newnative

I had a lot of trouble the last time I did a money transfer with my Bangkok bank account. It kept rejecting my attempts, telling me to put my face in the green frame--but the green color in the frame kept going off and on and I kept getting rejected. Also got the message a number of times that I was being rejected because I was wearing a head covering, when I was not. After many tries, somtimes signing off and back on to my account and starting over, it finally worked. At least it did allow me to try many times but the system needs work.

Can only speak for myself but this American buys for the very simple reason that life is short and you possibly only go around once. Not for me living my dwindling wonder years in someone else's space with very likely inferior everything--from the small tv to the cheap sofa to the poor refrigerator to the lousy art on the wall--if any--to the uncomfortable--and well-used--mattress on the bed to . . . Well, the list goes on. No thanks. Spouse and I just sold our house today, by the way. It wasn't hard. Any time we feel like moving, we can. Owning doesn't tie us down.

Your thread is very timely for my spouse and myself. We have been talking about clutter, and just having too much stuff, as this week we are moving from one house to another one. We finally finished the move today, just in time for the closing on the house we are selling tomorrow. We did some looking back on our earlier years here, when we first arrived in Pattaya in 2010, poor as church mice. For a number of years, we managed to live in a series of 48 sqm studio condos at various View Talay projects, ending at VT7. Those years, we had exactly one armoire that we both shared, as well as a desk cabinet that had some storage drawers. Somehow we managed to get everything we had into those two pieces of furniture, plus a couple of antique Korean chests we brought from the US. Fast-forward to today, where we have been living in a large 4-bedroom, 5-bath house, with the master bedroom alone having 4 armoires, each about the size of the one armoire we had at the View Talays. Plus a separate armoire for a home office. Somehow, we have managed to fill them, and also partially fill two other armoires in the guest bedrooms. We have been moving, on average, at least once a year as we sold a condo, or a house, and moved to another one. In theory, this should have kept us light and nimble, possession-wise. One lean mean moving machine. If only that were true. Instead, we seem to have more stuff with every move. It's been said the nature abhors a vacuum. That seems to also apply to us--our clutter has expanded to fill the vacuum of our available storage. If we build it, we will fill it. What I hate most is we keep dragging around from move to move all sorts of what I consider totally useless stuff, including some construction stuff which I'm not even sure what the usage is. Me: "Can't we throw this out? " Spouse: "No, we might need it." Never mind that we have moved "X" item four or five times, waiting, in vain, for that 'need' to finally show up. I do like your idea of removing ten items a day. We always say we will sort through all our stuff once we get moved, and, of course, never get around to it. This time, however, we are temporarily moving to a smaller house so that might force us to actually do some decluttering. We'll see.

Minister of Culture. Well, that's about as lightweight as you can get.

I still think it's the trifecta--poor materials, inferior design, and bad construction.

I can't speak for condo prices in Phuket as I don't know that area. Spouse and I have sold 2 beachfront condos in Rayong, both at a modest profit. That was years ago, in 2010, when we first came to Thailand. We have also sold 1 condo in Bangkok, an empty condo at a new project that we bought off-plan at a good price before construction started. We fixed that one up really nicely--one of my favorite small projects--and sold it after about a year when we realized it was a bit too small for us and a bit too far a walk from the nearest subway station. Netted a small profit as there was no agent involved. That was 2019. Most of our condo sales, about 20, have been in Pattaya, starting in 2011. As with Rayong, we always bought seaview. That was key, I believe. About 7 of those sales were empty shell studio condos of 48 sqm that we bought from a developer called View Talay, in 4 different projects, done from 2011 to maybe 2014. We did what I think was a nice job of finishing and furnishing the condos and we were able to sell them rather easily and make a profit on them as, at that time, View Talay did not have a lot of competition for seaview condos in prime locations. As with Bangkok, we also bought, one at a time over a number of years, 9 Pattaya condos off-plan, before construction started, and got a good price on them. I would only recommend doing this with a big developer with a good track record--we bought with Sansiri, Lumpini, Raymond Land, and SC Asset, plus one no-name developer, the first, that, luckily, got the project finished. Would not do that again. Live and learn. Although the condos were new, we liked to tweak them to make them better and as attractive as possible to buyers, We sold them after living in them for around a year, with a number of those 9 also being rentals that we didn't live in but also ended up selling. We also did some older condo full renovations. We picked bargain condos with seaviews in desirable projects and made a profit on all of them, although some condos, generally the larger and more expensive units, made more money than the smaller ones. Greater risk but bigger payoff. We have since moved on to houses, both to buy and sell while we live in them. We switched to houses during covid and we will be making our 4th house sale this Friday. Although our experience is not typical, we are certainly not the only ones who have made some money buying and selling property in Thailand--every time I go to the Land Office in Pattaya it is packed, with hardly an empty seat. The land office here recently moved to a new facility--in the middle of nowhere--and it seems they have already outgrown it. Having said all of the above, there's definitely a chance that you could lose some money, or just break even. We had some luck, in some cases some good timing, but, primarily, we managed to buy almost all of the condos and houses at a low price, which made making a profit a lot easier. The 'ol buy low, sell high. For us, though, it has never been about the money, either here or in the US, where we did the same thing on a smaller scale. We simply really enjoy being property owners, not renters, creating our own, unique spaces to enjoy living in, for a time. We would buy, as we recently did again, even if it was highly likely we might lose some money or only break even. Life is short.

