Bonus Episode - Financial Freedom in Pattaya, Thailand w\ Scott

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Navigating your financial future as an expat in Thailand requires more than just standard investment advice. In this eye-opening episode, financial advisor Scott from Max Foresight joins Mike and guillaume to uncover the often-overlooked realities of managing money abroad.

Most expats don't realize they're actively losing money by keeping funds in Thai bank accounts. With inflation outpacing interest rates, your purchasing power diminishes yearly even as your account balance remains stable. Scott explains how diversified global investments can protect and grow your wealth, especially compared to traditional Western strategies that don't translate well to Southeast Asia.

The conversation tackles the surprising truth about Thai real estate – contrary to Western markets, condominiums here typically depreciate rather than appreciate. With an oversupply of units sitting empty across cities like Pattaya, property investment rarely delivers the returns expats expect. Guillaume shares his firsthand experience of why renting often makes more financial sense, offering greater flexibility at a fraction of the cost.

Perhaps most valuable is the brutally honest discussion about the expat dream of opening a bar or restaurant in Thailand. As one experienced owner puts it: "Opening a bar in Thailand is like working at Disneyland – you don't see the magic anymore." The hosts explore why these ventures frequently fail despite seeming like ideal retirement projects.

Whether you're planning retirement abroad, already living in Thailand, or simply curious about international finance, this episode delivers practical wisdom that could save you thousands. Learn how to structure your investments, manage pensions from back home, and avoid the costly mistakes that drain so many expats' savings.

Ready to make smarter financial decisions? Connect with Scott through our show notes or reach out with your questions at [e-mail]. Your future self will thank you.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone and welcome back to my Thai Wife
Podcast.
I'm Mike.
Pim is not here and I made surewe have enough interesting
guests in order to take herplace for today, so we have
Scott again.
Hello Scott, how are you doing?

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, good you.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Very good, and a guy that you heard but you never
seen his face before, so now youcan attach the face to the
voice.
Guume is here, the owner of thebull restaurant.
Hello, guillaume, pleased tomeet you.
Yeah, how are you doing?
I'm okay.
Hot today, hot, yeah, hot today, hot yesterday.
Yesterday it was blazing hot Iwas sweating the whole night
almost like it was in april yeah, there was a a party at 69 and

(00:42):
it was full, so me and englishjohn were standing outside near
the fucking karaoke that werewith the time music and we both
like sweating everything outlike we are drinking and
everything immediately goes outas a sweat.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
So, yeah, it was kind of not fun but the party was
nice, but it was everywhere.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
So yeah, actually, before we start the subject that
we want to talk, there was aninteresting show yesterday.
So every time when they do abirthday, there is kind of a
show that's going on.
So of course there was somedrag queen singing and whatnot,
and then there was some lady boythat took many white candles
have you seen that before?
No, and of course she lit themup and then she was just dancing

(01:25):
and just pruning the white yeahplaying with the candles.
The white wax on her mouth, onher tongue, and you know how it
looks.
It looks not like wax, it lookslike something else.
All over her face, all over herbody.
I never saw something like this.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
I've seen it.
Normally you have differentkind of wax for the candles.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Oh, it's special wax.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah, it's a wax that melts with the lower
temperature.
Okay, so when it comes to yourbody?

Speaker 2 (01:53):
it's not so hot On your face, right?

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, it's the one they use in BDSM.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Okay, so it does it.
That's new for me, I didn'tknow that.
Or if you're really into BDSyou take a normal one.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
That is very hot, but normally if you want just to
show, you can use normal, that'snot for me.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
But I just thought like, oh, she's brave, she's a
strong one, you know.
And her mouth was full of likewhen she finished the show she
just grabbed the hand, startsscraping everything out of her
mouth.
Yeah, it was very weird.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
But out of her mouth.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Yeah, it was very weird but, arousing at the same
time, but everyone was cheeringand taking videos so it was nice
yeah, and she played, she didthe movement, yeah, everything
like like a Cleopatra.
She also dressed like that.
You know all the the slowmovements and everything.
So it was nice.
You missed a nice night oh no,oh no, yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
No, I was tired, yeah , so I had work today.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, and this is actually what we came to talk
about.

Speaker 3 (02:50):
Yeah, so do you know what he's doing for work right
now in Thailand.
You explained to me a littlebit, but not all the specifics
and the detail.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Okay, so of course, he can explain more and then you
understand basically what, andyou guys understand why we're
doing that, because it's asubject that many people know
about, but they don't doanything without it, and this is
the reason they are losing alot of income, or maybe losing
even their pension or whatevermoney they got left after this

(03:21):
horrible inflation that we havegoing on right now.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
So yeah so so yeah.
So when I'm not, uh, when I'mnot out partying with you or
eating at the ball, um, I dohave a job, so I I do work um
let's just clarify first you arenot working in a thai company
or working in a basically acompany that is from outside of

(03:46):
thailand?
yes, um, yeah, so there's manynames for my job.
So I'm a financial advisor, I'ma financial planner, I'm a
wealth manager any of thosetitles can't you forget they
can't.
People will come across that Idon't call myself a wealth

(04:07):
manager because when people seewealth in the title, they seem
to think that they need to be amultimillionaire to get advice.
But that's not the case.
So I've had so many people inthe past say, well, I've got no
money.
And then when I actually talkto them and find out a bit more
about them, there's plenty ofstuff that we can have, they

(04:29):
feel that you're out of theirleague.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Basically, yeah, yeah , just because of that single
word.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, so yeah, wealth .
The company I used to work forwas Such and Such Wealth
Services.
I've got friends that work forsuch and such wealth management.
Their title is wealth manager,wealth advisor, all of this.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
They love those titles.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Some people like the title because, I don't know,
maybe they think it's a bit moreprestigious.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
Maybe people confuse wealth and wealthy.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I mean, about the titles For
sure, when they go to the barand they say, like a lady asks
them, what are you doing?
Oh, I'm a wealth manager.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
You don't need to be wealthy to need a wealth manager
.

Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yes, you just need to have some money.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, so I try and stay away from that term.
I'm a bit more down to earth,I'm a normal guy.

Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yes, okay, go on, take that as you want.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, so a lot of my job is helping people.
I like helping people.
I find it really rewarding tohelp people.
I've helped a lot of people, soI did this job in the UK before
.
For how long?
For about three years in the UK.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Not with the same company, with another company.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yes, with another company.
Before now you would class itas working offshore.
In the offshore market that'smore of an old school term.
Now it's more the internationalmarket.
So it's out here.
It's helping expats that havemoved to Thailand, live in here,
they may have retired here orthey've come to work here.

(06:13):
But we're not limited just toThailand, so it's pretty much
all of Southeast Asia.
So we've got an office inThailand, we've got an office in
Vietnam and an office in thePhilippines as well.
So, yeah, what do you want toknow?

Speaker 1 (06:31):
first of all, I want to know for obviously we are
friends right so far.
I've seen you and we talkedmostly about the whole what is
the need in Thailand right now,before even the investments?
Many people come here and theirlife insurance sucks, or maybe
they don't even have lifeinsurance or pension insurance

(06:53):
or whatever yeah, so this is oneof the things that you do which
I get it.
Many people we need it.
Obviously you're making moneyout of it and you have a lot of
customers in that area.
But like, what else can you do?
Let's say I have not much.
Let's say I have 50 000 likepounds yeah what can you help me

(07:14):
with?
Like?
For me they are just sitting inthe bank.
I have nothing with it and youknow me, I'm not a smart guy.
I know nothing about likeinvesting and stuff like that.
Most of my money just as a cashin my bank.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
So so um so everything is.
There's no general financialadvice.
There's no one size fits all.
Everything is what we do.
Everything is tailored to theindividual.
Your circumstances aredifferent to mine, mine are
different to kion'siyom'scircumstances are much better

(07:45):
than us.
So it's all tailored to whatyour goals are and what you want
to achieve.
Basically, if you've got like50,000 and you say, look, scott,
I don't need that for 10, 15years, then we'd love to invest
that.
If you might need access tosome of it, then we may invest
some of it and we may keep somein cash for, like, emergency

(08:08):
funds.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Okay, so it's limited .

