Gary

Sorry Ken, but ALL cars here in the Kingdom are heavily taxed. Imports have a ridiculous tax on them. To get a larger sedan means that you would be looking at the top end of the various brands. I would guess that you will be looking at 1.8 million baht for a near to the top model of each brand. The tax breaks come with the pickup trucks and the four door pickups are heavily taxed too. A nice two door pickup truck can be bought for 600,000 baht.

According to my Thai wife, the land should have a chanote (deed) with a red seal. You can then do anything with that property. The chanote means the land has been surveyed and marked with concrete markers around the boundaries. A lot of land up country has no paperwork and can't legally be sold. For all practical purposes avoid those pieces of land. A 30 year plus 30 year lease is not legal either. The land office will recognise a 30 year lease but anything longer than that is up to the person you lease from at the end of the first lease. Some guys spend a lot of money trying to protect their interests and usually they forget that if their marriage turned to shit there is no way they would want to live out in the boonies anyways. I know that if my marriage would fail, I would be headed back to the farang ghettos. I have bought land for my wife and it is in her name. I follow the golden rule and that is to NEVER spend more than you can afford to walk away from.

I don't normally take money out. It's the other way around for me. The one time I DID take money out, I went to my Thai bank and had a bank check for US dollars made out to my US bank. The exchange rate was pretty good, the check was very inexpensive and it was very easy. If you are not planning to leave the country and just want to move money, send the check to your bank via Thai EMS. It cost 600 baht but it is good fast and safe service.

That price sounds reasonable for today. Just a few years ago you could buy shoe box size condos for about 400,000 baht.

FUTURES! At least it's an honest description. If I knew what the future was going to bring I would indeed be a wealthy man in a short time. Years ago I made a lot of money in the stock market. It was so easy and simple that I convinced myself that I would retire VERY young and very wealthy. To finish this story, I should have quit while I was ahead. I kept all the money in the market and learned why I had no business trying to play with the big boys. I lost all my profits and more. Conservative ETF's will give you a decent return and they are relatively low risk as long as you are diversified. Greed is NOT good. I was enjoying a nine percent return and decided to get back in the stock market. Now I remember why I got out of the market.

I replied to their email and got a message back that the address was for information only and was not monitored. I went back to their website and told them that I applied on-line for an account and the rest of the story. I'm waiting to hear from them.

I applied online for a Netbank account. I received an email from them stating that they needed more information and that they were sending me a snail mail detailing what they needed. That was three weeks ago and I have NOT received the letter.

It's really quite simple. You can't own property other than a condo, PERIOD.

I have two Siam Commercial bank accounts. One in Pattaya and the other in Nong Hin, Loei. That was done because there is a 20 baht fee for ATM transactions out of the province you have your account and higher fees for moving money to other accounts. It made sense to have an account in both provinces. The last time I wired money, I wired it to my Loei account. I told the bank manager I was going to have a wire transfer come and he had no idea how that worked. He told me he had never had that done at his bank and warned me that there may be a delay. I made the wire transfer as planned and the money was there the very next day. The banker had no idea that it even happened. Everything is done through the headquarters in Bangkok.

Just make sure you get the chanote (title) in your name. The condo association must give the land office the ownership percentages and be TOTALLY assured that if there is a problem with the 49/51 percent figures they WON'T put the chanote in your name. You will pay by bank check and you don't hand over the check until the chanote with you name on it is in your hand. If there is a mortgage on the property the bank must be there to sign off before the land office makes the transfer.

Here's something else to think about. I bought a new IBM T43p computer while I was in the US. Email is my main link to the US and since my folks are elderly I check my email often. My IBM has WiFi, Bluetooth and both modems built in. BUT, now I no longer drag my laptop around. I bought a Nokia N80 phone. It has WiFi, Bluetooth, Edge and 3G built in. It checks to see if there is a WiFi connection available and if not I just use GPRS. GPRS is a little slow but has been pretty dependable. The N80 is awesome, no more laptop to drag around. The N80 also has a 3 megapixel camera with a flash. I'm impressed. It has a fairly big screen and there is a wireless keyboard available if you want to reply to your email. I now just read my email on the phone and if I have to reply, I still go to an Internet cafe. If I see the wireless keyboard somewhere, I'll probably buy one. The phone has 60mb of memory and the memory card has 128 mb. That's a lot of pictures. You can also buy bigger memory cards if you plan to take a lot of pictures and have a lot of MP3 music on your phone. The FM radio has poor reception but the MP3 player is great even using the phone speaker.

