newnative

A somewhat related question. I do my 1 year retirement this month.. I've had 800,000 baht in one bank that I have been using. I want to close that account and use a different bank for the 800,000. However, I have only had the 800,000 in that bank since August of last year. Anybody know if I could still use that bank or do I need to wait another year so it will be in the account a full year? Thanks!

I'd keep our Pattaya house because I still like living in Thailand with my partner. Probably we would use the extra money to go on more extended trips with luxury accommodations-- staying in places like New York City, Paris, London, LA, Rome, etc. for as long as we felt like.

I haven't found that to be the case with Hipflat. With nothing accurate available from the government, it's one of the few sites I know of that provides pricing information on a wide variety of condos in Bangkok and Pattaya. No site is going to be precisely spot on but I find Hipflat to mostly be in the ballpark with their price per square meter figures. I've never come across a huge discrepancy. In the ballpark is really all you can reasonably expect. Obviously, for Hipflat to work best, it needs to be used correctly. You need to be comparing apples to apples and not apples to oranges. If you have a low floor condo in poor condition with no view in project X, don't expect to get the same price per square meter that a higher floor condo in excellent condition with a killer view is commanding. Even comparing apples to apples, there are lots of variables that can result in one condo selling for more, or for less, than another next door in the same project. Hipflat gives an average price for the entire project. That never means that a particular condo in the project will be able to sell for that average price per sqm. We've seen this personally three times with projects where we have owned 2 units, 1 bedrooms and 2 bedrooms. In each case, the condos sold for different prices per sqm. One example, Centric Sea in Pattaya. We owned a 2 bedroom on floor 29 and a 1 bedroom on floor 14. The 2 bedroom was renovated and improved to the max, including an all-new custom kitchen--we were living there. The 1 bedroom was improved a little--it was a rental. The 2 bedroom had a killer seaview and was one of only a few units in the project that had a cantilevered bathtub with windows on 3 sides. The 1 bedroom had a seaview, but not as good with the lower floor. Hipflat has Centric Sea at 97,000 baht a sqm. We sold the 2 bedroom for 154,000 baht a sqm and the 1 bedroom for 101,000 baht/sqm. The 2 bedroom went for far more than the average price because it had far more than the average condo there. The 1 bedroom sold for slightly above average because it did have a seaview and the units at the back of the building and in the low-rise 3rd building do not. Hipflat has high floor 2 bedrooms with seaview ranging from around 140,000 to around 162,000 baht a sqm. So, we were about in the middle of the range with that sale. Centric 1 bedrooms on Hipflat run from around 70,000 to 115,000 baht a sqm, so we in the upper end of the range with our 1 bedroom sale. In any case, Hipflat was right in the ballpark with both our sales--and with all the other sales we have done--and, as I said, that's really all you can reasonably expect.

Great!

I've been using Wise for a number of years with zero problems.

If the first condo was an investment property she might have held on to it while continuing to rent it rather than sell at a loss. We never sell anything unless we make a profit and, instead, just continue to live in it rent free or rent it out. I'm not understanding why you think her Breeze condo has lost 20 to 25% of its value. Hipflat has the price per sqm going steadily up since it opened, with a current price per sqm of 136,754 baht per sqm. Price per sqm up 8.89% from last year and rents up 10.92%. See chart below which did not cut and paste very well but has the stats. You say it is 'quite well managed' so that shouldn't be a factor, as it apparently might have been with the other condo. Market Stats for The Breeze Narathiwas Current asking price per sqm. ฿136,754 Asking price change from last quarter 0 % Asking price change from last year 8.89 % Achievable gross rental yield 5.08 % Rent price change from last year 10.92 % Historical Asking Price per ㎡ (THB) 20122013201420152016201720182019202020212022฿80,000฿100,000฿120,000฿140,000

Nothing wrong with being skeptical. And, certainly, not all condos appreciate here--and I've never said that they all do. With some you are lucky if they hold their own in value. I was mainly questioning your statement that condos depreciate more than cars here--whether short or long-term. I don't think that's the case with most condos. For example, sticking with Lumpini Makkasan, we bought our studio in 2018 for 2.4MB. That same year we bought a Honda CR-V for 1.5MB, which we still have. 2023 now and we would be lucky to get half our purchase price for the CR-V. Meanwhile, the Lumpini studio has not depreciated by half to 1.2MB. Your wife's condo lost some value, but did not depreciate as much as a new 2010 auto bought that same year. as her condo It's a shame her condo project was not better managed as those new things opening--especially the BTS stop--should have made the project more desirable. On the plus side, she was able to find a buyer and she had the use of the condo for 12 years--that could have cushioned the depreciation had she lived there those years and saved on 12 years of rent payments. Renting, though, has advantages if you don't mind living in someone else's space.

Did my latest post before I saw this.

You're misreading. 'Starts at 3.5 million' is incorrect for the project--and I didn't see that figure anywhere in the article, although I might have missed it. Might be correct for a type of unit but not for the project as a whole--studios would not have started at that price or anywhere near it. You missed the 2.35MB price for buying off-plan. We got 2.4MB buying pre-construction, for a 24sqm studio, so 100,000 baht a sqm, not 140,000 baht. If you read the article it states the average price is 140,000 baht a sqm. Obviously, higher floors and better view orientations command higher prices per sqm. We were on floor 8 of a 35 floor building, with not much of a view. As previously stated, this project is not conforming to your unsupported 'fact' that condos depreciate worse than a car. Was an average 140,000 baht a sqm, now an average 153,000 baht a sqm.

