newnative

I've had condo fees ranging from 20 baht a sqm to 77 baht a sqm--and a number of condos with fees in between those two figures, with a dozen or so projects. What's important to me, as a condo owner, is not how much the condo fee is but, rather, is it enough to keep the project maintained properly. A condo is a big investment for me and I want my investment maintained. At the last Pattaya condo I owned, at an older project, the condo fee was not high enough to maintain the project in the style the owners demanded. Rather than raise the condo fee--if I remember 40 or 45 baht a sqm--the project did a special assessment every year to make up that year's shortfall. Special assessments are easier to get approved than raising the annual fees. The special assessments varied but generally amounted to the condo fee being around 60 baht a sqm--about right for the project's size and the small number of units. Obviously, with a project of 1000 units, you get some economies of scale vs. a condo project with 200 units. 1000 owners are chipping in for the guard at the front gate vs. 200 owners at the smaller project. The 20 baht condo fee I mentioned was at a project with 1800 units. At one project I owned at, I could look from my balcony to another older condo project next door. It was easy to see that the condo fee was not adequate to maintain the project. The pool water was often murky green rather than crystal clear and the building had a somewhat rundown look to it. I would guess that not enough owners want to raise the condo fees at that property to maintain it well. I don't want to live in a project where that is the case. If you do your homework before buying you should be able to avoid purchasing at a project that is not adequately funded. Check the condo fee, the sinking fund and the financials. Even when properly funded, some condo projects are not maintained as well as they should be. That's why there's no substitute for on-site observation before buying, with several visits at different times of the day, checking everything you can. I recently visited a condo project that I used to own at--a newer project of around 1000 units. Although I was not there long, I observed enough to see that I would not be happy with how the project was being maintained if I still lived there. Everything still looked to be working, the pool was clean, etc., but a closer look showed a lot of neglected maintenance that would drive me nuts. Quite simply, it has around 1000 units and a condo fee of around 50 baht a sqm. That should provide ample funds to keep the project in tiptop shape. This project was plagued with illegal daily renters when I lived there and it was clear on my recent visit the project had been subjected to very heavy wear and tear. I understand they have since cracked down on the daily renters but the maintenance hasn't caught up. That's what you want to be looking for when you visit. Keep a sharp eye on everything. I was a new owner at this project and it's always a gamble on how a new project will be maintained. Seeing it now, I would give it a pass and look for a better maintained project, one with owners that are far more demanding with management about maintaining the building well.

It's been a few years but I used to live in a condo right on Pattaya Beach and every morning I would sit on my balcony with my morning coffee and enjoy the beach and ocean view. And, every morning, Pattaya Beach was cleaned. The tractors would start by Dusit and work their way south. Spouse and I still drive by the beach probably once a week on our way to Central Festival or after leaving T21 and the beach has always been clean so I think the cleaning is still being done. If there was recent trash it might have been from a storm since we are still in the rainy season. Someone posted photos of the beach a few weeks ago on a thread regarding shade trees and the beach looked litter-free.

I was just going to post the same thing--give Pattaya a look first. The nightlife areas make up just a small part of Pattaya. My spouse and I have lived here 14 years and we live very nice lives here without the nightlife having any impact on our day to day activities. We also lived in Wongamat at one point and that was a very nice area. We are now on the Darkside and liking it, as well. Pattaya has probably the widest selection of different types of housing anywhere in Thailand, at all price points. Since housing is usually one of the biggest monthly expenses, that's important. Also, as you said, good selection of hospitals and schools. Plus, great shopping.

No, doctors are cheap, at least compared to America. I still remember going in, years ago, to get a mole removed. Went to a dermatology clinic, rather than the hospital, since it was a minor procedure. Was in the examination room about 5 minutes and the doctor zapped the mole. Got the bill. $500! How could it cost so much??? There was a long list of charges, only one of which I still remember: $50 for sitting on the examination table while the doctor zapped the mole. Not joking. If I had known, I would have stood.

He remains a two-time, and likely soon to be three-time loser with the American voters.

