newnative

"Hasty decisions." What a joke. The issue's been debated to death for years and years. Debated to death but, apparently, more study is needed of the rotting corpse.

Yaa. Now, on to Pattaya . . .

Thai spouse and I have been here since 2010. We have renovated numerous condos and, so far, built two houses, with a third starting later this year. This activity has employed numerous local folks, from construction workers to plumbers, electricians, painters, tilers, roofers, swimming pool builders, landscapers, and so on. We've supported retail with dozens of major purchases of furniture, electronics, big appliances, housewares, etc. Selling over 20 projects has helped keep numerous agents in business, including their Thai staff. As a previous poster mentioned, expats contribute greatly. And, our contributions help support many workers that a visiting tourist doesn't impact. Workers like pool cleaners, gardeners, car service mechanics, hospital workers, barbers and beauticians, local laundries, local businesses, such as fresh markets, etc., etc. Expat contributions were on vivid display during the covid years.

Loved your post. A lot of what you said could also be applied to the greater Pattaya area where I live. Unfortunately, 95% of the Asean Now posts regarding Pattaya are supplied by visitors who likely get to only 5% of greater Pattaya in their short stays. Or, they were last here 10 or 20 years ago for a weekend . . .

Definitely an open mind is good. When you are checking out places, look at them not with tourist eyes but with the eyes of someone who will be living there full-time, not for a week or two. Think about your every day routine and your hobbies, interests, types of sports you like, possible health needs, etc., and evaluate the places you visit on how well they fit your wants and needs on an ongoing, not short-term, basis. Good luck with your search.

Article doesn't make sense. It states: "The airline clarified that the crew acted with due diligence, providing alternative seating for other passengers ... " . So, if empty seats were available, why wasn't the person sitting next to the dead passenger moved?

I would definitely recommend you give Pattaya a look. As I've said in other posts, I think it is actually a better place to live year-round than as a place to just visit for a short period. Yes, there are the entertainment areas but they make up just a small part of Pattaya. They are there if you want them and easily avoided if you don't. What works for my Thai spouse and myself is everything else Pattaya has on offer--and we have certainly checked other areas. That includes such things as very good health care choices, great shopping both with several very good malls and also big box stores like Index, Home Pro, Boonthavorn, etc., movies in English, huge variety of restaurants, large expat community, Immigration handy, a major airport and Bangkok less than 2 hours away, good recreational choices available, including ocean activities, and a number of golf courses. Also important, a variety of neighborhoods to choose from, each with its own vibe. And, to go with the good neighborhood selection, a great variety of housing, both for rent and for sale, in all price points. This is often overlooked but putting a comfortable roof over your head that exactly fits your needs is super important--Pattaya really excels at that more than anywhere else my spouse and I have visited in Thailand. Whether you want an oceanfront condo on the beach or a sprawling pool villa on the Darkside--or something in-between--Pattaya has it.

I suspect the vast majority fit neither of his ridiculous descriptions.

Construction was only started on it in 2011 so it was not there 2 decades ago.

Construction started in 2011 and was halted in 2014. I personally think it is one of the few buildings in Pattaya sporting any interesting architecture and I'd like to see it finished--with perhaps some floors removed to pacify the original protestors--rather than torn down.

It's Pattaya. It's Phuket. It's Bangkok. And . . . it's Fort Lauderdale. "3 Hospitalized After Stabbing in Fort Lauderdale"--recent news headline. Also, "Arrest Made in Fort Lauderdale Shooting that Killed Teen Girl". Popular tourist places--the world over--will have some crime--it's a given when you have millions of tourists vacationing, partying hard, and wanting a good time. From the same Fort Lauderdale news feed, several articles on Fort Lauderdale stepping up efforts to curb crime with Spring Break arriving. That reminded me of a news article from the other day saying about the same thing with Phuket--cops stepping up their efforts there to curb crime, as well. Same same. And so it goes.

My Bangkok Thai relatives all have live-in help. Spouse and I will probably also have live-in help at some point down the road--we're not at that point yet. Likely will be cheaper than a nursing home and you can remain in your own home.

Hope they finally get rid of those horrible, polluting red buses once and for all.

Farang not careful. Guy got it right.

