JuanMatus

I see responses from Europe region. What about US pensioners who pay taxes to US govt on every nickel they earn! I was told by a friend that US has a treaty to not tax their citizens in other countries as they pay taxes in their homeland! Is that true?

Here's my 2cents based on my last 2yrs of looking at houses: If you see a house at an expo etc, then subtract 38% to 40% to see a fair price. If you see it outside BKK region, in my experience, knock off at least 22%.

I forgot to add.... I can be a 1099 contractor and NOT a W2 person. If the only advantage is air-travel, then, I'd rather be a W2 employee. On the other hand, if I can get per-diem while I am there, I am all in! If someone has done this, I would appreciate a referral to a document or mention the per-diem amount they were allowed and the tax year this feature was implemented.

I am retired and living in Bangkok. I have an offer for contract work between 6 months up to a year in USA. Question: Can I get per-diem while I am on the job in US, and, if so, what is the maximum/minimum duration I have to be in US... and write-off the airtravel? I would appreciate if someone has been through this. Thanks.

Apparently, in this land, even if a dog kills someone, there's no automatic euthanization conducted by a govt agency! Strange.. isn't it!! So... a dog's life is more valuable than people !huh! Also, no provision to sue the owner of the dog either if it's not yours. This is seriously nuts and actually scares me. FYI: I'd owned dogs many decades in US, but, I always felt that pit bulls and Dobermans should be banned.

I was wondering if customers negotiate price of a car in Thailand, and, if so, is it similar to USA? Also, I have been told by the locals that prices are cheapest at the Motor Shows... is it true??

EVs will become just one-of-the-options as Fuel Cell vehicles will become a reality within 5 years. Already, Toyota Mirai and Honda (??i forgot) are available in California and some other states. Also, airplane manufacturers are working on Fuel Cell aircrafts! ie, there is feverish effort to jump to Fuel Cell transport.

Hello... There is no info on Volvo safety/reliability made in Malaysia and sold in Thailand. Question: If you own one or know someone who owns it, I would appreciate some feedback here including Year/Normal or Hybrid/etc info provided. Thanks, Juan (Retired & from Los Angeles)

Allright. Thanks for the participation in this thread. I'm satisfied with the chain and realized that my March bill of 2100 baht is on the low-end. We don't live miserly, but, frugally. We splurge on good food that we cook and travel nicely, but, don't care much for running a/c all day just-for-the-hell-of-it. My wife is talking to the authorities and 6800 for 3 months, even if it's not fair, I will pay. My key arguments were "I was missing almost half of the month for two-out-of-three of those months, that we did not use even ONE a/c for whole day, and our cooking is all gas" . I am expecting some level of rational resolution, but, if not, I'd be out of about 2500 baht total which is not anything to sweat about... C'est la Vie'. Come to think of it, the hospitals in US gouge us to no end and the populous is impotent to do anything about it! ????

I am paying directly as it was the absolute minimum I'd agree to and even my wife, who is a college graduate, wouldn't compromise on. One more reason why I did not want to rent anything but a house. No need to think about that.

yes, we all have new meters and the company is MEA here. I purposely ran one A/C almost all day during march and the bill was 2100 baht. That's fine as this was my baseline. Yes, I can calculate the total expense as it's high-school level knowledge for me.

Thank you all very much. I'm a newbie in this country and learning as I go. By profession, I was an electrical engineer and am quite savvy in technology. I need to do my own calculations as to the utility expenses. I plan on retiring somewhere away from big cities and near the gulf or Andaman Sea area, ie, within an hour drive of ocean.

It's 6800 baht for 3 months of Dec/Jan/Feb which are the coldest months. See my previous reply and the initial post for the reason for starting this post. Thanks to you all. I'll post the outcome by Tuesday as the bill is due on Tuesday, ie, we have one day to resolve this mess.

It's 6800 baht for 3 months of Dec/Jan/Feb which are the coldest months. See my previous reply and the initial post for the reason for starting this post. Thanks to you all. I'll post the outcome by Tuesday as the bill is due on Tuesday, ie, we have one day to resolve this mess.

Ok, first of all, it's MEA in this sub-district. Secondly, as I had stated initially, we were on vacation for an average of 12 to 15 days each of those months as I'm trying to figure out where to buy a house and live. I'm not keen on Bangkok even though it's a big city with all the facilities. I've lived most of my adult life in Seattle and Los Angeles areas. Secondly, the bill does not look like a regular bill, but, a letter head with an excel-type spreadsheet. For each month, they "assume" that I should be spending 537 units. Hence the cost. Now, as I had stated, I moved here in mid-November and there's no history at all. So, why penalize me. Additionally, there are only two of us and we are out-and-about a lot exploring the city or visiting her family/friends, ie, we don't run the A/C or fan all day. If it were US, i would be comfortable fighting with the utility company. This is not "my" land and they can throw you out under any guise with no recourse... or at least that's what I've been led to believe! ???? Luckily, we're renting the house in my wife's name who is a local person. She stated that she will attempt to argue the bill as we have hotel receipts and pictures from Phuket, Surat Thani, Trang, Koh Mook etc areas where we've been.

Ok, this is response to KannikaP. Thanks for your analysis. Nobody I know uses an a/c for the whole day unless they are too rich. Generally, you'll use an A/C for 15 hours or so. I need to check the BTU ratings of my A/C. We use our A/C quite miserly. Mostly all night for about 8 hrs and maybe 5 or so hours during the day. Otherwise, we use fan a lot.

No... each house has it's own electric meter. Apparently, about 8 meters were "all" busted. The point is: #1) these were winter months (Dec/Jan/Feb); #2) We were missing for about half the month for two out of three of those. Also, we only run ONE a/c during part of the day and ONE a/c during all night. Generally, it's pretty cool in the morning. I'm impressed by soi3eddie story which is actually what I would expect. If it is not our fault, why should we pay! I mean, except for us, the rest of the houses are owned by locals and it's a gated community. So, no hanky-panky by strangers is expected.

Hi Folks, I'm renting a house in Bangkok area and apparently, the electric meter was malfunctioning for three months during Dec/Jan/Feb of 2022. So, my bill was 400, 40, and 40 baht respectively. This problem impacted at least 8 homes in this cul-de-sac. Now, we just got a bill for 6800 baht for the three months! As I am new to this town and moved here in late November, there is no history of electricity usage. Secondly, we were vacationing an average of 12 days each of those months. Question: Has anyone been in this predicament, and, if so, were they able to resolve it to their satisfaction?... or, did they simply suck-it-up and state: "may I have another, sir!" LOL This is a real issue for me even though I'm trying to keep it humorous! Gracias

Does anybody know how to get access to real estate comps like we have in US? I mean, is there an agency/website/company that can provide recent home/townhouse sale prices in a Bangkok district?

Does anybody know how to get access to real estate comps like we have in US? I mean, is there a site/agency/company that can provide prices of recently sold house/townhouse in a given Bangkok area?

Look at Bombay Masala Indian Restaurant. It's on Soy 21 and walking distance from Sukhumvit road. It's a bit recessed from the street and easy to miss if you're looking at shops on Soy 21... So, use a GPS on your phone. It's actually quite inexpensive (almost cheap).