newnative

Almost all condo projects have both large and small units, especially newer ones, which can have very small units. This is not unique to Pattaya, it's the norm these days. Lumpini Park Beach, for example, runs from 28 sqm 1 bedroom units to 3 bedroom units at 153 sqm.

One of the terrific things about Greater Pattaya is the wide variety of neighborhoods--and my spouse and I have tried a lot of them--from south Jomtien to Wongamat. If Jomtien's gotten too busy for you, you might try a quieter area, such as Wongamat or the Darkside, where we have ended up. From our house near Lake Mabprachan we can jump on the Motorway and be on Sukhumvit in about 10 minutes--with no traffic lights until we get to the Sukhumvit light. From there, it's a quick,easy drive to Index, Lotus's, Home Pro, T21, the hospital, etc.

Let's return to this in May and you can show me some 'middle of the road' condos for 20,000 baht a sqm. And, no, Nirun, Fly Bird, et al don't qualify. Middle of the road condos would be projects like Atlantis, The Winner, Pattaya Condotel, Acqua, The Pride, Amazon, Trio Gems, Porch Land, The Ivy, Park Lane, Thip, and all The View Talays, both condos and residences.

There is no View Talay 4 highrise condo. There is a View Talay 4 Residence low rise. VT1 and 2 may be around 40,000 baht a sqm but VT 3 and 5 are higher--averaging around 52,000 baht a sqm. That's average--prices vary, with view and condo size often being key. Larger units, and higher floors with the best seaviews, can run around 80,000 baht a sqm. For example, VT3 has a 2 bedroom on the top floor--20--with a sqm of around 88,000 baht. I agree with you that 25,000 baht a sqm will be found with much less desirable, non-seaview projects.

Your application for the Just Can't Quit Pattaya Fan Club is winging it's way to you. Watch for it, and good luck being accepted! Hopefully, you will be deemed worthy. It is a select group, however, those many unfortunates who don't live in Pattaya, or apparently have any recent connection to Pattaya, but feel the pressing, overwhelming need to take the time out of their busy lives to read all about Pattaya, even a mundane thread like this, and then take even more time out of their busy lives to comment about this place they don't live in, and apparently don't want to live in, or even visit, but still feel that aching, burning need to make everyone aware, in no uncertain terms, that they are quite happy not being in Pattaya, thank you very much. Quite happy. . . really! I mean it. Really. So happy here, you wouldn't believe it. I could certainly stop reading and commenting about Pattaya if I wanted to. Noted. In any case, fingers crossed!

Yes, they did have 'signs advertising the fact'. Subtle signs, of course, but signs nevertheless that other Bangkokians, such as my spouse, can readily see. It's a number of different signs, from the yuppie vibe to the fit, polished look to the expensive but casual dress they like for their Pattaya excursions to the way they enter a room to the superior, city attitude they project, perhaps without even consciously knowing they are doing it. A bit like a native New Yorker recognizing another New Yorker in a West Virginia diner. Add to that, where they choose to see and be seen. Nitan is absolutely perfect for that--big, interesting, crowded with the right people, and full of lots of good spots to take selfies for their social media. We were there because my two youngish Bangkok nieces, visiting us with my Bangkok sister-in-law and brother-in-law, told us about the place and wanted to check it out this visit. We live in Pattaya and had not yet heard of Nitan; they live in Bangkok and knew about it. We would have gladly skipped it on a chaotic, super busy holiday weekend--hard to miss all those BKK license plates while we searched high and low for a parking place--but we aim to please. Our two yuppie Bangkok nieces fit right in--and loved it.

Boo hoo

Good post--and you are so right. There's always something new in greater Pattaya. How about maybe the biggest coffee/dessert/pastry cafe I've ever been in--huge, with two floors. The photo shows just a part of it. Spouse and I came across it yesterday. Nitan coffee shop. There were some farangs but it was mostly Thais, with what looked like, to my Thai spouse, a lot from Bangkok. The two desserts we tried were delicious.

As I said in an earlier post, one of the joys of living at Northshore was the ease of seeing events like the International Fireworks Festival and New Year's Eve--plus other events that took place on the beach. We would ride the elevator down to the 6th floor and watch the fireworks from lounge chairs at the pool. No hassles with crowds or finding a parking space. If we wanted to get into the thick of it, with concerts, food festivals, etc., the beach was just across the street. I can't speak for the south side of the building but we were on the north side and it wasn't noisy. Songkran and other events weren't noisy, either, when we lived at Northshore and Centric Sea. Obviously, if you choose to live at Northshore, Markland, Centric Sea, The Base, etc., you want to be in a livlier, more urban area than, say, the beachfront condos at Wong Amat. We liked being just a block from a big hospital and only a couple blocks to Big C, Marina, and T21. It all comes down to what suits your lifestyle. While we liked Northshore, we decided to try living in a pool villa on the Darkside, which cost us less than our Northshore condo. We wanted more space for ourselves and to also be able to have relatives come and visit--some are visiting now for New Year's. Love where we are now near Lake Mabprachan and we can still be on Sukhumvit in about 15 minutes.