I doubt you 'know what most expats do'--super presumptuous and idiotic even to lump us all together as being all the same in the first place. And, to presume to know how much traveling expats have done around Thailand--equally ludicrous. Also incorrect, we aren't all sitting in bars. Although, of course, some do. Most expats here are doing all sorts of things--just like people anywhere else in the World. You seemed miffed that you are traveling around Thailand as a tourist and you are not running into enough expats who live here who are also touring Thailand. I have two sisters who live in Florida year-round. If I visited Florida as a tourist, I would not be miffed that I didn't run into either one of them at Disney World. And, by the way, not running into either of them at Disney World would also not have me saying they are doing 'diddly squat'--nothing. I think you are confusing doing nothing--diddly squat--with doing one's normal routine. Two completely different things. I imagine when you are not here as a tourist but back in your home country you will be doing your normal routine--which likely isn't diddly squat, either. You are correct that Bangkok, Pattaya, and Chiang Mai attract large numbers of expats who choose those places to live, either part-time or year-round. If you read my previous post, it should be readily apparent why many expats would be choosing those places, as each of them will fulfill many of the things expats would have on their list of what is wanted and needed in the place where they choose to live. I enjoyed visiting Koh Lipe. Would I want to live there full-time and would it have everything I needed in a place to live in Thailand? No.

They need year-round dedicated parking enforcement crews working all over the city, not just one road. Fines collected will pay the salaries, plus incentive bonuses after expenses are met.

Whether it's Bangkok, Pattaya, or other tourist cities, I would say the condo projects most impacted are the newer, massive projects of 500 to 1000 units or more, with the majority of the units being small 25 to 35 sqm condos--which are ideal as illegal 'hotel' rooms. The newer projects also allow a buyer to easily purchase multiple new units all at one time--rather than buying one by one resales from individual owners. This allows these buyers to, in effect, run an illegal boutique hotel within the condo project, using condo staff, and bypassing any hotel regulations, taxes, etc. I've told this story before. Spouse and I used to own at a then new condo project in Pattaya with over 1200 units, many small in size. At one AGM, a Chinese owner stood up and announced that he paid over 1 million baht in condo fees each year so why shouldn't he be allowed to rent his rooms daily, even if it was illegal? Well, he answered his own question--it's illegal--but do the math. Supposing his unit average is 35 sqm and the condo fee is 60 baht a sqm, that equates to about 25,000 baht a year in condo fees, per unit. If he is paying 1MB a year in condo fees, that indicates he owns around 40 condos in the project--definitely a boutique hotel that he was--and maybe still is--illegally running. He was not the only one doing illegal rentals in the project and management, at the time, did absolutely nothing. We had to sell and move--living there was not enjoyable at all as a year-round resident. We now own a house but if we ever buy another condo to live in we will look for an older, well-kept project, with a much smaller number of larger units. For example, something like Northshore, with less than 200 units, with the smallest condo being around 64 sqm--which would be one of the largest in many of the new projects being built. We would also look for a project aggressive against illegal rentals and one that embraces new technology--such as facial scanning--to help fight the problem.

I doubt you have any idea whatsoever what 'most expats do'. To start with, most of us likely aren't where you are; we're not tourists here for a week or two doing tourist stuff. You're earlier comment saying any place with clean air 'would make some place good to live year round' is just as utterly ridiculous. Iceland has good air quality, according to google, but I certainly would not want to live there year-round. Lots of things should be factored in when choosing a place to live, including health care, services, recreation, shopping choices and variety, restaurants, entertainment, year-round weather, cost of living, availability of a variety of housing stock to buy or rent at all price points, airport proximity, local population demographics, crime rates, suitability to your hobbies and interests, and more. Air quality figures in, of course, but is just one of many other considerations when I am choosing where I want to live.

It's probably a better place to live year-round than to just visit for a week or two--although there is plenty to see and do if you get out there. It's certainly kept my interest for 14 years.

Ban tourists from renting motorcycles. Only holders of Thai motorcycle licenses should be allowed to drive a motorcycle in Thailand.

I doubt tourist behavior has changed much over the years. People vacation to let loose and have fun, a change from their regular lives of quiet desperation. What has changed is social media, blowing up isolated incidents that in the past would either not have been reported, or, if reported locally, would not have received wide-spread publicity. In any case, just a show of seemingly doing something.

Reducing the debt by a "lie amount". Got that right.

More lies from the second biggest liar in the world.

France has a population of 68.8 million. Tourism industry is 8.8%. Thailand has a population of 71.1 million. Tourism contributes 7.24%. Google figures. Neither country is totally reliant on tourism, but, of course, it is a very important industry for both countries. For whatever reason, Asean Now likes to focus on tourism stories--there are lots of them, many focused on numbers, and from which countries, etc. When you are bombarded with them, it leaves the impression that you have: "Tourism, tourism EVERYTHING tourism'. Had AN chosen to focus much more on farm and manufacturing stories, you might have a different perception. The largest contributor to Thailand's GDP is manufacturing, not tourism.

I wonder just what the hospital s doing for its 3000 pounds a day--other than not curing him.