Speaker 2 (08:13):
Yeah, yeah, and your timeframe for when you may need
to access that money or whatyour goal is, will then also
determine how much risk we takewith it.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
Okay, so there is a risk.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
In terms of investing , okay.
So yeah, investing in the stockmarkets comes with risk.
You see the adverts you may getless than what you put in your
money's at risk, all this sortof stuff.
So there is risk.
But the markets, markets, theygo up and down all the time.
Um, generally, in the 10-yearperiod, you'll have seven good

(08:51):
years and you'll have three badyears, but it comes up and down,
you know.
So we had covid.
Covid, the markets plummeted,but they were back up in the
same year.
Um, a lot of my previousclients in the uk made money
during covid.
When people, you know, when wewere all put into lockdown, a

(09:11):
lot of people would have beenthinking, oh god, I've seen all
my money plummet away.
Um, but it comes back and time,uh, history tells us that it
always comes back and alwaysgoes further.
So, um, so yeah, there is risk.
Um, and depending on your goalsand your, your attitude to risk
, you know you might be, youmight think, you know I'm a bit

(09:33):
of a gambler um, I'm quite arisk taker.
Uh, and then we we would lookat that and explore that with
the time frame.
Um, if you weren't and you're amore cautious person, it
doesn't mean that you can'tinvest.
It just means that we invest inless risky investments.
So it's all to suit your needsand what your goals are.

(09:56):
Does that answer that?

Speaker 1 (10:00):
It is, but I know it's not only stock market.
I know also now, you gave a lotof example about the stock
market and everything, but Iguess any kind of investment is
something that you can helppeople with, not only in that
particular area.
For example, if guillaume howlong 13 years ago came to
thailand uh, 13 years, 13 and hedidn't have the brain that he

(10:23):
actually had and he said, okay,I have this money, I just closed
the IT company or whatever,what should I do now?

Speaker 3 (10:30):
Yeah, the thing also is when you invest in the stock
market, sometimes you can investin stock, but sometimes you can
invest in products that isbased on the stock market,
financial products and after, asyou said, there is the risk.
So, for example, you can takehigh risk but you can win big or

(10:54):
lose big, or you can take likethe in France we have the CAC 40
, it's the 40 biggest topcompanies.
So you basically have a walletwith a little bit of everything
and you invest in 10 years andyou're sure you will not lose
money, Because in 10 years, withthe high and up generally in

(11:18):
the last 30, 40, 50 years, theaverage is 5% per year.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
Okay, so it's not as high as other investments.
Average it's 5% per year.

Speaker 3 (11:29):
Okay, so it's not as high as other investments, but
it's a sure investment.
Maybe this year you win 20%,next year you lose 30%, but you
invest in for 10 years.
So in 10 years you will get 5%per year.

Speaker 1 (11:41):
Okay, so it's like what my brother did.
He took all the money he hadput in s&p 500 and, like 15
years, forget about it.
You don't even check it outyeah yeah so there are risks
with that.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
So when?
So we use fund managers and wegenerally invest in funds, and
for us everything's aboutdiversification, so it's not
putting all your eggs in onebasket.
Now, if you use the Cap 40,that's your right, it will go up
, but you're only invested in 40companies, and all of those

(12:14):
companies are in France.
So if something happens inFrance with the government and
they change the rules onsomething, then it can be more
volatile.
It's the same in the UK.
We've got the FTSE 100, whichis the top 100 companies.
Again, it's all concentrated inone country, whereas what we do

(12:39):
so I'm not an investmentspecialist, that's not my job my
job is to give you the adviceas to what you should do to meet
your goals.
So we've got teams of fundmanagers that we work with.
They're the specialists I don'tpretend to be.
We let it up to them to investyour money how they see fit, and

(13:04):
they will spread that thenglobally.
So there will be stuff inAmerica, there'll be stuff in
Europe, there'll be stuff inAsia, all over the world, and
then in different asset classes.
So stocks and shares, bonds,government bonds, and then even

(13:26):
within those there's otherclasses.
So it's really spreading itacross, so you don't get that
huge volatility.
So, like kian said, you know youmight be up 20, that might be
great, um, and then next yearyou want to retire and then it
goes down to 30, it goes down 30.

(13:47):
So you've you've got thatvolatility and the s p 500 could
can be the same.
Now the s p 500 is is made upgenerally of the magnificent
seven, which is the big, the topbig seven.
What am I saying?
Uh, what am I saying?
The big tech companies inAmerica.
They make up a lot of the S&P500.

(14:08):
Okay, so, although there's 500companies in there, generally
you're mainly invested in thoseTen maybe.
Yeah, so, yeah.
So that's why we diversifywithin funds and within those
funds we'll have different riskcategories, like I said before,
depending on what your goals are.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
So my goal is I have this amount that I told you
before.
I want to retire in Thailand.
What can I do?

Speaker 2 (14:37):
So we can invest that .

Speaker 1 (14:39):
No, but I need it also.
Some of it I need now right.

Speaker 3 (14:42):
Yeah, there is one thing to consider is you arrive
in Thailand with a lot of money.
You keep it in your bank.
Basically, when you keep yourmoney in the bank, you're losing
money.
Yeah, especially in Europe.
Usa we didn't, we didn't have avery high growth, so we don't
see it much.
But when you are in SoutheastAsia with a higher growth, you

(15:05):
have more inflation.
So if you have 50,000 euros, in10 years your 50,000 euros have
not the same value.
You still have your 50,000euros, but they were maybe 30.
But you lose in investment, inpayment capacity, maybe 20%.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (15:24):
Let's say one bedroom apartment is 50,000 euros, but
in 10 years it's going to be100,000.
So you lose 50%.
For example.

Speaker 2 (15:35):
I used to talk to people a lot about that.
It's the spending power of yourmoney.
So, like Kian said, 50,000 nowis not worth 50,000 in 10 years
time.
So what we try and do is we tryto outpace inflation as a
minimum and then grow it on topas well.
So you've got more in thefuture.
But yeah, you really need to.

(15:57):
If you've got large sums ofmoney that are just sitting in
the bank, you're losing money.
There's a calculation that Ican't remember how to work it
out.
I bet Guillaume knows.
Yeah, say, if you're earning,you know 3% in the bank, but

(16:20):
inflation's 5%, you know you'relosing.
Yeah, even if inflation isn'tas high as the know you're
losing.
Yeah, even if inflation isn'tas high as the interest that
you're earning, you're still notgetting that 3%.
And as a calculation to work itout I won't bore you with that.

Speaker 1 (16:36):
But then basically, as you said oh, you're not
making money or you're losingmoney.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
So you can be going around saying, oh great, I'm
making 3% in the bank.
If inflation's 4 or inflation's2, even you know, you're not
making 3%.
I get that, so yeah.
So we're always trying tooutpace inflation as a minimum
and then grow it on top as well.

Speaker 3 (16:58):
The problem with inflation is you don't feel it.
We feel it now in Europe, usa,because after COVID all the
price rises up because of thewar and all the problems.
But normally you don't see it alot.
I remember when my mom and dadthey bought their house, they
had a mortgage.
In France they have two typesof mortgage.
The first one has a flat rate,a mortgage to buy the house, a

(17:24):
mortgage yeah so you have a flatrate.
A mortgage to buy the house,Mortgage yeah so you have a flat
rate like you're going to paylike 3% for 15 years.
The second one was indexed onthe inflation and we stopped
doing this because there were nomore inflation.
So basically, inflation is likewhen you have a kid you see

(17:45):
your kid every day.
You don't see grown up but theuncle who come every year One
time.
One time per year he see thekids growing up.
So that's why people sayThailand is more expensive,
Because they think, oh, 10 yearsago I can have this.
But they don't see thateverything everywhere in the
world is more expensive.
They had bigger salary in theircountry and in Thailand there

(18:11):
is inflation, more inflationbecause it's more developed.

