Gary

Below are ETF closed end funds. Below is link where you can look at the details. A simple explanation is that they are sold like stocks and since they are closed end they can't sell any more shares. You have to buy them directly from the market from someone who is selling. They are required by law to pay out all the money they earn so they can never grow. I own these five and the average dividend is over 9 percent a year. The dividend is paid monthly. Don't plan for the share price to go up or down much. They have a very low volitility. (Beta). About 40 percent is in foreign funds in case the

Just two and a half years ago the most you would have expected to pay for a condo was 30,000 baht per square meter. Now we are seeing many priced at 100,000 baht per square meter for new construction. I for one would NEVER even consider paying that much. In a VERY nice complex I would NEVER go more than 50,000. Even 50,000 is too much. If you are careful and shop around you can still find some reasonable deals from individuals. I think it is much safer to buy a unit that has been lived in and all the other units are sold out. You are able to see who the neighbors are and well as how well the c

I think that's a reasonable deduction if the unit is in a complex that is at the 49 percent limit. It's not likely you would buy one that you can't have in your name although they will likely try to sell you one with a Thai company included. In the complexes that have not exceeded the 49 percent I doubt you will see much of a difference. Of course there are always people who like to think that a newbie is an easy mark. Rent first and look around. The ex-pats will tell you what is a reasonable buy and what is not.

As it now stands, only 49 percent of the condos in a complex can be owned by farangs. Many guys would be surprised at the large number of Thai people who own condo units. In the complex where I have my condo, Lalana, Soi Chaiyapruk Jomtien, less than 20 percent of the units are farang owned. The more high profile complexes like View Talay have sold out the 49 percent farang units. Some guys have gone the company route to buy into the Thai share and may face the same problem as the home owners. Real estate people and lawyers have no problem setting up a company for you to own (?) property w

Even if you were legally allowed to own a home I would advise you to stay on the beach side of Sukhumvit. The highway is a congested nightmare and there is very little police presence. I went past the lake last week and it must have taken a half an hour to go one kilometer to get to Sukhumvit. Food carts, motorcycles and various idiot drivers had the small road all clogged up. Buy a nice condo near the beach and sleep well at night.

A little over two years ago you could buy the 32 square meter shells for about 450,000. I looked at them and didn't much like View Talay. Too big and too cold feeling.

Seeing all the HUGE condominium complexes being built made me think. Is it possible that the builders are behind the government enforcing the existing laws regarding land ownership? There are thousands of houses owned by farangs using bogus Thai companies. Pulling the rug out from under these guys would obviously increase the demand for condo units. I simply can't imagine the developers being able to sell all those units now being built. Look for the law requiring 51 percent of the units to be Thai owned changed.

Many have always correctly said that the companies set up for a farang to buy a house are illegal. This is NOT a new law but one that has always existed. Some forget that Thai lawyers will set up any kind of company you want but they have no obligation to make sure it is legal. I have always said that I like to sleep nights not having to worry if some politician will get a hard on and decide to enforce the existing law. I have suffered some abuse from guys who have these companies. They accuse me of being a fear monger and being jealous. Actually I am a simple whore-monger and only tried t

YES! I know it's not the answer you young guys are interested in BUT you would be far better off to work at home, pay taxes, put all you can possibly put into a pension plan then retire with some assets. For the US guys, had I not put all I could in what the law allowed I would still be in the US working. Even if you could find a decent job in Thailand (doubtful) you would still be missing a pension plan and maybe even Social Security. (US) I wasn't happy working in the US after living here several years, I think I bit the bullet and did the right thing for myself. I would have been much happi

I really don't know how other condos do it. I was pleased to find I had a lot of benefits I didn't know about when I bought the unit.

It all depends on your circumstances. Buying a condo with the idea of making money is NOT a good idea. Buying a pre-construction condo is a WORSE idea. If you plan to retire and stay in Thailand it is hard to justify renting rather than buying. Yes, I rented and it was a pain in the ass even though I had a good landlord. The utilities are inflated by probably at least 25 percent and if you want to make any changes to your apartment it will also be difficult. You MUST have the landlords permission. I couldn't even put a nail in the wall to hang a clock. My friends told me that I was paying

The stock market has had a bad time the past few days. Now I remember why I bailed out. I no longer have the stomach for it. I DO enjoy spending my monthly dividends but if interest rates continue to go up I may have to change horses again. By then bank CD's could look good.

