newnative

Disaster. She can't even dress herself properly.

I wouldn't rely on tabloid news for anything.

We bought a condo from a seller with a mortgage and it was about as simple as any other property we have bought, with the exception that a bank official was also at the land office and the mortgage was paid off by the seller first before we purchased the condo. The fact the property had a mortgage made no difference to our buying it.

Trump, who grows more deranged every day--and has the nerve to talk about Biden's mental state. By the way, I just 'invented' that new word deranged. Isn't it beautiful?

No to all of that. The public has a 'right' to know squat. Should a celebrity choose to reveal information--such as Jenna Bush announcing on national tv that she goes commando--that's entirely up to the celebrity to decide what, if anything, they share with the public.

'The people'--meaning the general population--and one individual dating another individual, are two entirely different things.

Good idea! I've just read a few of the responses so far but it looks like the usual clueless posters are out in force, including the responder right after your post. I know of at least one poster who comments regularly on all matters Pattaya, always proudly stating that he has never been to Pattaya and has no plans to ever visit. Hmm. Someone with deep knowledge to listen to. Not. As you stated, Pattaya is, indeed, a wealthy, booming city. Anybody who actually spends any real time in Pattaya and gets away from the small night time entertainment areas will know this to be true. You mentioned all the hotel and condo building activity--very impressive. Especially worth noting is the huge Centre Point 3 resort now going up in north Pattaya. Quite an investment, especially since the company already built the massive Grand Centre Point and Centre Point Space. Obviously, both are doing very well with families or #3 wouldn't be going up. Jomtien is chock-full of new condo projects, as are some other areas. Equally impressive, in my book, is the number of very high-end houses being built all over, with many of them hidden out of sight on the Darkside, well away from AN's clueless posters. Many are in the 20MB and up price range. One only needs to watch some of the Youtube Pattaya real estate channels to see what I am talking about. The Youtube channel Luxury Property Expert would be a good place to start. Or, perhaps, Pearl Property. Lots to choose from. Pattaya has something like 18 international schools--also impressive for a city supposedly not family-oriented. Next year, yet another one opens, Highgate. All those impressive new houses being built apparently are filling up with lots of school-age children. Perhaps time for a Pattaya re-evaluation.

The 'people' don't 'deserve' to know a single thing about a person's private life, be they famous or not.

Of course you're trying to be negative. Just look at your lousy list. Nobody I know falls into any of your 10 choices. How about #11--normal guy living a normal life doing much the same normal things he did in his home country--except with better year-round weather and a much nicer roof over his head. That pretty much describes most of the expats I know, and myself.

It was cheaper building it ourselves but, as others have said, you need to be hands-on, even when you have hired someone, as we did, to do the actual build and be in charge of the construction. You need to be on hand to check the work, catch mistakes, and make sure you are getting what you have planned for. The big plus, for us, was getting a house custom built for our wants, needs, and tastes. Many pre-built homes these days have lots of built-in furniture, including beds, bedside tables, tv cabinets, etc. The bedrooms can end up looking like dorm rooms and the other rooms rather cookie-cutter. Also, lots of real or fake granite and marble splashed on the walls, huge, gaudy chandeliers, and so on. Not our taste. We have lots of art, some of it quite large, and antique Asian furniture to fit in, so many of the pre-built houses with mostly built-in furniture just don't work for us, as we'd have to tear out a lot we didn't like or want, unless we got in early on a build.

Spouse and I are doing a Celebrity cruise in November--a reunion with my 4 sisters and a couple of cousins, with two of my sisters having November birthdays. We have never been on a cruise so we'll see how we like it but it should be fun as its been several years since we all got together. Cruise is from Barcelona and makes some stops in Spain, France, and Italy.

Still very cheap here compared to the US. Housing, usually the biggest monthly expense, remains the biggest bargain here. Spouse and I just bought a very nice 3 bedroom, 3 full bath house with 2 car garage and swimming pool in the Lake Mabprachan area of Pattaya. Total price for everything, including all furnishings, appliances, electronics, drapes, art, etc. : 4.6MB. About $140,000. That would buy you absolutely nothing in the town I lived in stateside, where the average housing price is now $699,000. Zillow tells me the small 1 bedroom condo I owned there with a dumpster/parking lot view is now around $325,000. Imagine what you could buy in Thailand for that amount--a lot more than a small 1 bedroom no-view condo. Rents, of course, are also a terrific bargain with lots of selection at all price points, at least in Pattaya.

And, in 15 days there will be another delay. Keep kicking that can down the road.

Loose change under her sofa cushions.

You're right, it's definitely a scam. My spouse and I found that out when we ordered a tv and got a small package of 2 cheap stickers, as I recounted in an earlier post. Lazada should definitely be doing more to block these 'sellers'.

I love to read and read every day--especially for about an hour before I go to sleep. Like mysteries, suspense novels, crime/police novels, and World War II novels. Currently finishing the Ripley series. Love anything by Sandford, Connelly, Child, Kellerman, Grisham, Archer, Follett, Reich, Nesbo, Deaver, Elizabeth George, and others. And, now I am off to read my hour before I sleep.

Doesn't he have anything better to do--like trying to pull up the plunge he put the country in before it crashes into the ground?

Shhh. We're trying to keep AE&EK a secret.

"...long discussed...". Got that right. Just endless talk, talk, talk. Followed by more talk, talk, talk.

If you're in Pattaya I would highly recommend Dr. Somchai at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital.

You can just move if you are an owner, too. Spouse and I have moved about a dozen times in Pattaya and once in Bangkok--from condos we owned.

Misleading headline. Not all motorbikes, just 'ride-hailing' ones. Still, great the city is making a start--Bangkok and other Thai cities should take note and do likewise.

Sticking with my original plan to keep my head down and do nothing until I am clearly forced to do something, such as provide a tax return in order to do my annual renewal.

That's not the way it worked with a recent return my spouse and I did.

A 1% drop is not an 'alarming plunge'.