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I suppose I am not the right person to reply. I have a family and we have a house the other side of Sirkhumvit. I was advised to rent rather than buy a condo. Reason - the value will depend on how the whole development is maintained. If not done the value will crash. If you rent you can just move elsewhere. If there a re a lot of empty cocnods then it will not be maintained. Also Thais do not like paying maintenanace. I like a house - less noisy neighbour problems. I agree that you should rent first while you look round. We rented a house and found a great bargain when we bought.

I heard it was 100% inport duty. When I saw a new Merc. E saloon in a mall it was twice UK price. I asked the salesman if that was correct. He then told me about the 100% duty. You can get a 7 seater 4x4 Toyota Fortuner Auto for about 1.25 Million Baht. Nice car - diesel 3 litre. The 2.7 Litre petrol is less, but slower then the diesel.

LMG have prices based on your age. They are in 5 year bands (cannot remember whether it is 50 to 54 or 55 to 55). Also if you are in the same band whne you renew for the next year it will go up. This is because their band prices go up every year - like everything else.

I agree with the post about going to see AA Insurance. We use them for our health insurance. We looked at BUPA and LMG through them. The one through the Expats club is intended as a minimum cover for those who do not want to pay for the fuller cover. I agree 3M Baht is not too much. You will get exclusions for pre-existing conditions. Thats why you should choose an insurer you will stay with. By swithching your list of exclusions could grow each time. AA insurance is alongside Big C on Sirkhumvit road, just by Pattaya South Road. As you look at the front of Big C it is down the ri

Let me add my 3 pence - as we used to say in the UK. Now it should be 3 ponuds. If you change your currency from UK pounds to another currency now, you are going to get todays bad exchange rate. So I would not look to move out of UK pound until it recovers some of its old value. It may not reach 2 dollars to the pound but it should recover some. Where to be safe. You are guaranteed 50,000 UK pounds per person per bank. So if you stay in UK pounds, split it across as many banks as you need to. To get a good return. As has been said before the higher the return, the higher the risk.

I also had a kidney stone done earlier this year at Bangkok Pattata Hospital. The urologist was called Dr. Jimmy. Jimmy is his nickname. His real name is half a kilometer long. All the staff know who Dr.Jimmy is.

I would suggest you get professional advice. Look at my reply to the other medical question. I put more details in and some questions you need to ask yourself. 20 quotes sounds too many to choose from. Unless they are for the same insurer. I believe they will not be much less than going through a reliable broker. We checked our car insurance and it was the same through a broker as buying direct. I would say do not look at just the cost. Look at what you get and most important the reliability of the insurance company (will it still be there when I need it in the future). I considered on

We have insurance for the family in Pattaya. Me, wife and 2 children. It depends on what cover you need. The Expats is OK for basic cover but the limits are not high. I dealt with AA Insurance (next to Big C on Sirkhumvit Road). The owner sets up the Expats insurance. He also speaks at the Expat meeting on Insurance. He is English. I suggest you contact him to give you advice. We looked at BUPA and LMG Insurance. Not much between them in price. We chose LMG because of the flexibility of options. From what I discovered, is that the rate is based only on age. All the things alre

I bought a Toyota Fortuner new from a Pattaya dealer (left on Sirkhumvit going North) and we have a warranty of 100,00 kms or 5 years (I think 5 years but need to check the actual number), which ever comes first. This is similar to UK warranties. The car is not yet 2 years old and we service it regularly at the dealer. The cost is very low - just oil etc. We tried to negotiate a discount and and got a very small amount off. What we did get is a load of options thrown in free. The car is delivered to the dealer without any options and the dealer adds them. So this is where they have mor

I would suggest you try getting a second quote from a reputable broker. We use AA Insurance who are alongside Big C on Sirkhumvit Road, Pattaya. We use them. The owner speaks at the Expat meeting and provides the Expat insurance. He is English and gives good advice.

Thanks for the replies. Also for the advice on the painting - that well know typo.

This is a basic question. But I am not in Thailand and my Thai wife is told something strange by our bank. I think the bank thinks I want to keep the money as UK pounds in Thailand That is not what I want to do. If I sent money from UK to Thailand in UK pounds direct to my THai bank account (Bangkok Bank) will they just convert to Baht at the THailand rate and put in my account. Or do I have to do special arrangements with the Thai bank for the conversion to Baht. At the moment I convert to Baht in the UK and send Baht. This is, I believe, losing me money. The UK conversion rat

I have a 4 year old son in school in Pattaya. He was born in the UK and we moved to Pattaya at the end of last year. We looked at three schools. Best and one on Sirkhumvit Road near the Mini Siam (one name is Witayu - I think). We saw those first and then went to Regent. Regent is very much in a different league. When we saw Regent it had to be the one. It is expensive - about 4,500 UK pounds a year for a 4 year old. They have their prices on their web site. My son had an Australian teacher who was great. She had a Thai helper and the class size was about 15. All lessons are in Englis

