The Thai Baht is right around 35 to the dollar at the moment. You can long term lease here but typically you can not buy land in Thailand unless you are in some business the Thai's list as preferred investment. The laws will soon change I think to allow full ownership of property. Now you have to form a limited partnership and put the deed in a company name. Lots of foriegners do it this way. Hope you like hot!!! food. :)

>Hey, save some money...when the time is right, sell your house and whatever else and move there for a few decades...with the Internet, you could even do some consulting work for companies in the USA...
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>Take $200000 and put it into mutual funds. This should pay you $16000-$20000 per year. Live there for $10000/year. Your money should grow enough to compensate for inflation.
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>Eric, what is a Baht worth? I assume this is Thai currency?
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>I am looking at the sawadee.com page and there are some properties listed.
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>Joe
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>>Hi Eric ---
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>>OK, you win :-D
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>>Trade ya!
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>>>Don't feel bad Michelle. I make 10K with 8 years programming/developing in C and 2 years VFP. But, I can also buy a kilo of king prawn for about 3US, and the average sit down meal is about a dollar. My house is a short walk from the beach and rents for 50US per month. I drive a motorbike and have no car, credit cards, utility bills, gas expenses, comuter time, traffic headaches, etc. I think it's a matter of what you want out of life. Personally, I had my fill of being under paid while living in an expensive country like the US. I found that a family living on 30K(-35% tax) a year is just above the poverty level, even in Boise Idaho. I'd rather be sitting under a coconut tree than fighting that war. Go get more money.