newnative

I retired at age 53 after 30 years at a rather low-paying USA state job. Got a reduced state pension, which I supplemented by working another 5 years part-time before moving to Thailand with my Thai partner. Took Social Security as soon as I could, age 62. Absolutely no regrets with any of the decisions. In your shoes, I would work another 10 years and retire at 50, with a bigger retirement income--better to have more than enough than not enough. As others have mentioned, I think you need to do some thinking about how you plan to spend the next 40 years. Good luck.

'. . . when, coincidently, he will be pardoned and make a miraculous recovery.'

As a fromer CEO of Sansiri, you'd think the PM would not be thrilled, either.

Lock him up already already.

Totally agree. I would also add that there are a lot of well-off expats in Pattaya, as well, despite anecdotal evidence some posters seem to rely on by reading Asean Now regularly. Expanding a bit on my earlier post, I think the lower income expats in Pattaya tend to make the most noise on AN, perhaps leaving the false impression that those types are the only expats in Pattaya--or the vast majority. They post about this or that bar or go-go; the state of bar girls these days (apparently fatter); the price of this or that going up at the grocery store and how expensive it now is to live here; threatening to leave every other month due to this or that now impacting their life here; boasting about the bargains they secured on condo rentals, while often slapping down posters who seemingly did worse; complainng about this or that vs. their home country; debating the calibre of expats living at Nirun or Flybird; describing in detail the horrors of dual pricing they have experenced; cautioning repeatedly at the drop of a hat about all the awful pitfalls of buying a property here-even though the poster has usually not asked for their opinion on buying vs. renting; posting ad infinitum about always having a suitcase packed and standing by the front door. And so on and so on--just scratching the surface. Add to that, the large cadre of posters endlessly commenting, usually incorrectly, on absolutely everything relating to Pattaya, while having either never lived here at all or only briefly visted, often years ago--I call them The Can't Quit Pattaya Fan Club. Meanwhile, there are large numbers of expats who are financially comfortable living in Pattaya, likely posting less on rather trivial matters--but most of them will not be found living in the touristy areas which garner many of the posts. They're in Jomtien or Cosy Beach. Pratumnak or Wong Amat. Other points south and north, and many are living on the Darkside--which has some very nice estate projects, with more being built every day. Despite all the negative posts on AN regarding real estate, every expat my partner and I knows in Pattata owns the place they live in, including several who own more than 1 property. If you only read AN, anecdotal evidence would suggest that only a very tiny fraction of expats, variously classified on AN as fools, suckers, dimwits, stupid, dumb, insane, etc., would ever even entertain the terrible idea of buying property in Thailand. Which doesn't square with the facts but when has that ever stopped anyone in posting false information. Fun fact, usually overlooked: Many Pattaya expats have the means to pay cash for the properties they buy and don't use mortgages. An interesting trend I have noticed is the higher price points of some of the new Pattaya projects either recently completed or under construction--some new projects are definitely going upmarket, although there have always been a number of them over the years. Major developers are not stupid. Before a project is launched, they study the market carefully. Is there a market for homes starting at 15MB on the Darkside? How about a home for 60MB? If I bulld it, will I find a buyer? Down the road from my former house by Lake Mabprachan, a new house project has started. About a half-dozen homes, starting around 25 or 30MB. The trend is equally evident in condos. Several of the newest projects are, indeed, pricey. Arom, in Wong Amat, under construction, has 2 bedrooms, running about 81 sqm, for about 15MB. Arom, by the way, launched their new project, complete with a fancy sales office, during the very darkest days of covid. They have since started a new project in Jomtien, also pricey. Recently saw 46.5 sqm condos at Copacabana listed on Hipflat for 9MB. I guess the one I saw listed on FB Marketplace for 7.5MB was an absolute bargain. As my Dad used to say, too rich for my blood. But, Pattaya has a wide variety of well-heeled residents these days, with enough of them to support a number of luxury car dealers--and, pricier property projects. It's not the small, sleepy place it was years ago--although too many posters still seem to think of it that way. A deluded AN poster recently stated that prostitution contributed 100% of Pattaya's income. 100%! He and the equally deluded poster who claimed Pattaya is responsible for 90% of the crime in Thailand should do lunch.