You're welcome.

I would advise, as others have, that you definitely buy in foreign quota. Your investment shoud be safe and secure. The land under the condo is a non-issue, as long as the condo is not built on leased land. Condos can be purchased in company name but it's a gray area, you have to set up a company with Thais involved, the condos are harder to resell, and there is yearly paperwork involved with company ownership. Stick with foreign quota--this from someone who has bought and sold over 20 condos here in Thailand with my Thai spouse. I would also suggest that you take your time and explore different areas. Don't be in a hurry to buy--educate yourself somewhat first. You might start by renting for 6 months. In your shoes, I would first determine the area that you want to live in, based on your lifestyle and weekly activities. Then start looking at condos in the area you select. Once you settle on one, find out if foreign quota is still available. If it is, do more study of the condo project. Interview owners, check the financials if possible, walk the property observing maintenance and the condition of the project and the facilities, and make several trips to the condo both during the day and at night. Be advised that some new mega condo projects with 1000 units or more in some tourist areas have been plagued with short-term illegal daily renters. Some of these projects function more as a hotel than as a residence. From personal experience owning and living in several of these projects, I would advise you to steer clear unless you like a hotel atmosphere--or if the condo has an excellent system in place to deter daily renters. Good luck to you.

Just did a quick search on Hipflat and found rental listings for pool villas in Pattaya starting around 25,000 baht a month. That's pretty reasonable, and just one source checked. I think a buyer or a renter will be able to find something in his price range as the variety and the amount available is so great here. Pattaya has a huge construction boom going on right now with houses. And, as I said in an earlier post, they are building at all price ranges. You can buy a non-pool small single family home on a small land plot for less than 3MB. Plus, plenty of homes to choose from in the 10MB to 50MB range. If your budget is 150-200MB, Pattaya also has some houses to show you. You are right, though, that prices for similar housing look to be somewhat cheaper in Hua Hin. Spouse and I like to watch lots of real estate videos when we are exercising and that seems to be the case. Chiang Mai also seems to be somewhat cheaper, from what we see for sale there on videos. For us, with a Bangkok getaway condo, we like being able to get to it from here in less than 2 hours, and with an easier drive than Hua Hin's.

Condominium Act: The Condominium Act of 1979 (B.E. 2522) and subsequent amendments provide the legal basis for condominium management in Thailand. Bylaws: Each condominium develops its own set of bylaws, which include rules and regulations for residents. Fines: The bylaws can specify fines for violations of these rules. These fines are often a way to enforce compliance with the regulations, such as those related to noise, use of common areas, or pets. Enforcement: Condo associations have the power to enforce these rules and regulations, and fines are one of the mechanisms they can use. Transparency and Participation: Residents have rights to information about the condo's operations, including the bylaws and any changes to them. They also have the right to participate in meetings and voice their concerns. Legal Consequences: Failure to comply with the Condominium Act or the condo's regulations can lead to legal consequences, which may include fines, penalties, or other actions as outlined in the bylaws.

There's always a plan, but few ever get completed. Plans for high-speed rail, plans for casinos, plans for road safety, plans for pollution control, plans for better schools, etc., etc. Hopefully not a single new rider signs up for this ridership drive as the trains are horribly overcrowded as is. But, yes, where are the 6 carriage trains already???

How fines are established is not the point. I was responding to your statement that, I quote, "there is no legal basis for charging fines".

Well, the several iterations of the Move Forward party were disbanded for a lot less.

Tougher year than the 'pandemic era'? Totally doubt that.

Talk, talk, talk. Only that.