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torrenova

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Everything posted by torrenova

  1. I think living in Thailand it is possible to spend within a very wide range compared to the west unless you are in knobhead territory and splashing $10k here and there. Comparative to London, central Bangkok is cheap but horrendously expensive compared to just outside and with the provinces being cheaper still. However, inflation has gotten its hold in food which is far more expensive now than when we last lived there 5 years ago (you hardly notice as a tourist but up country it is much higher than before). If you were to buy a property then in the west the price between asking price and real price is fairly small. In Thailand, the real price could be half the advertised price or even less on occasion. You really need to do your homework as "rip off the farang" is a national pastime in property deals. I have thought long and hard as to where to retire in a few years and I always though Pattaya would be a certainty after I discounted the south due to distance from the things I perceived I wanted. If renting, then I would be paying around Bt15k for a decent studio or a 1 bed apartment and around Bt25k for a small house with a private pool. As to living expenses, then where do you see yourself in relationship terms ? If buying a hooker ever night then that costs big time but few find a GF without any cost. Even botom end you need to add Bt10k I guess ? Booze is the financial destroyer of many as it links to GFs and sex and entertainment and friendships. At the bottom end perhaps Bt5k for mom and pop shop drinking up to Bt30k a month for a few nights out a month on the piss. Chuck in some insurance and you have little left from Bt100k a month. Surprisingly, adding in a vehicle can reduce costs as you don't drink as much, can travel more, pay less for taxis and have another avenue to explore your surrounds.
  2. If Bangkok has changed X% in the last 20 years then Pattaya has changed 3X% or even more, some for the good, some for the bad. The simpler Pattaya and indeed Thailand is mostly long gone in either metropolis. Traversing Hua Hin, Bangkok and Pattaya in a decent length trip is hard enough but if the trip is less than a month, I'd give one of them a miss until next time. That would be Hua Hin I'm afraid which is where many people get to after the more eclectic locations. Trying to do all three in say two weeks means you're flying half way around the world to spend 20% of your time on the ground moving hotel rooms. Not advisable. I would kick start in Bangkok with a plan to go down to Pattaya after about 1/3rd of my trip (unless a very long trip). That gives you time to assess Bangkok, time enough to experience Pattaya and then the option of enough time to return to Bangkok or remain in Pattaya. Hotels largely depend on budget but top class places are available for much less than in the west. Quality at the bottom end is mixed and those in the know don't stay at the bad ones; newbie tourists make up their customers. Deals abound on websites and discount clubs so shout up when you know when and how much. Lastly, planning is the greatest thing but you will ditch it when you arrive and go with the flow, as we all do
  3. Aah, if only Trink were still a scribe over there !
  4. Currently the only cash going into any Thai account is the odd 500,000 baht transfer (or thereabouts, FX rates permitting) and then another when that gets spent, which is only when we are in country. Theoretically, one could manufacture an income from the UK company to the Thai bank account but there is no contract in Thailand we could use, only money earner overseas.
  5. I reach the big 50 in a couple of years and can technically obtain the retirement extension etc. but my question is whether I can do this and get it renewed each year if I am not in LOS very much and crucially, possibly not in LOS on the anniversary date ? I understand there are multiple entry permits and I can dump Bt400/800k in a bank but I would rather get it done and be grandfathered should the landscape change in the future. Is it just not possible or if it is, what is the correct route ?
  6. My other half wants to buy some land and property but I am not going to just sign a cheque. She can afford it, even without the asset producing an income, but would rather take out a mortgage on the property and obtain it more quickly. I have UK and non UK companies who can supply any amount of payroll paperwork and match that to bank deposits but I do not see how a Thai lender could obtain certainty that the income was valid in the manner it was presented. Likewise UK dividends would probably confuse the hell out of them. Any ideas or even better any real world experiences ? She could presumably decide to move back to Thailand to match any residency requirement but not over more than a few months.# Don't want to tip her hand to the bank without knowing what they really require etc.
  7. You're right, it could have been a sales pitch but not for many years have I been interested in the collective takings of bars. That said, the truth in the statement remains. Of course, if you put $10 in a kitty every day and get to LOS once in a blue moon when the planets align and airfares drop below historic norms for a 12/24 hour cattle class ride in the tin can then yes, an extra $100 is unlikely to be on the agenda. However, if your trip (or trips) costs you $10,000 a year, then it makes no difference. I have seen folk who once spent on decent hotel and partook from the top table relegate themselves firstly to budget accommodation and then to cheaper venues and lastly to cheaper whores. These folk are at the addict end of the scale where time on the ground is the paramount objective and if you read their woes of late, you can hear that they are convincing themselves (thought I do not believe even they believe it) that not having a hooker was fine, as saving money to eke out the days in LOS was the main task. The mostly understood concept of a "holiday" left the building long ago and what is left for them is just a warm version of sitting back home and drinking in the local pub. I don't understand the notion of going to the sweet shop every day and pressing your nose onto the glass knowing like Charlie of Chocolate Factory fame that what lies within is permanently out of reach. I don't call that a holiday by any stretch of the imagination.
  8. Moving to a go-go from the SOL is akin to jumping from general dogsbody to receiving the key to the executive washroom
  9. More interesting when the grim reaper comes to advance the question of succession !
  10. No longer a resident but I have over 3000 days on the ground. Now visits seem harder as the reality of leaving is there from the moment you arrive. Not sure whether I will ever fully retire there, but if not, then where ?
  11. No country can force you to give up citizenship of another country. They can ask, you may answer or not, but they can hardly check or force you can they ?
  12. Just had a month on the ground, mostly in Pattaya but with a lengthy (ish) stay, there was no need to burn the candle at both ends every single day. As to costs, I went with the paraphrased Alcohol Anonymous line that I should only concern myself with the prices I could do something about and not sweat the prices I could not change. Thus, as drink prices and BFs are not controlled by the girls, then I didn't concern myself with their rates. However, if the remuneration committee was taking the piss, I just moved on. All in all I found it an enjoyable way to not concern myself with higher prices though I admit I did not have a budget and knew every price was well within my grasp. Had I been travelling more frugally, it would have been different; quite simply, I would not have travelled at all !
  13. I think there is little between picking two friends from the same place and prowling with a willing partner in search of another bedfellow in terms of success. I once had a very willing and eager partner who would hunt with me in every place we found but ultimately the lack of intimacy was the killer when push came to shove and bar talk bravado needed to be backed up with actual performance. As an ex employer of lots of girls, the subject came up almost daily from one customer or another and invariably the honest answer was that yes, some would or could do but that they were not truly bisexual. I think some did like it and were more comfortable with certain partners but few would go with a guy and his brought in girl as the third wheel to their ménage a trois. In my experience, trying to over engineer a threesome is more likely to end in disaster but alcohol fuelled (often initially regretted) couplings are still possible if you have time and funds to waste finding out whether such is possible or not.
  14. Higher prices yes but if you are dragging your ass half way around the world once a year then an extra $100 isn't a material amount is it ?
  15. torrenova

