leo12345

What many people on this topic are not understanding is that this is a once off event.

We are not talking about a regular month in month out basis.

I guess it's up to the individual, but those with such negative attitudes to people during a crisis such as this i would love to see you in such a situation how your attitude might change due to your circumstances

Open up your residence to as many strangers as you can. Pack them all in for free and then get back to us Leo.

You obviously have no clue Jim.

Never did i say my home was a temple.

I actually have left my home and am renting in Bangkok at a normal rate from an owner who has given me a 1 month contract instead of a 6 month contract.

You are a sour person.

Hm many problems here I too have been asked " have you got a room for a month"

My fear is

they move in not only themselves but 5-6 other people into a studio room , dont want to pay a big deposit and then dissapear after the month leaving my room destroyed, what they want is a room at a 12 month price for 1 month, well it aint hapening in one of my units

You want to stay a month your'e gonna pay a 3 month price.

Its people like you that are making this situation so bad. And if you are a westerner then its DEFINITELY people like you that make the rest of us look bad.

Why could you not just do the same price and take a larger deposit???

People are in hard times here.

I would love to have encountered you on my travels to find a condo after my house flooded>

I agree entirely what an unpleasant person he is. Albeit I live on Koh Samui, I have several fully furnished westernised houses for rent and I am happy to let the two bedroom houses for 10K per month and the single bedroom houses for 7K per month for two months for flood victims if that helps anyone, plus a security deposit in case of damage. This is in some cases is a 50% reduction on the normal rent, as a goodwill gesture to those who are having an unpleasant time of it due to the floods. I would want proof that you are a flood victim either by producing your House Blue Book or a copy of your Lease Contract in Bangkok, showing your address. Hopefully ThaiVisa will allow those in need to contact me (they have my phone number) so that I can help in this small way, but could be quite critical to someone stranded in BKK. Sorry I am not nearer to BKK, but if you have the means to get here, we will do our best to take good care of you until the floods recede. I also hear this morning of a Family member who is buy a truck full of bottled water and is off to BKK to sell them for 150 baht each. They were surprised to hear how disgusted I am that they consider it good business to profit from those who are in desperate times - the nature of some members of the human race, I am sorry to say>

What kind of gesture of goodwill is that? These people want to pay 2500 a month? You think 10K a month is a gesture of Goodwill? You think a 50% reduction on already inflated rental prices is good? If your neighbour is buying water in bulk and driving all the way from Koh Samui to Bangkok to sell it, taking two or three days in the process, do you think he will make a vast profit? And if he does, then so what, he is getting off his arse to make money for him and his family. Just like you charge tourists over the odds to stay in your properties. Hell, I am a bit short of cash this month, can I come and stay for a 60% discount? Why not, have you no compassion man? If you want to help these people then why not let them stay in your properties for free? Now that would be a gesture of good will. There are a lot of sycophants on this thread.

Gentleman Jim

Do you know the price of real estate in Samui???

Obviously not.

Hm many problems here I too have been asked " have you got a room for a month"

My fear is

they move in not only themselves but 5-6 other people into a studio room , dont want to pay a big deposit and then dissapear after the month leaving my room destroyed, what they want is a room at a 12 month price for 1 month, well it aint hapening in one of my units

You want to stay a month your'e gonna pay a 3 month price.

I see part of your problem, but i think they are talking here about people already in a room that they have rented a long time. Now the landlord is forcing them to either pay higher cost or move out during a flooding.

In your case i do understand it but a higher deposit should cover it.

Make them sign a 'number of occupants agreement' subject to eviction if breeched. It's called a short term lease on PAPER. Other wise it is just the same as gouging.

'Oh, just in case they move in too many folks, I'll gouge them first.' Sorry this is bad logic and counter to good buddhist principles too.

'Supply and Demand Adjustments' during a disaster is not the same as more tenants naturally looking for rooms, or high season pricing. It is purely taking advantage of your fellow countrymen and others in their worst time of need and terror.

Do this during a disaster and it is Price Gouging, no question.

EXACTLY

What many people on this topic are not understanding is that this is a once off event.

We are not talking about a regular month in month out basis.

I guess it's up to the individual, but those with such negative attitudes to people during a crisis such as this i would love to see you in such a situation how your attitude might change due to your circumstances

People preying on weakened refugees and calling that "fair market price". What a joke !

And they don't demand free rent, just normal price.

In times like this, the world is divided into two kinds of people :

- those who help each other

- the covetous

Pity isn't it.

It would be nice to see the tables turned

Here in BKK all of the imported items are still on the shelves.

Its only the local products that are empty.

No milk, but lots of low fat milk

Some are overpanicking and some are not. Depands on the area they are in.

In Nonthaburi I had to flee with my wife and 2 young boys when water suddenly innundated our area.

Then we got a condo in Bangkok and trying to get all the necessities has been a nightmare.

All the time I told my wife's family to calm down, but everytime they told me about moving earlier, moving furniture up and stocking up they were right.