One thing to remember is the American people rejected Trump twice. In 2016 he lost by 2.8 million votes. A landslide in favor of Clinton. Not a close race by any means by vote count. Actual American voters didn't want him. In 2020 he lost by 7 million votes--even more voters didn't want him. An even bigger landslide in favor of Biden. In 2024, actual American voters will likely prefer the Democrat candidate over Trump once again. But, the Electoral College may award the presidency to Trump, as it did in 2016 over the wishes of the American voters. Trump is a two-time loser with the American voters and likely will be a three-time loser with the voters after this election.

A bowl of corn flakes mixed with a granola nuts mix, sliced banana and apple on top, with low-fat milk. Now, time for a visit to my home gym and then a swim.

Deport the jerk and ban him for 10 years.

Illegal in Thailand.

I don't have 100 million dollars in wealth, which seems to be the minimum amount for this tax to kick in according to the proposal. So, doesn't effect me and I doubt the proposal will gain any traction. I do support higher taxes on the wealthy and allowing the Trump tax cuts to expire.

Good!

One doesn't need to actually live there. It's super easy to have a stock brokerage account with, say, Charles Schwab and buy and sell US stocks at the click of a keystroke. How my Dad would have loved that--for most of his life he had to call his broker up on the phone and place his stock buys and sells and keep track of everything himself, including holding the stock certificates. Schwab tells me my stock portfolio is up $45,790 in the last two years as I take advantage of 'the best economy in the world'--from abroad.

Utter nonsense, especially the enormous sample of 2.

Agree. The only political parties and political figures punished are the ones the public overwhelming wants and supports.

As mentioned, the project is View Talay 6. View Talay 8 is in Jomtien. Advantage to VT6 is the location. Pool is smallish considering the number of condos in the project. I'm not sure if there is a gym as part of the condo project; there may be one in the building. There is covered parking. Studio units are mostly 48sqm. That 48 sqm includes the square meters of the large balconies. Units on the south side currently have an open view. Those on the north look at Central Festival Mall. Higher units facing north on the back end of the building get some noise from the large air con units of the mall. But, these north units at the back also can see the sea and coast line if they are high enough. The website Hipflat can give you some idea regarding rents or you could try Facebook Marketplace and some big realtors such as Coastal, Alan Bolton, Gecko, and Fazwaz. Good luck.

Nobody is demanding that construction be halted, as far as I know. What they want is for the builder to be a responsible neighbor. We had a new highrise building go up next door to our Bangkok condo. The builder shielded the construction as much as possible and I believe cleaned the balconies of the condos on the construction side of the building once a month while construction was going on. And, washed the windows. I think they also paid for the pool to be cleaned daily, even though the condo was already maintaining the pool, and some other things. Perhaps Bangkok has stricter construction rules regarding neighboring properties.

Good and correct ruling by Judge Patel, who was following established law.

Ha. That's rich--'acted on instantly'. If justice were swift, Trump would be wearing prison orange.

None of Harris's proposed programs require voter registration. Nor are they limited to people in the 7 swing states. Yes, Musk is 'using his own money'--to buy the election.

Not 'random people'. Only registered voters in the 7 swing states. That's paying for voter registrations, as it's a requirement to enter the prize drawing. Illegal. Even worse, in Pennsylvania he is paying $100 if you sign his gun petition. Again, you have to be a registered voter to be paid the $100. So, he's paying unregistered voters in PA $100 so they will register to vote and then be eligible to sign his petition. Also illegal. But, as I said before, even if it wasn't illegal, it would still be despicable that he is blatantly trying to buy the election for Trump by buying enough voters in the swing states for Trump to carry them. Republicans are always spouting election integrity--while always actually being the ones stomping all over it

It's illegal to pay someone to register to vote. Musk is paying voters who register to vote in Pennsylvania $100 to sign his gun petition. By requiring voter registration to participate, he is paying for voters to get registered. Illegal. Does he care? Not likely. Like Trump, he has no respect for the law. He's trying to illegally buy the election, simple as that, by concentrating only on the swing states--everyone else doesn't matter. Imagine the outcry from Republicans if Taylor Swift did the same thing; announced that she would give free tickets to her Eras Tour, plus $100, to everyone in the 7 swing states who registers to vote and then signs her petition to keep abortion legal. Neither of these, even if they weren't illegal, would pass the smell test. They both stink to high heaven.

The majority of Chinese tourists to Thailand are independent travelers, not in tour groups.

The one calling Trump Hitler is none other than his VP candidate, Vance. Correctly, too.

The truth hurts.

Great to see this.