Speaker 1 (18:13):
Okay, but in Thailand it's a bit different, because I
think you would agree with methat, not as a business owner,
because you do need to buyproducts for your business and
whatever, but as a person thatcomes here once in a while
spending his money.
The prices didn't really go up.
What did change is the value ofour own money back home.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
The exchange rate the exchange rate right.

Speaker 1 (18:38):
So, as we spoke last time on the podcast, many of the
guys that came from the uk andbeen here for 15, 20, oh, I
remember the pound used to giveme 80 baht.

Speaker 3 (18:50):
Yeah, there is two things, as some people, they
came after the financial crisisso they had a one euro for 50
baht for one euro, but it wasexceptional because there was a
financial crisis in southeast as, but generally the change did

(19:10):
not change a lot.
It was around 38, 40, about forone euro.
We went to 33, but it's still alittle bit the same.
You lose a little bit.
What is different is the offerstay a little bit the same.
You lose a little bit.
What is different is the offer.
When you come 15 years ago, youonly have small restaurants with

(19:30):
Thai food, so basically it wascheaper.
If you eat on the street 10years ago or 15 years ago, yeah,
okay, you're gonna eat for 40baht.
The same dish now is 80 baht or70 baht, so it went higher.

(19:51):
Also, the offer in terms ofrestaurants you have more
quality Thai restaurants whereyou can sit with the air con,
with the waitress that hasknowledge about how to serve,
how to cater to tourists, andfor the same things.

(20:11):
If you go to a steakhouse nowyou have some steakhouse in
Pattaya that can have the samequality of steak that you can
find in Dubai, in France, inEurope, anywhere.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
So the market has changed.
I know one mistake.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
Yeah, I know one.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
The market.
The offer has changed.
The lowest price have gethigher.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Yeah, and Thailand really westernized in the past
15, 20 years.
It wasn't what it used to beand I actually like it because
it's much more easy forforeigners to come here and feel
comfortable.

Speaker 3 (20:50):
You had a big development in Thailand about
the middle class.
There was a very small middleclass before and now you have a
big middle class because youhave a lot of companies that
produce in Thailand Koreancompany, japanese company,

(21:10):
european company.
They produce and they needpeople who have go to university
to be manager and everything.
So the middle class in Thailandhas developed a lot with much
more people.
So these people, they want adifferent kind of life.
They don't want the same life,they don't expect the same life

(21:33):
as the people who come from thesmall village.
Okay, they see on TV, they seethe European life and they want
a little bit the same.
They want air con, they want anice house.
So that's why it's very, verydifferent, okay.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
Would you agree, as someone that came here the past?

Speaker 2 (21:54):
few years.
Yes, do you see the change?
Or for you, I think, becauseI've only been coming here for
the past six years, I don't seea huge change, but I have got
friends that have been cominghere for over 20 years and they
were the same.
Yeah, we used to come.
It was 80 baht to the pound andeverything was cheap.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
Back in the day.

Speaker 2 (22:20):
Yeah, beer was 20 baht a beer or whatever, and so,
yeah, so I haven't personallyseen it, just because I think
it's a short period as opposedto 15, 20 years.
Okay, okay so.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
I do feel it in the food industry a bit, but not as
much as you said.
But I know that in Thailand andI think, by the way, it's one
of the best rules that Thailandhave that foreigners actually
cannot own land here.
Well, it's kind of changingright now.
There are some loopholes thatpeople can do.
I know one or two of them and Ithink we spoke about it before.

Speaker 3 (22:59):
Yeah, but when I came in Thailand on holidays, I had
a friend who told me somethingabout loopholes and everything.
He said in Thailand you don'thave problem until you have a
problem if you don't do thethings by the book.
Once you had a problem, it'sthe pilot, the shit is going to

(23:20):
pile up, okay, and then you'llbe like domino everything and
yeah, and then you have a verybig problem.
Um, there is always some guyswho ask you how we can do this
and you explain to them thecorrect way to do this.
You have to do this, that, that, that.
And then the other friends say,oh, I got an easy way.
And they go to the easy way andthey get fucked.

(23:43):
And then when they have aproblem, it's like, for example,
driving license.
It's very easy to get a drivinglicense.
It's not complicated, it's veryeasy to get a driving license.
It's not complicated.
It's not expensive.
You got yours already Okay, solisten up.
Basically me, I didn't have anydriving license in Europe, so I
had to pass all the tests inThailand.

(24:03):
Oh really, you never drove backin.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
Thailand.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
No, in France I had a 50cc so I didn't need a driving
license.
So I pass my driving licenselike a tie, do all the tests and
everything.
If you have an internationaldriving license, you can
transform it to a tie drivinglicense.
So it's a little bit more easythan passing all the tests.

(24:26):
And there is some company whosay oh, you can buy your driving
license with us.
You give us 5,000, 6,000, Idon't know.
You can pass, you don't need tomove, you get your driving
license.
The problem is you don't knowwhat you buy, because it's not

(24:50):
our country, it's not ourculture, we don't know how it
works.
So basically, the guy, guy, hehas a driving license, looks
authentic, it's authentic, ithas been printed in the DMV,
everything is alright.
And then one day he has anaccident.
The police arrive, they run thenumber and it's not a register,
it just has been printed.
So it was never typed in thesystem.

(25:13):
Yeah, it was not in the system,it was just printed.
And then, because you want toavoid two mornings doing the
test, you spend your life payingbecause your insurance says you
can't.
I don't know if we can say theword here.
So the insurance will say youdon't have driving license, so
we don't know if we can say theword here.
So the insurance will say youdon't have driving license, so

(25:35):
we don't cover you and you haveto pay for the person that is
injured or something.
So you always have some guysthat say, oh, you don't need to
work on it, you can pay theimmigration.
Okay, I never heard that.
And one day, the immigrationthey come, because sometimes
bank come control.
Or, for example, you're theimmigration, I pay you every

(25:58):
month and you want a new car.
So you come to see me.
You say, okay, now it's notthree thousand, six thousand.
What I'm gonna do.
If I want to apply for a workpermit, I have to ask you and
you're gonna say no so I canextort you basically

Speaker 1 (26:10):
exactly whatever I want, and you are only relying
on me, on my kindness but if youdo everything by the book you
don't have any problem.

Speaker 3 (26:20):
I asked some guy asked me oh, in your restaurant
you pay the police.
I say no, why should I pay thepolice?
I've got all the license, I'vegot all the work permit.
I have everything.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
If they want to control, they can control I
might have to delete this partabout the police, but you know
why.
But yeah, we will see.
But about buying land, what Imeant?
That normally in Westerncountries one of the best
investments is real estate,right?
No, no, no, okay.

(26:52):
So in my country and fuck you,scott.
Like the pricing houses went inthe last 15 years like 600%,
something like that, which iscrazy.
Like I don't know if there isany other place in the world
that it went like that.
I know in Japan it used to besomething similar, because they

(27:13):
always compare Japan.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
Yeah, but Japan is going down.
No before, yeah, before.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
So 600% in like 15 years.
So everyone that owned like ashithole somewhere can sell it
for a lot of money right now.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah, the problem is now in Thailand.
There is too much condocondominium and basically most
of them they are empty.
Really yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
Because I still see the advertisement everywhere.

Speaker 2 (27:41):
Yeah, to be fair, I was sitting in.
Well, I was on the balcony ofmine today and I was looking and
I was thinking I've never seenthose curtains open.
I've never seen those ones.

Speaker 3 (27:50):
It looks like there's a sign in that one and I look
and it was like you could tellthey were all they were all
empty, yeah the thing is, if Ineed um, I've got a condominium,
I'm a promoter, developer, I'vegot a building, a condominium
and I need to sell 40 apartmentsto pay everything.

