whitespider

Hybrid Can I ask - how are you going to "retire" here by renting a house. I am no expert but I understand that a retirement visa requires a property purchase here. I could be wrong as its all a bit up in the air at the moment. Also I believe you have to be over 50 - again its not my field so not sure. Are you MARRIED to your Tilac? if not how are you going to get around the 90 day maximum stay rules? Im not trying to put you off, I moved here with a LOT less than you have and a family to raise (wife and 2 kids) but we have done just fine building several businesses.

Scumbag - why would you expect flames? Thats what this section is for. As pointed out at 10-15 you will be looking at a studio. I would agree with gabor that Jomtien is a better bet but many like to be in the thick of the action in Pattaya. Why not PM Gabor - he has a few condos in your price range that look pretty reasonable. With regard to Fair properties - well we get conflicting opinions although Towoldse's comment is actually the first GOOD one I have seen. As Towoldse says they add 5k to the price.

Lots of sound advice but I think the answer to your actual question is that many who buy in Thailand have sold in their home country. I bought my house in the UK for around £100k and sold for well over £300k. Alternatively I could have raised a 2nd mortgage to cover purchase in Thailand. Whther to keep the house in your home country (and rent it out) or sell it is really a matter of personal choice depending on your likelihood to return. I am married and my kids are (effectively) Thai - I have no intention to ever return to the UK full time but I DO retain a half share (with my sister

Anto - only time will tell. However I disagree because its not the "buyers" we are talking about. its the renters. If the new visa rules mean fewer people renting then fewer will buy to rent out. I think that purchasers here (for their own use) are in a definite minority. WHATEVER the upshot I would still advise a short term "wait see" attitude. If they do go up you will lose put but better to pay a little more than lose a lot.

Vientiane is a hoot actually. Where are you now? if in LOS you will find it a bit tame but if your in Europe etc Id jump at it - easy trip to LOS whatever.

Radwhacker - try the classifieds in www.pattayamail.com Mainly agents but you often get a few private sales in there, and yes you're rght its cheaper direct. Tell him NOT to skimp on the lawyer though. We decided to look for a condo in Pattaya just a few weeks ago but are holding fire now.

Does anyone have the up to date Thai Linguaphone course? I would like to buy or borrow/hire one I am looking for the CD NEW version (tonal one). The current CD course price is around £279 and the cassette version around £230 - although for anyone interested, Linguaphone have an e-shop on ebay (uk) where they sell the cassette version for £140. If anyone does have a CD version surplus to requirements please let me know by PM. Also any comments about how useful it was would be appreciated. Thanks

Most trustees are not obliged but would make reasonable effort. You friend should contact them to start the ball rolling whatever the scheme rules say. In addition to the "pension" most schemes have death in service life insurance. This is (usually) written under trust so can be paid to the widow directly without having to wait for the probate to be granted. Given that her husband died intestate (no will) probate could take months, even years, so this kind of lump sum paid quickly is very useful. Typical scheme benefits would be 2-4 x salary so if he was making £30k a year it could be a n

Agree with sinkorswin - prices are unlikely to increase and MAY go down. Whether they do or not it still seems a prudent move to hold fire until the dust settles on the new Visa reg's. A week ago I posted that I had persuaded the missus we needed a condo in a beach town (live in BKK) but the recent news has certainly made me hesitate.

I agree with sinkorswim to a degree although not with his actual figures. At the moment a 3m condo would probably go for 20k+ a month. The new Visa rules are likely to have a major impact one of which COULD be to drive down prices. The rental market has been pretty bouyant in Pattaya for years but I have a feeling that the Visa regs will see an excess develope (or rather a dearth of long term renters) which logically would drive rentals down and MAYBE Cap values too. It is also probable that longer term lets will become difficult leaving the 1-3 month market intact whcih has its own inhe

A good starting point would be to understand and consider what you are upgrading from. My wife built a house for her parents/family (at her expense not mine). It was breeze block/wood/plaster/blue hard plastic corrugated roof - 2 storey. Has 3 beds living area bathroom and thai kitchen. No aircon but tiled throughout. It is NOT a stilted house it has the living area downstairs. I have only visited it once but it seems very sound. It cost around £2,500 all in (including the land to build it on) thats around $4,000. By far the most expensive item was the floor tiles. It is not grande b

From the UK Evergreen has gone and been replaced by Elite on the 777. I had always used Evergreen and thoguht it agood deal as i am 6'+. It used to cost around £150 more than economy. My last trip was on 777 Elite and without wanting to simply repeat what other people have said is nowhere near as good as Evergreen was. I dont know if its worth the extra expense now - especially as I dont really have a problem sleeping anyway. It might be worth hunting for "deals" but unless you get a great one then economy may be the better option - sadly.

