bob2005

If you buy a condo for $90,000 you're losing out on the $6,300 a year you'd get in interest. If you use the $6,300 for rent the $90,000 is still yours. Buying is speculation that (1) the condo is going to be worth more than $90,000 at the time you want to sell it - if it's worth the same you might as well have rented it (2) the building is going to be maintained properly and without serious increases in maintenance charges.

I've stayed at the Nana loads of times, 5 months once, and always had a reasonable room, these reports of crap rooms are a mystery to me. If you just want a quiet evening maybe you shouldn't stay there, it's for guys eager to get their rocks off multiple times. When you go to the room there'll be half a dozen girls hanging around the lifts giving you the eye ('take me with you'), when you get back at 2am there'll be 200 girls in the carpark looking hopefully at you, and you're across the road from 30+ gogo's. An experience not to be missed.

stevescottcfi's pic with the girl was a restricted view but a long way short of the earlier set of pics. But no-smoking nukes it for me anyway.

It's a little bit bigger than a 747 and about 20 mph slower. The BBC website (when it comes back up) has a neat little comparison chart. Just shows what a great plane the 747 was when it came out 25 (?) years ago.

it's 50 yards into Soi Buakhao from Pattaya South Road.

If you don't want a shower there's a decent pub in Heathrow Departures where you can smoke, no entry charge.

What does the VIP ticket buy?

thai cathay gulf dragon ethiopia airindia emerates china orientThai all go bkk-hk. Dragon was 4,500 baht last time I looked. Bangkok Post Travel Section would be worth checking.

Yes, it was supposed to cover all the 13's, I didn't have the energy to type them all out. Thanks.

Thai's are used to American Military, they'll welcome you. And most Western Europeans (who virtually run Pattaya) are on your side, you being the guys on the ground, in the front line.

If you want gogo's you want to be in Walking Street, if you want beer bars you want soi's 2 or 7-8 or 13, if you want short times in the bars you want soi's 6 or 13.

I found a million baht a year, just over the Retirement amount, very comfortable. After the first 2-3 months you won't want 3-5 girls every day, which helps. The UK tax thing is, after one year abroad you are Non-Resident and don't pay Income tax on off-shore earnings, after 3 years you are Not-Ordinarily-Resident and don't pay Capital Gains tax (actually 5 years but after 3 they assume you will stay out 5). If you can get non-Domiciled you don't pay UK Inheritance tax but it is hard to get.

There are baht busses along soi 7 to the beach then to WSt.

Recommend the lunch buffet at the ShangriLa, best I have ever had and in a luxury setting. Two times, 1pm or 3pm I think.

I had a condo on Soi 5 for a year and this might be the bloody building next door that they started in my final months, so much noise even though I had a bedroom on the other side of my building, Quinta Casa. At the end of the soi at Beach Road is an enormous development, maybe finished now, which was derelict for years. Au Bon Coin french restaurant is indeed good, no smoking indoors until most guests have gone, but I didn't think much of the food at the Jazz restaurant also on soi 5, linked to the Pattaya International hospital on soi 4.

AFAIK you can buy the house but you must lease the land, usually 30 years + 30 years further option.

Secondhand books in Tops and by the side of the Green Tree on Beach Road.

That's stunning. Would like to save it but there doesn't seem to be an option and it's not on my hard disk/s.

Siam Commercial, Sukhumvit soi 45 Bangkok, opened an account for me when I was living in a hotel. Bangkok Bank wanted a Work permit. Later in Pattaya, SC 2nd Road opposite Tops, opened a second account but maybe I had a flat lease by then.

Plenty of other places in Pattaya to sneak a drink (soi Happy has always been good as they have time to spot BIB approaching into the cul-de-sac) but this sounds like England where, as I understand it, pubs are allowed to open Christmas evening but the publican has to have a 'Christmas'. Not the ultimate in customer service!

China Eastern July 7th Vancouver-Bkk $1592 Canadian

Thanks very much for that, you've saved me several quid a week. I've been using VoipCheap for free calls to UK landlines, but VoipBuster to Thailand at 4 euro cents pm.

There's an interesting tool at http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/prego which gives loads of airlines for journey (log in as Guest). It says if you go NW via SFO and NRT the fare is USD1145.

There's also Kuwait and another I forget. Phil Air does a 14 day return bkk-mnl for 10,900 baht (or did) on their website. I looked at budget airlines via KL, Sing, HK and Macau but you have to change which makes a long journey,and they're not much cheaper.

Yes, so it seems. I don't see why he has a problem, he can survive but he can't live the full-throttle life every day of the week. Perhaps he had too-high expectations to begin with.