Bazle

Below is what I posted in October 2004. Subsequent to this posting, Alan has been told exactly the same thing by the UK tax people. Your mate might be entitled to a tax refund if the tax code applied to his pension has been inadequate. Assuming he is a Brit, he is still entitled to a personal allowance each year and it is just possible that it has not been given in his code number. Apart from that, he is not entitled to a refund - resident in LOS or not.

Ah well - that puts a different complexion on the matter! I thought the discussion was about some-one moving to LOS full-time and whether he should or should not sell his previous home. If you are not moving abroad full-time, you obviously need to maintain a base in the UK and, in your situation, it appears to make perfect sense to think the way you are doing.

It is again necessary to mention that tax has to be taken into account. That £650 per month, less allowable expenses, would be liable to tax in the UK. You have to balance the return on this investment (circa £120K) with that on the money being put in an offshore bank account where it is quite possible that the interest would be tax-free. Also, you will have seen on the news that the stock market out-performed the housing market in 2005; and, no-one is being bullish about house prices over the next few years. I suspect you are being strongly influenced by your son. From his point of

I was always under the impression that if you used a lump sum to buy an annuity and had an unfortunate meeting with a bus the following day, your money had gone and that's that. On the other hand, if you were fortunate enough to outlive your actuarial life expectancy, then the annuity would probably have worked out to be a good deal. Personally, there is no way I'd want to buy an annuity. I'd prefer to hold on to control of the money - not that I'm concerned whether anyone inherits the money or not, but simply because I might need it for a totally unexpected reason.

PLUS: How are they owned? What are the annual maintenance charges?

I guess it would be rude to ask why the bed-linen gets so dirty Seriously though, doesn't your condo have a washing machine? If not, is that usual? I find your posts on moving to Patters very interesting. I get a vicarious pleasure reading them. If it were not for family circumstances, I think I would be doing exactly the same as you. Merry Xmas. Bazle

If a property has been your sole/main residence throughout its ownership to date, usually you then have 3 years in which to sell it without it affecting the tax free status of any gain on sale. You can rent it out, do whatever you want, in that 3 years. That applies whether you are resident in the UK or not. If you are not resident in the UK, prima facie, you are not liable to capital gains tax (except on certain business assets located in the UK). However, to stop people avoiding CGT by becoming non-resident, a few years back they introduced some legislation which, broadly, will catch

Back in September/October, I was staying at Soi 13 and ventured to Shagwell for a beer and a meal. Never again! Pig of a place to get to. Food far from special. Companionship was possibly available but chose not to explore further from what I could see (possibly) to be on offer. Unless you are planning to rent your own transport during your stay (and that doesn't make too much sense), I'd forget about the idea. Too many far better options available.

Brits interested in offshore bank accounts might find this article of some interest - basically a comparison of charges: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/saving-and-ba...99&in_page_id=7

Regret I have to post a correction to this . I am staying in the new wing and was woken at 7.30 this morning by (I assume) pile driving from the site. Hoping it was a one-off. If it happens tomorrow, I'm off!

I'm staying at Areca right now. Absolutely no problem with construction noise. The area which was being referred to (across the road from the beer bars) is not being worked on right now. In case that all changes, I'd suggest requesting a room in the new wing which should be well shielded from any potential noise. As to paying in advance, I was asked to last year, the first time I stayed, but have not been asked to this year. Perhaps I'm a trusted customer now! The standard rooms are excellent and, unless you particularly want a view over a pool, I see no reason to pay the extra for de

Not to forget the Inn House which, in my opinion, represents the best value.

I have yet to read about Trinity but is it a stupid question to ask whether the £24K you quote is spending money (net income) or gross (before tax has been deducted)? Calculations I have done in the past have been hugely influenced by tax. Eneukman will tell you from his recent experience that if you are receiving a UK pension whilst living in LOS, you will still have UK tax deducted from it.

I'm going to try this place for a couple of nights next month: http://www.dropinnbangkok.com/main/index.php

As of 18 months ago when I stayed there, that is absolutely correct. Excellent choice hotel if the construction noise in the area has now abated.

If the construction noise isn't too bad, take a look at the Inn House half way up Soi 13 opposite the Sportsman.

Last year, I found Areca very efficient, so when I tried to book a couple of weeks ago I was surprised that 4 days had passed without a reply to my Email. Upon sending a reminder, they re-sent an Email which I had not received. I am very noise-averse so empathise with your concerns about construction noise. I suggest you ask for a room in the new wing, which should be well away from where I understand the building work to be.

No reports in the reviews section.

I'm currently in Phuket with a M8. We decided to escape from Pty for Songkran. (Was wet only one and a half days down here!!). Got hotel quotes on-line from medium priced hotels. Those that bothered to reply refused to discount. Now we are here, we find we are paying about double the rate we need to have if we had booked on the spot.

Shame about the timing. Two of us are due at 15.05, but it wouldn't be much fun spending three and a half hours waiting. But if you would like to, let me know.

Well actually they cannot!! They agreed revised wording on their form to restrict the penalty to the cost of one night.

All the reports on here say it is guest friendly (wouldn't have booked it if I thought it wasn't ). The Email address is info@arecalodge.com I corresponded with someone who signed him/herself as "Moo". Good luck!! Bazle

Have just booked 2 rooms at the Areca for 2 short stays in April. Wasn't happy with the deposit arrangement (3,000 Bt per room) but they wouldn't really relent except they did agree to revised wording on the form they wanted me to sign. Having signed the (revised) form and faxed it to them with copies of both sides of my credit card, they then sent me an Email (I quote verbatim): We received fax credit from you. We will hold on this to guarantee your booking. Note we haven't withdraw any amount from your account yet. Will charge in the case that you are no show or cancel less tha

Don't assume it always happens like this. It didn't for me last year.

Roy Out of interest, where is that? What's the noises situation like - both from the outside world and from neighbours? Do you live there full time? If not, do you rent out when you are not there? Thanks. Bazle