Some people do not have a safe place to park their cars and they don't have insurance so they parked wherever they can.

A huge part of this comes from the misinformation from the government and bad handling of the situatuion.

Not trying to change this into another political topic, but things would have been very different and less panic if the situation was dealt with better.

The solution is simple, to take a large deposit for short term rental.

The price should not go up for the room though and the larger deposit would cover for any damages occured

and whom subsidizes the apartment owners who have had their units flooded and wont be able to collect rent or rent out new units?

What does that have to do with people looking for an apartment in a dry area and having their prices risen?

I didn't mention higher gasoline prices. I mentioned that there is a cost to everything, and the extra costs of those people who supply the goods has to be covered.

Market demand drives the cost of everything. You are being naive Do not think for a moment the hotels are displaying some kind of good behaviour here. They are desperate to fill rooms because of the massive cancellation rates. That is the only reason they have dropped their prices.

Getting a Thai's ID card is no guarantee at all of getting your money should they do a runner or cause significant damage to your property.

Actually I work in one of these hotels and we have not lost much occupancy.

The owner also offers free housing for staff that are in trouble.

Many hotels are operating with good occupancy at the moment, but the hotrels close to the river are not doing so well.

I think one thing that has been missed is the owners right to charge more for short term clients. These people are not coming and asking for a 1 yr contract, they are asking for a single month. This will be more work for the owner/staff and effectively raise the operating costs of the building. This is almost guesthouse-ish. In that light, these rooms are very cheap.

True you are,

But under these circumstances it would only be during a 1 or 2 month period.

Its not every day that floods drive you out of your house

The end result would be the same though. People complaining they can't rent a property because you have increased the deposit price beyond their means. What you going to do? Let them pay the deposit monthly?

If they really do not have the money then they would not be looking.

The point is that the ones who don't have the money are going into shelters, while the ones who do have money are being overcharged.

The owners could change the overcharging side to be a larger de[posit which on departure if there are no damages the customer gets their money back.

Hm many problems here I too have been asked " have you got a room for a month"

My fear is

they move in not only themselves but 5-6 other people into a studio room , dont want to pay a big deposit and then dissapear after the month leaving my room destroyed, what they want is a room at a 12 month price for 1 month, well it aint hapening in one of my units

You want to stay a month your'e gonna pay a 3 month price.

Its people like you that are making this situation so bad. And if you are a westerner then its DEFINITELY people like you that make the rest of us look bad.

Why could you not just do the same price and take a larger deposit???

People are in hard times here.

I would love to have encountered you on my travels to find a condo after my house flooded>

Dear OP, compassion seems to be a key word given the circumstances.

Put yourself on the other side of the picture, would you like others to show some compassion?

You all make me laugh. Travelman has got it exactly right. Scorecard, will you have some compassion for Travelman and send him 100K baht to refurbish and refit his room when the occupants pi** off in a month without paying their bills because they dont have a one year contract and don;t care? The market drives the prices, that's why you pay double the price for a hotel room or a flight when you want to take your kids on holiday at easter. If someone is charging 4K a month rent next door then you cant/shouldn't charge 1500. You pay the going rate. I have not heard of people with existing long term contracts being charged an increase, that would be contestable in the local court.

Everyone wants water and eggs at the same price and complain at traders putting the prices up. Have you any idea of the costs associated with going and finding large stocks of bottled water, collecting it and delivering it? It is not a mass organised logistics system that is cheap in the long term, it is an expensive short term fix that requires time, effort and gasoline. Of course it is going to cost more, there are higher costs to incur by the trader. I can provide as many people with rice that need it. I just have to drive 3 hours to the border with Malaysia and stock up, but before I even sell it to you I have incurred 3K baht worth of fuel costs and a full days work to just collect the rice. Is your bag of rice going to go up in price? You do the maths, but to charge at the 'normal price' would mean I incur a massive loss, and that does not make sense for any trader.

This has nothing to do with eggs, rice or higher fees due to gasoline pirce increase.

This is not about business and making money. The people are in tough times, hotels at the moment are dropping their prices by upto adn over 70% for flood affected people.

Its so simple to just ask for a higher deposit and get their I.D so that you have record of their whereabouts if they do pi** off.

If cards were in the other hands I wonder what the ones overpricing would be saying?

i think they call this supply and demand.

I think its pretty unfair to change the rent price at a time like this for EXISTING lease contracts.

if u already have a contract than demanding more money is illegal and against the contract. if the rooms are being rented without contract or a contract expires, that means the unit is back on the market and can be sold/rented at fair market value.

Sure and in this case i can understand owners wanting more money. Especially if its for people wanting to say a month and probably do some damages. I am still in my home everything is flooded here. But i would not move away, ill wait this out.

The solution is simple, to take a large deposit for short term rental.

