newnative

You're no longer 'clueless'. We've clued you in. Renting condos for less than a month is illegal in Thailand. You're breaking the law. Condo owners living in their condo residences don't want you--as you can see by all the responses you have gotten. So, stay legal and book at a hotel.

Condo rentals of less than 30 days are illegal in Thailand. For good reason. Stay legal at a hotel, instead. Have some respect for owners living in their condos as their residence. They don't want a parade of daily renters moving in and out all the time and often showing no respect or knowledge of condo rules and often demanding hotel services from condo staff, which is not their job.

Yes, it's a big problem for some condo projects, especially many of the newer ones. It drove us out of 2 different new condo projects where we lived. The last condo we owned was in an older project with fewer but much larger units than typically found in the new projects. The illegal daily renters were not much of a problem. Some projects are making efforts. I recently heard that one of the big, newer projects in Pattaya--over-run with daily renters using it as a hotel--was switching to facial recognition for entry into the condo. Done properly, something like that might help stem the problem.

OP, if you have read the responses you'll see there is a wide variety of opinion regarding locations to live in Pattaya--there's a lot of choice in housing types, pricing, and neighborhoods. Your lifestyle will help determine what area might be best for you. Some like to be right where the action is, others prefer quieter areas. So nice there is so much choice here. It's all up to you. In the 12 years my partner and I have lived here, we have hopscotched about all over Pattaya--from South Jomtien to Central Jomtien to Pratamnuk, to South Pattaya to North Pattaya and to Wong Amat. We are now in a pool villa on the Darkside and liking it here. Beachside, I think we liked Wong Amat best for its location not far from Terminal 21, Big C Marina, Central Festival, restaurants, movie theaters, Index, Home Pro, and hospitals. North Pattaya was getting a little too busy and congested for us but it's also a nice area. Hipflat is a good source to search and it allows you to search specific areas, such as Central Pattaya. The project listings give you some information about the condo project, usually with photos. Click on 'Condo Projects', then 'Pattaya'. A list of 'districts' comes up and you can start your search from there. Good luck and welcome to Pattaya.

And condo stays of less than 30 days are illegal in Thailand, as they should be.

Yes, ban him from holding any office in the future. And, jail time would be nice.

And, judging by how busy Pattaya has been it's likely many are finding their way here.

Doesn't look like he's on his death bed to me. On the contrary, looks like he's ready for his next murder.

Get cracking, America!

Totally agree. And, we're only at around 11 million international visitors. What's it going to be like when we get back to 20 million, or 40 million?

Works for me if he's gagged and kept in a straight jacket the whole time.

Yes, and that's not enough in my book for killing so many. He should have died in prison without one day of freedom after ending so many young lives.

Nuttier every day. Maybe he doesn't need the Big House but the Nut House, instead.

My thoughts exactly. Makes absolutely no sense to allow some NYE events and not others and very irresponsible to cancel so close to the event with many people having planned trips to Pattaya and booked hotel rooms.

Where were the actual trained rescue military in all this? Seems the rescue effort by trained rescue military was too little, too late.

And, rightly 'slammed' as the whole sorry mess was a total cock-up--from going out to sea in an un-seaworthy ship, to not managing the ship crisis when it happened, to not notifying rescue vessels soon enough of the crisis, to not getting the sailors off the ship even though there was ample time, to not having enough life jackets, and likely enough life rafts for everyone (but styrofoam boxes on hand, thank goodness), to a very poor and slow effort to rescue the sailors by the other armed services. Army chiming in days later that it was putting itself on 'stand-by' to assist in the rescue. Don't bother; the chance to save the sailors was days ago. Total train wreck, or, I guess I should say ship wreck.

Actually, I think it's hit or miss with the airlines. My partner and I just took 4 international flights this month on our trip to Europe, all with the same airline, Emirates. On 3 of the flights, masks were not mentioned or required. On the 4th flight, masks were handed out to the passengers as we boarded and we were asked to wear them at all times when we were not eating. There were periodic reminders during the flight. In our section it looked like most passengers were complying.

If you want to ride a public transport, you have to obey the transport's rules. It's really as simple as that. If you don't want to wear a mask, hire a private car with a driver who is ok with you not wearing a mask.

Since he likely killed 20 people I think he qualifies. He was only convicted for 2. He should have been tried for at least some of the other murders.

Appalling this horrible monster is being let out of prison after killing many more than just the 2 people he was convicted of killing. Also appalling that a 'life sentence' is only 19 years in Nepal. If that's the case, the judge should have rulds that the sentences be served consecutively.

I'd love to see a list of those 100 4 and 5-star hotels in Jomtien. When I searched Jomtien Beach for a booking in February, 200 choices came up. But, most were not hotels, at all. They were condo projects and pool villas. A number of the many condo projects, like Rivera Jomtien condo, were listed numerous times under different rental agencies. Riviera Jomtien condo had at least 6 different listings. One listing I saw, The Base condo, isn't even in Jomtien. When you knock all of those out, there are far fewer actual hotel listings. I think your list of 4 and 5-star Jomtien Beach hotels will not be too long, and certainly not 'over 100'.

So, many days later the Army decides to go 'on standby' to perhaps, maybe, at some point, possibly offer some assistance in the rescue operations. Umm, don't bother. Would have been nice if the Army had leaped to assist when the ship first sank, when more sailors might have been rescued. All in all, a very lackadaisical response from all the military branches.

December 20 and they are only now holding a planning meeting for crowd and traffic control? There should have been several months of detailed, advance planning, especially after all the problems with the International Fireworks shows.

Actually, if you live to 69 you're likely to live 15 more years, not 10. And, if you take care of yourself, it could be more than 15; my Dad lived to 95. As for no 80-year olds, there's a whole thread running here, If You're Near 80 or Older, which has been popular, with 10 pages of responses. As for the OP, Thailand checks all the important boxes for me. As others have said, I think he can find health insurance. He might try Pacific Cross or April International. He can reduce his premium somewhat by having a high deductible.

It will be interesting to see what is built on that newly cleared lot. You're right, it's huge.