Price for a used scooter in Isaan?

[chassamui]

Looks like a nice stable bike. Same as the one that injured CSFfan?

[Norton]

Same as the one that injured CSFfan?

Don't know. It's a Honda Forza. Big, smooth and very stable.

[Mr Earl]

One of my neighbors has a nice looking used scooter for sale, 4000 baht!
Seems Freddy is a bit skint, so that may be a darned good way to go...varrroom...for really cheap!

[thaimeme]

Not used, but a solid choice!!
Vespa Primavera 150 3 Vie

B115,000-B116,000

[fredwiggy]

Can't afford new, want a good used one. How much Norton for that one? Miles? In Roi Et I see, not too far but a long scooter ride from south Sisaket province.

[aging one]

Can't afford new, want a good used one. How much Norton for that one? Miles? In Roi Et I see, not too far from Kantharalak.

fred that is classified as a 300cc bike, its the cruiser of scooters. Not at all good for dirt roads and rough riding.

Get a Wave for 12 or 15,000 baht, change the plugs, perhaps the shocks and you are good to go. No its not automatic so much better for where you are living.

[fredwiggy]

Need an automatic for the wife. Also one that can handle dirt roads well.

[Bettyboo]

That Honda Wave is perfect! PERFECT!!!!!

Get a nice Honda Wave 125 MadFreddy. It is what all the Issan ladies and BikeriderSlaps use.

[aging one]

Need an automatic for the wife. Also one that can handle dirt roads well.

fred this is where you became a troll, or just stupid. Your wife grew up in this village. They did not ride about on automatics when she learned to drive. So she learned on a manual. Its that simple and one of the nice things about growing up without new technology.

A pick up automatic yes. She has never driven a car or truck.


Damn.

[Davis Knowlton]

^Yeah. I mean really.......Once you folks find the EXACT scooter he wants, with the EXACT specs, in the EXACT area so he isn't inconvenienced at all, at the EXACT price, and the EXACT color, it will be some other shit.

FFS, she's a Thai. Tell her what her budget is and send her on her way.

It's not all that tough, Fred.

[VocalNeal]

Come to BKK you can get a less than a year old one for less than 20,000.

PM sent

[Dapper]

Not used, but a solid choice!!
Vespa Primavera 150 3 Vie

B115,000-B116,000

No, No, No, No NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paying for the brand.

For that money you can get a 300cc mini-monster.

[thaimeme]

Isaan scooter -
Everyday practical

[wasabi]

This Fred says that he has enough money to retire in Thailand, and build an over budget house as well, yet he cannot afford a new Honda Wave.
I know I'm stupid, but sometimes things just don't make sense to Me!

[chassamui]

Hell of a good thread this one.

[Dapper]

Isaan scooter -
Everyday practical

OK, I'm with you on that

[Chittychangchang]

Not used, but a solid choice!!
Vespa Primavera 150 3 Vie

B115,000-B116,000

No, No, No, No NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paying for the brand.

For that money you can get a 300cc mini-monster.

Not including the optional vespa extras, the extras are gonna set you back a chunk..

[fredwiggy]

Stupid? Hardly. Frugal? Yes. There is something called a budget. My wife has never driven a manual scooter, mainly because there are scooters that are automatic in her family already, and those that don't require a clutch to shift. 50k over budget for a house? Not unless you want to live in a one bedroom shack and don't have anything to bring from abroad. I have a house full of new furniture and appliances which are going to be shipped there, and this is included in that budget. Why are there so many different opinions ranging from the impossible to the highly probable? lol I guess some are being helpful and I thank them for that, and some,like I mentioned earlier, have treated their wives so badly that they are recovering from being told to take a hike. A Honda Wave sounds like a good pick, as there are a few that have owned one or heard about their durability. A troll? Isn't that someone that hangs around a forum causing trouble with bullshit? I actually have a beautiful 36 year old wife that seems to actually love me, and not all because of my shortage of funds, but because I have shown her that I truly love both her and her family, and would do anything to help them out.

[Chittychangchang]

I have a house full of new furniture and appliances which are going to be shipped there, and this is included in that budget.

You might get lucky on the import duty if you make your "new goods" look used otherwise you may have to reassess the budget, maybe someone else with more knowledge and experience on the subject of importing new can assist.

All the best.

CCC

[fredwiggy]

Thanks Chitty, I have a shipping co picked out. They have told me the same thing. Most of the stuff isn't brand new, and looks like it has been used, but still in top condition. I'd rather bring it, along with all my other things, because there are in such good condition I wouldn't have to buy more once I got there, which would cost me money I don't have. I'll just get 110-220 volt converters.

[Roobarb]

Thanks Chitty, I have a shipping co picked out. They have told me the same thing. Most of the stuff isn't brand new, and looks like it has been used, but still in top condition. I'd rather bring it, along with all my other things, because there are in such good condition I wouldn't have to buy more once I got there, which would cost me money I don't have. I'll just get 110-220 volt converters.

Fred, a few words of advice from someone who recently shipped things to Isaan:

1) Make sure that you have got a price for 'Door to door' shipping to your house in Sisaket, not just a 'Door to port' price to Bangkok.

2) Ensure that terminal handling fees in Bangkok are included in the price you have been given. It's not such an issue if the shipment is coming in its own container where the fees are probably US$ 2-300, but if it's what is called an LCL (less than container load) shipment then you are at the mercy of the shipping line to charge pretty much what they want for deconsolidation and handover if these fees are not already covered in your quoted price.