The price should not go up for the room though and the larger deposit would cover for any damages occured

Hm many problems here I too have been asked " have you got a room for a month"

My fear is

they move in not only themselves but 5-6 other people into a studio room , dont want to pay a big deposit and then dissapear after the month leaving my room destroyed, what they want is a room at a 12 month price for 1 month, well it aint hapening in one of my units

You want to stay a month your'e gonna pay a 3 month price.

Its people like you that are making this situation so bad. And if you are a westerner then its DEFINITELY people like you that make the rest of us look bad.

Why could you not just do the same price and take a larger deposit???

People are in hard times here.

I would love to have encountered you on my travels to find a condo after my house flooded>

You might think that out of all of this a real leader for the Thai people would emerge - the PM herself, a cabinet minister, a mayor, a governor perhaps - someone, anyone - but I don't think it is going to happen.

As we speak they are putting the finishing touches on tights and a cape for Thaksin.

Is he going to change in one of those flooded phone booths?

Only if they have matching Burberry waterproof boots.

Would like to know where is that first pic taken? Bus #2, must be Sukhumvit Rd., with the skytrain line up above? Is this right around On Nut, or further out / in? The only identifiable building in the back says "Leaders", of which I don't know.

That's not the sky train line.

Its the expressway.

Not Sukhumvit

How is the Sukhumvit area doing at this time? Are the sois flooded? How high is the water level? Any chance that any of the bars are still running?

Sukhumvit is dry in the lower sois.

The bars will power on I am sure.

Everyone in the hotels here are packing up sand bags and erecting walls as if 2 meter high walls of water are coming though.

In my soi where I am now no longer able to stay in, the lady who runs the local laundromat's husband is a police officer who now charges 300 baht to run people in his boat to the main road.

Somebody came to my and my neighbor's house and stole our sand bags after we left.

Another neighbor who we helped to get a concrete wall built to protect from water got their air con units moved and water pump taken out so not to get ruined and never offered us if we needed the engineer to use. So they watched as we did it ourselves .

However here in BKK at my work many lower ranking people in my workforce have been very generous in their helping me and my family.

The only issue in BKK is that people are asking me in the street if i want a 12 pack of 600ml water for 250 baht that only costs about 60.

I am very dissapointed of sopme of the people in Nonthaburi where i live.

And i am sure they will hug eachother tight and hope for the best.

Who knows, maybe the romance novel of Thailand's Titanic is evolving.

Does anyone think the river will swell and hit sukhumvit?

Most probably not, however some buildings have sand bags and walls up over 8ft.

7/11 stores have been bare for days, Big C and Tesco @ soi 26 is a joke and do not even have toilet paper for sale.

Have not seen any of the government assistance to these stores as heard.

On soi 4 while walking home from work a lady was selling 12packs of 600ml water for 250 baht and said "If you don't want, you go away"

Its a big load of FROC

When its hit is not so interesting its more interesting when the water goes away. I read somewhere 40 days. That made me think of really moving out. I could survive an other 10 days of flood here. This is day 2 now. But more then 15 would be crazy

40 days or more was in reference to Ladkrabang and Minburi, which always seem to be the last to be drained.

This one will be a long one. Nonthaburi wont be dry for a minimum 3 weeks

I live in the northern part of Hwaykwang, not far from Ratchada, just north of Suttisan. About an hour ago the neighbors told us that the BMA has said that our neighborhood will be about 1 meter deep in water tomorrow. I didn't see or hear this announcement myself, but everyone is going crazy with tarps and sandbags!

I live in south Huay kwang and it still pretty calm. 1 meter... ouch! let's see tomorrow...

Right now it's dry as a bone here! I've been watching the Klong water levels online (and occasionally in person). The two closest klongs are not rising, but Klong Lad Prao has gone up about 20cm in the past 10 hours.

Do you have a link for this klong sight seeing please?

Let Bangkok flood, im here in water because they refuse to open the gates. I hope i get an other meter of water here (i wont like it) but that will assure that Bangkok's gates will crack. Letting the water in at high speed and washing it all away.

They seem to be unwilling to share the burden, if they had let it open earlier a lot less problems would arise. Yes some area's would have been flooded then but it wont compare with what is going to happen.

I am seeing the power of the water now, it cant be stopped it needs to flow. By not sacrificing a bit they are only making it worse.

I really dont think its a good idea for the last place in Thailand generating a lot of business to now be flooded, Any last chance for people to have jobs will be gone any chance to get an income will be gone, many of the people working here send money home. I have no idea what can be done but Id try to divert around Bangkok "if" possible.

You obviously don't live in a flooded area. I have now moved to Bangkok to stay at my work (hotel) with my wife and 2 young boys because my housing estate is 1 metre deep.

I saw yesterday Bang yai where people are walking the streets with plastic bags in their hands which is all their belongings and with nowhere to go. All this for a stupid mistake by the government. Let Bangkok feel something so that the water can go through quicker.

All the canals i past in BKK yesterday looked empty, while we in the subburbs suffer.

All this talk about opening, but when exactly is this going to happen?