wannabeexpat

Thanks

How do your figures compare with your costs in the PI?

True. I am not a fan of globalization, but to opt out is probably not a viable option nowadays. You could be left too far behind other neighbouring economies. I look at Bkk and think they are doing ok, but forget that in some places they are dirt poor. They need inward investment but wont get it until they become a safer an more investor friendly country. I hope they start with "early retirement" visas.

If they relaxed the land ownership laws, foreign investors would buy up most of the land and property leaving the Thais owning very little. I dont think that would be good for the Thai people. The uk has sold all its " family jewels" to foreign companies just to be one of the worlds leading economies. The uk people are at the mercy of foreign owned power companies etc , and normal working class people are being priced out of the housing market. At least the Thais own their own land.

Good luck mate. I will try you 1st if I am ever buying over there.

Rogercw Thanks for posting. Its good to have as much information as possible before moving out there. I have been figuring on 30,000 a month before sanuk. Good to have it confirmed. Did the miscellaneous include transport.

Those Sanya apts look good value. Pity they dont do a monthly rate. Or a 6 monthly rate.

I am not trying to piss on your parade , but, are you remembering you will be paying income tax and national insurance. I rent out properties in the uk. I have found that you are usually left with about half of the total rental amount after paying management , insurance, accountant and tax. I own them outright, so you would have to add banking charges if you owe on them. So half of £1700 is £850 less big repairs and voids. If you want your uk pension to keep going you will need to pay £30 a month national insurance. Voids and rent arrears are very common. Are you sure about the rents? £

Eneukman sounds like he has a good lifestyle and doesnt do without anything for 80,000bht. If you added rent alcohol and barfines to Soi 7s, it would be round about the 80,000 bht too. So as long as you can keep your income above the 80k, you should be ok. You could vary your lifestyle as or when you had rental voids.

What if you stay in Cambodia for a week each visa run, instead of just a few hours. Would that be classed as a back to back visa stamp?

U done the right thing. Id have headbutted him then been worried every time I left the hotel that Id get shot. All for 100 baht. For your own safety you should forget it. But if you want to stop this sort of thing happening to other farang, you could report it. The guy will try it again if he gets away with it.

I dont know why picoman follows your posts just to insult you. He doesnt have to read them, and its not up to him to chase people from the board.

I was thinking of not bothering with insurance and just investing the money instead. It would only take a few years of savings to cover most expenses as Thai medical bills sound pretty cheap anyway. You would be earning interest on the savings. I am 43 , so 30 or 40,000 a year until they either ramp up the payments or refuse to 65 would be apprximately 750,000 plus the interest earned if you never needed any treatment. Or you could pay cash for anything out of your savings. Or is this a stupid idea. I just hate insurances as they usually try to worm their way out of paying you if they can.

Thanks. Thats a lot dearer than I thought it would be. The airlines never miss an opportunity to hammer you.

I fly from Glasgow with emirates, stopover in Dubai. Usually approx £550 economy. Anyone know how much extra it is to get an open ended ticket and what the maximum time limit is? Thanks.

Is a 14inch lap top the biggest that will still fit in a room safe? Thanks.

I agree. I will only have 70,000 baht a month top line unless I take a part time job teaching.But I would like to only spend 40,000 so I can go side trips and "splash out" when I feel like it.If you can live on 20,000 a month with "no fun", then another 20,000 will get you 10 nights out. Which is more than I get in the UK. I think most expats spending 20,000 can afford a lot more. They just dont need to spend it.

You could be dead before you retire. As the saying goes. Life is to live, not to prepare to live. I know its an annoying saying but its true. Some people keep on putting off the things that they really want to do.Then they are too old to do them. I have been putting off emigrating for years. I think it was only a car crash I had 5 months ago that made me wake up. If the car had hit us three feet to the left we would probably been killed. Years of financial planning wasted. I was always materialistic, but its not so important anymore. Having money will always be important, but quality of

I think the people that live on 20,000 baht own their own properties. If you take your rent off the 45,000 baht though, there is still a 16,000 difference. Your figures have me worried because I was hoping to only spend 45,000 per month including sanuk. Can I be nosey and ask what incidentals you spend 23,500 baht on.

I agree. I will be downgrading my accomodation and possibly wont have a car in los, but my quality of life will be far greater.

Thanks ting tong. Did you miss out a zero. Sounds too cheap( its not often I say that). I agee, I wouldnt ride a bike in Pattaya.Its in case I stay in Chiang Mai. Thinking of staying there or Bangkok and maybe teaching enlish part time.

Its good to read everyones figures. I am moving to los in about 2 months. I read everything about living costs and work out the figures all the time. The most I will have to live on is 70,000 baht per month without dipping in to savings. I think I can manage it but I do worry if it will be enough. Some months it could be half that. One of the figures I can never work out is food. Everyone says 3000 to 5000 baht. I think it will cost about 300 per day(3 thai meals and a soft drink in a restuarant as I cant cook). so thats 9,000. It might only be a 6000 difference, but thats almost 10% of my m

http://www.thaivisa.com/condominium_thailand.0.html A good article on the pitfalls of buying.

No you cant compare them. I was going to go to Pattaya or Bangkok and buy a few condos and rent them out like I do in the UK. But when I researched it, it looked like a bad idea.There are thousands of empty units, that the owners cant sell or rent out. And they are still building them.I dont think theres much prospect of them appreciating in value. Then the ownership or visa laws could change or they could stop the p4p scene. The flexability of renting seems to be the best idea according to most expats. I know of someone who got left a property in Millport in Scotland. It ended up costing h

None of the rooms I was in were clean. The 1st one smelled of dampness, like an old repossed uk property. I dont know how they manage that in such a hot place that is used daily. I think theres a bit of a similar smell in the foyer some days.