I do hope it works and it is expanded nationwide. I remember my Thai mother-in-law having a hard time scheduling dialysis treatments back in 2019--I think all the slots were taken at her hospital on record. If I remember, the family had to hire an ambulance to take her to a private hospital for the treatments as, by then, she was bedridden.

I moved to Thailand in 2010 with my then partner, now spouse. At that time I owned a 1 bedroom condo with a mortgage in Virginia. Wasn't sure if Thailand would take so found a renter before we moved. Brother-in-law managed the condo for several years. After paying him and the mortgage, taxes, etc., there was a little money left over each month, but not a lot. Did this for several years but in 2012 the real estate market had recovered enough for me to make a profit on the sale so I sold it. In hindsight, I probably should have kept it as it has continued to increase in value but I didn't like managing it long-distance and did not like having to ask my brother-in-law to handle all the problems that came up, including finding new tenants, a water leak, etc.. We put the money, along with some other funds, towards buying and selling a series of condos in Pattaya and it ended up working out well. We don't have a problem with not owning any property in the US. Should my spouse and I ever return to the US--unlikely--we can buy or rent something. Likey rent something first while we sort out where we would want to be living. At this point that would be the biggest question--we have relatives scattered from California to Florida. We both lived in Virginia but would not want anywhere with a cold winter--we barely survived a visit to China a week ago.

I just had my brother-in-law in the US send me my new USA bank debit card, after several tries to send it by the bank to my address in Thailand--I have no idea why they never arrived but no attempts were made to use them. In previous years the cards arrived without a problem. Brother-in-law took the card and the information sheet out of the bank envelope and used a regular, plain hand-addressed envelope. Sent the letter registered mail with the post office--cost $21-- and it arrived after a few weeks. It could be tracked and it seemed to take the scenic route, though. Going from Virginia to San Francisco and then I believe to LA before finally flying to Thailand, aftr a wait in LA. My bank has been issuing cards that expire in a year and I asked them, since getting the card this time has been a long, frustrating process that started in March, if they couldn't give me a longer expiration date. They complied and my new card expires in 2026. I wonder if your sister could maybe also use DHL or FedEx and put the letter in one of their mailing packets that can be tracked.

Just classic CYA. Get someone else in place in advance to blame. Something bad happens, it's the bar's fault.

Bangkok has been bad today, too.

Stating that 51% of a condo project 'must be owned by Thai nationals' is incorrect. Also, there is no 'Thai quota". Thai nationals can own any percentage of a condo project. 49% of a condo project can be purchased by foreign buyers, under foreign quota. There is no Thailand law that I know of that sets a realtor's fee at 'legally 3%'. Commissions usually range from 3 to 5%. On condo sales, which my partner and I have done a number of, we've always initially set 5% as the realtor's fee. In a few cases, to make a deal work, a realtor has taken less than 5% but we always use that as a starting point to be taken seriously. You can certainly say you will only pay 3%, and that can work in some cases with higher-priced properties and unique properties. It's less successful if you're trying to sell a condo where there are lots of other similar condos for sale in the same project. I remember, years ago, having a VT5D 48 sqm studio condo on the market for sale. A realtor, with an office in the building, brought us a buyer. When we were negotiating the sale, we asked the agent if he could come down on the 5% commission. Answer: No. Agent's reason: There are lots of same-size condos for sale in the building. (True, by the way, with this large project.) Count yourself lucky that I brought the buyer to your condo and not to any of the other studio condos for sale. Which makes sense when you think about it. The buyer is likely to just buy 1 property. So, show him those with 5% commission and earn more on the sale than a listing paying only 3%. From the OP's post, it seems she is looking for a quick sale, if possible. If that is the case, in her shoes I would be definitely offering 5% commission, plus perhaps an agent's bonus on top of that, to get her property on the front burner, standing out from the rest, if I was listing the condo with realtors.