(28:13):
Okay so once I paid 40apartments, let's say I pay 50,
then I make a profit on this.
So I start another project andthis and this and this.
So that's why most of thecondominium towers they are not
fully sold.
So why the prices are so high.
The price for the new when youhave a new condo are still the

(28:39):
same, but on the second market,second hand, it's cheaper.
It go down a little bit becauseit's more difficult to sell.
Okay, because the they don'tcare about selling the empty one
.
They want to move to anotherproject.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
Okay, I remember the first time I came to Thailand.
I was in Pattaya for a week andI was walking around a central
festival and there was a companyin the ground floor that
advertised condos.
So I had like 30 minutes.
I said I will harass them, Iwill get the information, just
for the knowledge.

(29:15):
And back then it was 1.4million for a new condo.
I don't see those pricesanymore.
Everywhere I see 2.2, 2.4, forsmaller than what they used to
offer back then.

Speaker 3 (29:33):
When you buy a condo, if the condo is more than 10
years old.
10 years ago you can buy yourstudio.
The studio were about 36, 34,36 square meters.
Now a studio is 24, 26 squaremeters, but the price is the
same After.
It depends where you buy.

(29:54):
You can buy if you buy on BeachRoad.
It would be more expensive thanon the dark side and everything
, and you have more and moreservice, more swimming pool,
more and sauna.

Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yes, but this is go back to what we said before,
that they are really trying towesternize like the facilities.

Speaker 3 (30:15):
They want luxury, they want to sell luxury.
Yeah, also, there is somethingthat, after the earthquake from
Bangkok on the 28th, they wantto stop the look fancy but build
shitty.
Okay, because they have a lotof building that look very, very
precious, you have marbles onthe wall and everything, but the

(30:38):
structure is shit, okay.
So basically, you buy somethingthat looks good but it's very
bad.
When you have a condo and youcan hear your neighbor.
That's very bad because therewas a very thin and everything.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
Yeah, but this is why normally people, when they buy
a house, maybe even a condo,they ask for inspection first,
you know, just to give them thegeneral idea of what's going on
here.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
But when I came on holiday, I wanted to invest in
real estate, but I didn't wantto buy a condominium, I want to
buy a small room and sell andrent to Thai people.
Okay, like for 3,000, 4,000baht per month.
And I asked some advice to afriend who owns Axiom Properties

(31:27):
.
Okay, and he said, guillaume,that's the best and the worst
idea you can have.
It's the best idea because it'sthe best return on investment
you can have.
It's the worst idea becauseyou're not in Thailand.
If you are not in Thailand totake care of your rent and your
business, then you will not makemoney.

Speaker 1 (31:48):
Okay, because let's say, like any business, you have
to be there in order to makesure it's operating the way that
you want let's say you buy acondominium for 1.4 million baht
.

Speaker 3 (32:03):
Let's say I buy one in the center of Pattaya called
city center residence 1.4million baht.
You can rent it for 12,000 baht.
By the way, those are the realprices 1.4 million baht.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
You can rent it for 12,000 baht.
By the way, those are the realprices over there 1.4 million is
the price.
I bought.

Speaker 3 (32:20):
It's a nice place and you can buy a second hand there
for 801 million.
Really ok, but I do not adviseyou because the construction is
not that good and it gets oldvery quickly.
But you can rent the place.
You buy 1.4 million, you canrent it for 12,000.

(32:41):
So basically, the return oninvestment is very low compared
to what you have in Europe.
Yeah, of course, and it'sdifficult to rent because there
is a lot of offer, so it'sdifficult to get people to rent
your place.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
Okay, as you said, there are many vacant places,
exactly.

Speaker 2 (33:03):
It's supply and demand, isn't it?
Yeah, there's more supply thanthere is demand, but I know a
person.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
I will not say her name, but all of us us know her.
She's the lady boy wife of ourmutual friend.
So the place she went right nowhave 60 rooms upstairs,
something like that, and she ranthem for thai people, obviously
, and I think it took her fourmonths and everything is full

(33:32):
because it's not condominium.

Speaker 3 (33:34):
No, it's not.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
It's room sheet rooms no windows, I think on most of
them.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
There is two things.
First, it's room, so it's moreeasy to rent.
Second, she's Thai and sheknows a lot of people in Pattaya
.
Yeah, so it's easy for herbecause she don't need to have
an agency and everything.
Because the problem is we seethis the western way in.
If I was in france, I have acondo, I have a apartment, I

(33:58):
want to rent it, I went to anagency.
They will have plenty of people.
If I have the same thing inthailand, I went to an agency
thai people.
They don't have the reflex togo to an agency.
It's completely different.
The new generation which look,look everything online no, they
will look on the Facebookmarketplace things like that.

(34:18):
So if you know a lot of people,it's going to be easy to to rent
everything, and also she hasthe bar so she can rent to her
staff.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
But this is only six people.
We are talking six 60 rooms.

Speaker 3 (34:30):
She knew a lot of people.
Yeah, if you don't know anyoneand you need to pass by an
agency, you're not going to rentyour condo because it's going
to be lost in all the offer.
It's going to be very difficultto rent.
Okay, so real estate in generalis not the best thing in

(34:52):
Thailand as we said, if you wantto buy real estate to stay,
it's for you.
For me, I don't like it.
I don't like it because if Iwant to move, I don't want to
have to sell the place and buyanother one, so I prefer to rent
.
There is another thing.

Speaker 1 (35:12):
Sorry to cut you, but also, as you said before, rents
are so cheap here, so sometimesit's even worth it.
Exactly, just invest your bigamount of money, invest
somewhere and just with thespare money just rent some.

Speaker 3 (35:25):
I rent a big house because I've got my dogs and
everything, for 15,000 baht permonth, with land and everything
50,000, 15,000 baht per monthand with land and everything a
little bit land.
I've got three big room, onebig living room, uh, one, uh
dining room, one big kitchengarage, also right one garage
for two car.
So it's very big.

(35:46):
Uh, my, my bedroom is a 54square meters but bigger than
most of the studios here, biggerthan an apartment.
Yeah, I pay, so 15,000 baht.
But it's far from the center,it's a little bit far from the
center, it's on the dark side.
On the dark side I had aproblem with the air con when I

(36:09):
rent the lady.
She owns the street.
She has all the house in thestreet so she have a people
working there.
The guy came, cannot fix.
Two days later, uh, there is aaircon guy coming.
He said, okay, we need tochange.
I got a new aircon.
Cost me zero because it's partof the owner to do this.

(36:31):
Zero because it's part of theowner to do this.
Of course I pay for, uh, themaintenance, but if this, if
there is something broken, it'sthe owner who have to, as long
as it's not damage that youcause exactly, for example, the
pump or something, yeah, so it'svery easy for me and if I want
to move, I just move some people.
They prefer to own the land, toown the place.

(36:53):
So that's just a question ofpersonal choice.

Speaker 1 (36:58):
Okay.
Would you recommend someonebuying here Like a condo or just
renting if they're moving hereas a retiree?

Speaker 2 (37:08):
As a retiree, I'd probably say no, don't buy it.
It's, I think, when you're anexpat.
So this was something I wasgoing to talk about.
You know, if you've got familyback in the UK you've got to
think about when you die and youknow if you own something out

(37:31):
here, it's going to be verydifficult for them.
Your family are then going tohave to come out here and have
to deal with the Thaiauthorities as to how to how to
sell this.
I would if I was retiring outhere.
I would keep stuff liquid.
I wouldn't keep, I wouldn't buyreal estate.
Okay, um, I mean one of thereasons as well, which is when

(37:53):
you said real estate's a reallygood investment, I said no, uh.
So in the uk in the past it hasbeen um, and a lot of people
made a lot of money, um, bybuying houses, doing them up and
renting them out, and they were.
You know they had good annualyields.
You know growth overall, sortoverall capital growth was good

(38:14):
on them as well.
But the government in the UKsaw well, these people are on to
a good thing, so we're going totax them more.
We're going to tax them more andthen we're going to put more
restrictions in place and youcan't do this and you can't do
that.
So I used to speak to a lot ofpeople that had we'd call it

(38:36):
like a property portfolio, um,and I used to do all the
calculations on it, work out howmuch growth they've had.
You know, because a lot ofpeople look at the top line and
they'll say like, say kion,you're paying 15 000 bar people.
Go go out and get 15000 baht amonth.
Okay, how much was that airconditioning unit?
How much did that cost?

