newnative

Agree. The hotel group should use its clout to get more enforcement of the daily rental ban.

Jerk.

Color me wrong regarding my previous postings where I thought the foreign quota owner votes would be diluted to accommodate the new owners while also maintaining the 49% vote. Instead, with projects where the foreign quota already is at 49%, apparently the new foreign quota owners will get no vote at all at the AGM. I don't think this is a good solution and I believe it's very unfair for some owners to not have a vote at all. I would rather have a diluted vote, even if I am an owner from the original 49%, rather than see some owners with no vote at all.

Bangkok

I find myself with plenty of money these days but for 30 years while I was working in the US, it was a struggle. I had to be thrifty but, luckily, I had learned thrifty habits from my parents, who had grown up in the Great Depression. I can still remember my Mom saying 'save the bows' Christmas morning when we were unwrapping our presents, so we could use the bows for next year--and sometimes she saved the wrapping paper, as well, even in their later years when they were quite well-off. My Dad often joked that he could have bought a new Cadillac every other year if he hadn't have had 6 kids. But, when the kids were grown and he could have easily afforded a Cadillac, he never bought one. Too thrifty--and he wanted to leave us kids a nice inheritance, which he did. I still find myself being thrifty, as is my Thai spouse. We have never flown Business Class--ever. But, next flight we may splurge on Economy Plus. Or not. We have pretty much all that we need or want so life is good here. My spouse is younger and my main goal is to make sure he is well-provided for, as he will likely out-live me.

What's stopping you from dealing with an owner directly? My property is listed with agencies but that doesn't mean you can't deal with me directly if you prefer to not use an agent. We sold our last condo directly to a buyer who saw our ad posted on the condo bulletin board.

Yes, and I was one of those assuming just that and I posted about using a weighted vote on the other thread. Apparently, they will not be using this method. If the PM is correct, I am quite surprised that owners in the 26% will not get a vote at all at the AGM. That seems totally unfair, and not in the best interests of the condo project. As a condo owner, I would rather have a diluted vote than no vote at all.

Nonsense. There is no MLS system in Thailand. In most cases, a property is listed by multiple agencies to gain as much exposure as possible to potential buyers. Right now, I have a property listed with probably at least 25 agencies. Although I provide photos and a description, a number of the biggest agencies have come and taken their own photos of the property, with several going to the expense of sending videographers to do videos of the property. They then have the work of making the listing for their website, choosing the best photos, writing the description, and putting in all the relevant information, etc. Some will also do the work of putting postings on social media, such as Facebook. These agencies have done all this work on their dime knowing that the property will also likely be listed by their competitors. Now, with each agency wth the listing, it's a race to find a buyer for the property and get the commission before some other agency gets there first. So, once again, nonsense to say that an agency will not pass along a low offer but, instead, as you say, 'wait a couple years' for a better offer to come along. Totally laughable--the property will be long gone in a couple years, sold by one of the other agencies. With the agents I know, they live, as I do, by 'the future is now'. Not waiting your 'a couple years' for something that may or may not happen. Will they waste their time, and the seller's time, passing along a 2MB offer on a 10MB property? Probably not. But, any other offer that has the remotest chance of working? Yes.

Not the only one. I think it is definitely a positive development if it goes through.

I don't think that is how it will work. As I said before, I think it will be a weighted vote. Every condo owner will have a vote, but the foreign quota owners will have their votes adjusted so the total percentage of their vote does not equal more than 49%, to maintain the 51% Thai control. Realizing that it wll be much more complicated, here is a very simple example: A condo project with 4 equal-size condos, 3 owned in foreign quota and 1 in Thai name. The 75% foreign quota limit has been reached. If the Thai decided to sell his condo, it could not be moved to foreign quota. To maintain Thai control in the 4-unit project, the voting will be weighted. The Thai owner's vote will have a weight of 51%. The 3 foreign quota owners will have a weighted vote of 16.33% each. Even if the 3 voted in favor of a proposal, they would still lose 49% to 51%, if the Thai owner opposed the proposal. As I said, just the simplest example possible. In reality, it will be much more complicated, with condo ownership sqm percentages to be figured in, in addition to units held in company name. I definitely do not want to be the one tasked with figuring all that out before the AGM!

The 'others' in my post refers to developers and Pattaya projects they have built to sell condo units to buyers. It had nothing to do with any after sale rentals by the buyers of those condos. Hipflat listing 410 units for rent in a 501 unit project does not automatically mean there are 410 condos actually for rent in the project. Many listings are the same rental listed by different agencies. The same goes for condos for sale. The last condo I had for sale was listed by at least a dozen different agencies on Hipflat. One condo for sale, 12 agencies listing it. 10 condos for sale in a project could easily show up as 30 or more listings. That same project I owned at now shows 76 condos for sale and 71 for rent. The entire project, an older, higher-end project, only has 198 units so, obviously, 147 out of 198 units are not actually for sale or rent. There are also listings that are no longer active but still there. Windows showing lights at night is also not necessarily a reliable gauge as to how many units have been sold--or rented--in a project. Lots of condo projects have absentee owners. My spouse and I have a Bangkok getaway condo that we visit maybe once a month for a few days. Most of the time the windows are dark at night. In our case, and many others, it just means the owners are not there.

