have a wide choice of condos in your price range of 12 to 14 thousand a month. A couple things to look at is that if the electric bill comes directly from the government. Then look at the monthly maintenance fees. They vary widely. Anywhere from 10 baht per square meter per month up to 50 baht per square meter per month. You may say that the landlord takes care of that but you can bet it is added to your rent. As for myself, I'm somewhat sensitive to noise and would avoid any complex that is beside a busy road. Is the complex well maintained? The swimming pool should be pristine

It's none of my business, but, In my opinion the only person making money is the landlord. Maybe a Thai person who owns the property and runs the bar could make a go of it. Paying rent of 81,000 baht a month and with key money on top of that is a LOT of beer. Can't be done with a lease.

The new owners appear to me to be Thai. I'm not sure except to say that food prices are even higher than what Eddie charged and what little food that I have had there has been nothing to brag about. As far as customers, there are very few. Myself and my friends eat and drink across the street at the Aussie bar and very seldom see any customers at RMPM. I really don't know how long they can stay in business. The room service is worse than pathetic and the food certainly is nothing special. My friends stayed there five nights and in the mornings even started getting their coffee and snacks from

Two of my friends stayed there in the past couple of weeks and both told me the same thing. The service was totally non existent and never will they stay there again.

Talk about dry? We live about 50 kilometers south of Loei city. We have lived up here for more than ten years. We have a small farm with a pond not far from our house. This year the pond totally dried up. In all these years this is the first time that has happened. The only good thing about the dried up pond is that I was able to hire a big Cat excavator. I have wanted to make the pond bigger and deeper for several years but that was impossible when it had water in it. He increased the depth and size considerably. Now we need a decent rainy system to fill it back up. My wife farms quite

I moved to Thailand in early 1991. The exchange rate then was 25 baht to a dollar. I left Thailand when the economy crashed. I worked five years in Kalifornia and absolutely hated it. I knew that I would be retiring in Thailand when I was financially able, I was lucky when planning my retirement, I used an exchange rate of 25 to a dollar. I had the feeling that the baht would likely eventually go back to that exchange rate. I bought a decent condo when the exchange rate was still 41 baht to a dollar. It has been getting stronger every since. I figure that I'm still ahead at 30 baht to a dollar

I have had my condo in Ban Suan Lalana for many years now. I still highly recommend the complex. Electric is billed directly from the power company and maintenance is still ten baht per square meter per month. The free cable TV is quite good. Security is great and the grounds are well kept. The maintenance team is great and they are on the ball. They normally take care of any niggling problems that you may have the same day. For major things like replacing floor tiles, they work with outside contractors that you can trust. Added - If you are lazy like I am, for 300 baht they will send th

For guys living in Thailand it is very easy to hire it done. Most massage parlors offer a happy ending.

Avocados are kind of like good beef steaks. I like them but I can easily do without them. I refuse to pay the price for them here because they are definitely inferior to what I had in the US.

I constantly hear what bad drivers the Thais are. That may be true, BUT, they fail to mention how some lunatic farangs drive. I have seen the stupidest most dangerous driving by farangs.

A guy is driving around the back woods of Montana and he sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-style house: 'Talking Dog For Sale ' He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard. The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever sitting there. 'You talk?' he asks. 'Yep,' the Lab replies. After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says 'So, what's your story?' The Lab looks up and says, 'Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help t