torrenova

Don't like bikes so we'll disagree there, I go everywhere in the truck or walk mostly. Waiting for the "you don't need a car or truck in Pattaya" brigade to chirp up. Nah, bring all your fucking shopping back on the bike, pissing down with rain. Great driving along Sukhumvit like that. Trucks and cars do cost money but they virtually last forever and save you in so many other areas of life as well as improving your quality of life no end.

Great idea to try and plan ahead. Spend at least 6 months on the ground, getting around, to see where you might like to live. Maybe a year. You don't really want to have to sell out anytime.

I like that location as well. Got a 3 bed 2 bath place and can't ever see me trading up to a Bt15m house even if I wanted to spend that type of money. Maybe a 2 story one in time with a larger garden for my kid, who knows. As for the condos, I disagree if you are willing to put some work into it. managing them from overseas is largely impossible without giving over commissions to agents and good agents I mean, not chancers. However, if you live in Pattaya and can make yours stand out from the crowd, you can benefit from either higher 12 month rentals without agents fees or you play the tourist market for short term accommodation and offer great service which you can manage because you live in Pattaya. You know, 99% of people with condos in Thailand are blind. It is true. They all buy crap mix and match chipboard or similar veneered furniture where nothing matches the other. They skimp on beds and think turning a pre owned condo into a business it just about letting it out and collecting the rent. As long as you are more intelligent than those and are not completely lazy, you can get ahead. It really is not rocket science.

So true. We used to laugh at all these guys peddling magic potions and fix all cures when I was on the trading floor. Like you can learn space walking online you know

Are you sure 50,000 miles ? I had the top BA Amex card for years and they were very tight.

Not easy to calculate upgrades as well because very often you have to buy a higher class than you could have got to be able to upgrade.

I don't think Xmas prices go up to 3 x the normal level. The current price is the normal level, the market defined level. If someone asked me what the average or "normal" price was over the year I'd say around £600 with some bargains in the £400s and some in the £750 range but over Xmas, booked late, £750 has always been cheap and a grand for a ticket is not out of the ordinary. Now the Eva flights I saw for Bt30,500 were available and similar, though slightly higher prices originating in the UK. That was travelling anytime and I looked specifically at 30/11 and the week of 26-23/12 and they were available for that price. The next price jump was to over 55,000. Those were checked in September. The best usual price was Bt32,000 so about £570 and up.

Fuck me ! Boeing have developed a female aeroplane ! Won't go out in bad weather, likely temperamental and already late for her first appearance ! What happens when it is that "time of the month" and you're at 37,000 feet ?

But if you lived in Manchester, why would you go to London ? Maybe to save money, maybe to get a direct flight, but just how much would you need to save to cover the hassle, including cabs, trains, lugging your luggage around etc. when you could presumably get to Manchester relatively easy ? That is without the cost of any overnight accommodation. Much easier on the way out but a nightmare and tiring way to come home.

Depends upon where I was living at the time. From Hong Kong, next to nothing, but from the UK around £350 all in. From LOS to the UK, always with flexibility to change at zero or minimal cost, around £250 return. Cannot be done now as taxes, fuel surcharges etc. all so high and set to rise further. I flew one last year where the cost of the ticket, if you can believe it (I don't really) before extras, was around £60 each way. In October this year, Eva had a flexible, changeable and importantly fully refundable 6 month ticket from BKK to LHR for Bt22,000 plus taxes which were Bt10,000 but my agent could chop a bit off it and the total cost was Bt30,500. For the conditions, that was a good deal I thought, around £550.

Air Bin Laden

I think Tip's number is 081-940-5181

Gabor, I don't have the numbers but phone the reception or the laundries in VT2 and get them to check the boards and the shop windows. If you have a contact in Pattaya who is on the ground, get them to drive round and look. Phone a girl you know to do it and send her Bt300 or so from your phone or top her phone up online from your bank as payment ? Have you got John's number from the Hideaway ?

I hear about this all the time but surely people could use prepaid cards or do like I do with banks, load one account only with the amount they are going to take shortly before the time they will take it. Maybe get your bank to give you a totally separate account with a small limit which you only use for such things and which could never contaminate your main banking.

Yeah, my thoughts as well. Not expecting the owner / manager to come online and grovel but a more conciliatory response would probably be better for business. As the manager only joined this day to put up this post, presumably in response to someone telling him of criticism, then it is a hell of an opening advertisement. Not.

You guys saying 90,000 is 3,000 a day are just clouding the issue for the OP. Your expenditure living in Thailand is nothing like that or at least when you are not out on the piss it is not. Many days zero or just a few baht, some days a few thousand, sometimes much much more. The OP has also only stayed together 1 month in her house. That is nothing unless it is a nice big western place with all the mod cons. They've also apparently only been together 4 months, which is nothing. Who pays for the new TV if required or to upgrade the shower and hot water ? What about a car ? She has an appreciating asset but wants to use his depreciating asset. Not quite equitable that. He needs his own place or has to prepare for one. Buy a condo and rent it out is one option. He also has to prepare for a drop off in income in later life. Maybe a few condos to rent out ? Lots to think about.

If you can handle the location and stretch to the budget then this place is ideal http://www.fourseasonsplace.com/home.htm Don't be put off by their listed rates, much cheaper through an agent and sometimes even with the hotel direct. E.G. http://www.fourseasonsplace.com/promotions.htm

For your 19 days you might just be able to get a month rate which works out cheaper but watch extras for electric and water and even cleaning in some places. 19 * 750 = 14,250 yeah, you might get a better monthly deal.

