Fancy Condos? Says Chiang Mai author Jeff J. Brown, “If you have the income, New Concept Condos are fabulous. Two bedroom condos are 40,000 Baht per month. We come to swim in the movie set pool. There’s a five-star health club and sauna too. 170 baht per person. We’re loving it.” Located in Hang Dong area, approximately 7 Kms from Chiangmai International Airport, you can buy your own condo for US$109,000 and rent it out if you wish. Claimed annual return on investment is 8%.

Serviced Apartments? It’s hard to beat Smith Residence. Nice big rooms, perfectly serviced, smart, helpful, English-speaking staff who will arrange anything, answer calls for you..and very reasonable rates: 3rd Floor suites are 8,000  and Mountain View Suites 20,000 Baht/month. 37-39 Nantharam Rd., Tumbon Haiya, Amphoe Mueang, CM 50200

Kiree Thara Resort is 10 minutes from my home (which is 10 minutes from the city), at the foot of Mt. Suthep on a narrow country road. It’s rural and scenic but in the middle of town! Prices start at $60. GPS: 18.835153, 98.953823.

Kate’s Place. Kate is a yoga buddy, a young Brit who lets people use her nice condo on the canal when she’s out of town–so you have the place to yourself without those awkward moments of bumping into someone when you’re trying to find the bathroom at night! You can make reservations on AirBnB here. If you want to check the condo neighborhood, here’s her GPS: 18.802792,98.960273.

Here’s her home made tour:

Grand Napat.

The Grand Napat is completely commercial. Handy to town. Recently built, with big grounds. Nice staff. No frills. A safe, affordable location with handy shops and stalls. GPS. 18.805376, 98.996128.

And three conventional, but good, places to stay in Chiang Mai:

Take a look at our favorite, the Bodhi Serene. When prosperous-looking people ask me where to stay in Chiang Mai I tell them it’s the best balance of luxury, cost, facilities, staff, location and price in Chiang Mai – which is why we always recommend it. Rooms start around $70 and they’re all good.  The Bodhi Serene is luxury on a  budget at around $75–$150. GPS: 18.786538, 98.990233

Here’s a recent Tripadvisor review:

Great hotel, definite value for money, friendly staff and a great location. Reviewed May 5, 2013.

I must admit I always feel apprehensive when booking hotels without personal recommendations but I found trip advisor to be spot on with this one. As I read in a review recently, the hotel isn’t anything to write home about from the outside street, but once you walk inside you forget you’re even in a town as the hotel is beautiful, tranquil and quiet. It’s situated ideally close to major temples, markets and with plenty of food and drink nearby. Staff are wonderful and can help book tours, transport etc and are helpful rather than pushy like other tour providers. We booked a standard room and found it spacious with a king sized bed, balcony overlooking the garden and there was a shower and large bathtub in the room. Our stay included breakfast and there were a large variety of options available. There are several common areas (pool, garden, breakfast area and library) and these are all kept clean, tidy and quiet also. Can’t recommend The Bodhi Serene enough.

Next in the value list is The Empress Hotel, starting around $45. The second, The Empress, is remarkable value for money, at around $45–$90. GPS: 18.775707, 98.999284

Here’s a recent Tripadvisor review:

Very nice hotel with good service. Reviewed May 30, 2013

We were a group of 3 families with young children who travelled to Chiang Mai in April 2013 during Songkarn festival holidays. We booked this hotel on internet and actually were a little circumspect of what we are going to get when we arrive. All our worries were put to rest when we arrived at this hotel. The location is good being centrally located in Chiang Mai with quick and easy access to night bazar. Breakfast is nice and has a lot of choices. Rooms are big, spacious and clean. Staff is courteous and service provided is also good. Overall, The Empress is an excellent value for money.

And finally, the value leader, WangBurupa Grand Hotel, inside the Old City Walls is where to stay in Chiang Mai if you’re watching your budget. Rooms start around $30–$50 and they’re all good, too. All of these prices, of course, depend on the season and how far in advance you book. GPS: 18.783980, 98.992719.

