torrenova

Where is the accrual for depreciation and repairs ? or does the magic fairy give the building a lick of paint every so often and Home Pro comes around every 5 years and gives you a free mattress for each room ? You can only work things out on a room cost basis, both fixed costs and variable costs. For example, if you buy a Bt40,000 plasma TV for the room which lasts 5 years then the fixed cost of that TV per day is 40,000/365/5=22 baht. Conversely, in room toiletries, laundry and to a virtually pointless small level the cost saved in not cleaning it, are all variable costs. You can rack up Bt150 a day per room quite easily with full depreciation. There is another 650,000 baht cost which needs to be factored in.

Isn't the EU flights thing a set amount ? And for European or UK flights, there isn't any first class and often business is just a variable position curtain.

And also because a lease of more than 3 years has to be recorded on property, the rent is listed and taxes accrue from that. Now if half the rent comes in the form of a bag of money not listed on the property paperwork (other than some contract), then no taxes are paid. Thus, the true value of the "rent" being paid up front is vastly increased as it is not taxed and massively improves the landlord's up front cashflow. If achievable interest rates were 10% then the 5m invested would give 500k per year without touching the capital and yet the landlord gets this. He then invests it at 10%pa and (without using NPVs etc.) he gets about 10m extra !

I don't think staff costs are as low as 22k I am not sure you could get Bt600 a night per room. I'd guess the standard of the F&F is more Thai than western. Utilities at 25k per month is laughable if the rooms are aircon. If not, nowhere near Bt600 per day. For it to be worth 5m, you'd have to be getting back 2.5m+ per annum. On the numbers given, it is worth zero as you wouldn't even get your 5m back.

You spend 1050 baht a day on food? What or where are you eating? 1575 baht per night for a room is also a bit over the top. You could easily cut your food and room expenditure in half. It is possible to dine well and have a nice clean air conditioned room for 1/3 of what you are spending. Yeah, I agree. Not many spend that much on food but you would round it up to £20 in GBP terms. You can really only price it in THB terms though and I'd say I used to spend around Bt500 all in on food max and often down as low as Bt200/300. That could be £5 a day. A guest house can be had for £10 per day or £15 tops. Even hotels with pools for £15 in the thick of things outside high season. As ever, booze and birds are what kills any budget.

I think the idea of living like a king on little money can be achieved in a relative sense. If I look back at a time when I was in banking and what I was spending, just to get through each week, then for less than a normal life, I could stay in 5* hotels in Thailand and could not spend more per day on holiday than my normal life cost elsewhere. In that sense, I could perhaps say that I was able to live like a king on what was much less than my normal living costs. A good few years ago, I stumbled across a small island in the South Andaman. Its name was Koh Mook. It was idyllic. A small bay, simple wooden hut structures as rooms, electric perhaps a few hours a day if you were lucky and cold water heated far too hot by the all day sun. Food was largely whatever the fishermen had been able to catch and what Ang and Chai, the owners of the accommodation and small restaurant had been able to purchase from them at reasonable cost. Occasional forays to the mainland could bring back rewards such as selections of meat whilst blue swimming crabs were a great delicacy. Booze was Thai gut rot or large bottles of beer, Chang or Singha only. We left and then went back because no-where else came close at that time. It was before Charlie fucked the place up aka Phi Phi but for those months, it was idyllic and it was living like a king on peanuts. We could not spend Bt1000 between two of us, accommodated, fed and watered. I'll never forget that.

Not sure how this could occur. They cannot predict no shows outside their normal yield management parameters. If they routinely oversold 5% then that would be the maximum if all 105% turned up ! They would not sell 110%, creating a problem outside their yield management parameters. I suspect it has to do with weather and the potential that some planes did not take off and were / are out position. Perhaps a cancellation has forced loads onto other flights and it seems the airline's take care of passengers who have missed their connection ahead of people who are confirmed on the current flights. That would lead to some people needing to be bumped, but nothing to do with Thai actually selling too many tickets.

Can you imagine being on a 9 or 12 hour stopover there like is on one of the connections ? Nightmare !

I understand Moby, maybe because I have done it all so many times before and my disposition is to think laterally and out of the box, that I easily built in all the issues which can get overlooked, such as no lifts with bags etc. I know it came home to hit me after my daughter was born as the buggy made single person travel difficult and you had to think more about the ease of movement. Add in fag breaks and I fully understand !

Yeah, if they had the 777s on the BOM-BKK leg as well as the LHR_BOM one, it would be hard to say no. Good aircraft, IFE very good, food very good also if your selection is available (I love curry). Some bottles of wine and off to sleep we go. Very similar to Etihad until you get to India - then it all goes to shit.

