Gary

I too have developed a taste for Archa. I drink at a small, actually a coffee shop on a mountain near where I live. The Thai owner is a good friend of mine. The shops next door have a choice of Chang or Leo. I don't like Leo and the Chang is too kick ass for me. I am now running strong in the Cheap Charlie contest. I take boxes of Archa to the mountain and my friend keeps them in the refrigerator for me.

Good post Mrstein. I lived in Bangkok for about 7 years but it was because I was still earning a living. After I retired I bought a condo in Jomtien. I had been from one end of Thailand to the other and side to side too. I had determined from my travels that Jomtien was the perfect place to be. Unfortunately it has grown and is now too busy to suit me. If ANYONE had told me that I would eventually be living up country in the boonies, I would have told them they were crazy. That was before I met my wife. I am now very content living in the boonies of Loei province and have a very good life here. That said, if anything were to happen to our relationship (not likely) I would be loading my truck and heading back to Jomtien. I do miss the beaches but the mountains here suit me about as well. This is a very scenic area. I HOPE I'm up here to stay. Since my wife already had a house and property up here, this is where we settled. If not for the house being here I would have loved to have given Prachuap Kirikan a try. The beaches are pristine and the mountains to the west are beautiful. The city itself sits on a bay and there is an island in the middle of that bay. Beautiful.

Malaysia is pushing to try to get retirees there. They have several packages available BUT it is a lot more expensive there than here in Thailand. The Buddhists are also much easier to get along with than the muslims. The Philippines was my second choice but the typhoons, earthquakes, volcanoes, crime and lack of infrastructure made Thailand an easy choice for me. It is also easier to get a year to year visa here in Thailand WITHOUT having to get married. Being married here is not much of an advantage. The financial requirements are 400,000 baht rather than 800,000 baht in a Thai bank. This proves to me that two can live cheaper than one. Actually it is MUCH cheaper for me to live here married than when I was single.

As far as a computer any old rag will do if all you are doing is the Internet, email and surfing. I have an antique Toshiba laptop that I sometimes drag around with me. It IS old and it's just as fast in the Internet as my high powered desktop. I gave my old desktop to a friend of mine. I bought a new one and got tired of seeing it sitting around. Second hand computers are very cheap. My retirement visa cost 1,900 baht per year, I don't have to ever leave the country. The 90 day address verifications are free. I have no desire to leave the country and would just as soon take a beating as to travel. My health insurance is about 20,000 baht per year. It does NOT cover pre existing conditions. Drugs are cheap here anyways and it does NOT cover drugs, doctor visits or dental. There is zero deductible. I'm not sure if it is good or not but last year I had acute appendicitis. The bill was 48,000 baht for the surgery and hospital. The insurance paid all except 15 baht. I don't know what the 15 baht was but I didn't question it. If I remember correctly there was a 30 day waiting period before they would cover any claims.

I too enjoy cheap living. I bought a condo in Jomtien a couple of years ago to eliminate the biggest cost variable and since then have moved up country and live in my Wife's house. We pay no rent and have the condo rent coming in. I give her 20,000 baht a month and she pays everything except my annual insurance premiums. Since I have two vehicles and a motorcycle my insurance premiums including health insurance are nearly 50,000 baht per year. It's a good life. She has money left over every month and is able to put about 5,000 of that in her savings account.

If you ever get up country you will see rice bags full of cut tobacco in the local fresh markets. Here in our village they have four of five different kinds. I'm not sure how many grams but you get a plastic bag full for ten baht. No rolling suppiies though, just non gummed papers.

Thai or farang doesn't matter, all pay the same. Most landlords add on their own little divvy to add to their bottom line. The same with the water. BobbySanuk pays a flat five baht, Jacko is billed direct and at his last usage he paid 3.83 baht. My last usage was less so my rate was 3.36 baht. 264 KWH times five equals 1,320 baht. @64 times 3.36 equals 887 baht so the landlord made 433 baht for his pocket if the usage was similar to mine.

I have a relatively wealthy friend who lives in Jomtien. He runs his air conditioners 24/7 and his bill was averaging 7,000 baht per month. I know it is non of my business but I felt he was wasting a lot of electricity. We were talking over a few beers and I told him that his old air conditioners were not efficient. To his credit he bought a new high efficiency main unit and his bill dropped to 5,000 baht per month. He is now building a new house and has used the new cement blocks that have insulating foam in the center. He obviously doesn't care how much his electric bills are but he is now thinking about conservation. He has also gone so far as to put a wind potentiometer on a pole to determine if a wind generator would be viable.

