let me intoduce myself

My name is Phil as is evident from my user name I support MCFC as is also evident - Football is my passion but has slowly been overtaken by by my passion for Thailand - my first trip was for footie to see MCFC play in the asia tourney - after that I just fell in love with the place - I might add I travel with my wife most of the time so its not the fat 53 year old farang out for a Mia Noi type thing - since my firat trip we have been a further 8 times and are back again in October - my last trip which was to finalise land and company / business was only 3 weeks ago - myself and my wife will be moving over for good in 18-24 mths - On my last trip I broke my ankle with a few days left just slipped on a wet surface at a friends house in Phuket - best thing that ever happened to me as it made me sit still and appreciate things without all that running around shopping and sight seeing made me realise I can live there with the slow pace and take things easy - my medical traetment was the best in the world in the Bangkok Hospital Phuket - the best £40.30p I ever spent on hols ins - the op (for farang with hol ins) was £5020 the flights home after a 4 day extended stay for medical clearance were about the same as the surgeon said you can only fly home business class - my wife is already palnning how to break my other ankle in october

I hope to be a member for a long long time reading through the site there are some good peeps on here with some good advice - I hope to be able to offer some of that myself

Anybody who is afraid to visit the land of smiles has doubts or second thoughts etc etc please dont you will love the place - my first trip was on my own for the footie I did ask my wife to go - the answer no way I will get bird flu - when I got back and dispayed the photos and described the trip nothing would do but she wanted to go as soon as - the rest is history as they say

Anyway I ramble on thanks for letting me join the forum and I look forward to any help I may get and giving as much as I can

Phil

Well welcome Phil. I hope you enjoy your time on this forum, you'll find us a friendly bunch.
MCFC - isn't that the team Mr. Thaksin was involved with?
And you're thinking about moving over to Thailand for good in a couple of years. Best advice I can give is don't invest a bean until you've been here for a year or so and learn the ropes. Come by all means but rent first and look around. I also suggest you read the online Bangkok Post daily to follow the situation with frequently changing regulations of foreign visas and property rights. At the present time many farang retirees are looking to Malaysia rather than Thailand due to more favorable immigration regulations & property ownership laws.

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The Truly Wise Man Never Plays Leapfrog With A Unicorn

Hi Phil

From Lancashire myself. No interest at all in football afraid, My IQ not low enough to understand it !!!! LOL
Do love Thailand though and we have been 8 times.
Did a stint in hospital with pnumonia (sp) myself whilst in Samui.
to the forum we are a friendly lot I think that you will find. Quite a few Aussies on and that is good.
Good luck with your move.

Jackie

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Kiss
God laughs at people who make plans.

Short time Thailand, long time Malaysia for sure. I sure would be slow to "invest" any life savings in any country where foreign land ownership is unlawful, even if someone tells you there is a way around it (circumvention of the law = unlawful). I would let someone else have the risk and you have all the joy (renting). Even Malaysia can be problematic in places though. But do not be put off, just go slowly

Thanks for the welcome guys - I am by no means going in with my eyes closed - I have already come across land probs in Thailand as I own land now in laguna Phuket - but there were access probs and Priabhan etc etc was involved in rectifying for a few baht - I am in good hands with my very good friend who has lived in Phuket for 9 years plus all his associates - although I will take on board what was said about malaysia I am visiting Kuala Lumpur for 3 days in October and will take some time to weigh up the pros and cons of living there and traveling to Phuket each month for the business - now that airasia fly direct from stansted the KL - it has even more appeal - although once you have travelled Business class you are spoilt its not worth the differential unless you break your ankle of course LOL

thanks again guys - I hope to become a regular poster who can contribute something to the site

Malaysia is trying very hard to capture a big slice of the foreign retirees market. So foreigners are allowed to own property outright (100% in YOUR name) furthermore, foreigners purchasing property in Malaysia get a 10 year resident visa. If I were in your shoes Phil I would very seriously consider making my home base in Penang or Langkawi and commuting to Phuket. At the same time that Malaysia is opening up and making more favorable regulations for foriengers, Thailand is moving in the opposite direction, getting tighter and toughening visa regulations. Recently a Thai gov' official talked about confiscating all property that has been purchased with foreign funds, including homes Thai wives have paid for with money they were given by their legally married farang husbands. Not content to be just anti-farang, the gov' now seem to be turning on the wives & families of farang.

