newnative

555 Well, we have an optimist on our hands, folks! Some of you will remember the poster who said all the highrises will come crashing to the ground after 30 years. Nice to hear we've been granted an extra 10 years! Uhh. Hold on. Now that I think of it, another poster said, no, not 30 years--they'll all start crashing down after 20 years. So, if we average them, we're back at 30. <deleted>. Hard hats are on Aisle 7 at Home Pro. Avoid the rush.

I try to be a 'glass half full' guy and I think it works for me. I just feel better with a positive outlook rather than negative. In some cases with my life, when something I originally thought had been bad, later it turned out to be good. Was not hired for this job--bad--but later was hired for that job, which suited me much better--good. I try to keep 'don't cry over spilt milk' in the back of my mind. Something bad happens, don't dwell on it too much. It's just a waste of time and effort. Learn from it and move on.

Good.

Since same sex marriage was legalized in the US, an estimated $3.8 billion dollars has been spent on gay marriages there. Thailand would, of course, be much less but to say 'hardly any money pumped into the economy', I think is incorrect.

It's incorrect to state that tourist numbers were 'diminishing' before the pandemic. Of the countries tracked, only Singapore and Australia had slightly diminished numbers. All the other countries were up--some just slightly and others, such as China and India, by large numbers.

Jeez. Not another committee to study this once again. Hasn't it been studied enough all these many years? Just do it already.

I don't think the original developer ran out of money during the initial construction; they were actually ahead of schedule in completing the project. Construction was halted by the government after protests by locals upset with the height of the building. My solution would be to remove the top dozen or so 'see-thru' floors that are the least finished and then complete the building. I think the building has interesting architecture--something rather scarce in Pattaya--and it should be finished rather than torn down.

True. But, for 38 years he has lived in a space that he owns, with his furniture, artwork, electronics, appliances, etc.--not the landlord's likely inferior stuff. For 38 years he has been able to make the changes he wants to make to his space. And, for 38 years he has saved on rent. Someone will be along, of course, and will say if he had invested that money he would have done much better--financially. But, sometimes life is not always just about money. For some of us, the space we live in is very important. I hated renting the times I was forced to rent. I love owning my space. But, I know others prefer to rent--it's really whatever suits your lifestyle. As far as investing rather than buying a property, there's no rule that you can't do both--as many of us do. On a final bright side note, his message puts paid to the wacko poster who claimed that all condo buildings in Thailand come crashing to the ground when they reach 30 years of age. Apparently, one has survived. Actually two. A couple years ago I lived in a very nice, beachfront condo project in Pattaya that was over 30 years old.

Still a complicated mess. Back to the drawing board.

I disagree. I rai is a fairly good-sized plot, in my opinion. I rai equals 400 square wah. For comparison, my partner and I have a 3 bedroom/4 bath house on 170 square wah. There is plenty of room for a large pool, a sala, large deck areas, a two car garage, and fairly large front and back yards--the back yard is large enough for a small guest house with room to spare if we wanted to construct one. All this on 170 sq. wah, less than half of a 1 rai plot. I think you will find that many large homes, especially those in gated projects, sit on less than 1 rai of land. For example, there is a home listed at the very nice Jomtien Park Villas for 38.5MB. It has 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, large pool, garage parking for 5 cars, a guest house, and nice garden spaces from the photos. It sits on 303 square wah, still less than 1 rai by quite a bit. It's true you won't be able to pursue a second career as a farmer on 1 rai but to say 1 rai limits you to a tiny house with no garden is, I believe, incorrect.

Beat me to it.

'...concerned...' my eye. What a load of garbage. Nobody has shown the least 'concern' about bringing this murderer to justice. Just more cheap lip service while the clock continues to run out. Expect another announcement of 'concern' in a few months. Pathetic.

Deport him and good riddance.

The only way to get some compliance is to make non-compliance hurt financially. Make the fines stiff and actually collect them. Confiscate vehicles for non-payment. Make it a year-round thing, not just a short-term thing after some bad publicity. Word will soon get around. Use the added revenue to install more cameras, starting with the most dangerous intersections.

I think you have that backwards.

Forcing people off their land for a public project isn't just done in China--it's quite common in the USA. My father owned land in Florida and the government took it--along with land owned by others--with plans to build a public airport. Of course, he was paid for the land but he didn't have any choice in the matter.

Just the usual going through the motions after some bad publicity. Look! We're doing something! As always, the 'doing something' is yet another committee to study the matter. And, that will be that.

Pattaya.

A lot of explaining of the problems by the Mayor but very little in the way of solving the problems put forth. I don't want to hear a whiny, 'it's difficult'. I want to hear concrete solutions and concrete finish dates.

They'll never attract any visitors in numbers worth counting until they drop all the entry requirements except fully vaccinated.

Totally agree.

VUCA??? Maybe the most ridiculous acronym they've come up with. Nice backpedaling, by the way, guy.

Well, easy to see why it's mired in delays. Way too many agencies involved and way too many committee after committee after committee. Same story with about everything else.

Partner and I just ate lunch at a chain restaurant at T21. Did not have to present an ATK test. It looked like some other restaurants were also not requiring it.

Oh, dear. This 'opposition leader' is just as totally clueless as those currently running things.