Gary

I agree with Joe K. Regardless of what the court decides, it is very difficult to get money back from a Thai. Once the money leaves your hand and is in their hand, it's not likely you will ever get it back despite years of court action.

Put me down in the "I don't care" category. As long as no one can see through the curtains, it is fine by me. As a matter of fact, I don't like a dungeon atmosphere. To the OP, best of luck in a tough market. If you can hold on long enough to develop a customer base, I think you will do just fine. The prices appear to be quite good. ADDED - Do you have an elevator (lift)?

Reasons for visiting Thailand used to accept "visiting friends". This is no longer a good enough reason. Having a legal Thai wife IS a good enough reason. They also like to see some sort of rental agreement. I don't think the OP will have any problem if he chooses to get a visa from Hull. In and out every ninety days is expensive and the main disadvantage for that visa.

Until recently Hull in the UK was issuing one year visas apparently to anyone who applied. I have a Brit friend who goes into Laos and sends his passport to his sister in the UK. She gets the new visa from Hull and sends it back to him in Laos and he is set for another 15 months. And, YES, it is good for 15 months. I do know for a fact that he has done this for the past 3 years. According to posters on Thai Visa, Hull has tightened things up and my friend is worried that he may no be able to do this next year. The income statements from some foreign embassies are now being questioned by Th

The one thing that you want to avoid is too big of a unit. The bigger is better theory doesn't work with air conditioners. The unit has to run enough to be able to remove the humidity from the air in the room. Too large of a unit will make the air feel cold and clammy. Mildew from high humidity is also a problem.

A re-entry visa is 1,000 baht not 1,900 baht. A support visa (marriage) has less of a money requirement than a retirement visa. Pay the 1,000 for the re-entry visa and worry about it next March.

HJC FS-3 White Open Face Helmet Code: SUL520141-ATT Price: $89.99 This is what I am looking for. DOT and Snell approved.

I think the size would probably be OK but sell for the 5,000 if you can.

Dave, what size is the helmet and how much are you asking.

It's a decent place but I wouldn't call the prices reasonable. As far as a joiners fee, that sucks.

I have a nice single bedroom condo in Jomtien. My renter moved to Chiang Mai and now the unit is empty. I live upcountry so I went down and repaired the few minor things that needed repair. While there I decided to have the entire place painted. I have to say that I really enjoyed the change of pace and ended up staying for about a month. I have decided NOT to rent it again. I go down to Jomtien several times a year and was staying in hotels. Staying in my own place is so much more enjoyable. Here in Loei, we do have a cold season. It normally lasts a couple of months. I plan to stay in the co

Act like an idiot, you can expect to be treated as an idiot. These idiots were lucky if they got away with their stupidity without getting a beating.

Unfortunately she is right. The thieving little bastards will steal anything worth ten baht or more. This is one main reason to choose a condo unit in a well lighted gated complex that has good roving security. Fortunately condos are usually MUCH better than houses or townhouses. The little bastards frequently remove roof tiles to gain access. I once lived in a gated community and my house was burglarized twice in two years. I think the security guards were the thieves. They know who is home and who is going to be away from home on a trip or holiday.

I am of the opinion that the only business people in Pattaya that laugh all the way to the bank are the landlords. Owning any business that you don't own the property puts you at the mercy of the property owner. You DON'T want to be at the mercy of a Thai property owner.

Since I have discovered the Kindle, there have been no more paper books for me. A friend of mine bought one in the US and carried it here for me. ($139) Adjustable text size for my old eyes is better for me than reading glasses. I use a free program called Calibre to put books on my kindle. Calibre, so far, has converted every format (to mobi) I have put into it. I have not bought a single book. I now have nearly 7,000 books in Calibre. That's a lifetime of reading for me. I have about 1,000 books in the Kindle and delete then as I read them. Amazon is working on a WiFi browser for the Kin

Anything purchased after marriage gives the wife 50 percent. Even if he does own the house in his name, his wife is still entitled to half. These things usually end badly unless he can come to an amicable agreement with her. Guys have spent big baht and taken these situations all the way through the courts. They have won. Unfortunately years later they have still not collected a single baht.

As I understand the 30 year lease, it allows you to have total control for the lease period. The problem is if you lease from your wife. In that case, I doubt that you have a chance to recover anything if the marriage should go pear shaped.

Later today, I'll have a Thai friend call and talk to him. Thanks

I'm retired and have gotten incredibly lazy. A paint brush never did fit my hand. Besides that, by the time I buy drop cloths, brushes, rollers, etc., I'll be about as well off to hire it done. Good painters already have the proper equipment.

Buy any of the cheap Garmin Nuvi series at home and have the Thai ESRI map installed on it here, or if you are computer savvy, you can download and install the map on your computer at home. I'm not in love with Garmin but the Thai ESRI maps are designed for Garmin units. I have four Garmin units and the ESRI map works on all of them. It is available in the English or Thai language. The ESRI map is the best Thailand map available. Garmin sells one called South East Asia that includes Thailand but it sucks. Here is the link for the pirated download: http://www.noeman.org/gsm/garmin-m

By a good painter, I mean one who paints only what he is supposed to paint. Paint on the floor, furniture, cabinets or trim will not be tolerated. The condo is in Jomtien.

I use Citibank US for my bank accounts. Foreign ATM withdraws used to be free. Then they started to charge 1 percent for a currency exchange fee. That fee is now 3 percent and since the last increase, I have not used the card at all. That fee is in addition to the 150 baht Thai charge. I make a wire transfer to my Siam Commercial bank once or twice a year. That fee used to be a flat $35 regardless of the amount transferred. Now they have managed to add another $15 for the intermediary bank handling the transfer. Guess who that bank is? YES, Citibank.

Thousands of farangs have companies to circumvent the ownership law. No problems so far but better them than me. I like to sleep at night. Better to buy a nice condo 100 percent in your OWN name.

A former girlfriend of mine told me it was from a smallpox vaccination. A doctor friend of mine then told me it was indeed a keloid scar caused by a vaccination. This is apparently very common among Thai people.

CDMA EVDO was split between CAT and Hutch. Hutch had the central part of the country and CAT had the rest of the country. Hutch decided to sell out and CAT was the logical and most practical buyer. Who ended up buying Hutch? True of all companies. I had thought CAT would jump on that deal so they could cover the entire country. I have no idea of what is happening now. I use CAT EVDO upcountry and can tell you that the dongle modem WON'T work in Cha Am or Jomtien.