(38:57):
How much?
What other things have gonewrong?
How much did I have to paintthe place every couple of years
or whatever?
The maintenance, basically.
And then the tax how much taxdo I have to pay?
So in the UK it's classed asincome.
The maintenance, basically,yeah, and then the tax how much
tax do I have to pay?
So in the UK it's classed asincome.

(39:17):
So I know that there may bepeople listening that have
retired out here, that havestill got UK properties, and I
think you need to look at thatand see is it?
still worth doing it.
I used to do these calculationswith people and then I'd tell
them their overall growth andthen I'd say look, here's a fund
that we've invested in for 10years.

(39:39):
You could have got more and youhaven't got mr jones ringing
you up in the middle of thenight saying yeah this is
leaking.
This is that, or you know the UK, you'd get people that wouldn't
pay.
So you know if they don't payfor three months and if you've
got a mortgage on it, you'repaying the mortgage.

(40:00):
You know all these things and Iused to say this as an example
to people You've heard of NVIDIA.
You know the biggest companynow.
You know if you invest in N inthe video, at no point does
someone go mike.
We've got a big fucking problemover here in the factory like
can you come?

Speaker 1 (40:19):
and give.

Speaker 2 (40:19):
Can you come and give us a hand?
Oh, I'm not free in a minute,so you know you invest in.
You invest in other stuff, infunds.
Fund managers are looking afterit they're looking at that no
one's ringing you up.
You haven't got the hassle, allthat sort of stuff.

Speaker 3 (40:34):
There is something also about the houses.
You buy an apartment in Europeor in the USA, you buy 1 million
and when you sell it, you willsell it 1.2, 1.4 or something.
You buy a condominium here 1.4million.
You sell it for 1.2, 1.3, ifyou're lucky.

(40:55):
So you don't make much money oryou can even lose money.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
Yeah, but it depends on how long you sit on it, right
?

Speaker 3 (41:04):
Even if it's new, even if I buy it and I sell it
the next week.

Speaker 1 (41:07):
No, no, I mean the opposite thing that the prices
might go up in time.

Speaker 3 (41:12):
No, because the offer on the new one is the same
price.
Okay.

Speaker 2 (41:21):
So people, they get a new one for the same price.
Why would you buy a second-handone?

Speaker 3 (41:23):
Why do you want to buy a two-year-old apartment and
they have finance?
Yeah, because you know you havethe finance by the realtor, for
example, the.
I pay 500 000 baht and thenthey start building the, the
condominium, and in three I payevery month.

Speaker 2 (41:46):
yeah, so that's easy for me too, I had a similar
thing, but sort of the opposite.
So my first house that I boughtin the uk uh, they were still
building new housing the exactsame house and but they were
charging more than what I wasputting my house up for sale for
.
And it was like, why would youbuy that one that's brand new

(42:10):
for you know, however, muchextra?
And we had loads of peoplecoming and looking at ours
rather than looking at the newones.

Speaker 1 (42:19):
How old was it?

Speaker 2 (42:21):
Oh, it was like four or five years old, okay.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
The difference was like 20%, 30%, I guess.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
But the good thing was like oh look, we've had all
the problems.
You know, we've decorated.
It's not a bare shell, it'slike we've done this, we've done
this to it, the garden's allnice.
Because the gardens won't bedone on brand new houses, so it
looked more attractive.
So that's like the opposite ofwhat you're saying, you're
saying it's like well, you know,if you can get a brand new one,

(42:50):
then you know, for a smallpercentage more you get a brand
new one.

Speaker 3 (42:57):
You make money in Thailand.
You sell, you lose money.
Yeah, I understand that.
At the Sisi condo I had onecondo I bought and I rent two
other condos.
I was doing something, I wasdoing Airbnb.
Okay, I was doing something, Iwas doing Airbnb.
Okay.

Speaker 1 (43:13):
Then the COVID arrived when it was still legal,
by the way.

Speaker 3 (43:18):
Yeah, of course, when it was still legal, of course.
So the COVID arrived, I stoppedrenting the two condos and the
condo I bought 100% who was mine.
And the condo I bought 100% whowas mine.

(43:40):
I put it as a collateral for aloan at the bank and I called my
bank and said okay, can I stoppaying for six months Because
it's COVID.
They closed the restaurant andeverything.
And the bank told me no, you'rea foreigner, we cannot do this.
I said, okay, fuck you.
I stopped paying.
So I stopped paying.
After three months theycontacted my girlfriend.
They said okay, if you don'tpay, we're going to take the
condo.
So I said it's okay, take thecondo.

(44:02):
It's like I sold you the condo.
So basically, with the money Imade with Airbnb and the money
they gave me for the restaurant,I didn't lose money.
I make a little bit profit.
And I told my girlfriend do itquick, because every year you
have the fee, the property feeto pay Like the key money, as

(44:27):
they say.
Yeah, it's for the management.
The service charge you pay bythe size of your condo yeah,
it's for the management Servicecharge, the service charge.
Yeah, oh, okay, you pay by thesize of your condo, and so we do
it quick.
And the bank was the owner now.
So when the juristic personcalled me and said, oh, you need
to pay your fee for this year,I said I'm not the owner anymore

(44:49):
.

Speaker 1 (44:49):
Call the bank, that's funny, yeah, but before you
said something that reminded me,you said that sometimes when
you rent a place to someone,then they don't pay.
You know what they are doing inThailand for people that don't
pay rent they have a lock, theyput on the door and you cannot

(45:13):
access your stuff until you payit it's genius, but it's fucking
crazy also because, for example, we know someone that she's yes
Until you pay it.
It's genius, but it's fuckingcrazy also Because, for example,
we know someone that she'sworking in the bars, right, and
she didn't pay her rent, so theylocked the apartment.
But how can she make money?
She don't have access to herclothes.
She don't have.

Speaker 3 (45:33):
You know, she need to look good, makeup everything
and it's a ladyboy.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
So she need the wigs, she needs all the stuff, and
now like yeah, but that's whatyou have to think before, of
course.
But I'm saying that in Westerncountries you just go to the
court and the court even letsyou stay there for like I don't
know how long Six months and ifit's the winter they cannot kick
you out.

Speaker 3 (45:54):
Yeah, but that's why the prices are cheaper.
That's why the rents arecheaper and that's why it's so
easy to have a room.
When you want to rent a condo,they don't ask you a lot of
paper.
They say okay, you want to renta condo?
I do, give me the money you paytwo months of deposit and this

(46:15):
month's rent and you take thecondo.
In Europe you cannot kick outpeople, but because you cannot
keep up people.
They need to have a lot ofinsurance to be sure that you
can have everything and you havea good file with everything.
Good.
So basically, by doing likethis, they can have easier

(46:40):
access to rent, lower rent.
So I think what we should do inEurope is a mix of what we do,
as I understand, in Europe.
We say, okay, we need to helpthe people when they have
problem, and that's a good idea.
That's something I support.
But why should it be theprivate people who should

(47:01):
support this?
It should be the state.
So let's say that, okay, nowyou can.
I'm in france, you cannot paythe rent.
We kick you out, but thegovernment put you in a place
where you still have a roof onyour head and we help you there
yeah, or there should be a firstquarter rule.