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The Truly Wise Man Never Plays Leapfrog With A Unicorn

Wow, I did not realise things had gotten so bad. I knew the diver expats were having a rough time of things, and the bar owners, but I always thought, "hmmm" about their jobs anyway. So many silly farangs sinking their $ into homes they can never own. I kept getting asked would I go back to Thailand to live and my answer was "I am not sure foreigners are allowed to live in Thailand any more!" We have considered buying a "Second home" in Malaysia to benefot from their "Second home visa" which is what I think you are talking about right? So many "lands of smiles" in SE Asia but I guess the message is "Do not get so comfortable with it that you decide to stay!" Thai Govt; "Tourist good, resident bad"?

There's been much discussion about the situation on the Bangkok Post website Mark, almost daily resident farang are making plans to relocate. Many of the guys who are pensions are moving on the PIs, Cambodia, Vietnam. Others, like myself, are in relationships and can't just walk away that easily. I actually sold up many things last trip to Australia and brought a fairly large sum back with me. My plan was to wait for the exchange rate to get better (as it is doing at the moment) and then change the money into THB and buy a home for my wife and myself to live in. I've gone off that idea now and will continue renting. Buying property in Thais names has always been a dumb idea for a multitude of reasons but now the gov' can move in and confiscate your home, turn your wife & kids out onto the street - it's Thai law, they can do this.
Malaysia is looking better and better each day. The country has numerous pluses over Thailand, but making foreigners welcome is the main one.

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The Truly Wise Man Never Plays Leapfrog With A Unicorn

A buddy of mine sold his house in Phuket and now does walkabout (lucky him); mostly Laos and Vietnam. He told me things were getting worse but I did not realize how bad. It was kind of comical sometimes when some aging overweight balding European would go home and come back to find his tiny little Thai wife had changed the locks; as I said, kind of funny. But now the wife can get booted out huh?! Unreal. I watched with interest the dialogue (clearly money was being passed in envelopes) regarding the right for foreigners to own luxury multi-million dollar homes in Phuket when I lived there 5 years ago, and joked about it then. I actually put some money (wisely) into a small resort in Thailand just before the Bali bombing in 2002 and luckily got an offer to buy me out 2 years ago; the same as with villas I "owned" in Bali (which I unwisely put money in at the same time). We bought a "castle" (very nearly) in Spain with the proceeds; God bless the EU. We may still yet buy somewhere in New Zealand (would love to buy somewhere in Australia but I detest the Australian Government almost as much as I do the British Government) or Malaysia when our daughter is a little older.

I think you are doing a really wise thing. Your wife qualifies for residency in Malaysia though right? And the Malaysian second home visa allows you to employ a foreign "maid" as well right?

Nah, I'm not moving to Malaysia, for one thing my wife is a career woman with a very good, well paid job, she wouldn't leave it, nor would I expect her too. But I would highly recommend Malaysia for anybody thinking of moving to Thailand and investing in property.
A decade ago I was paid off from my job of 14 years with a substantial sum of money, at the time everbody suggested I buy some property in Thailand, but I've seen too many farang separated from their dosh in Thailand, so I went down to Perth and bought an apartment there. I own it 100%, in my name alone, and it has now increased in value 400%. I've seen so many guys sell their house back home and buy in Thailand in wife's name, then the breakup comes and bingo, goodbye home in Thailand. Of course others buy through lawyers & companies, but I don't trust lawyers period, let alone Thai lawyers, that all sounds too dodgy to me. Now the gov' are out to close all the loopholes to prevent farang from owning any property. So renting is the only way to go in my opinion. If you want to retire in Asia look at Malaysia. If you want to live in Thailand - rent, and don't buy anything that you can't fit into a suitcase, or you aren't prepared to walk away from and leave behind.

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The Truly Wise Man Never Plays Leapfrog With A Unicorn