newnative

Quite normal--and not just in Bangkok.

With regard to the sqm issue, the realtor may have assumed you were aware of how condos are measured here. Thailand does not have an MLS system--multiple listing service. It's perfectly normal for a property to still be advertised for sale and yet actually be sold--by another agent in another agency. There is no way for an agent to go on to a centralized MLS-type system and get up-to-date information on a property's status--still for sale, under contract, or sold. Several years ago we sold a condo in Northshore. We had it listed with a lot of agencies. I think it is still advertised on Hipflat with a few obscure agents, even though I notified most that it had sold. If you see it on Hipflat and ask about looking at it with your agent--or even the agency with the listing on Hipflat, the first thing they will do is check if it is still for sale, or did it sell with another agency. If it is sold, I see nothing wrong with an agent asking if there is anything else they can show you. We still get calls for some of our condos that have sold years ago--that's an agent doing their job and checking first that a property is still for sale before taking you around to see it, only to discover it has been sold. You have a legitimate point with an agent connecting the right properties with the right buyers. Several times we have had buyers view our properties when clearly our property was not suitable--for reasons such as too small or too big, priced way over buyer's budget, etc. These cases were mostly with what I would call non-legitimate agents, and, in some cases, not really very serious ones. We try to work with legitimate agents from established offices--and those are the ones who have mostly sold our properties, but we are gracious and welcoming to any agent who brings a client, even if it sometimes turns out to not be a fit. You never know . . . A good agent, from a legitimate, established office, should do a detailed interview with the buyer before showing properties--no good agent wants to be wasting their time showing you something not suitable. It's also up to the buyer to be as specific as possible as to what they are looking for and give a maximum budget--there should be a good two-way communication going on between the buyer and the agent before the first property is viewed. It can be helpful to view photos of properties before you set out. If you like the 'great room' concept and the house the agent wants to show you has the kitchen hidden away, you might say strike this one and find me something where the kitchen is visible from the lving/dining areas. If you like a big kitchen island, say so. Ditto for a bathtub or two car garage. If you do not want a condo facing west under any circumstances, say so. Ditto if all ground floor units are out. The more information, the better. And, if an agent or agency isn't meeting your needs, for whatever reason, look elsewhere.

I should add that the OP is incorrect about both the age of The Base and its original average price per sqm. As I mentioned, my partner and I were original owners of a top floor seaview 1 bedroom unit, 35 sqm. We paid 3MB for the unit. That works out to about 86,000 baht a sqm., not 150,000 baht. We sold for about 122,000 baht a sqm. and Hipflat has the current average price per sqm at around 120,000 baht a sqm.

Lots of Pattaya condos are over 100,000 baht a sqm., especially new and high-rise. The Edge, next door to The Base, at one point was priced at around 180,000 baht a sqm. during the pre-construction period. Hipflat still has it at 178,888 baht per sqm. We actually were one of the first owners of a 1 bedroom condo at The Base and rented it out for a year. But, we could see the Airbnb problems arising and sold it after the first year of owning it. I think the OP's experience is not typical for most condos that have avoiding becoming Airbnb hotels. We have owned at a number of different projects and most were being maintained fairly well. I think some of the new projects, that have been really slammed with Airbnb tenants and, really, have been used essentially as hotels, without the much higher maintenance a hotel requires, have started to show some of the effects.

Thanks for the info!

My spouse and I are visiting the Kyoto area and the weather here has been spectacular, as well. We were afraid it would be cold this time of the year but the temperatures have been in the 60s Fahrenheit with sun and blue skies, cooler in the mornings and evenings. The autumn leaves are at their peak--beautiful drive through the mountains today. The Silver Pavilion in Kyoto is a must-visit if anybody gets to Kyoto. Wonder places to visit in this area, including an ancient village. I love Japanese architecture and gardens--it's been a terrific visit so far. And, not a too-long plane ride--Osaka was just around 6 hours from Bangkok.

I think it's a no-win situation with super stars. If they don't do it, they get horrid comments on how awful they look. If they do have plastic surgery, they also get horrid comments on how awful they look. Take your pick. Jane Fonda is a good example of someone who I think did it right--and, apparently had a terrific plastic surgeon. But, she has also kept herself extremely fit, so the plastic surgery went hand in hand--and she just ended up continuing to look terrific as she aged, and still does. I remember watching one episode of the tv show she did with Lily Tomlin and, in one scene, Fonda casually lifts her leg with no effort and rests it up on the kitchen counter--probably late 70s at the time. I thought to myself, I doubt I could do that--and if I tried I'd probably land on my ass.