My wife has a house about 15km outside Udon Thani. She started to build before I asked her to come to the Uk, where we married. We are now back in Pattaya. The house is 2 bed, bath and large lounge area. It is so large it is much bigger than the rest in the village. We have a problem selling it. No one can afford it. It is on about a quarter of a rai of land. The value of the house and land is about 400,000 baht. Ours is steel frame, concrete walls etc. Land is not so expensive up there. So I would think they should get a good house with more land for 500,000 baht. As said earlier

I live on Siam Country Club Road (East Pattaya) beyond the cross roads to Crocodile Farm (near the reservoir. We have a taxi service to Sirkhumvit about every 15 minutes up till 6pm. It turns off Siam Country club at the cross roads and goes down Nabprabwan to Central Road and then along Sirkhumvit to Naklua. When I first arrived with the family we did not have a car. We used taxis. I would not consider a motorbike in East Pattaya after dark. Some do but I was warned by the locals it is not safe. You can get taxis outside the big supermarkets until they close. We used the Carrefor a lo

I am in the process of taking out health insurance for me and the family. I looked at the group insurance offered through the Pattaya Expats Club. You have to be a member. New members have to be less than 60 and do not cover after 65. I think it is about 12,000 baht for a year. The amount covered in each category is limited and I am going for more extensive cover. It is better than nothing. I am looking at BUPA, LMG Pacific and NZI. The costs are similar. For 32 year old LMG Pacific would be about 40,000 baht for 5 million baht cover. This include outpatient. Without outpatient it woul

I just bought a new Toyota from the dealer on the left of Sirkhumvit going north. I paid 4000 baht (which I will get back when I return them) for red plates valid throughout Thailand. I understand the free red plates are only valid locally. The dealer is waiting till this month so I get 2007 registration documents, which make the car more valuable if I want to sell it. My brother in law has just driven us up to Udon Thani and we were not stopped. See what happens on the return. The annoying thing is I have to wait for an English manual to explain how everything works. Currently not a probl

I have been doing more research and did a run today to the house. Taxis outside Lotus on North Road quoted me 200 baht. I got a taxi from outside Carrefour which was 200 baht one way - did a return with a half hour wait at the house for 400 baht. Carrefour taxis operate up to midnight. I was told that a taxi about every hour operates along Siam Country Club up to 5pm and costs 15 baht. Yet to find out more about this. I plan to get a car- probably a one year old 4x4, with the state of the roads round here. I am trying to learn the way to drive over here - it is something different. I think t

An easy way to get a THai credit card is to transfer your American Express history to a Thai American Express card. This can be set up between your original country and Thailand. You need to clear your balance in your original country first. This will allow a reasonable credit limit on your Thai card. I have the phone number in Thailand somewhere if anyone wants it.

I have moved from the UK with my Thai wife and our 2 children. We just rented a villa in SP3 on Siam Country Club road and move in next week. It is about 4 km from Sirkhumvit. Initially I will not have a car, I need to get a driving licence and sort out a car. Does anyone know how easy it is to get into town and back using baht busses or other means? How much to get from town to SP3 during the evening? Do buses regularly go down Siam Country Club road? Even when I have a car I would not want to drive after a heavy nights drinking. I would appreciate advice from anyone living down

Redwood, Can you please explain what you mean by the phrase "easier to get a work permit". Does this mean if I have a visa on the basis of being married to a Thai, I can easily qualify for a work permit. If so what is required? Do I still need to find a job first?

I also interested in shipping some things over. But I am not sure how much to ship. Obviously it will depend on the cost versus the value of the goods. Can anyone give me an idea of the volume/weight and its cost to ship from the UK. Also any recommended shipping agents. It looks like the customs cost could be difficult to predict. Particularly if I ship things like hifi and computers.

Thanks for the replies. Particularly the details from SunnyValentine. They have helped a lot. Particularly the multi-entry requirement which I did not know. My big problem will be remembering all the renewal dates. I will need a big calendar on the wall to remind me. On the driving licence - that may be useful. Although my wife has a Thai driving licence. I am not sure about being in the car when she is driving!!!!!

I am looking to retire to Thailand later this year from the UK. I have a Thai wife and two children. All except myself has dual nationality (UK and Thai). I have read various sites on visas and how to change them but the more I read the more confused I become. Has someone gone through the process recently and can explain it to me. Questions are: 1. What visa do I need for first entry? 2. How do I change to retirement and when? 3. What do I have to do on an ongoing basis, i.e. every so many months or every year? 4. Is there any way I can have a long term visa? 5.

Chris, Later this year I will be in the same position. Moving to Thailand with a family from the UK. My wife is Thai so that helps when looking for houses.We have a daughter and small son so will be looking for schools. From what I have seen in Pattaya, Phuket, Koh Samui and Hua Hin, price depends on where (Hua Hin is cheapest, Phuket most expensive). This reflects the popularity and status of the resort. Location within the resort also dictates price. We are thinking of East Pattaya, the other side of Sirkhumvit because we want to be away from the busy central area. Pattaya prices I