thenervoussurgeon

Thailand's driving standards will improve in time. Just as they have done in countries that are more fully developed. If you live or visit here you need to be aware of the risks of being in a less well developed country.

I first came here 23 years ago ,nothings changed with the driving skils. i wish i had your opptamism

As long as money needs to be laundered - the building will continue.

The financial institutions ,also Bloomberg and Reuters seem to think its the banks funding it with cheap loans.

as for condoes in Jomtien not going up in price ,tell that to Thais who seem to think they have and there are so many unsold or baught as investments ,that no one wants to buy.

I don't consider 6.25% a cheap loan.

6.25% OR 2% makes no differance if it does not get paid back ,the bank is still in the poo.

Soon the Bankokians who wants to buy here are saturated..

Then we see a lot of discounts coming up for these thousands of 30 sq meter condos..

Because I think few expats wants to live in these chicken-boxes permanently...

Oh please. I've got 74 sq. meters. Imagine what that would cost in Manhattan or Tokyo and how many people would want to live in such a "chicken box" in those places. This is a city. It is urbanized. People live in small spaces in cities.

Sorry this is not meant as a dig at you ,but the thought of coming to Pattaya and ending my days in a box(no pun intended) would fill me with dread ,however if i was making my way in the world in say Mayfair in London i wouldnt mind spending a few years living in a 74 sq metre box ,no problem there or then ,

How many Russians and Indians live on the dark side?

I dont know about Indians but the Russians (and associated nationalities) are absolutely everywhere.

I've never seen a Russian around the areas i frequent and live.

As long as money needs to be laundered - the building will continue.

The financial institutions ,also Bloomberg and Reuters seem to think its the banks funding it with cheap loans.

as for condoes in Jomtien not going up in price ,tell that to Thais who seem to think they have and there are so many unsold or baught as investments ,that no one wants to buy.

We went with the familly in one instead of taking two cars ,but my sister in law (who at 5ft 1inch and is a force to behold) told the driver in no uncertain terms how she expected him to drive and if he did not want to ,to pass us over to another driver ,i must say i really did feel safe on that journey,rip to the passengers in that van ,pity they did not have someone like my sister in law to speak for them.

Well not only ours but Thailands in general ,that seems to be the consensus of many of the financial institutions . when we started looking for a place to live 8 years ago ,there were so many empty places ,(many still are) and they seem to be growing all the time , but building just goes on and on ,and please dont tell me its the rich Russians that are buying ,they do ,but nowhere in the numbers that places are being built .on our estate ,houses have been empty for years ,the few that have sold have gone for the same ,or less than they were originally ,the developer ,built 14 new houses 3 years ago ,one has been sold or rented ,another 10 are half finished and have been for two years .

so is this the norm is the bubble going to burst just like 1997 and as it did in the west in 2008?

When people who live outside of Pattaya write about us ,they seem to think that Pattaya extends from 3rd road to beach rd and jomtien ,well most of us expats live well away from the tourist areas ,where there are no Russians ,no Indians ,No Arabs ,just the usuall mix of Westerners there has always been Pattaya central is a tourist town ,the come ,they go ,but we stay all the time ,its the same in tourist towns the world over.

Thailand is corrupt and never transparent. We have no idea how many

"good loans" the banks have as collateral going all the way back to

1997. They simply aren't required to write them off. Condos built in

1997 sit empty while empty new ones go up all around. This is all on the

backs of the banks in Thailand.

you are not informed "neversure". the lion share of construction is not financed

by banks but was always paid for by "black" money. it's the ideal way to launder

Baht which escaped the Thai taxman.

Taken From the Naam book of facts

Denizen

what makes you think that people like me havent? most of my friends as well have ample funds here ,but we do not make fun of those that have to live week by week . but we still care about the state of the baht to other currencies ,in the next few years judging by what the financial institutions say ,Thailand is heading down the same road as the west.

To all of you who go on about how wonderfull Thai finances are i suggest you google Thai debt bubble and see what the worlds financial institutions feel about what is happening here .

yada,yada,yada from the usuall Brit knockers who rub their hands with glee if they think we are down ,well many before you have thought it and look what happened to them .

Well I am on BTV and am watching Corrie as we speak?

I surly hope it is not about to disappear, the best channel by far!

I used to like Corrie ,how are Enna and Minnie Caldwell doing?

I pay 120B/month for water and 3.5B/unit for electricity. I pay 3000B/month for a 60 sq. meter duplex. I live surrounded by forest, good neighbors, and peaceful rice fields.

The "exciting city" is only an overnight A/C sleeper train away (or a 45-minute flight away), but my tolerance of that rat race can span no more than 3 days. Come to Isaan where life is good and affordable. Of course, each to their own.

AS you say ,each to his own ,personally i would prefere to stick needles in my eyes than live in Isaan

Yes please stay in lovely Pattaya, I would rather stick needles up a certain orifice than live there.

There are certain areas of Pattaya where its not only needles that would be stuck up a certain orifice

What fakes in Pattaya? i will have to tell the wife to check her "mullberry" handbags

If they're spelt "mullberry", they're definitely fake.

Sorry ,i just pay for the bloody things ,i dont use em

What fakes in Pattaya? i will have to tell the wife to check her "mullberry" handbags

The fact that British and Norwegians managed to get oil out the North

Sea is why the economy will recover, such genius is difficult to match

... once the IMF has been called in to rid us of corporatist-socialists

and when we get out the EU so we can get that coal out the ground and

are not bound over by their carbon charging and endless redtape we'll be

ok.

it goes without saying that post EU it's "rule Britannia!" again.

Yes "rule Britania" we always have and always will come out on top , we never give up ,not like some nations.

My sister in law has a house she rents out ,it was hard to find a tenant ,eventually a thai familly moved in ,the place is now a sh-thole and will cost more to renovate than the rent she got ,does that help?

36 m2 ?? - sounds like hell to me.......

I dont know it sound ok to me ,our bathroom is just a bit smaller and we find it adequate.

I pay 120B/month for water and 3.5B/unit for electricity. I pay 3000B/month for a 60 sq. meter duplex. I live surrounded by forest, good neighbors, and peaceful rice fields.

The "exciting city" is only an overnight A/C sleeper train away (or a 45-minute flight away), but my tolerance of that rat race can span no more than 3 days. Come to Isaan where life is good and affordable. Of course, each to their own.

AS you say ,each to his own ,personally i would prefere to stick needles in my eyes than live in Isaan

You obviously have not seen where l live in Isaan. ............................

No farang sex pests, no farang drunks (except me), no ruskies, just left alone with nooooo hassle.

I did not realize that they had electricity in Isaan,next you will be saying that they have television

I pay 120B/month for water and 3.5B/unit for electricity. I pay 3000B/month for a 60 sq. meter duplex. I live surrounded by forest, good neighbors, and peaceful rice fields.

The "exciting city" is only an overnight A/C sleeper train away (or a 45-minute flight away), but my tolerance of that rat race can span no more than 3 days. Come to Isaan where life is good and affordable. Of course, each to their own.

AS you say ,each to his own ,personally i would prefere to stick needles in my eyes than live in Isaan

Excellent description--that's exactly how downtown Pattaya/BKK pollution feels in my eyes!

Actually i live outside of the town ,but as to Isaan ,we went there once on a visit ,but it was closed

Just saw a sticker on a shop yesterday advertising a gentelman by the above name ,with a telephone number saying that he gave an emergancy call out if you are taken ill and that the sevice was free,does anyone know about this ? in fact maybe you are reading it Michael and could give us a little information ,

What? another clean up ,so soon after the hundreds of other "clean ups"