    Tax

    Oh, baht, then chump change. Agents in the UK are required by law to withhold basic rate tax on rental incomes so 20% would be collected anyway unless dealing with tenants directly.
  16. torrenova

    Tax

    I do not doubt the potential for tax evasion but the amount over the time period are what I was questioning.
  17. Though I am some years yet from 50, I fully intend to "retire" on the visa given the potential grandfathering benefits should requirements change. I usually ride B visas but they are pissing about with those on multi 12 months and though I have multiple companies in various countries, I can't be bothered with their pathetic bureaucracy. Income is Bt65k a month or Bt800k or a mix of both. I pretty much thought that if you couldn't park Bt800k in an account, you should perhaps consider whether you can afford to live in LOS.
  18. I always found Golden somewhat soulless, which might seem a strange thing to say about a bar on just about the weirdest street of the most hedonistic capital city I frequent. Nevertheless, a good few beers were partaken in that establishment over the decades since it opened. Not sure I ever found love or even lust there. Too early or too sober perhaps ? The Nana Disco is another beast altogether. In Angels guise it was pathetic but back in the day, it was as near to the Star Wars bar you'd ever see this side of the Millennium Falcon. I haven't been in for a couple of years but each time I do, I get flashbacks to better days. All downhill since 'nam as they say.
  19. In principle I agree but if there is no carrot, a Thai will let the lot walk out without paying unless a stick of sorts is used. The word on the street is that in Pattaya, there are making them pay up front, as many pakis and indians have apparently being running off without paying. Who'd have thought ?
  20. torrenova

    Tax

    This critical point is overlooked and misunderstood by many just as is the UK tax regime and overseas earnings when living outside the UK. There is no way someone working offshore for 15 years paying tax in the USA owes or paid the UK government £1.5m in unpaid tax. It just isn't possible.
  21. Would someone today have a tin of coins for patrons to pay the toilet charge ? Now they are so rich they can't be arsed to even collect the bog money !
  22. Actually I do, much higher than that in percentage terms and greater still in terms of free cash but I don't pay these lunatic prices. My last trip I said to myself that I should not care what the cost and I sent a lot of cash to my Thai account but in both Bangkok and Pattaya, I found me refusing myself because I considered it madness to drop a months wages for a regular Thai worker on an ungrateful hooker for a (likely) uninspiring encounter. I enjoyed great times with pleasant people and left the wannabees chasing the LDOP newbie.
  23. For certain the girls are now in control in the main whereas the guys were holding court for decades beforehand. However, recognise that and use your feet to move on when the pasture is already mown or too expensive to take a bite and let them starve for a while.That I could pay their 2015 demands is immaterial; I won't. I've not intention of sucking up to some hooker on the off chance she might deign to give me a fumble in the sack. If they don't play on my terms then fuck them, or not, as it might be.
  24. I left for education of next generation as LOS doesn't have anything anywhere near good enough when it comes to cutting the international standard. What they call "international schools" are just the best of the rest. I will return in a few years, likely permanently again but with feet up, a pool in the garden and fuck all on the agenda.
  25. I am always suspicious of posters who ask the populous whether they should stop posting. Either do or don't. If not, just don't post. No need to create a drama out of it.
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