Here’s a recent Tripadvisor review:

Nice hotel in the old city.  Reviewed May 23, 2013

Here’s a (silent) tour of the Wang Burupa:

Note: I book all our hotels stays through Agoda because they buy half the hotel rooms in Asia for cash in advance, then re-sell them online at a deep discount. Their website also allows you to filter the hotels displayed according to all kinds of personal preferences. Here’s the map:

The post Where to Stay in Chiang Mai appeared first on Thai Retirement Helpers: Retiring in Thailand Made Easy.

Thailand runs on relationships, prestige, loyalty, money and the law – in that order, which often makes Thai property investment scams successful.Unless you’re a member of the Thai ‘club’ it’s wise to have a prestigious friend who is, because Thai Property Investment Scams are common.  The (current) experience of farang friend who owns a restaurant shows why: his restaurant has been a great success in its first year and, last month, the landlord announced he was doubling the rent. “But we have a 5-year lease agreement,” stammered my friend, caught off guard. The socially prominent owner made it clear that the increase was non-negotiable, and my friend realized that he was vulnerable to extra-legal actions (like cutting off the electricity) and recourse to the courts was hopeless since the case would take months to reach a magistrate and the landlord’s prestige would make it difficult to win a judgement.

My friend had fallen in love with the restaurant property – it was an abandoned karaoke bar when he found it – that he had brushed aside my suggestion of involving a third party to oversee the deal. After all, wha could go wrong? The owner is one of the most socially prominent women in northern Thailand, after all (and my friend is an upper-class Brit). He and his wife signed a standard lease agreement and proceeded to invest their life savings fitting out the building and grounds. Realizing that the landlord could redouble their rent whenever she chooses they’re now raising money from friends and relations to move the restaurant into town.

My friend’s mistake was imagining that (a) the law protected him and (b) his social status would make him the landlord’s peer. He was wrong on both counts. If you’re not a member of the Thai ‘club’ and you’re involved in a Thai transaction, third parties can save the day.

Thai society is intensely nationalistic and clannish (so are most: American society’s acceptance of foreigners is an outlier). It’s a club that you’re born into and your birth determines your status within it. So if you’re going to do any serious business – even a long-term lease – in Thailand it’s wise to have a third party present and on your side. That way, if the other party to your agreement attempts to abrogate it, your friend can approach them as a peer or, better still, a social superior and straighten things out for you. In reality, their presence at the consummation of the agreement will prevent such shenanigans – and that’s what you really want. Third parties’ participation is preventive.

How do you find such people? In Thailand it’s usually accomplished through gift-giving. Forced to give up driving after a heart attack, a friend recently donated his new BMW motorbike to the local Chief of Police, who bestowed it on an outstanding young officer. The officer, thrilled to own such a prestigious thing, showed it off to his fellows and praised his chief’s generosity. His chief repaid my client by handing him his business card: “Just show this to anyone who bothers you and tell them to call my personal number at the bottom”.  The friend was subsequently in a fender bender  and the other driver, who was drunk, demanded to be compensated despite being clearly in the wrong. Following the Chief’s instructions my friend flashed the card and the angry man vanished.

Property Law in Thailand isn’t what we’re used to at home so, instead of complaining, I recommend always using a third party when you’re transacting business. Sounds funny, I know, but that’s how Thailand works.

We can’t all give pistols to police chiefs, of course. But we can be on the lookout for opportunities to prove our good heart (jai ren) to influential members of Thai society. And we’ve now started issuing such get-out-of-jail cards to all our clients, just as a precaution.

Thai property investment scams are like property investment scams in Australia, China, or the USA. The thing to remember is that they exist and you can take precautions to prevent being ripped off.

Property investment is supposed to be a safe investment but, in Thailand today, pensioners are being cheated out of their life savings through investing in real estate. These unfortunate individuals are used to there being a substantial amount of rules and laws under which financial advisors and the like must operate, along with a substantial amount of education being required to become such a professional. Outside Europe, these laws are far from being a given, and (if they exist) they are frequently “overlooked” without there being real consequence. Companies in Thailand, for example, can operate without proper registration with the Thai authorities, and seldom do they face real persecution for doing so, despite this quite obviously being completely illegal.

