Hub

Pig and Whistle Didn't care for the fish and chips and crap service (more than once).

Mata Hari Brunos Casa Pascal Cabbage and Condoms Jamesons Pic Kitchen used to be a regular, but it disappointed twice during June and July and now is on probationary status

Hilly again displaying the selective memory he is so famous for: 2-2-1 !!!

Continental fare, from foie gras to steaks, pasta, seafood. Excellent place.

Try thaivisa.com and have heard nothing but good things about the centre point serviced apartments, although they fill up fast with people on long stays. http://www.centrepoint.com/

Galt: That is the exact opposite of my experience. I started trying in Nov/Dec for my last trip starting end of May and had no luck. I have a 130K to burn and may try for Costa Rica for Dec or Thailand next April/May. Hopefully will have better luck. I alway look for Cathay Specials without really worrying about FF miles. Many of their Deal of The Months don't even offer FF miles. But if you can get a good direct flight to HK from east coast US for around $800, it's worth it, IMO. Hub

Used him four times last month. First 3 times fine, older car. Last time total cock up, supposed to show up with van, instead camry, had to send wife in separate car as three of us with a lot of luggage. Doubled the cost, but inconvenience/safety the big factor as stressed trying to make tee time at KK and wife alone to Jomtien. Could have got a minivan cheaper. Apologies only go so far. Mr. Toom, if you read this, you should offer the first poster 800 baht back or at worse,a 400 baht ride to Patttaya next time. Hub

I picked Montie as one of my guys to give it a go... too bad , looks like the Euros will have to wait for November for some retribution. Hey, and how about that "Tour De Yanks" (whoops, I mean France) Looks like L'Equipe and some of the other French rags wil have to start manufacturing false steriod accusationson on Landis Hub

check cathay deal of the month, they had a very low RT fare for sept last I checked. Hub

check cathay deal of the month, they had a very low RT fare for sept last I checked. Hub

They are total scum. I have the same problem with my 130K FF miles and trying to get a biz class ticket. Only suggestion I can offer is to find the maximum days in advance to reserve - I think it is 270 but you should check - and call that day (270 days in advance). If they tell you the FF flight is not available that day, I think it may be a good reason to complain loudly. I plan to do the same. NWA is a nightmare of an airline, especially trans-pacific and I have seen things you could only call surreal relative to customer service in only 4-5 flights with them. My personal favorite is one flight that I decided not to drink on or before to reduce the effects of jet lag. 10 hours in, I couldn't sleep and was watching a movie and felt like a bit of whiskey. Upon going to the galley (forget rounds by the FAs or the call button with these stiffs), I find all the FAs either sitting on milk crates or lounging about in the galley (on their shift). Upon asking for a drink, an obviously gay male FA tells me unsolicited "You know, that is NOT the way to fall asleep." with nods and murmors all around by the other loafing FAs. In other words, he was stating "why isn't the silly cattle person asleep?" One or two then go on to relate drunken misadventures by passengers while they leisurely go about finding my drink, as if I am not even there - I was a non-entity in their minds. All quite unnecesary, as I am not only 6' 1" and all of 230 lbs, but was sober as a judge. After I returned to my seat, I grew a bit miffed as time went on, as you may understand. Just out of spite, I returned to the galley and asked for a double, to which I was greeted by my light-in-the-loafers FA buddy with "I'll give you a SINGLE". Compare this to Cathay Pacific, when on one flight from the US with a very good college friend that I had not seen in a long while to Hong Kong, where we reminisced and managed around 13 double screwdrivers. When they ran out in economy, they apologized and got the bottle from business. Sorry for those in unions, but the NWA experience demonstrates everything bad involved with a union, IMO. A juicy trans-atlantic flight goes to those most senior FAs which are totally jaded, intolerably secure in their job, and REALLY know how to treat a client like a piece of baggage and even worse. Hub

Thanks for confirming what I thought. I have been looking exhaustively on all the websites (angeltravel, etc) I know of, but broke down and booked my mother on the direct JFK-Thai exec economy last week - about $1,800. Plus another $120 for jet blue from boston. If it was the beginning of June, which doesn't work for us, Angel had a deal for $1,200 for the exec economy from JFK. I was hoping to use my 130K NWA miles for a business seat for her, but no luck. Hub

OK, now if someone tells me how to get the same price Talen got during mid/late June, they have a lot of beers coming. Hub

I know CheshireTom has a lot of information on Malaysia, as we have discussed it several times, so hopefully he reads this thread. Apparently there are several advantages to Maylasia as compared to retiring in LOS, including the government being much more "retiree friendly", but he could elaborate. Hub