Yes indeed, that's him selling the beds I designed.

Actually I designed a hide a bed with AutoCad. I then started building them. If I must say myself it is a very clever design that works with cables, springs and pulleys. If I were a young man I would have gotten a US patent because the design is unique and not copied from anyone. I was building them for a guy who was supposedly my partner. He refused to stock them and wanted one or two at a time. My work shop is 650 kilometers from Jomtien and he expected me to deliver them one or two at a time. Needless to say we had a falling out. He then stole my design and is having them made in a Thai shop. If I had any ambition I would build them and open a store myself just to put him out of business. It's just not worth the effort. I'm retired. I have the shop with everything I need to play with different projects that I enjoy.

After looking at opening accounts with at least 6 different banks and brokers, the only one that allows a foreign address is Net Bank. Their money market doesn't pay as well as the others but supposedly there are no ATM fees. The are sending me an account package by snail mail to complete. I plan to stay with Citibank for my direct deposits, their free bill pay and the online $30 wire transfers. I told Citibank to change my banking plan back to EZ Banking because there is no longer a benefit to keep the $6,000 minimum in the present account. Direct Bank sent me the canned email messages even after I emailed them three time and asked them to actually read my email rather than just sending their standard canned shit. The credit union some suggested is for only some certain California county residents. I am not qualified for USAA. That was confirmed by them.

I have purchased three new vehicles while in Thailand. I always bought them out of the dealer's stock because I don't like waiting nor do I like any surprises. None of them have required and warranty work so I have no idea what that experience would be like. I alway serviced them where I bought them if possible. I have always found the service courteous and efficient. I had a Toyota 4X4 that was a pain in the ass, It always had something wrong with it. I bought that Toyota second hand from a former friend of mine who owed me money. I should have let him keep the money. That said, the local Toyota dealer was quite good. One problem was the air bag light wouldn't go out. The dealer had most of the panels out and most of the dash. It turned out to be a loose wire under the last door panel he removed. The whole thing took several hours. My bill was 321 baht. A flickering oil light turned out to be similar. Another loose wire and that time it was even less money because they found it quickly. I really think that if Toyota put wheels on a big turd, Toyota fans would still tell you it was great. In my opinion Toyota is the most overrated vehicle in Thailand.

The first time I made the move in 1991 I had no idea whether I would like it or not. I had a LOT of things that one accumulates over the years. I stored a lot of it and shipped some junk that would have been better stored back in the US. After five years of Thailand I was really burned out and when the Thai economy crashed, I went back to the US vowing to NEVER return to Thailand. After being back in the rat race for a short time it dawned on me that in fact, I liked it in Thailand better. The second time I didn't ship anything but still stored a few things. I would have stayed that time but after a lot of calculating I realized that I simply didn't have enough money to last until I got my pensions. I had no choice but to return to work in the US. I did have a plan then. I saved every dime possible to allow me to live in Thailand until the day I die. For the final move I only took what I could get in my luggage. I did take a couple of large bags the previous trip and left them in Thailand. I gave my last piece of property in the US to my kids and told them that they have their inheritance in advance and that if they got anything more it would be an accident. They laughed because they know me well. Permanent to me means finding a place to die. And I mean to die of old age. I no longer have any desire to travel and if someone offered me a free around the world tour, I would give it to someone who would enjoy it. Thailand is plenty big enough and once in a while I do enjoy taking a trip. Maybe in May/June I will drive from up country down to Krabi. I have a friend in Kanchanaburi, another in Cha Am and and another good friend in Krabi. No schedule and I stop anywhere I find interesting. I used to like Nong Kai but I got tired of it, been there and done that. Once in a while to Udon Thani and soon I will spend a few nights in Khon Kaen. I also have a good friend in Korat. That makes a good overnight stop on the way to Jomtien. My wife sometimes doesn't want to go with me and has no objection if I go myself. She doesn't much like the bars and is content to stay in the hotel room until I get back. It's a good life.