Here is the link: https://thinkofliving.com/article/ลุมพินี-สวีท-เพชรบุรี-มักกะสัน-คอนโด-high-rise-35-ชั้น-ติดถนนเพชรบุรี-ห่าง-mrt-ประมาณ-900-ม-จากลุมพินี-preview-380091-พรีวิวโครงการ/ If that doesn't work just google Lumpini Phetchaburi Makkasan and Think of Living. You're probably interested in this part: Lumpini Suite Petchburi-Makkasan (Lumpini Suite Petchburi-Makkasan) L.P.N Development Public Company Limited UPPER-HIGH CLASS ( read details of condo segment here ) The project is located in the district: Ratchathewi High Rise Condo, 35 floors, 1 building, 636 units Up to 24 units per floor Approximately 40% of parking spaces, excluding double parking Approximately 3-0-71.1 rai of land Expected start of construction: April 2017 Expected completion: end of 2018 Studio 23 sq m. 1 Bedroom 27-33 sq m. 2 Bedrooms 34.5-61 sq m. Ceiling height 2.6 meters Room rates start at 2.35 million baht (promotion room price). The average price per square meter for the entire project is 140,000 baht/square meter. Average price per square meter, lowest-highest n/a baht/sq.m.

Your figures are incorrect if you are referring to Lumpini Suites Phetchaburi-Makkasan, where we owned. The Think of Living review website gives the pre-construction pricing as starting at 2.35MB for studio units, not your 3.5MB. We actually bought one of the 24 sqm studios that you mentioned, pre-construction, for 2.4MB, so 100,000 baht a sqm. It was on floor 8, facing the back of the building. Studios are only on floors 4 to 8. Fun fact: We were the very first buyer to go to closing at the project when it was finished. Sold it for 3.25MB after having it for about a year. Just made a small profit on that one but we did not lose money and we were experimenting with whether we would like having a Bangkok getaway condo. Decided we did and sold it to buy a bigger 1 bedroom unit at another project down the street closer to the Phetchaburi MRT. Hipflat shows the average current price for the project at 153,149 baht per sqm. I see a 23 sqm unit listed on floor 4 for 3,35MB, so priced slightly higher than what we achieved for our unit. I'm not seeing your depreciation worse than a car with this project.

Any actual data to back up this 'fact'? I only ask because my partner and I have sold condos short term that we have bought new after just one or two years and all were sold at a profit. The condos were at: The Base Central Pattaya, Unixx, Lumpini Park Beach, Centric Sea, Lumpini Seaview, View Talay 3, 5C, 5D, and 7, The Axis, and Lumpini Makkasan in Bangkok. We've also bought and sold resale condos in older projects such as Northshore and Garden Cliff, also at a profit. So, no depreciation was occurring for us, let alone at a new car's steep rate.

Utter nonsense. Yet another dinosaur that needs to be retired.

Surprised the landlord didn't boot you after the first late payment.

The article states that 89% of locals purchased CBRE properties and 11% foreign buyers. How do you get 'not (so many) locals' from that?

You misread the article. It is not saying tourists from China are down 90% from 2019. It is saying Chinese group tours using ATTA is 90% down--not the same thing. In 2019, independent Chinese travelers were the majority, not Chinese in group tours. Whether the percentage of Chinese visitors to Thailand is up or down--and by how much--compared to 2019, cannot be drawn from this article.

Unless Chinese tour groups visiting Thailand are required to use ATTA, the headline is possibly incorrect. I don't think that is a requirement as, per the article, only 600,000 Chinese used ATTA in 2019 and there were 11 million Chinese visitors that year, and many more than 600,000 in tour groups. ATTA's usage by Chinese tourist groups may be down 90% but that doesn't automatically mean that the overall figure for Chinese tourist groups is also down 90%. Could be down 90% but that can't be drawn from just ATTA's data. A local Ford dealership selling 10% fewer cars does not translate to Ford sales being down 10% at all dealerships nationwide.

You 'know a few attractions' that Chinese visit and some Chinese are renting condos out to Chinese. So what? Meaningless. You're bogged down in unimportant minutiae, while ignoring the big picture. And, no, the 500 billion baht is not 'just another figure' and statistical data is not 'picked out of thin air.' If you're interested, you can go search back through Asean Now and read a good explanation one of our members posted as to how the data is gathered.

Yikes. Not just 1 reason but 5.

Hope so. Fingers crossed.

'may go to', 'maybe', 'could be', 'many'. All very vague. The 500 billion baht figure I posted is money spent in Thailand by Chinese visitors in 2019. Thai tourism businesses and other related businesses employing Thais, whether owned by Thais, Chinese, or green men from outer space, benefitted by that 500 billion baht. When covid hit and Chinese visitor numbers were next to nothing for several years, there was stark evidence on display in tourist areas of just how much that 500 billion baht meant to Thailand's tourism. That's not to say that tourists from other countries are not important--of course they are, as well.

Correct--if 500 billion baht is considered 'very little cash'. That's what Chinese visitors dropped in Thailand in 2019. One site, Statista, pegged it at 543 billion baht.

Sad news. One of my very favorite singers. I still love to watch YouTube videos of her amazing concerts. Simply the best.

Way too long a process to certify the election and get the new government in place. As others have said, what a mess. Election reform, including the reasons and power to disqualify candidates and parties, needs to be on the new government's agenda.

Well, a good many of them have decamped to my house on the Darkside.