All foreign condo owners in a project should still get a vote. The condo vote will likely be weighted so that the foreign quota owners will not have more than 49% of the vote.

Not a Sansiri product. Maybe that big Chinese project that stalled during covid. Others have done ok--Riviera Jomtien, Monaco, and Ocean Drive. Cetus, Aeras, Copacabana, Lumpini Park Beach and Seaview, etc.

Can't speak for other places but Sansiri does not have 'a lot of excess condos' in Pattaya. The Base and Baan Plai Haad are either sold out or very close to it. The Edge is newer but I think has also been a success.

Foreign owners would still be allowed to vote at the AGM. I think the weight of the foreign-owned vote would be limited to 49%. I believe it's incorrect to state that Thai owners will remain in control with all condo projects. At the last condo I owned, the foreign owners were clearly in control, holding a majority of the seats on the condo board. Perhaps someone will correct me if I am wrong but I think there isn't anything in the Condominum Act stating that the condo boards must have a majority of Thai owners. I think the 75% proposal is a good thing, especially for places like Pattaya, where a number of the projects have filled the 49% quota. This is especially true for some of the less-desirable second tier projects, with foreign quota filled but still having unsold units. Having more foreign quota might help these projects find some more buyers.

Glaring bad publicity--the only time any good changes are reluctantly made.

Brad Pitt is an actor. Brad Pitt's day job is to look like Brad Pitt for as long as possible. He looks terrific at his age because he is clearly putting in the effort to achieve just that. He is willing to do that, even though he is 'not 23 anymore', either. Since you are 'unwilling', it seems like you have come up with the best choice for you--dieting.

Terrific actor, and so versatile. RIP.

Unfortunately, so true. The cursed Electoral College.

And didn't even win then with the voters--lost by over 2 million votes. Actual voters rejected him and wanted the other candidate. And, even more so in 2020, by over 7 million.

I wonder if you have actually ever been to Pattaya to make the statement that there are 'no attractions for kids'. And, Thais do come to Pattaya, especially on weekends and long holidays. Partial list of attractions for kids, and families: Nong Nooch Gardens Underwater World Pattaya Kart Speedway Mini Siam Ripley's Believe It or Not Ramayana Water Park, plus several other water parks, including a new one that just opened recently Boat trips to the islands with snorkeling Tiger Park Universal Studios Aquaverse Teddy Bear Museum Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Frost Magical Ice Dolphinarium Horror Hospital Movies and amusements at Terminal 21 and Central Festival Great and Grand Sweet Jurassic Garden Sanctuary of Truth Harborland A number of hotels and resorts geared to kids and families, including Cape Dara and Centara Grand

Restrict entrance to foreign passport holders.

Organized religion. No thanks.

Any workers in the photo? Not that I can see. And, usually few around whenever I pass a construction project. What should take a few weeks to finish takes months. That intersection is the most important one in Pattaya and should have been done weeks and weeks ago.

With Pattaya, that's already in progress, and has been for sometime. Take a gander at what's going on in north Pattaya/Wong Amat. Terminal 21, of course, with its Centre Point hotel, but also the new family wing at Amari, built specifically for families with larger suites so they can all stay together. Across the street from T21 is Centre Point Space, also geared to families with its space theme. On the beach, Dusit and Cape Dara. Centara, the very large grand daddy of them all with its kids-oriented Jurassic Park vibe and family entertainments, is now undergoing a big renovation. Also near T21, a large tract of old, rundown shops and restaurants has just been bulldozed, with something called Again Pattaya to be built. In front of Cape Dara, on a huge plot of land, Centre Point 3 has started construction and will be bigger than both CP1 and Centre Point Space. New hotels Mytt and Ozo are also geared to regular tourists, meetings and weddings. Mytt has a ballroom that can hold 1500 people, and a second one that can hold 800. In addition to the family entertainments that Pattaya has had for some time, including Nong Nooch Gardens, the aquarium, Tiger Park, Ripley's, Mini Siam, elephant parks, etc., several new family entertainments have been built, including the Universal Studios Aquaverse, Ramayana, the new Go-Cart track, Dolphinarium, Frost Magical Ice and all the entertainments near it, and now the brand new water park near the View Ang restaurant. On the condo front, there have been dozens of new, large low and highrise projects done--from Riviera Wong Amat to Copacabana in Jomtien. At least a half dozen new mega condo projects are either under construction or getting started. One will be 65 stories, the highest in Pattaya. I'm sure there are more new things that I am unaware of--I only came across the new waterpark I mentioned when I went to lunch at View Ang. It's easy to see that the great majority of what has been built recently, and what is being planned and is under contruction, is aimed at the family/couples tourist demographic.