I retired in Jomtien. I did the hang in the bars and get laid every night thing but it did indeed get boring. I had given up on finding a good woman but shit happens. She made a big difference in my way of life. I had in mind to open a buy, sell and swap shop. With all the farangs coming and going I think a shop where they could sell their things before they left would have done well. One leaves and another comes. That would have suited me fine. That didn't happen because I discovered that I liked living up country. Since I have been up here out in the boonies I had a workshop/garage built and

You didn't mention how old you are. If you are a long ways from getting some sort of pension the three million baht won't last nearly long enough. Protect your pension if you have one and get ready to get skinned alive. Staying married would more than likely be the best bet. If you stay married put as much as possible in a pension plan and try to keep it hidden from your wife.

Liberty Mutual is an American company. My agent is in Pattaya on on 3rd road. The name of the company is PCD International. The contact number is 038 422 825 and the fax is 038 374 196. The agent I found most helpful, Paul Chow, is now gone and a farang lady now takes care of my policy.

I have health insurance with Liberty Mutual Group. It covers 1,250,000 baht per incident. This post got me curious and I was looking at my policy and was surprised to find that if I am driving or am a passenger on a motorcycle I am not covered. I have had this policy for three years and had one claim. I had acute appendicitis. I went to a private hospital in Loei because I damn sure couldn't have made it to Bangkok. My bill was 48,000 baht total. The insurance company paid all but 15 baht. I don't know what the 15 baht was for but I didn't complain. Was the hospital in Loei good? I lived and w

I'm pretty conservative and was never a bell ringer. When I decided to retire here the baht was 25 to a dollar so that's what I based my retirement on. Anything over that is really a bonus. After I bought a condo in Jomtien I had no problem living on $1,000 US a month. I now live upcountry in my wife's house and spend a lot less than that plus I collect rent from my condo. Life is good. I get over a nine percent return on my 401K fund and the dividend is paid monthly directly to my bank. I have not had to dip into my retirement fund since I have been here. I also get a small pension from Chrys

If it were to go to a million and a half I would think the monthly income requirement would go up nearly double also. That would mean there will be a LOT of retirees looking at a different country to settle in including ME! The 65,000 baht now costs $1,805 at 36 baht per dollar. At 40 baht to a dollar it was $1,625. Since it is easy to live here for $1,000 per month I think the 65,000 baht is too much.

Hub, I'm certainly not wealthy by any means and since I can't afford to lose much, a fairly safe nearly ten percent return feels pretty good. I am hesitant to take anything other than the dividends out of my 401K. It's comforting having a decent nest egg. The house upcountry is now westernized to suit me and there are no capital expenditures in the near future that I can see. I'll always remain a cynic and my philosophy is not to spend more money in Thailand than I can afford to lose. If worse comes to worse, which i doubt, I can always load my truck and head back to my Jomtien condo.

I have posted this before but maybe it would be of interest here. I did very well in the stock market in 2005. In February of this year I got a strange feeling of gloom and doom so I completely sold out of the market. At 61 years old a bird in the hand looks better than two in the bush. I have put about 70 percent of that money in ETF, closed end funds. My return averages over 9 percent a year and the dividends are paid monthly. The Beta is quite low (volatility) but even at that I have a stop loss set at 15% below purchase price. Since they are in my 401K I pay no taxes. I sleep well, don

Someone on the Thai visa web site asked that question and the experts say it's not true and actually ended the thread saying it amounted to rumor mongering.

My card says Citibank banking card on the front. On the back it says Cirrus, Maestro, Star, NYCE, and Cash Station. No Mastercard logo. I'm waiting for the baht to weaken so I can do a wire transfer. (If it weakens). I won't need to do anything for maybe two months. I'll see how things look then. I last used it on April 5th and they took one percent off the top. No ATM fee.

I just looked at the Citibank web site to make sure I read it correctly; * Effective April 7, 2006, we will impose a charge equal to 2% on all foreign currency transactions except for transactions at a Citibank ATM, where the charge will remain at 1% of the transaction amount. It appears that they are still charging one percent though.

Citibank US charges no ATM fee if you keep a minimum of $6,000 US in your linked accounts. Sounds good right? NOT so good. On April 7th they raised their currency exchange rate fee from one percent to two percent. BASTARDS! No ATM fee but they take two percent off the top of this exchange rate; http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?...from=USD&to=THB

Owen, you're pretty much correct. It is all about square meters. A lot of guys buy the small 28 to 32 square meter units. They are OK for renting out to friends and an occasional stay but as far as living in one I don't think I could handle it. Mine has a separate big bedroom with its own air con and balcony. I use the bedroom for my computer room also. It is a corner unit and is 60 total square meters. My friends told me I paid too much for it when I bought it but it has appreciated more than 50 percent since I have owned it. I would advise people buying a condo to spend a little more and buy