I would bet that jballstate has no money problems and wants to streamline his life. Having to worry about property is a bummer that is best avoided when retired. The best part of retired life is having no responsibilities and having enough money to live as you choose.

It's not a matter of whether you can afford it. I'm interested in conserving energy and I hope I live to see the day we can tell OPEC to eat their fucking oil. I don't drive a gas guzzler SUV. I drive a fuel efficient diesel pick up truck that gets 14/15 kilometers to a liter of fuel. I also have a four wheel drive pick up that is quite useful up here in the boonies. It gets about 11 kilometers per liter so it sits in my garage the vast majority of the time. My name will be on the order list for the first made in Thailand diesel car that is available. If I still lived in Jomtien, I wouldn't own a car or truck. I would pay a higher price for bio diesel if it were available here. I have a 500 liter water tank on a small tower to warm in the sun to save a little electricity.

I don't want to hurt your feelings but I happened to take a look at my last bill. I used 264 units at 628.31 plus the fuel adjustment rate of 200.22 plus VAT at 58 baht for a total of 886.53. The only air con we use is in the bedroom but we run a very large refrigerator and also a smaller one. The hot water shower at least four time a day is the other major user. When the shower is on the electric water pump must also run.

One thing I forgot to add is that the Thai government also has a sliding rate. Unlike the US where the cost per unit decreases for higher useage, here the cost increases. The more you use the higher per unit cost.

I have one already. It is not one of the super upscale units but it is a very nice one bedroom corner unit of 60 square meters in a good location. Since this thread began I have been checking prices. I was quite surprised that my unit has doubled in price in the past two and a half years. I bought it for a security blanket and had no intention of selling it. I am glad that it has appreciated but the botton line is that I don't care. It is not for sale so what does the price matter? I always have a place to go and that is why I bought it. I don't have to worry about how much my rent will increase.

It appears that you have used 727 KWH. That's a lot of electricity. The easiest way is to divide the total bill by the KWH used. 2783.17 divided by 727 equals about 3.83 per KWH. When I was renting the landlord charged 5 baht per KWH so you are getting a direct rate. The mystery charge is probably the fuel surcharge and the VAT is just normal. The electric rate here is cheaper than most of the industrialized countries.

The land must be in his wife's name. Either that or he has a company. I briefly surfed and found this. I have friends over there who bitch about this. With 7,100 islands and year-round tropical sun, there is a lot of attractive property in the Philippines. It also is cheap, especially in comparison to Western prices. Throw in a low cost of living and a population that for the most part speaks excellent English, and the Philippines starts looking like a pretty attractive vacation home or retirement destination. The problem is, the country's Constitution says you have to be a citizen to buy. However, there are various means by which noncitizens can hold property in the Philippines. The most common way is a corporate structure. Corporations can own land, so long as Filipino citizens own 60 percent of the company; the rest can be owned by a foreign partner or partners. The arrangement makes it particularly easy for foreigners to buy condominiums, as long as they don't compose more than 40 percent of a building's ownership.

I made the move over here three times. The first time I shipped some things over because the company I worked for paid for it. When I went back I sorted through the stuff and only shipped back sentimental things. After I was back in the US and my shipment came I was looking through it and decided that what I had shipped was NOT even worth the $1,500 it cost me much less the hassle. The second time I gave nearly everything to my two kids including the last house that I owned in the US. There were many things that I gave away. This last time I took what I could fit in my luggage allowance and that was it. I was able to sell some of the things but ended up giving most of it away. I did do a little planning and brought two large suitcases with me on previous trips when I was looking for a place to live and generally getting organised. I had friends here who kept those suitcases until I made the move. One of those bags had good hand tools in it. Good hand tools are difficult to buy here. The other bag had a computer and computer related items in it. I actually felt good not having to worry about dragging a ton of junk around with me. The voltage here is 230 so forget about anything electrical unless it is suited to 100 to 240 V such as a computer or many rechargeable things. There are a number of Vietnam veterans who are now well dressed. I worked for many years wearing a suit and tie. Several of the suits I had made here in Thailand. I didn't take any long sleeved shirts, ties or dress pants. I gave three LARGE garbage bags full of clothes to the local vet's organization.

Have you checked on the Philippines? Their property laws are as or even more restrictive than Thailand. You CANNOT own land in the Philippines either.

I mean that the developers sell these units long before they are finished. They sell the 49 percent of the units to farangs but what will happen to the 51 percent that have to belong to the Thais? If there are not enough units sold there will not be enough monthly maintenance money coming in and the 49 percent that are sold may never even be livable. There are still some beautiful high rise developments that sit empty because the developers got in financial trouble and were never even able to hook up the electric and water. Companies like View Talay run a scam and just keep selling by not telling the buyers that they will need a bogus company to own their unit. Since it has finally come to our attention that these bogus companies are NOT legal who will buy and not be able to have the unit in their own name.