Shit, Now I have something else to look into. Alfred, are those managed futures funds typically available through a sarsep or ira accounts via places like amex or merryl, or do you have to go off the reservation to buy them? Thanks, Hub

Gary: 9% is a pretty nice return. So you just use the dividends for income and don't need to dip into the 401K? Sweet. How is the concrete addition to the house working out? Personally, I am going to try and continue to max my sarsep and pick up the roth again, but really focus on real estate from now on. I read some shit on the internet that real estate is a good way to go (or wait, it might have been a shoeshine boy, I can't remember now). Hub

Now that's a constructive post! Hub

I'll defer to GP2002's greater knowledge, but just be careful of knockoffs (e.g., Callaways), as I've both read and seen reports (I think 60 Minutes had one awhile ago) of China mass producing fakes that look good but are poor quality. Hub

Unclesam: I don't know Owen from a hole in the wall, but it seems you have a problem with him. My take is that he was just throwing out a potential option, and not saying it was the end-all solution for everyone, for which at least I appreciate as positive input on the board. Before I did anything major, I would consult my financial advisor. I did a cursory web search after Owens posting and saw mention of the benefit of rolling traditional IRAs into Roths also. You are making an example who is age 56 and has no income??? Of course you don't pay tax on $4,000 conversion if your entire income $4,000 for the year. I hope you guys are making more than $4,000 a year. Owen's scenario of a guy that retires a few years early and is living off stock investments for a few years, while waiting to 59.5, seems entirely feasible to me. The conversion is treated as any other income, so if you are making $80,000 a year ($80,000 seems to be an average on this board based on the average income survey), That survey was for everyone, not those retired, and I would bet my house that it does not come close to reflecting the average retirement income of a Pattaya resident. If anything, retirees prolly didn't even participate, as I read it as active workforce people. Good luck to anyone here listeing to Owen. I only consult large pension plans so I don't know much about IRAs but I took the course in college. I believe I have a lot more related knowledge on this topic than you have. What is your background, Owen? It sounds like Owen has looked into this a little more than you and is just offering a tip potentially helpful for some. I don't think there is a need to start whipping out resumes. I think you could pick faults with any investment tip, as one shoe doesn't fit all. Hub

Owen: Interesting information. Thanks. A buddy of mine is a financial advisor with all the bells for amex and does my Roth, but we are too busy talking about other things than retirement when we get together, so it's nice to consider it once in awhile. Hub

I agree with your assessment of the housing sector - I don't think so much as a bubble burst but an ease off of the records we have been seeing. Everything I have read indicates that there will be a reduction but that real estate prices will still climb over the next year. I hope you are incorrect on your Florida condo prediction though, as I am having an investment condo being built there now to be finished early next year. However, I agree there has been a small correction in the market based on what I am seeing. I am hoping it is protected from any further corrections due to its good location and the high end construction materials being used. Due to my relatively young age, I am mainly in small to mid cap growth funds, although the best performer I have had in the last 6 years is a China-based fund which has risen > 40%. I bought it as a lark for awhile when I was dating a chinese girl and reading/talking a lot about china. If I was a retired expat, I'd probably be looking at things like tax-free bonds, although I admittedly know little about them at this point. There was an excellent article on offshore investing also in the PattayaToday website a few years ago,but it is my understanding some of these doors may be closing now? Pissed me off that this year I missed my Roth IRA opportunity due to other upcoming expenses (wedding, new car, new house), although hope to make up for it next year, as will be able to purchase for both myself and wife. Is the Roth up to 5K next year? Hub

The last 6 or 7 years when I've had some free cash to invest I've usually gone with an index fund and have done well. Why? Because the market has always historically risen over the long haul and will continue to do so. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5EDJI&t=my I've done it with 10K twice and made a around 1-1,500 each time. The worst thing I did a few years ago was sell 2K of American Aitlines stock I had recently bought at $3.85 for extra cash for a LOS trip. When I came home 25 days later it was almost at 12 Hub

Email me the x-sheet if you have a chance Doggie - you have the addy I think. thanks for organizing the comp! I am already thinking of what to spend the money on..................

Try Eastinny Place Soi 8. I have negotiated lower rates with them before. Nice pool, but doesn't get much light in afternoon in some spots. If you send emails to any of these hotels, make sure you reference that you are looking for longterm (monthly) rates, as that will give them flexibility to lower rates. If not successful, I would book only one night, then go around and ask to speak to manager about monthly rates, because after a week you lose the bargaining power of a monthly rental. Make sure you get the manager, as is often with Thailand, the lower echelon workers have little or no flexibility or decision making. That is low season, so you should have more success in negatiating lower rates. Also, have you tried this site, which will give lowest rates and also take you to info on the hotel? http://hotelreslist.com/ Hub