Hey Degen, first off I just wanted to thank you for all your info in this thread and on your blog. Good stuff.
I am thinking of taking the plunge and moving to Thailand and I had a couple questions.
A little background info: I am white. I am from a somewhat well-to-do upper middle class family. I live in Virginia. I drive a new benz (I think the exact same one as you). I am very social. I have tons of friends here in the U.S. I make over 100K a year from poker. I have other business ventures that I am involved in that cause me to travel worldwide about 1/4 of the year.
I also have travelled worldwide extensively and have even lived in India and Pakistan for a total of 2 years on business. So I know what to expect in 3rd world countries. I also understand the power of the dollar and how americans are viewed etc.
There are 2 main issues I am facing.
#1) Thailand vs others (Carribean, Bahamas, Hawaii etc.)
The main thing that thailand entices me with is the value of my money. Having an income of over $100K and living in Thailand I could live very very well. In the carribean, my money is nothing special. Everyone vacationing in the carribean or hawaii has tons of money and things are quite expensive (golf, food, real estate)
However, there are some downsides that I see to Thailand. For example, friends wont be able to visit me as easily as if I was in the carribean. How do you deal with that? I mean do you have friends in the U.S. that you are losing touch with being so far away? I want to get a place that friends want to come visit and the flight price and travel time makes it tough.
I would just appreciate any thoughts you have on thailand vs other closer more expensive resort destinations. I am sure you have put some thought into why you chose thailand over these other places.
Issue #2) If Thailand, what real estate should I get. I have done some looking online and found some houses that I would love that are in my price range.
Here are 2 examples:
http://www.siamrealestate.com/proper...age.php?n=1474
http://www.siamrealestate.com/proper...age.php?n=1794
So then the question becomes location. Is having a sweet house like that optimal, or is location more important. Those houses are in Phuket, but should I be looking for something less nice, but right on the beach? I might have some friends moving there with me and people visiting so I want a social place, but something close to some bars and such. Obviously another option would be a condo/apt right in the heart of the action. That would allow us to be closer to everything, but wouldn't be as nice of a place. Do people ever throw parties at their own houses anyways? Or is it pretty much just at bars and clubs?
Anyways your thoughts on location and real estate would be appreciated. Thanks.