It depends on much more than that. The two you mention don't have in room electronic safes so they are out of the reckoning in many people's books.

I flew with them just after they started the LHR route. They were half price of any other available option on short notice and so yes, I saved the cash. Fine in many respects but shit cramped second leg, just a little too long at 4.5 hours on a small plane. The transit at Bombay was terrible. Walking down endless thin corridors with supporting pillars blocking the way everywhere. No carts. Then some Hitlers wanting you to go through another security check and them wanting to take lighters and shit from you. A lot of hassle. I would use them again purely on price. Comparing them to Thai is not good because Thai are shit. The only thing Thai are good at is that they go direct. If they were indirect, no-one would use them. How much extra I would pay for Etihad I do not know. £100 ? sure. £200 ? perhaps that is the level when I start to reconsider Jet ?

I think the saving is too low to go with Jet. Double the saving then yes.

Ibis http://www.ibishotel.com/gb/hotel-0794-ibi...ort/index.shtml

It was because of the lack of attention to detail that I contacted them. I said I could not be expected to assume all figures were bullshit until proven otherwise. I asked whether I had to question the number of rooms or the rent or lease details. If the fundamentals of the business were so obviously lies and he didn't care, how could I trust any of the information on his website ? The fact is that you cannot, it is all shite, as is he for not sorting it out. Here I was, a war chest of cash waiting for any number of businesses to invest in and the top man of the supposed best agency turns out to be a supporter of lies and crap. Then again, every agent I have ever spoken to in Thailand has been a utter bullshitter. You saw it on that guest house for sale. 8.5m, then 6.5, then 4.3, then 3.7, then 1.5 and now I think someone offered 50p or something. There is no credibility if you ask 10 times the true price and these clowns will put out any price you say !!!

Then don't use it if that is how you feel.

OK, say you are the buyer and I am the seller. In the middle is "the agent". Now what should happen is that the property is transferred from me to you directly. However, some unscrupulous agents try to pull the wool over the eyes of foreigners and baffle them with bullshit. What reall happens is that the property is transferred from me to at least one other person or company, even back to the developer and then on to you. Now for the financials. Say I had it on the market for 5m but had reduced the price to 4m. If you were paying 5m but later twigged that the price paid was 4m, then you'd be pissed off. I am only expecting 4m so they have to hide 1m. What happens is that they push it around, add fixtures and fittings or take them away, anything really, commission payments to finders are common, and effectively buy it from me at 4m, then sell it to you at 5m. You see 5m registered so you think ok. I saw 4m so I was ok, unless I ever meet you and we talk about it. Happens more on the upward swing of a market where property prices can jump between putting it on the market and when it sells. The agent can market it at a higher rate and then just pocket the difference instead of notifying you that they have received a higher offer and just taking their commissions. Piss poor non regulated market with loads of scam artists pretending to be honest businessmen. Watch out for hiked commissions as well. Prices went up and they then wanted to raise commission levels, saying that they could not live on 3% or so. Bollocks. Caveat Emptor with bells on.

UK Nova is legal. They are delayed past first showing and deleted if made commercially available. No Simpsons or similar. They have a list of what is not available on their website. It is basically like a public video recorder for stuff shown on UK Tv that you forgot to record. Great idea.

You say you don't want to be around Nana or Soi Cowboy but do you actually know anywhere else ? If you stated your reason for being in Bangkok then you could find out where, ideally, you would like to live. The main issue with cost and desirability is access to transport links because of the huge waste of time it takes to get around Bangkok on foot, in a taxi or on a bus. Don't forget the river taxis. Often overlooked, they provide a cheap and relatively fast means of transport. Here's an actual example a friend and I worked through some time ago. If you have a condo say for 15k but because it is a bit of a walk to the BTS you use a motorbike taxi each way at Bt30 average, and you go out 5 days a week, then you are spending an extra 5*2*30= 300 baht a week or around Bt1500 a month. In reality, you'll be lucky to be so near as to get it for Bt30 each way and maybe it will hit Bt50 which makes your monthly extras 5*2*50=500 baht a week or around Bt2500 extra a month. Furthermore, because you have to pay Bt50 after getting out of the BTS, you say "sod this" and you jump in a taxi. You don't actually save the BTS fare as you've paid for it on a monthly fee but you are out perhaps Bt150 for the taxi as it struggles through the traffic. You will also do this when it is raining or late. The real extras of your "cheap" condo, quite a way from the BTS is perhaps Bt4000. If you need to do special shopping trips, then maybe a little more. If you have a live in, then her costs go up as well by a few thousand. Added together, it could be 6/7/8k a month extra. What you don't realise is the extras because it comes from your pocket but it does add up. Then you have to think about electricity. Residential charges are around 3.5 baht per kw/h. Many landlords charge much more. A studio condo, occupied for half the day with aircon running in summer will hit around 400/500 units a month, perhaps a little more. So if your landlord was charging electric at Bt8 a unit, you would be paying (8-3.5)*450=2025 extra baht per month compared to one where you paid the government rate of 3.5 baht. Loads to consider but you need to identify where you want and the reason why, not just say not here or not here.