Go to Pattaya Mail and search the classifieds for Tippawan (Tip) in the houses and condos to rent sections. She always puts her name and number in. Sometimes she has an advert but the adverts are not shown online. Phone her and get her email. Don't have the details to hand right now. You can pay her via bank transfer I suppose (guessing you still have a Thai bank account). For another chance - phone these guys http://www.mmt-services.com/index.php?opti...5&Itemid=14 and ask about VT2. They have about 10 in there but are usually booked out. Germans guys I've dealt with for years and can highly recommend. Up Naklua Soi 18.

What is it with hotel and guest house owner muppets and the lack of large safes, well secured to the wall and preferably placed on a surface (where is that place with them just hanging out of the wall like soap dishes ?). The cost of a room build and fit out is in the hundreds of thousands and they won't put out a few thousand for a safe ? Then again, most don't put out for much better than MFI type furniture.

And with many Thai places you can wait what seems like forever for them to reply. If I email someone wanting a published price for something, not a discount or a special, then I really expect that email to be monitored permanently in an upmarket place and certainly all day during extended business hours in other places. To not monitor your internet booking system and emails is just stupid.

Guys coming here multiple times have got to have a bank account and if they don't then they are being a bit daft. Once internet banking is arranged, you could transfer money online for a deposit or with K-Banking (Kasikorn Bank) you can do it with your Thai SIM card. A few years ago there was even a thread on one board with people bragging about how many rooms they had booked and were not going to cancel, just at the same time as others were complaining about CCs required and prices going up.

Maid service in the condos is not what people will expect. Basically, someone will have a contract, most likely from one of the laundries operating there or advertised therein and it is usually a change of bed linen, towels and a quick sweep up and bin empty. Usual charges are Bt250/300 and it is an utter piss take. I think I did it twice in 3 years. It is an issue with staying in a condo short term as you don't really want to get into buying your own linen. However, daft as though it seems, you can make sure your landlord provides at least 2 sets of sheets etc. and deal with the laundry yourself, dropping it in when you go out. If they won't, then buy a set, it won't break the bank and you can leave it to your favourite TG.

Think about the big picture, rather than just the cost of each item. I'll chuck in a few examples. I lived in a condo, great place but didn't have transport. It was on the bus routes into Pattaya so Bt10 at least twice a day supplemented by motor bike taxi fares and as a couple, the costs of my other half. Now this worked out around Bt100-200 a day so probably about Bt5000 a month. Previously I'd lived in a hotel in town for 10k a month all in and now I had a condo at 12k, electric bills of say 2k and transport costs of 5k. Very simply, it looked as though my costs had risen from 10k to 19k. However, I much preferred living in the condo and consequently, spent far less on going out, which raised the quality of my life and saved me some money. I moved to a detached house, past Sukhumvit and bought a truck. Now the truck cost me 16k a month finance and maybe another 6k for servicing, insurance and fuel etc. However, I did not have the taxi costs and my electric dropped as a house costs less compared to a condo to keep cool. I then had a great kitchen and all mod cons and thus, I was able to enjoy my home life even more. If I went out, I sometimes went locally, which was far far cheaper than going into the centre of Pattaya. All of this offset the cost of the truck and my home life improved immeasurably as I was mobile. I could have saved another 3-5k on housing at that time had I so wished. I would now never be without a vehicle. I would therefore advise someone coming over to rent a couple and then buy one cash. Looking at depreciation, insurance, fuel and repairs and taxes, I guess a vehicle replaced every 3 years (no need to do it so often) would cost about Bt120,000 a year if you were very careful. Certainly not more than Bt200,000 a year and more likely nearer the Bt120,000 figure. Thus, 10k or a little more a month gets you motoring. After that, get a budget for the big ticket items. Don't be fazed with renting or buying a place with no furniture. Who really wants a 5 year old fridge from someone else anyway ? Bt10k an item for washer, fridge freezer, new and better shower unit, 30k for a TV, 30k for a computer set up, 30k for aircon, 10k for fans and 20k for other stuff. I haven't worked it out but lets say 200k. That sets you up. You can depreciate it over a few years if you want and it will only be a few thousand a month. In the first 6 months and certainly up to the first year, you'll spend more money. Don't buy or rent long term too soon until you know where you want to be. Add in another few hundred thousand for the first year and that will settle you in. So, after a year you are sorted, your expenditure has gone down and you are putting a little away each month to replace the big ticket items. You will need insurance for your medical expenses but that can be anything and is too personal to guess. Don't overlook it though. Essentially, you need some cash to get started and your life will be so much better if you can do that. Doing all I've said will cost about 1.5m but you will own all the stuff and the motor. First year expenses maybe 2m and thereafter, probably nearer 0.8m unless you like partying a lot. Add in a partner and chuck another 0.2m on the bill, leaving you about 80k for everything a month. Can you do it on less ? sure and you can do it on much more but it is my guess that if you don't have the cash to pay for the one off things, then you don't have the regular income to pay for a decent lifestyle. Many people say they live happily with baht buses or motorbikes but they just can't afford a vehicle. Once you have one, you would never not have one and I reckon your life can actually cost less if you do have one.

Majestic Grande was value when it opened but not for some time now. Breakfast at the Aspen is far from shabby as well. If you are ever there for a month, the Aspen often has some cracking deals on, including electric, though not breakfast I think. I've seen them have a month for mid 30ks.