And, if you actually did get bored in Thailand, which I find unlikely, why are you still spending time on a Thai chat forum?

My spouse and I had a lovely dinner cruise a year or so ago. Can't remember the name of the cruise company but it departed from Asiatique.

I have no idea what the calculated size of the condo you were considering has to do with your topic 'thai realtors never fail to amaze me'. My partner and I, over the years, bought 5 or 6 View Talay project studio condos in Pattaya. All were 48 sqm, which included the very sizable balconies. The size had nothing to do with any of the realtors in Pattaya, none was responsible for coming up with the size of the condos. A couple weeks ago we sold our 23rd property in Thailand since our arrival in 2010, a house on the Darkside in Pattaya. I should amend that to say a realtor sold our 23rd property in Thailand. Some of the 23 we sold ourselves but most were sold by a realtor working hard finding and bringing a buyer to see our property for sale--and, of course, there was other work before and after that. It never fails to amaze me how hard all the legitimate realtors we deal with work. I have stated many times, and will here again, that I am far too lazy to ever be a realtor--but very grateful for the service they provide.

Well, he was just named on Time Magazine's 2023 '100 List' in the 'Leaders' category. Nice honor.

Don't forget that a large number of them will be inheriting a big chunk of change from their parents, who also inherited, or will inherit, a big chunk of change from their parents. Famiies used to be large--my 5 siblings and I split our family trust 6 ways. Now, there's usually just a couple of kids to split the inheritance. A lot of wealth was created by the 'greatest generation', which tended to be thrifty, at least my parents were even when they no longer needed to be, and the baby boomers have been no slouches, either. I know all my nieces and nephews--I'm not sure what generation category they fall under--will be inheriting nice sums at some point from their baby boomer parents, none of whom was lazy. Their kids, I guess, would be Gen Z, and all that wealth will eventually go to them. So some, I guess, can afford to be a little lazy and maybe not take work quite as seriously as previous generations did.

Should be scrapped altogether or massively scaled down to just the neediest.

I've lost count on the number of times this has been proposed, studied, debated, committees formed, etc., etc. Now, yet another committee, this one with an unwieldy 60 members. Likely all yakking into the next century.

I'm in sort of the same boat as the OP. I'm 71, spouse is late 50s. He, fortunately, is educated and intelligent and will not squander any money away. He might qualify for some SS benefits when he reaches 62--I am a USA citizen and we were legally married in the US. That is sort of a murky area for me at this point as I don't know if we would have to live in the USA for 5 years for him to qualify for anything or if that is waived for survivor SS benefits--and the rules may be different when he reaches 62. He currently works and earns income on his own but I want him to be comfortable after I pass away. Our current strategy consists of USA stocks, most providing dividends, Thailand property--Pattaya house and Bangkok condo, and some cash in both countries. We maintain a joint USA bank account and some Thai bank accounts. Right now I feel we have more money in cash than we need, earning very low interest in both our USA and Thai bank accounts. More of the money is here in Thailand but we have not found anything like bonds, cds, etc. here that would be safe but still earn around 4 or 5% interest. We can afford to have the money tied up for several years or more. If anyone has stumbled upon any new investments here along those lines we would appreciate the heads up.

Well, we know who wears the pants in that political 'family'.

Good

I have no idea--and why in the World ask me. The point I was making was they are making the trek to Pattaya with staff, making all the effort to find and secure the meeting space, set up the space for the services, seating, appointments, etc., and all for just 2.5 hours of 'outreach'. Seems totally ridiculous to me--at the very least it should have been an all-day affair, or why even bother.

That's the fun of it! But, I also order on-line.