Speaker 1 (47:21):
So let's say there is quarters in your place, you can
apply for the government andlet's say they pay 80 percent of
what you should get or 70percent, and then, okay, you
want this quarters to help yourlaws.
Don't let me kick them out.

Speaker 3 (47:33):
Okay, take some, some of the damage if, uh, if you
can kick people more easy andyou are sure to be paid, it's
going to be lower rent and easyaccess and then the government
has to do its job and provideshelter for these people, like,

(47:54):
okay, you have been kicked out,come, we put you there.
We know how to do this for somemigrants.
For example, we put them inhotels or things like that to
help them when they arrive andwe support them until they can
stand on their feet andunderstand the country and
everything.
Why we cannot do this for thepeople, the residents?

Speaker 1 (48:18):
You really want to get into politics?
No, but I mean, I was going tosay that Because you know all of
us come from differentbackgrounds, but I think most of
our countries, like you know,all the three of our countries
do have some problem with legaland illegal immigration.
So I really don't want us toget into, Because this is where
it will lead.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
What I mean is I am for helping people, but by doing
what we are doing now in Europe, we are not helping people.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
Okay, so we are going to politics, we are not helping
people in the long term.

Speaker 3 (48:54):
That's why it's so more easy in Thailand.
In Thailand, you want a room.
You can have a room tomorrow.
You just pay the two-monthdeposit, the rent, it's okay.
And if you have a problem forexample, you have a nice condo
and then something happens inyour life and you cannot afford

(49:16):
anymore okay, you go to anotherroom, you take a more.
What they call thai style youpay 2 000 baht until you get
better, but you you don't haveto think about, oh uh, where I'm
gonna live.
Yeah, you know, you're alwaysgonna have a roof on your top.
Yeah, I agree on your right.

Speaker 1 (49:36):
In western countries it takes about a week at least
to find a place to stay and allthe problems.

Speaker 3 (49:43):
The insurance company , they had buildings.
You know, when they makeprofits, they buy buildings, so
they remove the price of thebuilding from the profits they
made.
So they have a lot ofapartments in the center of
Paris, for example, but theydon't want to rent this
apartment because it's anightmare.
So they just have emptyapartments everywhere, which

(50:06):
make the price go higher.
Which make the price go higherbecause it's unrentable, not
because it's empty, because it'sa nightmare for them to rent.

Speaker 1 (50:14):
We have the same problem in some cities in Israel
.
We call them ghost apartmentsand it's actually investors.
Most of them come from France.
Jewish, french people that camewith a lot of money said okay,
we are buying a lot of places,but we will not live here.
We will come here for one monthevery year, but we don't want
to rent.
So one city in Israel calledNetanya is like full of ghost

(50:40):
apartments and the prices go upbecause no one can rent anything
.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
So it's like similar in the UK.
So a lot of people after COVID,a lot of people that were
living in London, working inLondon or the big cities, and
then realized, oh, I can workfrom home now.
It's like so people have boughta lot of places outside in the
countryside and then they mighthave them as a holiday home and
they'll be based there most ofthe time, but most of the time

(51:06):
these places are just so itraises the prices of the suburbs
.
Yeah, yeah.
So it's just, and certainplaces have bought in like
holiday tax.
So if you have a second home,you're going to pay a hell of a
lot more tax to have it and inThailand it's the same thing.

Speaker 3 (51:25):
People they buy, but the difference is the rent.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
Because it's no nightmare, it's easy, yeah, and
the rules let you actually dosomething if someone's not
paying.

Speaker 3 (51:37):
The thing is the market is very different from
what we have in the West.
And one thing that is notrelated but when you want to
rent or buy a house or a condo,don't come with your Western
idea.
We don't live the same way inThailand.
Don't bother having a bigkitchen, because most of the

(51:57):
time you won't cook.
Yeah, but in the West, I don'tknow, I think kitchen because
most of the time you won't cook.

Speaker 1 (52:00):
Yeah, wait, in Western, I don't know, I think
all over the West countries.
Like, the kitchen is the heartof the house.
It has to be big, with a bigisland in the middle and
everything.
This is like when you show yourhouse to the guests.
Always, this is my kitchen.
It always has to be the heartand here, no, sometimes it's

(52:21):
even not inside the house, it'soutside the house, a small
kitchen that they have Becausethey put the smell.

Speaker 3 (52:26):
I like it when they do the spicy.
It's burning your nose.
But what I mean is you eatoutside, you meet your friend
outside, we live outside, so youdon't need to have a big house,
you don't need to have a bigkitchen and sometimes it's
cheaper to eat outside.
And, for example, if I want tomake European food, I cannot buy

(52:49):
50 milliliters of milk.
I need to buy one liter.
I cannot buy everything insmall, so if I'm alone or with
my girlfriend, I cannot cook forus Everything.
I have to buy a big quantity.
So I have to make the food for4 or 6 persons, then freeze it
and then 6 years later, justcall us, I'm cooking today.

(53:13):
We will gladly come basically,even when you eat European food
or western food, it's going tobe cheaper sometimes to go to
the restaurant.
They have some cheaprestaurants where you can have
something.
So, basically, people, they eatoutside and you live outside
because it's hot, it's sunny.
You don't stay at home all day,so you have a condo, you go to

(53:40):
the swimming pool, then you goaround.

Speaker 1 (53:43):
We don't live the same way in Thailand as in
Western yeah, of course, and theThais also, not us.
In general, the Thais also livevery differently from the way
that we live back home.

Speaker 3 (53:53):
When I was in France, I had a big apartment.
I had a big living room, bigkitchen, kitchen.
I had two rooms, one for myoffice, one big bedroom and
everything.
So I need to be comfortablebecause I spend a lot of time at
home.
Honestly, I take the house forthe dogs, but for me, if I was
in a one bedroom what we callone bedroom is not a studio you

(54:15):
have a small living room and onebedroom.
It's going to be easy enoughfor me in Thailand.
So before you rent or you buy,be sure to understand how we
live in Thailand.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
Yeah, come here, travel first, visit, stay here.
Don't just say, oh, I heard onthis podcast that it's great,
I'm just moving.

Speaker 3 (54:36):
Also, when you rent, at the beginning you want to
rent because you like WalkingStreet, you like Sao Paulo and
everything.
But then you understand thatit's nice to be near everything
when you're on holiday, but whenyou leave here you want to be
quiet.
So you want to be a little bitoutside.

Speaker 1 (54:54):
So I've been in several condos now and I've
moved away, just a bit furtheraway, a bit further away, you'll
find yourself in Satahip.
At the end, I think, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (55:04):
Because you're right, the draw to go out is too much.
I was in the base?

Speaker 1 (55:12):
Oh, you mean the temptation of going out all the
time.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
Yeah, when you just have to get the lift down and
you're out.
At least now I have to get amotorbike taxi somewhere.
It's still no hardship, butyeah, when you know that you can
just go down, it's like youmight just go to 7-Eleven but
you walk past 12 bars and thebase, depending on which tower
you are.

Speaker 3 (55:34):
it's very noisy because the sounds go up.

Speaker 2 (55:38):
Yeah, because LK Metro is right around there as
well.
So yeah, it's.

Speaker 1 (55:43):
Now, I learned that mistake a few years ago and now
I always stay at the far side ofSoi Boncote, yeah, so it's not
that far away from the main area, but it's still quiet.
But still very quiet and much,much, much cheaper, like last
time we spoke with tino about itapparently he also live in the
area.
He paid like five thousand.

