newnative

Not really--I have other things that occupy my time. This year, for example, my spouse and I have been building a new house--which has kept us busy since February. I certainly use Pattaya's malls, probably once or twice a week, and I'm happy we have several very nice ones that are easy to get to from my home on the Darkside. I use them to do my banking and other services, use them for a lot of my shopping--everything from shoes, to clothes, to sports things, to electronics, to sometimes groceries, etc. I go to the mall to see a movie and sometimes eat at one of the restaurants. Did pretty much the same at the malls in the US when I lived there. Normal life

Maybe plan a visit of more than a day, venture beyond the tiny area you experienced in your 1 day here, and discover for yourself the things Pattaya has to offer.

I don't recognize the photos, either--especially the one with all the trees in the sand. I think Pattaya gets a bad rap regarding how clean the beach is. I certainly never saw the beach looking like any of the posted photos. I used to live at Northshore and every morning I could see them out cleaning the beach. I imagine they are still doing it.

Yes, too funny. And, I couldn't agree more regarding Walking Street.

Here you don't go. Walking Street is just a tiny part of Pattaya, which is now a big, spread-out city, with many other areas, which, it is clear, you have never visited.

Sort of ridiculous to make a judgment of a big city based on one day's visit. Wonder what you managed to cover in a day.

I think you'd like living on the Darkside in Pattaya. My spouse and I have been in Pattaya about 13 years, with the last 2 moving from various beach areas to the Darkside. Lots of nice housing estates to choose from, with more being built every day. We are near Lake Mabprachan, a popular, growing area, and it's a very easy drive into town on the Motorway. We can be at places like Terminal 21, Index, Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, etc. in 15 minutes. And, as you say, Bangkok less than 2 hours away.

Buh bye bye

Totally agree.

Also, Northshore is just a short walk to T21.

He's not planning to be living where you live, JT. And, no, the whole area is not a 'Cheap Charlie'. You seem to have still not gotten out of the small area you stay at--which has warped your thinking. Have you ventured to the Darkside yet? He's planning to live at Siam Royal View, a very nice housing project. Some of the homes go for 30 to 60plus million baht. If he chooses to stay in town, there are lots of nice condos in Wong Amat and some other areas where he could rent a nice condo rather than a house. If he wants to be right on the beach in north Pattaya, there's Northshore condo. Jomtien also has some choices, too. That's the great thing about Pattaya, it's many neighborhoods with lots of housing choices, in all price points. Go out and do some exploring sometime. Pattaya has grown into a big city now.

"The ten cheapest retirement cities . . ."

Yaa! Glad they threw the lying bum out.

Very bad idea. It's already way too long.

Yes, great to see the shift in how Pattaya is viewed. It's always topped my list of places to live in Thailand.

To bed around midnight, up around 6:30 to 7am.

We are all paying.

Festive fun. Some years we've skipped having a tree up when we've had a property on the market for sale. This year, we're in our new house so we've put the tree up and decorated it, along with some other holiday decorations, plus put some lights on one of our small patio trees. With a bigger living room and higher ceilings, we got a new, taller tree at Index, which had a nice selection.

Not a moment too soon, of course, but likely just this week's lip service.

I've made this comment with low-income types but I suppose it could apply to high-income types, as well. So, once again, if your income is only _________baht a month (fill in the blank, in your case, 186,000), you can live better here on that income than many places in the West. Welcome, and have fun.

It really just comes down to whatever floats your boat. Renting works for you, owning works for me.

No reason you can't do both--have offshore investments and also save rent on a place you own in Thailand if you plan to be here long term. Also, no reason you can't sell and move when you feel like it--my partner and I have done it about a dozen times.

I agree that different states have different requirements. When I did mine, I was able to use notarized documents by a Thai lawyer/notary, so I didn't have to go to the Embassy and it was cheaper.

I used it some years ago in the US--don't know what the situation is there now. The real estate section still works here in Thailand.

I sold a condo I owned in America while living in Thailand and the American Embassy was not involved at all. My Thai partner's brother, living in the US, handled the sale. Found the buyer using Craigslist; there were no realtors involved. Settlement attorney handled the paperwork.