Nonsense. It's not a 'one size fits all' deal --there are all sorts of reasons why people choose places to live.

Go get him, Thai RD.

Buh bye bye

It's only rocked AN to its core--5 pages worth.

See kinyara's post.

Spouse and I used to love living at Northshore when events like this and the International Fireworks Festival rolled around. No parking/crowd hassles and we'd ride the elevator down to the 6th floor and watch the fireworks from the pool lounge chairs.

This is incorrect information--which you keep posting for a dozen good reasons, which you also always fail to mention. Arabs are actualy the biggest spenders, at around 80,000 baht each. USA/Europe is around 69,000-71,000 baht each. Chinese, around 49,000 baht each. Between 2015 and 2019, American tourists actually increased by around 34%, despite the long distance and the Prayuth administration. That year, Chinese tourists were almost 11 million, spending their 49,000 baht each. Americans were about 1.6 million, spending their roughly 71,000 baht. Both the Western and Asian markets are important for a diverse tourist demgraphic.

No doubt about it, the flights are long, especially in Economy, which is where my spouse and I always are. From the USA, we've done Dulles Tokyo Bangkok, several times, Dulles Qatar Bangkok, and Dulles Frankfort Bangkok. We liked the eastern route better. Going by way of Frankfort or Qatar broke the flights up a little better, we thought, than the western route but Frankfort airport was lousy, difficult to negotiate, and involved a very unpleasant bus ride between terminals. Going to the US, we've done BKK Tokyo Dulles several times and BKK Seoul Dulles. The Seoul flight was better--we got off from Bangkok and the flight to the US was the next gate over--hardly any walking at all. Next time we might try going the other direction with BKK Middle East Dulles. I think there are starting to be some flight deals. Two of my spouse's nieces are flying to LA next month. They found a round-trip deal for 32,000 baht each with Japan Airlines. It does involve a 12-hour layover in Osaka but they plan to go into the city and do some shopping. They like that JAL has 2-4-2 seating in Economy with their flights, so a little more room.

Matters not a bit to me. That's a fact. I don't care if an agent takes 5 minutes to find me a buyer, 5 hours, 5 days, or 5 months. I don't care if he finds me a buyer on the golf course or drinking a beer at a bar. Does. Not. Matter. As I said in my earlier post, what matters, for us, is getting a property sold. In our experience, which may be different from yours, that has mostly involved an agent, whether lazy or not, finding a buyer, although we also try to find one ourselves. Forgot to mention I have a slighly used clown suit if anybody needs one for marketing.

Makes sense--especially for the US. From 2015 to 2019, US visitors to Thailand were up 34%. So, numbers were increasing, pre-covid. Even with that increase, US visitors in 2019 were not much more than the visitors from the UK--just 1.6 million. With a population of 330 million, vs. UK's 67 million, that US tourist number can and should be higher.

I'm glad you were able to sell your house by word of mouth--so great when you can do that. We certainly try our best to sell every property ourselves each and every time but, with some exceptions, it's mostly been agents that have found us our buyers. That's the fact, plain and simple. If what had worked, instead, was me standing in the median on Sukhumvit in a clown suit with a sign board advertising our property, I would be passing that along as what worked. But, it wasn't that. What has worked for us during our 13 years here, with our multiple sales, has been listing with as many agencies as we possibly can, using email and sending good photos and a good description. That can be 30 or more agencies, not just 4 or 5--which is too limiting. What an agent does, or doesn't do, in finding a buyer is of no concern for us. Sooner or later, an agent shows up with a buyer and we get a property sold. Our experience. I've read the posts from you and others indicating agents are lazy, not worth the commission, etc. Some may well be, but not all, at least in our experience with our 13 years here using them. Bottom line--they find buyers for our properties, which allows us to move on to our next project. That is what counts for us. While using agencies has worked well for us, other strategies can certainly be used. If something else works, by all means use it.

And it doesn't explain Phuket and Pattaya at #14 and 15.

Surprising to see Pattaya at #15.

Thank you!

Nice hard face slap to Prayut.

What a useless article. These tiny 'airlines', if they even get off the ground, will likely have virtually no impact on airfares.