The Harlequin company, for example, which has operated in both Thailand and the Caribbean, took in a huge amount of cash for several developments which were never built. Under the direction of Richard Haughton (President of the Pattaya – Jomtien Rotary Club) the land meant for development was put into a company called Headland Holdings. Thereafter, the already-sold properties were mortgaged to the Kasikorn Bank.

Subsequent involvement by lawyers from an embassy-recommended legal firm saw a plan created that would require the buyers to also buy out the debt with the Kasikorn Bank, or else risk losing their entire investment.  Fearful, many paid. Only now are Thai courts finally ruling that the condos actually belong to the buyers, and that they should not be held accountable for a massive debt that is not theirs.

More Thai Property Investment Scams: Many of the supposed “financial advisors” who get unsuspecting elderly to invest in such fraudulent schemes, such as the the British founder of the Chiang Mai Expats Club, simply flee back to Britain (or elsewhere) themselves, after having conned many people out of their pension.

Other elderly persons have been victimized by the failed Australian LM Managed Performance Fund, their funds deposited there by the same sort of “Independent Financial Advisors” mentioned above. These IFA invariable work on very high commission, and are not always registered with anyone at all. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission has been ineffective in rectifying the damage done by this scheme.

Asia Pacific Pensions claimed that LM’s debt instruments were secured against Australian properties, but this turned out to be an almost complete falsehood. The only property the LM Managed Performance Fund had was a worthless property on the Gold Coast, for which LM had already taken out mortgages.

Finally, here are some tips for avoiding property investment scams in Thailand…or anywhere:

The post Thai Property Investment Scams appeared first on Thai Retirement Helpers: Retiring in Thailand Made Easy.

Chiang Mai Rentals, Sublets

Sublet 3 Bdrm Home World Club – 20,000 Baht/month + damage deposit. Clean, spacious 3 bedroom house in World Club Land available for sublet through June 2018. Serious applicants with references email Paula at paula@moondata.com

A 3 bedroom, newly renovated townhouse for rent for June, July and August 2018.  Rent will be 12,000 THB/month, plus responsible to pay electric, water, and internet bill (total about 1000 thb a month). Apartment is close to super highway and train station. Fully furnished. Send me an email for more info or pictures. | May 17 – Aug 30 2018 –> Email Dave at smallhockey@gmail.com (04/2018)

Grand SiriTara condo – 16,000 Baht one bedroom fully furnished 60 sqm. Pool, Fitness and security guard . Hang Dong. email tpiner4@aol.com

One Bedroom House in Muubaan Sinthana in Sansai available immediately. Partially furnished w/ 2 air cons. Kitchen w/ fridge, electric burner, rice cooker, and some cooking/dining items. Large bedroom w/ double mattress. Bathroom w/ full tub & shower. 6,000 THB per month; 3 month deposit required and 3,600 THB for annual Muubaan fee. Conveniently situated in a small quiet community — you don’t even need a vehicle to reach a wide variety of nearby restaurants and stores (but if you do drive it is only a half km. to reach the middle ring road) or just a short 1.5 km. walk to Central Festival. Also near the Promenada Resort Mall. Close by are Bangkok Hospital, McCormick Hospital, CM Dental Clinic, Fortune Dental, Expat Auto, Oasis Air Travel, Thai post offices (2 branches), the Arcade Bus Terminal, Tops and three of the Rimping grocery stores (all within ~10-12 min.) And, if you enjoy safe urban biking/hiking, it only takes about a 7 min. walk to reach the beautiful Payap University campus. Just beyond is Big C Extra, HomePro, Perfect Dry Cleaning, and Index Furniture. It’s almost like living in a planned community but in a quieter setting, with so many of these local resources conveniently available. See map of surrounding area: http://g.co/maps/8q5j | –> Contact Khruu Gang 0992948654 or Lea by email betafish3006@gmail.com or LINE ID leaburns.

Two Bedroom Townhouse 15,000 Bt/m close to Airport Central Plaza. Located in secure community at Clover Homes. Feb-2 – May 31 2018 – > Call Tony at 0827602233 or 053 430346.