My spouse and I are going to Japan for a week, we leave on Tuesday. I lived in Japan as a child in the early 60s for a couple of years but my last visit was a quick stop-over in Tokyo for a couple of days with my spouse on our way back from the US in 2016. We found the Japanese to be very friendly and everyone we ran into could not have been nicer or more helpful--starting with assisting on helping us find our hotel the first day. The next morning we were also trying to locate a particular tourist site and a very nice Japanese gentleman, clearly on his way to work, insisted on not just telling us where to go but walking with us part of the way to make sure we did not get lost. So nice of him to do that, even though it was not in the direction he was originally going. This visit, we hope to not be such dunces. During our 2016 visit, we went out for dinner and looked around for a restaurant, and found one that looked like it was popular with the locals. Went in, found a table, and patiently waited for the wait staff to come over and take our order. And, waited. Finally, someone took pity on us and explained that we needed to place our order at an automated restaurant screen outside that we hadn't noticed on our way in. Smiles all around. Well, in our defense, we are spoiled brats, living in Thailand with practically everything done for us. Wonder what will be new for us this trip--both looking forward to it.

9AM till 11:30AM. Skimpy hours, skimpy numbers served. Don't work too hard, fellas, that's 2 1/2 hours of work. Pace yourselves, and take plenty of breaks. Keep hydrated with this long, hard work.

Actually, if you selectively shop, IKEA can be a good resource for a number of items for the home, especially here in Thailand. My partner and I are furnishing our new home and we just bought sisal area rugs from IKEA. IKEA has a wide selection of carpets and rugs, which we have sometimes had trouble finding in the styles and sizes we want. We like the sisal rug IKEA carries called Lohals, which comes in at least 3 sizes. We've used them in a number of projects as they are a nice neutral and add texture to a space. The biggest size, 200 x 300 cm, works well to anchor a living or dining room space. We used two other matching Lohals, in a smaller size, for the hallway area. They look great, are durable, and reasonably priced. And, IKEA will deliver to your door--in our case, Pattaya. IKEA can also be a good resource for large, upholstered ottomans, as they have a number of styles that come in a variety of fabrics. We've used big, rectangle ones several times as combination coffee table/foot rests. Put a big, decorative tray on one and you can set drinks on it like a regular coffee table. The ones we bought also had built-in storage, always useful. Big ottomans like this are also hard to find here in Thailand--a lot of the stores just carry the smaller footstools. IKEA also has a good selection of housewares, picture frames, decorative items, outdoor furniture, storage items, and lighting. Today we got a delivery of two Japanese-style paper floor lamps. I liked the look, the shades are handmade, and, again, an item we haven't seen much of here when we shop around. A lot of style for the money. I think we've outgrown the putting-together-furniture stage of our lives, but IKEA is always still a fun visit for us. We'll look forward to visiting the new city branch when it opens.

Well, I got an unpleasant surprise at my last medical checkup. As part of the checkup, I could choose 1 of 2 optional tests. Since I have elevated cholesterol, I chose to have a CAC test done. CAC stands for Coronary Artery Calcium scan. In dozens of annual physicals, here and in the US, this test was never done as part of my annual physicals, even though, as I said, I have elevated cholesterol and have been taking a daily statin for years. My CAC test came back with a score of 433, extremely bad. Anything over 400 apparently indicates high levels of plaque on the arteries, and serious risk of a heart attack. Had I not had this test, I would have had no idea that I have this problem. My blood pressure is normal, stress test was ok, EKG, ok, etc. The doctor doubled my daily statin dosage and put me on a baby aspirin a day, also. Had a second test several months later, result,432. They also did a test that showed where the plaque buildup was on my arteries but it didn't give a blockage percentage. All this was done at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. I plan to wait a few more months and get a second take on things from either Bumrungrad Hospital or Bangkok Heart Hospital. My big question is whether I should have stents or not. The Pattaya doctor seemed to think not at this point but I want to see what a Bangkok doctor will advise and weigh the two. Stents seem to be recommended if the blockage is 70% or more, but some recent research also seemed to indicate that stent surgery was perhaps being done in too many marginal cases, because it is apparently a money-maker. We'll see what happens. All this is to illustrate that checkups can be a good thing, and can be helpful in pointing out areas of concern. In my case, my medication was changed, which, hopefully, will be somewhat helpful, but I do wonder why I wasn't given this test years ago, when my elevated cholesterol was first diagnosed, or at least when I entered my 60s, to check the plaque buildup at that time. Had it been done with each annual physical, I could at least see the progression of the problem, and an earlier change in medication may have been of benefit.

No, it went through just as it always has. Fingers crossed that will continue.

Should not cost more than 10,000 baht and that fee should include the Will being in both Thai and English.