(56:03):
I paid seven thousand, like amonth, which is, you know, for,
as you said, not a one.
This is actually only thebedroom and the toilet, but this
is enough.
You don't need more than thatwhen you are here alone by
yourself and not have dogs orgirlfriend.
That I, by the way, before wespoke something about something
that reminded me there was.
So in israel there is a programthat it's called affordable,

(56:29):
affordable housing.
So it's like, um, it's like alottery.
So if you want and you arepassing certain criterias, so
basically you have to have atleast to be married and to have
a child.
That's it.
Those are the criterias, andone of them, of course, one of
them, have to walk, not thechild, I mean one of the parents

(56:51):
the child have to walk.
So it's like a lotteries andevery contract contractor that
actually is building now a biglike condominium place, a
certain amount of thoseapartments you have to give a

(57:12):
discount of, I think, 30 percent, something like that.
It sounds amazing, sounds nice,something like that.
It sounds amazing, sounds nice.
They they spoke about, I think,100 000 apartments every year,
which is a lot right.
What actually happened?
So israel is very divided incertain communities, like there
is the religious community, thesecular community, the arab

(57:34):
community, the russian russiancommunity, whatever everything.
The french community also theone who make problem.
Those are other communities.
Believe me, the french arestill one of the most nice ones,
good, and the jewish friends,not the real french, thank you.
And what happened?

(57:55):
That a certain two communities,which I will not name because
it's not fair for anyone and noone really cares made sure that
all those lotteries went to themby driving.

Speaker 3 (58:07):
In France we have what we call HLM Habitation à
Loyer Modéré Moderate Rent.
Condo Okay, condo, okay.
Normally you have some criteriaand everything, but in some um,
in some cities, you need to bea part of the political party.

(58:29):
For example, my grandmother wasin a communist city.
Okay.
And they said, okay, if you area member of the party, if you
take your card, we put your fileon top and it's the same if you
are in the right or far rightsome of them not all of them,

(58:53):
some are fair, but some of themthey say okay, if you take your
card, you will get so this waythey can win the election again.

Speaker 1 (59:02):
And, of course, yeah, but it's common, I think,
everywhere in the world, alsohere in thailand.
Many things are corrupted backhome, anything like we've seen
what happened in the uk for thepast yeah so, yeah, how, how are
we doing with time?
Because I think we are a bit.
Yeah, exactly, I felt it.

Speaker 3 (59:24):
So we spoke about the house.
What can you offer forinvestment?

Speaker 2 (59:30):
So not just investment, but so I can deal
with pensions.
So I can specifically deal withUK pensions, which is something
that I used to do a lot when Iwas working in the UK.
It's probably about 80% of mywork.

Speaker 1 (59:49):
But it's not only for UK.
Now you can do for everyone,almost all the Europeans.
I know you help.

Speaker 2 (59:53):
Yeah, so it's not so much pensions here, more life
insurance but no, no, I meanit's, it's saving for your
retirement, so it is a pension,but it's not uh, it's, it's not
called a pension, butspecifically like pensions in
the uk.

(01:00:13):
Um, there's a lot that we canstill do for them.
What I used to do a lot was wewould transfer people's pensions
, so people would go from onejob, get a pension, then they'd
move five years later, getanother pension and keep going,
and then by the time they cameto retire, they've got 10

(01:00:34):
pensions.
They're all over the fuckingplace.
They haven't got a clue whatthey're doing, how much money is
in any of them.
Um, and what we would do iswe'd look at all those, analyze
them and then combine them sothey're all in one place.
Yeah, um, the the big thingwith that?
And I mean, even if people havegot existing investments, we
can, we can still look at that.

(01:00:55):
I do a lot of analysis on thefunds and how they've performed
and what they're invested in,and a lot of people have got
pensions or investments thatthey took out, however long ago.
They don't speak to a financialadvisor, they don't get regular
updates.
They they've seen that it'sgone up, so they think, yay,

(01:01:18):
it's, it's up, I've made somemoney.
It's more than it was 10 yearsago.

Speaker 1 (01:01:22):
So it's great.

Speaker 2 (01:01:24):
But yeah, and I used to say to people a lot look, you
know your pension or whateverinvestment you've got.
If you gave me $100,000 todayand I fucked off for 10 years,
you would be ringing me everyday saying, scott, what are you
doing?
Where's my money?
What are you doing with it?

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
And then you come back after 10 years and give me
like 105.
Here you go, yeah, the bestloan in your life.

Speaker 2 (01:01:50):
So.
But yeah, I used to say topeople you know, if I fucked off
and you know you'd be on myback saying, where's my money,
what are you doing with it?
You know, yeah, but people'spensions and their investments
they don't.
They just think, oh, I'llforget about that, I'll bury my

(01:02:11):
head in the sand.
And I've had so many peoplethat have worried that they
don't have enough money inretirement.
So one good thing that we cando is we can do cash flow
modeling for people.
So even people out here ifthey've retired out here, we can
look at all of theirexpenditure, how much money

(01:02:31):
they've got coming in, and wecan do a forecast as to look.

Speaker 1 (01:02:34):
This is when your money will run out basically
that's not a good idea to tellthat to people in Pattaya.

Speaker 2 (01:02:41):
Or this is when you know I live here.
You know how many girls do youtake home each week?

Speaker 1 (01:02:50):
Okay, right Ladies or ladyboys, because different
prices you might have to cutthat down.

Speaker 2 (01:02:57):
One bar fine a week.
You might have to cut that downone bar fine a week, you know.
So sometimes it's good to getthat peace of mind that you know
, okay, actually I'm good.
Or you know, maybe my pensionisn't performing well.
Well, look, if we moved it,maybe you get another few years
out of it.
But yeah, I've had a lot ofclients in the past that have

(01:03:19):
been really anxious and reallyworried about their retirement
and then when you actually lookat it, it's not that bad, okay.
Or there's stuff that we canhelp with.

Speaker 1 (01:03:29):
Okay, would you like to like?
Of course, I will share yourbusiness cards online, but you
want to say the name of yourcompany.

Speaker 2 (01:03:39):
Yeah, business cards?
Yeah, yeah, but you want to saythe name of your company?
Yeah, so I work for a companycalled max foresight, um, which,
like I said, so the the ownerof the company.
He works in the philippines.
Um, one of the other advisors,uh, he's in vietnam.
He's french.
So, again, we work as a company.
If there's any french listeners, I know French people like to

(01:04:01):
speak to French people.

Speaker 3 (01:04:04):
It's not like they like to speak to French people
Most French people they don'tfucking speak English yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:10):
So a lot of his clients are French.
So if there's French listenersand they want to speak to
somebody that's French, we cando that.
But yeah, so I work for thatcompany company.
We're then attached to a biggercompany so we've got a big
umbrella over us, um, that doesall the compliance and stuff.
So there's very littlefinancial regulation in thailand

(01:04:33):
.
So we uh, the company thatwe're attached to, we've got
licenses in lots of differentjurisdictions, so we've got
Malaysia, singapore, dubai, theUK I think the USA as well, and

(01:04:54):
then like offshore, like ChannelIslands, just off UK, you know,
guernsey, jersey, all that sortof stuff.
So, yeah, we're regulated bythem.
So it's not just some cowboyscoming through, you know, we do
because there's a lack ofregulation here.

(01:05:15):
We make sure the business goesthrough places where there is
regulation, okay.

Speaker 3 (01:05:27):
And that's smart and also very assuring.
Yes, yeah, okay, so we will.
So if I come to Thailand, I'mretired, I've got some money and
I want to open a bar, whatwould be your, what will be be
your, advice on this?

Speaker 1 (01:05:41):
From talking to other people, I would say no, I have
an advice on this, a real one.
So the other day I don'tremember who was that that we
spoke with, but it's someonethat owns many bars here and he
said, like we asked him the samequestion, he said if now
someone forced me to open a baragain, I will only open bar for

(01:06:05):
the thai people.
I will not even bother open barfor the foreigners.
The thai people spend moremoney.
They come in big groups justmake sure they enjoy the food,
everything and they enjoy more.

Speaker 3 (01:06:18):
Like Garden 168.

Speaker 1 (01:06:20):
For example.

Speaker 2 (01:06:21):
You said like Dive Bar, kind of.
What is Dive Bar?

Speaker 1 (01:06:24):
Sorry, what is that?
I mean the same place.
For example, you went with yeah, yeah, not Dive Bar, it has a
Thai name.