House 4 Rent @ Prom  9,500 baht per month with a minimum of a one year rental. – Lovely 2 storey, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with covered car park for rent in Mooban Kwan Nakhorn Ping about 5 minutes away from Promenada. The 200 square meter house sits on a land size of 61 square wahs. It is fully furnished with True internet; 2 air condition units; flat screen television; sofa; stove; electric oven; microwave; refrigerator etc. Sorry but damage caused by pets are extensive and costly. http://goo.gl/maps/gOmmJ Call Namatha at 0811116012 or email her at belasians@gmail.com

House for rent near GIS – A new house for rent on the outer ring road. 5-10 mins drive to GIS / Lanna / Satit. Furnished, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms with a small yard and parking space in a quiet safe compound with security guards. THB15,000 baht per month negotiable. Available 1 July 2017. See Map: https://goo.gl/maps/iNoz4bQqPRv | Email narada.luckanachai@gmail.com or call 0808070885. (07/2017)

House for Sublet  through October 20 at Laguna Home in Sansai:
Two-story, fully furnished. 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms (2 water heaters), 4 a/c. Small garden, easy to care for. Super-quiet neighbourhood, no barking dogs, no crazy parties. Pleasant sounding atmosphere, birds singing in the daytime, frogs singing at night. Nice and safe places for walking / jogging / bicycling. Club house with swimming pool, workout facility, sauna, tennis and basketball courts within three minute walk. It does not have to be the whole six months – though it’d be perfect, and we’d be willing to bring down the price. We would also consider renting out for 3-4 months. 15,000 Baht per month plus utilities – water, electricity, optical fiber internet (750 Baht), maintenance fee (660 Baht). Weekly cleaning by a reliable English-speaking helper is available for 400 Baht per cleaning. Rental of a car with automatic transmission is negotiable. Marina Nekrasova. Photos and more info here.

3 bedrooms, 3 baths in Hangdong through August. $13,000 baht/month. Faith Needham

A cute 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in Koolpunt Ville 9, 88/126 Arcadia 4, Alley 4 next to Kad Farang. Located in a quiet corner with a lot of privacy. AC’s in all rooms, fully furnished with wifi. Rent includes wifi and water. Renter will pay for electricity. Rent is 12,500 THB per month. Please write Christy or call 093-731-5005

3 BDR house in Muubaan Sinthana in Sansai  thru Sept 30. Fully furnished w/ 4 air cons. Kitchen fully outfitted w/ cooking/dining supplies (see pics). Large master BDR w/ king mattress; large upstairs BDR w/ twin mattress; downstairs BDR can be used as office or third BDR w/ 2 sleeping cushions. 3 bathrooms: 1 w/ full tub & shower, and 2 w/ shower. Fast wireless internet. 18,000 THB per month. Click for PHOTOS | Conveniently situated in a small quiet community — you don’t even need a vehicle to reach a wide variety of nearby restaurants and stores (but if you do drive it is only a half km. to reach the middle ring road) or just a short 1.5 km. walk to Central Festival. Also near the Promenada Resort Mall. See map Contact Khruu Gang 0992948654 or Lea by email betafish3006@gmail.com or LINE ID leaburns.

Grand SiriTara condo – 16,000 Baht one bedroom fully furnished 60 sqm. Pool, Fitness and security guard | Location Hang Dong Ph. 095-197-2652 or email tpiner4@aol.com

One BR house in Sansai. Partially furnished w/2 air cons. Kitchen w/ fridge, electric burner, rice cooker, and some cooking/dining items. Large bedroom w/ double mattress. Bathroom w/ full tub & shower. 6,000 THB per month; 3 month deposit required and 3,600 THB for annual Muubaan fee.  See map of surrounding area:    Contact Khruu Gang 0992948654 or Lea by email betafish3006@gmail.com or LINE ID leaburns.

Sublet 3 Br Home World Club  20,000 Baht/month + damage deposit. Through June 2018. Paula at paula@moondata.com

So that’s it for Chiang Mai rentals and sublets for June, 2018. More next month!

Renting Apartments

When clients ask about apartments in Chiang Mai I recommend visiting Hillside 3 as a reference. It’s affordable and in a handy location.

Here’s a Video of new furniture being delivered to my 3-bedroom Chiang Mai house. I pay 10,000 Baht/mo. for it, semi-furnished.