Yes if you have a non-imm O you will be OK with a one way ticket. Even the link Dave gave says its OK. Where you might have a problem is at check-in. I once had a terrible problem with Air France trying to convince them that I could fly so it might be worth checking with the carrier before you purchase. The price you have been quoted seems excellent. By comparison one way direct tickets are around £315 (EVA) at the moment although that is from London.

We tried sprouts as my wife loves them but they failed dismally. We did produce some but they were like little hard peas

Provided the marriage WAS fully legal in the UK she will be subject to the intestacy rules in the UK as no will was drafted after they were married. Under UK intestacy rules she is entitled to the first £125,000 of his estate and a portion of the remainder. There is better info' than I can give here http://www.uk-wills.net/intestacy-laws-eng...-wales/#more-50 With regard to the pension The vast majority of pensions schemes have discretionary payments to spouses, i.e. it is at the discretion of the pension trustees whether ot pay it or not. Each scheme is likely to have a differ

be careful they ARE clamping down on the 6 month rule. If he has 6 months and 1 day he will be OK. If not get a new passport, it only takes a few weeks to get a new passport in the UK and he will get 10yrs for the expriation date.

be careful they ARE clamping down on the 6 month rule. If he has 6 months and 1 day he will be OK. If not get a new passport, it only takes a few weeks to get a new passport in the UK and he will get 10yrs for the expriation date (If UK).

I am with HSBC and use my card everywhere - no problem. I think all ATMs here take and HSBC card

yep - anyone doing 30 day visa runs looks like they could be b******d. re-enty limnuted to 90 days after whcih you must spend 90 days min' out of the country - watch the Laos, Kampuchea economy boom lol Like lots of things this has its good and bad points. I can't say I blame them as the system has been abused far too long. If you are working or retired here then NOW is the time to get the correct visa as it takes effect October 1. It aint rocket science and it aint difficult. With any luck it will remove the scammers and the legitimate ones will be left in peace - indeed it might

Thanks guys - thanks for great advice Special thanks to Torrenova re Fair properties. I have already tried PattayaMail.com and that seems to bear out the lower price argument re direct v agents although most of the ads do seem to be from agents in there anyway. The best way forward seems to be the suggestions re condo/appartment/serviced appt for one month and then a good scout about to see if the extra space of a house is preferable. He is single, which was a good point made by Torrenova, so maybe he just doesn't NEED the extra space. One more question:- Torrenova said to che

I am looking for a long term rental in Pattaya or Jomtien for a friend. Initially I searched all over for condos up to 15,000 p.m assuming condos to be cheaper. Having found nothing that really caught my eye I checked houses. I was quite amazed to see many (new) fully furnished, 2 bed 2 bath, houses with communal pools for around 15,000 - 18,000 p.m. It seems like much better value than a studio condo at 12k Can anyone enlighten me if I am missing something here?? The only advantage I "see" with the condos is location, many being available near the beach. However a 12 month st

Could all be a bit confusing for some travellers, especially newbies, elderly or inexperienced. Imagine arriving at DM and having a 25 minute taxi ride to your hotel - which you plan for on return. If the new airport is the "other side" it could be 90 minutes away. I am also quite sure we will see a spate of people missing planes unless the airlines and taxis really get their acts together. Either because they dont allow enough time for the longer journey OR they go back to the same (wrong) airport they arrived at. Arriving at one and leaving from another could be a nightmare for some

Guys - should have said - to get these prices you must book by 15th August - thats Tuesday if my bearings are correct.

WestEast have some great deals from now to early December including Thai and EVA (direct) for £310 return (exlcuding tax and surcharge) LHR to BKK. Alo Emirates, ETIHAD and Qatar for similar prices. The EVA deal even includes FREE Nat' Express transfers from anywhere in the UK These are obviously subject to availability but for further info' and contact details just click the link below.

WestEast have some great deals from now to early December including Thai and EVA (direct) for £310 return (exlcuding tax and surcharge) LHR to BKK. Alo Emirates, ETIHAD and Qatar for similar prices. The EVA deal even includes FREE Nat' Express transfers from anywhere in the UK These are obviously subject to availability but for further info' and contact details just click the link below.