I had to make a duty (family) visit back to the US in September. My flight out was scheduled the morning after the coup. I called the airport before I left in the morning and asked if everything was OK. The girl told me that everything was normal and not to worry about it. On the LONG flight to the US I thought I would look around to see how it would be to live there again. That visit was a very long 15 days and I was VERY happy to get back to the Kingdom. Home is home and Thailand is now my home. Political correctness, rules, laws and all the rest of the bullshit made Thailand look pretty good. Probably the biggest attraction at one time was the Thai ladies. Since I have a good woman now, that no longer seems important but I still want to stay. I made the permanent move three times. The first time was pretty scary, I looked forward to the second time and was VERY anxious the third and final time. If the country were to turn completely to shit, I would probably return to the US but that's certainly not in my plans. It does help to know that you can always pack a bag, leave and not miss any meals if you do have to move.

The PI's were my second choice for a retirement place. After a visit and looking at the weak infrastructure, high electric bills when there was electricity, terrorist threats, guards with shotguns in the KFC's, volcanoes, typhoons and earthquakes, Thailand looked much better. Also getting married to get a year visa didn't appeal to me either. Since I also have an irrational fear of earthquakes I decided that I'd be a nervous wreck living there. Bed rock ISN'T supposed to move.

Notify Siam Commercial Bank that you want to make a wire transfer and the money is for the purchase of a condo unit but that if the deal doesn't go through you want to send it back out. In any case you want to specifically earmark the funds to eliminate the bank being forced to hold 30 percent because of the new currency speculation rules. Since your transfer will be in Sterling and converted to baht you must be quite careful. If they withhold the 30 percent you won't see it for a year. Make sure they understand and confirm before you make the transfer. Mention that you are concerned about the new 30 percent rule.

Just remember that Laos and Vietnam are communist countries. There will always be someone looking over your shoulder and you will find the goal posts are often moved. It will be worse than Thailand and Thailand ISN'T good. Cambodia may be worth a try if you stay away from Phnom Penh. The capital city was always a depressing place for me. Drop Lemon an email and ask him what he thinks about where he is at. I think you'll find the infrastructure VERY weak everywhere in the country. If you have health problems you'll be looking how to get to a Thai hospital.

I applied on-line. I am an honorably discharged veteran but apparently that's no enough. It said I wasn't qualified but I'll try the email and further explain.

Thanks for the link Owen. I have been doing a lot of surfing the past few days. In fact I tried to open an account with Capital One. Every one that I have emailed for more information has responded with canned email answers. I don't think any human works for these companies. Even to email them takes a US address. I did email Capital One AGAIN and asked them to please read my email and then respond. I'm really interested in their money market account. No ATM charges and the money market pays over 4 percent. Why is everything difficult? As a side note; PayPal sucks. I will never do business with them again. Totally incompetent.

I opened the October statement and there it was big as life; Foreign Transactions (Point of Sale, ATM, and Other transactions): Effective December 2nd, 2006, we will impose a transaction charge equal to 3% of the transaction amount (includingcredit and reversals) for each transaction (U.S. or foreign currency) that you conduct outside the 50 United States or Puerto Rico other than cash withdrawals at Citibank ATMs, which will not be subject to a transaction charge Even though the web page still says one percent, there is a disclaimer saying things could be changed at anytime. The few transactions I had didn't amount to more than maybe $30. The problem is that it fucks up the way I have been living. Now other than paying the three percent, I would have to do a wire transfer. With Thailand as fucked up as it is right now, I don't want to have a lot of money in the bank because the baht could crash anytime. I am still looking at other ATM cards that have no fees. I have sent a number of emails to different banks and brokers and am waiting on replies.

Since his wife is Thai, obviously Thailand is the best answer. If he can't manage to get to Thailand then Singapore would be difficult to beat. It's only a short flight to anywhere in Thailand. Nice modern city with all the advantages of any first world city.

I have always told my friends to stay away from buying anything pre-construction. At best they are almost NEVER finished according to schedule and at worst they are never completed. That opinion is especially pertinent right now. Some of the existing nearly finished complexes are not guaranteeing that you can have a unit in your own name. You put your money down only to be told that they have used the 49 percent quota BUT they are willing to pay for a company so you can have the unit. Getting your money back could be VERY difficult. That said, I really can't see the farang free hold units losing value. The new developments are WAY over priced and I'm sure many will never be completed. There are still some decently priced farang owned units available but no where near as many as there were. I bought mine to live in and NOT to sell so I really don't care if the price would drop. A place to call my own is worth something to me. Since I am on a fixed income I wanted to eliminate what I considered to be the biggest variable, RENT.