I would not rely on an AN forum survey to 'confirm' anything whatsoever. With many threads, you see the same two or three dozen forum members commenting, with a few others thrown in. With such a small number contributing regularly, you can and do get an unfair take on things. A good example is real estate, which is almost completely negative on the forum regarding buying vs. renting. I, and a few others, sometimes try to show the positive side to owning in Thailand but our posts are usually met with derision. I remember some years ago posting that my partner and I had never lost any money selling properties in Thailand. The comments were scathing, with some accusing me of lying. Who needs that? I do still comment because I think it's important to see more than just one, negative side all the time when the topic comes up. Recently, I had to pipe up when a member posted that condo projects all go falling down at 5 years. People with a negative experience with something, such as real estate, are far more likely to post on a topic but that can, and does, leave a false impression of a topic. Another good example is Pattaya, itself. The comments, again often from a relatively small number of regular posters, are far more negative than positive on the forum, which can also leave a false impression. Not long ago, we had a forum member post that Pattaya was responsible for 90% of the crime in Thailand. When I called him on it and asked him to provide statistics, he responded that this was his impression, having been reading Asean Now. I don't know what the average income is for expats in Thailand, but I do know an Asean Now survey likely won't know the correct answer, either.

Yes, of course, the bars closed. Some touristy areas were largely deserted during the worst parts of the pandemic. The city as a whole, though, did not 'all basically shut down'--that's the 'nonsense comment'.

Huh?

Me

Realtor fees can vary, with the standard being 5%. There is a website called Hipflat that lists condo projects by name, with listings of condos for sale. I woud check this website, with your condo project's name, to give you some idea of what similar-size condos in your project are being listed for sale for. You will also see the realtors associated with each listing. Rather than walking away with nothing, I would price your condo very agressively and see if a buyer can be found. I would see if your lawyer here in Thailand is willing to to take on handling the sale, with a percentage of the sale price going to him and any realtors involved with the sale. Another option might be checking with one of the big, established realtors here to see if they would be interested in handling the sale for you.

I don't think this is actually the case. As the year goes on, and they have more information on tourist numbers, the forecasts are naturally adjusted--sometimes up, sometimes down. It's a moving target, and always will be as the year progresses.

I think many countries attracting tourists would, naturally, draw their largest numbers of vsitors from regional nations. France, for example, the number 1 tourist destination. The top 7 slots for visitors by country to France in 2018 were nearby nations, GB, Germany, Belgium, Italy, etc. You have to go down to #8 before you hit a longer-distance country, the USA. The top 2 countries sending visitors to the USA are Canada and Mexico. I didn't bother to check but I suspect other European countries, such as Italy or Germany, would look fairly similar to France. So, it's not an anomaly that Thailand is now attracting more regional visitors than long-distance visitors. It's just taken awhile for citizens of regional countries to finally have the money to travel internationally--and, many have been taking their first trips regionally. From 2015 to 2019, western visitors to Thailand did not decrease, although that is the impression a number of AN posters have. That impression likely stems from the numbers increasing signigficantly during that period from regional countries, especially China and India, with western visitors getting somewhat lost in the much bigger crowds of Asians.

Scam. You did the ight thing.

In my opinion, everyone in the world, not just USA citizens, should be 'fearful of the bad orange man'. If, god forbid, he is elected, he will have 4 years to wreak havoc, with no re-election restraints to rein in his worst actions. Scary.

Well, it used to be, according to a poster on the Forum, that Thai buildings would go crashing to the ground at 30 years of age. Then, another poster said, no, wrong, they only last 20 years. Now, here you are, giving just 5 years before they will be, in you words, 'falling down'. Utter rubbish, from all three of you. Spouse and I have lived in condo projects over 30 years old, nearly 20 years old, and the rest all over 5 years old by now and they are all doing fine.

Lock him up already.

Sad

Yes, one of the reasons we like Pattaya is its easy drive to Bangkok and the airport vs. Hua Hin--we have a Bangkok condo and visit about once a month, and we like to travel using the airport. We started in Pratumnak in 2010 but found there were other areas of Pattaya that we liked better and were more convenient for us--another one of the nice thngs about Pattaya is its variety of different neighborhoods to choose from.

Yes. It happened to my Dad years ago. He was driving in the evening and a man jumped in front of his car. My Dad was an excellent driver but he could not stop in time. The police found a suicide note on the man who died and apparently he was known to have mental issues. Although my Dad was not at fault he said that what happened affected him for a long time.