My hotel of choice in the Nana area since it opened. I agree about the convenience store but on the way back to the hotel you have to pass at least a couple of 7/11 types. The DVD is a combination cube which plays CD/VCD/DVD and radio with alarm etc. Haven't been asked or perhaps even given coupons for breakfast but now every guest is on free breakfast (whereas before only on some rates) it hardly matters. Never been there at 6:30am for breakfast but I've found it to be not too shabby with plenty of bacon, eggs, toast etc. I haven't bothered asking about the Thai options but I presume congee and rice at least. Tea and coffee ok. No issues with joiners as described but no issues with joiners and breakfast either since they went all guests free breakfast. Menu from the restaurant and room service is great and with a microwave in the room, I tend to over order and keep a meal in the fridge or freezer. You can even get some frozen rice dish from 7/1 if you want and just keep it in the freezer. Full bath and over bath shower with amenities as described. I do like the bath robes for lounging around the room. Pool downstairs but very small and no sun. Small gym in house. The trick the OP missed was to book direct as direct gives significant discounts for both 3 and 5 day stays. Sometimes 7 days as well. They are pretty good at extending on deals as well and being somewhat flexible. What seals it for me, if the above was not enough, combined with the discounted rates I get from their website, is the provision of 2 free PCs in the reception corridor. No need for a laptop, no need for an internet cafe, available 24/7/365. Small enough hotel with wi-fi and LAN in rooms to mean that these PCs are usually free to use.

Remember though that I had Greg Lange, head of Sunbelt Asia, the largest business transfer agent, write to me saying that he supported advertising a business with sales of 5m, expenses of 4m and profits of 3m, when it simply was not possible and someone was lying. His answer was that I should undertake my due diligence. Of course, but why lie inthe first place and so obviously ? No reply to that.

Shop houses are build on some non chanote land as they have to "use" the land or lose it / face a harder time converting it to chanote. As for the restaurant, there is quite a decent business converting empty shop houses into any type of business and selling it on straight away. Why ? well most western owners haven't a clue where to buy food nevermind where to buy F&F for a business fit out. They want to take over something, not create it. Only works at the bottom end though, not where a proven trading record is required.

Just giving information as you just said Bangkok with no reference to where you wanted to be or why you needed or wanted to be in a particular place. 16-20k will get you a room, studio or perhaps a house or even a 1 bed. All depends upon area, which you seem to have no idea about.

Downloading anything into Thailand will get throttled first by the sheer lack of international capacity and then by your internet provider.

I looked at this from within and also from outside Thailand and sending some things over. I only have experience from Singapore and the UK to recount though but many different items. From Singapore, all was fine. No special post or courier. All arrived with no issues or requests for payment. From the UK, varied results. When posted with a courier such as Fed Ex, UPS, Parcel Force etc. it raises flags. Documents and paperwork including quasi books and manuals has all flown through. When bought direct, the cost of the shipping has been added to the value of the item for customs for Fex Ex stuff to Pattaya. Some Royal Mail parcels went missing from Banglamung Post Office though they were recorded in the log. They were never delivered and I was told they had been returned to sender. I knew that no return address was listed. They just lied. They had obviously been opened and stolen. Some regular small packet (under 2.0kg) airmail stuff seems to fly through unnoticed either to Pattaya or up country to Buriram. Quite swift as well with a post to delivery of only 4 days last time and this is no expedited service. Brown paper or cardboard packaging and handwritten names in Thai. In summary, I would not let someone post it directly with a courier as it seems to be a red flag to a bull. Making up a simple packet and paying for it that way seems fine. For heavy but durable stuff then you have surface mail as well for much cheaper prices. From the UK, 2.0kg is £23.26 with 1kg just about half that. Some baby presents flew through even though they were packaged in Amazon sleeves. I use Fed Ex for documents but general airmail with lots of tape for other stuff. Too much risk using couriers for goods.