So that’s it for Chiang Mai Rentals, Sublets this time!

If you need help with accommodation why not use our Concierge Service? And for Where to stay in Chiang Mai? Check out these suggestions..

Return to ThailandRetirementHelpers.com

The post Chiang Mai Rentals, Sublets appeared first on Thai Retirement Helpers: Retiring in Thailand Made Easy.

When clients ask about apartments in Chiang Mai I recommend visiting Hillside 3 as a reference. It’s affordable and in a handy location.

Once you’ve done that, here are some helpful apartment renting sites:

• Chiang Mai Open Realty
• Perfect Homes
• Buy Rent Chiang Mai
• Realtor Chiang Mai
• Parker’s
• Chiang Mai Properties

Keith Allen found an apartment he likes and here’s what he has to say about it:

“Godfree, I wanted to write you about my new apartment. I imagine you have people asking you about possible living quarters. I want to suggest they look at and seriously  consider Ping View Apts.  www.pingview.com    I have a 900 sq ft apartment with dual views. I have an unbelievable 4th floor view, through the huge smoked glass windows, of Doi Suthep (I’ll attach some pictures also). Through the front panel of windows I have a view of the flood control lock on the Ping River. At night the lights are absolutely beautiful as they reflect off of the shimmering water. I am also only about 10 minutes away from Old Town and even closer to the Hang dong Big C if I take the first inner ring Hwy. – the exit being about a mile away. Being about 1 mile from the inner ring Hwy puts me in striking distance of almost anywhere in Chiang Mai in very short order.  As they say; Location, location, location. Read more…

More than location are the amenities here at Ping View. Daniel and his wife live on site so everything is constantly maintained. There is a swimming pool and a small exercise room.  Daniel has designed this to be retirement friendly if you so desire. The door fob opener I received has my  floor pre-programmed in it for the elevator service. I just pop in the elevator and put the fob against the receiver and I’m whisked to my floor. I have twice a week maid service and free internet included. I thought by looking at the building that I would never be able to afford an apt here. It is about the same cost as a lower cost house in Old Town.

The reason I wanted to let you know about this place is not because I’ll receive some money or rent for promoting Ping View. I just think a job well done deserves to be praised and promoted.

– Keith

PS:  You can also say that I spend less than 15,000 Bt a month. My apartment is also in the middle range of square footage. I know there is an apartment that is on the same floor as mine and about 1500 less. I also know on the sixth floor there some apartments are much larger. I can’t say enough good things about the owner and his wife. there was a knock on my door about 930 this morning. There stood the owner and his daughter with a couple of hot scones for me. I’m sitting here at my desk looking down at the lock on the Ping River and then turn my head 45° to the left and I have a beautiful view of Doi Suthep. I’m also about equal distance between the clouds and the Earth which makes for a spectacular view of storm clouds.  All this, and the other amenities I noted, for less than $500 a month.

Here’s a typical Hillside 3 apartment:

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15-Year-Old Dies in Phuket Vegetarian Festival Shoot-Out.

Shoot-outs between teenagers are part of the landscape in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. They’re belong to a very old

tradition and are implicitly tolerated because, despite the mayhem they cause, they help preserve Thailand’s ancient warrior culture. Because Thailand has the best rice-growing land in the world it has been the target of many invasions from larger, envious neighbors over the centuries. In a dangerous environment like ours, you don’t want the boys to become sissies, do you? That’s why Thais generally take a ‘boys will be boys’ attitude to these incidents. Though Thailand’s homicide rate is slightly higher than the USA’s (5.0 vs. 4.5 per thousand citizens), the light touch policing makes for a much more relaxed environment. Police suppression is not nearly as evident in Thailand is it is in most Western countries. That’s one reason I like living here.

This headline is the first I’ve seen that balances Thailand’s pacifist Buddhist culture (the vegetarian festival – Thais love their abundant, exotic veggies) with the old warrior culture. Bravo!

Thailand’s headlines of the week are brought to you courtesy of the ever-inventive Thai people, who don’t like to make the same mistakes twice: they prefer to try new, exotic ones, bless ’em.

https://youtu.be/MQMSuFyTdJk

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