3) Customs clearance: your shipment will be subject to import duties unless your wife has been living permanently with you in the US for at least a year immediately prior to the move to Thailand and has not returned to Thailand at all during that period. You will not qualify for tax free clearance in your own right unless you have a recently issued one-year work permit (which you won't have). I'd set aside about US$ 750 for duties on a 20' container.

Assuming you have no more than one of each type of electrical appliance/item (i.e. TV, washing machine, fridge etc) then customs will initially assess the shipment for duty based on the declared gross weight of your shipment, not on the age or contents (assuming it is all used personal effects). If you dispute their initial assessment then customs can instead go the long route and determine the duty by assessing each individual item in the shipment. Bear in mind that import duties run at about 40-80% of landed value for many items in Thailand and to the best of my knowledge the depreciated value customs use for used goods is not that great.

4) Trucking your things to Sisaket: If the shipping company you are using have given you a price including delivery to Sisaket then make sure you have somewhere to put everything as soon as the shipment arrives as otherwise it will need to go into storage somewhere, which will cost you $$$. The port starts charging storage about five days after the ship's arrival so you can't leave it there.

If the shipping company have not included delivery to Sisaket then I'd guess you'll be looking at paying about US$ 350 - 500 to hire a truck to collect everything at the port and drive it up there.

Fred, I mention all this as you have been very open about the state of your finances. Moving companies have a habit of providing you with a cheap price up front with lots of exclusions. You need to ensure that as much as possible in Thailand is being included by them up front. You could easily end up shelling out US$ 2,000 or thereabouts to pay the port fees, shipping line release fees, clearance charges, customs duties and then trucking to Isaan if they have left these bits out.

[fredwiggy]

Thanks much roobarb. I hadn't thought too much about duty tax and such. I'll talk to the companies I've picked out to see what is and isn't included. I was pretty sure I would have to get a truck and move the things from port to house also, so I know I'll have to have that set aside. Also a place for the goods until the house is finished. I'll remember this post when I talk to them for the total charges and what isn't included.

[Bettyboo]

Thai customs are not a group I've ever had nice dealings with; utter fukers actually, so unless you have a great company (maybe send Roobarb and others a pm to find out more) then I would NOT be shipping anything; cost, hassle, cost, hassle, cost and more cost and hassle, much of it beyond what your wildest dreams could come up with. But, some folks have successfully gone that route, so be sure to find out their exact process and companies involved - don't just take random advice on that one.

MadFreddy, thinking of bringing a car or motorbike over? That could be fun!

Anyways, if you are actually building a house then look at the build threads on here, take some time looking at them. You can get a decent house for under a million baht; my house, which is fine and has held up well over the last few years (no problems at all since it was build), isn't big or flash, but it's comfortable, and it cost under 800,000baht all in. Check it out on the construction thread.

Edit to add: there are some excellent building threads on TD, you must check them out. In your financial position, you want a house like the one I built, very simple but comfortable. If I did it again then I'd make some changes: not let the Thais choose the paint colours!; make bigger bedrooms; make a better kitchen inside; build a wall around the property with a gate; take more care with roof insulation. - that'd still come in well under 1 million baht, so building here does not have to be expensive. Here's the link: https://teakdoor.com/construction-in-...the-build.html

Other folks took more care and built much much better properties, but this one is just fine for $25,000...

[Roobarb]

Fred - exactly as Betty says. It's not just customs but pretty much everyone in the shipping food chain in Thailand will see you as:

1) A foreigner, naive to local costs and procedures, coming from a rich country so will have the wherewithal to pay what they ask for.

2) A one time customer with no prospect of repeat business so yours, as with many farang retirees 'chasing the dream', becomes a shipment to maximise returns on.

Genuinely, the issue is this: When the shipment arrives there is a process to follow that involves several parties. If you don't get it right, or get concerned over the costs of a particular part in the process, then everything stops. There is only a finite amount of time before you end up paying port storage and container rental fees. If there are delays with a part of the process then you stand a good chance of incurring these additional costs. Believe me, customs are well aware of this so if you don't agree with what they are asking for then they can just sit and wait in the knowledge that what they are asking for will soon be eclipsed by your mounting port storage fees.

Whatever you do, don't try and import a motorbike or car. When my wife went to the port to clear our shipment the one concern the customs inspector had when he opened the container is whether there were any motorbikes in the shipment. I'm fairly sure that importing second-hand motorbikes is not allowed, and new ones take an enormous amount of paperwork and incur so much tax that it's far, far easier and cheaper to buy in Thailand.

Betty's house build thread, if you can wade through all the idiocy, would be a great one to read to see what can be achieved on a limited budget. I built mine at about the same time and whilst it's probably less relevant to what you are after, the total cost for labour to build my house was I think a bit under Baht 60,000. There's a link to the thread here: https://teakdoor.com/construction-in-...rbs-patch.html (Roobarb's patch)

A more relevant thread in terms of budget might be Slimboyfat's build: https://teakdoor.com/construction-in-...am-having.html (A small home what I am having built in Kanchanburi Province)

One of the great joys of rural Thailand is that much of one's time is spent living outside the house rather than sitting around inside. Having a simple house such as Betty's that provides a comfortable enough environment inside but that can be easily built/fixed/altered as need be by village tradesmen is a good model to go by, and would mean that you do have some funds left over at the end to live on if you can't immediately find work.

[Dillinger]

Fred, just go and squat in either Roobarbs or Bettyboos, neither of them even live in Thailand