Speaker 2 (01:06:32):
Right, okay.

Speaker 1 (01:06:34):
I know what you mean.
Yeah, something like that Onethat's got live music band Live
music, but one that's got livemusic, band food, the big
bottles of beer not the smallones.
Bigger.
Yeah, but he said this is theonly.
If someone forced me to open abar, which I don't want because
it's a headache, that's the onlything I would do.
Yeah, the guy.
They come to Thailand, theylike to go to the bar.

Speaker 3 (01:06:53):
Then they think, oh, I want to open a bar in Thailand
, but opening a bar in Thailandis like to go to the bar.
Then they think, oh, I want toopen a bar in Thailand, but
opening a bar in Thailand islike working in Disneyland you
don't see the magic anymore yeah, yeah.
I agree, and if you open a barbecause you like to drink, it's
the worst thing yeah, yeah,that's the thing I think.

Speaker 2 (01:07:16):
like, going back to your original question and I
sort of mentioned it at thestart it all comes down to what
your overall goals are and whatyou want to do.
So I'd ask people why do youwant to open a bar?
Because I like drinking?
Okay, well, don't do that.

Speaker 1 (01:07:36):
Invest your money and just go out drinking.

Speaker 2 (01:07:38):
You know, if it's because you want something to do
and you don't play golf or youdon't do anything else and it's
going to give you something todo, then maybe it's an option.
But again, it depends on youroverall wealth.
If you're going to spend 5% ofit on a bar and you know it's a

(01:07:58):
gamble and it might not pay off,then you know, okay, maybe
that's okay.
If it's 80%, 90% of your wealthand you're putting everything
into it, then no.

Speaker 3 (01:08:09):
It's like opening a restaurant.

Speaker 1 (01:08:11):
Wait, wait, wait.
I want to cut you before youchange to the restaurant.
I already spoke about it, so Iwill not tell you the whole
story because I spoke about itin another podcast.
I just want not tell you thewhole story because I spoke
about it in another podcast.
I just want to tell you thehighlights.
So when I just came to Thailandthis time the first time I was
walking around and I met someguy that just opened a bar with
his wife.
He's from Australia and he wasexcited.

(01:08:32):
I came the one day before thereal opening and he said you
have to come tomorrow, we havegirls, we have this.
He was so excited and heexplained to me in details how
much he invests and he have fiverooms upstairs and he renovated
everything.
And I came a week later nogirls, no nothing.
All the girls, no one evenshowed up and he's sitting there

(01:08:54):
don't know what to do.
I went again a month ago.
Big sign for sale.
I saw him inside.
I said what's going on?
He said I fucked up, I justfucked up.
I have to go back home.
I cannot.
I'm losing my pencil Like hisdream.
I remember how happy he was andhow excited he was in the first

(01:09:16):
day.
Oh, come on, I'm opening, youhave to come, blah, blah, blah.
And then like the decline, youknow, and most of the bars are
actually like that the thing iswhy I open a restaurant.

Speaker 3 (01:09:29):
Because Because I work in a restaurant before, I
was not in the restaurantindustry at the beginning.
Then I work in a restaurant.
I was not happy with themanagement, but the good thing
is they let us do everything andthey were very professional.
They have tools, they haveeverything.
It was very, very good tounderstand and they have.

(01:09:54):
Most of people they open arestaurant.
They don't know their cost andanything.
In the restaurant where Iworked, everything was Excel
sheet and you have your numbersand you can analyze.
So it was a great thing.
If I was not working in thisrestaurant, I would not have my

(01:10:17):
restaurant now.
Working in this restaurant, Iwould not have my restaurant now
.
So opening a restaurant oropening a bar is a good idea if
you are already in the businessor if you know what you are
doing.
If you're a plumber and youopen a bar or a restaurant,
you're fucked.
If you open a restaurant, forexample, you can make your

(01:10:37):
return on investment.
It means like you put 1 million, you get 1 million back in 2.5
to 4 years.
But you have also a very highrisk of losing everything you
can.
That's what we said at thebeginning.

Speaker 2 (01:10:52):
Yeah, high, high wind , but high risk yeah yeah, and
it's especially with like a baror a restaurant.
Like you said, if you work inthat industry and you know it,
then you're a far better placethan anybody else.
But again, if you just buy abar, you'll put in everything.
You're putting all your eggs inone basket, and I know you said

(01:11:15):
you know someone else and COVIDdestroyed bars out here.
You don't know what's going tohappen.

Speaker 1 (01:11:25):
But I want to say another point that even if you
had a restaurant or a bar backhome, it doesn't mean your ideas
will work here.
Learn the market first.
This is a very different marketand don't think.
At least come here for a while,see what's going on before you
decide to take that decision.
Because again, you had arestaurant back in france, not

(01:11:48):
you.

Speaker 3 (01:11:48):
And given a general thing doesn't mean it will work
here it's not because, uh, youopened you, you came to thailand
many times as a holiday makerthat you know Thailand.
You need to stay here for along time, like one year, to
start to understand all thesmall problems that you didn't
see when you came on holiday.

Speaker 1 (01:12:08):
Yeah, and ask questions.
Ask people that do on bars,that do on restaurants.
Most of them are like Guillaumeor like our friends that will,
of course, share with you theinformation.
They want you to be successful.

Speaker 3 (01:12:19):
And don't listen to the one who gives you the easy
way when it's hard, when theytell you you have to do step 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, and you think it'shard, it's a good way, the easy
way.
There is also a downside andthen you can have problems.

Speaker 1 (01:12:36):
Yeah, we have to make a closing to this podcast.
So first of all, guillaume,thank you.
I love you, brother.

Speaker 3 (01:12:44):
Yeah, I speak too much.

Speaker 1 (01:12:45):
No, not at all.
I enjoyed that.
And again, everyone just go tothe fucking Bull restaurant.
It's great steaks, great hosts,great guy and really it's, on
the third world, one of the beststeaks you can find in Pattaya
and one of the, if not the best,caesar salad I ever had.

(01:13:08):
And I always keep saying thathave something you want to say,
not about Guillaume, aboutyourself.

Speaker 2 (01:13:15):
No, I was just trying to work on that.
Yeah, no, it's really goodthough.
But yeah, if you leave mydetails on the comments or
whatever, then I've only touchedon a small small bit of what I
do.
But, like I said, everything is.

(01:13:38):
This has been sort of generaladvice.

Speaker 1 (01:13:40):
Yeah, and if you want us to do a second part of it,
just write in the comments.
We will do Like.
If you have your own question,we can do a Q&A for you and no
problem, we will answer any, putthe question in the comment and
then you can make a question,or in the email, which I will
say shortly.

Speaker 2 (01:13:54):
So, yeah, yeah, but yeah, like I said, everything is
tailored to people's individualneeds, so there's no one size
fits all.
Everybody has a differentproblem, everybody's got a
different circumstance.
So, yeah, if anybody would liketo speak to me, get some advice
, then more than happy to yeah,I will put your business card on

(01:14:20):
the show notes and everything.

Speaker 1 (01:14:21):
So if you do guy, you guys do need any advice.
Asking question is for free aslong as he's not making money
for you, so don't worry about it, yam.

Speaker 3 (01:14:31):
Closing words oh, it's okay for me.
I speak a lot, I think alreadyokay, thank you guys again.

Speaker 1 (01:14:38):
Any question you can leave in the comments or, which
I prefer, just send to our email, which is my thai wife pod at
gmailcom.
Check the patreon and keeptelling you the great stuff, and
we still thinking about doingthat boxing fight oh yeah, she
said um.

Speaker 2 (01:14:56):
One of them said she was up for it, didn't she yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:14:59):
so we are arranging maybe a boxing fight if we will
generate enough money for itbetween Kiwi and Pim, which will
be interesting because both ofthem have some boxing experience
.
And thank you very much.
See you next time.
Hope you enjoy it.
Bye guys.