If you found a profitable niche you are to be congratulated. Good salesman are few and far between although many try and simply don't have the gift of gab to pull it off. I mentioned the business angle because someone is bound to suggest that approach. I was very successful here until the economy took a shit. I was an engineer in a very specialized industry that was BOI approved so it is possible but not likely that someone will be able to find a job that pays 150,000 baht per month plus a townhouse, utilities and a vehicle. YES! I do try to discourage people who come here and think they are going to find a decent paying job. I was involved in two different companies with farangs. One failed and the guy went to work for a Thai company. He earns peanuts. The other is barely making it. I am retired and live quite well from investments and my pensions. Both farangs are still here and surviving BUT when they get a little older and need to stop working they will have NOTHING. I wouldn't want to have to think about that.

Quite frankly I would guess that you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and without family you would starve to death. The average guy coming here looking for a job is not likely to find anything that pays more than an existence income. If you don't want to be an English teacher, other jobs are hard to come by. Of course if you are a bottom feeder and can tell convincing lies you may be able to scam enough people to live well, (for a while). It is NOT a level playing field for a farang starting a business. Work permits and all the other red tape ruin most who try. Many who scrape by do not have a work permit and even do monthly visa runs. They may be forced to leave the country at any time if they are caught, or spend some time in jail.

The goverment is missing out on a BIG piece of tax income right now. Those who chose to lease a house are supposed to be paying 12 1/2 percent tax on monthly rent. This applies whether it was paid in advance or not. If the value of the rent is understated the govenment will set the monthly value. The same applies to guys who are renting out their condos. By law they are also required to pay the 12 1/2 percent tax. How many people do you know who are paying that tax? I was curious about people bitching about condo prices so I have been doing a little research. It appears that condo values have about doubled in the past three years. I have to say that I was shocked. The only units that have not appreciated very much are the shoe box sizes of between 28 and 32 square meters. At this point it appears cheaper to rent because rents have not gone up anywhere near as much as the value of the properties. If the government chooses to start collecting the taxes due, then you will see rent prices go up. When/if that happens people will scream again about the government changing the laws. The law already exists so they do NOT have to change anything. The laws have not been changed they simply have not been enforced.

Well, I'm not Andy but the insurance Lalana has is for the building and not for your contents. It does include water damage so if your neighbor on top of you floods your place the damage is covered.

The maintenance fee for the Lalana complex is 10 baht per square meter per month. That also covers insurance and security. The condo association has BIG baht in the reserves, millions of baht. For the past two years they have been giving back some to the unit owners. My unit fee is 600 baht per month and I got back 2,000 baht. Beware of the complexes that are NOT sold out!

After you are married everything becomes a 50/50 proposition. How can you loan money to yourself? It all amounts to paying crooked lawyers big fees, then paying an accountant and filing tax returns every year. For all the fees plus the taxes you could pay a substantial amount of your rent. I have no idea what is going to happen to the guys who got sucked into this mess but it appears that there are going to be some more expensive fixes that are NOT going to solve anything. Had they done their homework they would have seen that they were in a losing deal. The old original advice was the best. DON'T spend more than you can afford to walk away from. I certainly don't claim to be the sharpest pencil in the pack but I could see this coming years ago and ALWAYS said so. I bought my wife ten rai of land. I certainly didn't pay any crook for a lease or a bogus company. I don't file tax returns on it and I don't pay any accountant. If things turn to shit I walk away. It's hers whether I have a company, a lease or some other bogus scheme.

The bottom line is that they can bullshit and manipulate all they want but it is still against the law for a farang to own land in Thailand. You can have a legal company and own 49 percent. Will you be happy to pay 100 percent and own 49 percent? I think NOT! This is not going to change. Thailand belongs to the Thais and not one square inch is for sale. The Thai constitution states that as well as their national anthem. Toxin tried to make it legal to own land through the VIP card but that too was proven illegal and that scheme fell apart. Be happy with a condo or forget it. A 30 year lease is also legal but owning is NOT the same as a lease. A freehold condo is all we can legally own. Even a legal 30 year lease has tax liabilities that I wouldn't want any part of. Also be aware that farangs can only own a condo in a complex that has less than 49 percent farang owners. It appears that View Talay has a new scheme that forces a farang to buy through a bogus company if they have sold more than the 49 percent share. You pay your money then you are told that you cannot own freehold. That SUCKS!