newnative

Totally agree. Much better than the horrors in the US. And, let's not even talk about Europe--where it's sometimes a challenge to even find a toilet.

Tourists in normal times will keep coming in healthy numbers, as they did in 2019, because, as you say, 'Thailand is Thailand'. They were coming in record numbers to see Thailand, and not just a tourist attraction a country has built. Not that there's anything wrong with building a tourist attraction. But, Vietnam building a tourist attraction is not going to stop people from wanting to visit and see Thailand. France has Disneyland Paris. I still want to visit and see Spain. Vietnam apparently had a big increase in tourists in 2019. That didn't stop record numbers from visiting Thailand that same year--nearly 40 million. In normal times, there are enough tourists to go around. Both countries are fortunate to be sitting close to large population countries a short plane ride away--with many citizens who did not have the means to travel until now. Not to mention a number of other Asian countries with citizens now having enough money to take a trip somewhere. Over 4 million tourists from Malaysia visited Thailand in 2019, for example. That's more than from the UK, Germany, France, and the US combined. If we ever get back to some semblance of normal both countries should be able to count on a steady stream of Asian tourists, and others.

You make some good points. However, I'm not sure I agree with your statement regarding 'our sons and daughters' envying us as they will not be part of any future golden generation. I think, as with a lot of things, it depends. I am a baby boomer. I, and my 5 siblings, and many other boomers. were lucky to have parents from 'The Greatest Generation'. My parents grew up in the Great Depression and it never really left them. Their entire lives they were thrifty. My Mom saved wrapping paper and bows--and a lot of other stuff--long after she had a need to; it was a running joke in our family at Christmas. "Save the bows!" My Dad kept meticulous monthly expenditure records, accounting for just about every dime spent. I think with many of this generation, it was just in their nature, waste not, want not. They were well-off in retirement and could have 'lived large', as they say, but they didn't. My Dad often joked when we were growing up that he could have bought a new Cadillac every other year if they hadn't had 6 kids. (Always saying no regrets, though.) But, with the kids all grown and plenty of money to actually buy a Cadillac, he never did. A parade of Fords, Chevys, and finally Buicks suited just fine. Now to my point. Being thrifty, owning property, and investing wisely my parents left a fair amount to us kids--even split 6 ways. Being boomers, and part of your 'golden generation', my siblings with children have both the money they have accumulated on their own and the money they have inherited from our parents. They are all in their 60s and 70s and their kids will, at some point, likely be inheriting sizeable sums--with two generations of money passed down to them. In my view, they're looking pretty 'golden', too.

We've been buying LG smart tvs. My partner likes the 'magic remote', which apparently makes it easier to navigate different functions.

I got 2 shots of Sinovac at Pattaya City Hospital, the second July 5. Registered with pink card and Mor Phrom app (well, Thai partner did). Got booster AZ a couple weeks ago at a school in Naklua near the government center. Partner got a message from the app. I think they are doing the boosters by date--earliest with the first 2 shots going first. Maybe keep checking with your hospital.

Umm. Just a couple months too late to be considering the 'full details' of reopening.

Headline should say 'killed' rather than 'attacked'.

I was able to do on-line once and I know I am doing it correctly. Then, the time before last it didn't work. Did in-person and the IO made a change to my address. I thought that might have been the problem but when I tried on-line again this time I didn't get past the first page--message to contact the office. Did in-person once again and I asked about the on-line not working. IO muttered something about the computer not working. This was Jomtien Immigration.

6 conditions too many. Just be fully-vaxxed.

My partner and I own and like the CR-V, too.

MRT is close--maybe a minute or so. There is a low rise building, then Q Asoke, then the MRT entrance with escalators up and down. The new Singha Complex built an underground passageway with escalators to its project from the MRT station. We just have 1 car; I don't know if you are allowed 1 or 2 spaces. Some residents have reserved parking spaces but most are not reserved. There is plenty of parking, never a problem. If you park on the outer garage parking slots on each floor you walk up or down a half flight of stairs to the elevator--it's sort of a split-level design. The inner slots are at elevator level.

I think it's a combination of cheap price, features, and styling that is winning buyers. They are seeing value for the money and holding their breath hoping for the best on the quality issue. The new Haval H6 suv looks very nice. My partner and I will probably stick with Honda.

Still too complicated and a quarantine is a quarantine.

It's the 19th of October. The details have already been 'held back until the last moment'. They should have been set in stone weeks ago so people could plan ahead. .

OK, I lost the thread a bit and didn't realize you were specifically referencing the OP's condo wish list and targeting a specific area and condo size with your pricing.

Hilarious. So is The Address Asoke across the street and Q Asoke next door. The Lofts Asoke is around the corner. (You can spend a million dollars for a 2 bedroom there if you so desire.) VA works for us as a getaway place in Bangkok. We like the nearby Airport Link. Whatever floats your boat.

Check Hipflat, Villa Asoke, click on 2 Bedroom. Several listings, 80 to 86 sqm 2 bedroom/2 bath, around 10MB. Faz Waz has a slightly pricier listing at 11.5MB before negotiation.

Yes, you're right. You can buy a 2 bedroom/2 bath 85 sqm corner unit in my very nice condo project next to the MRT for around 10MB, or about $312,000. Not $1,000,000. You can certainly spend a million dollars, but you don't have to.

True, I don't. I prefer the condo projects where I own and live to be nicely maintained, and they are. I also don't object to special assessments. We had one recently at my Bangkok condo to cover painting the building, which now looks even better than it did before. A small amount of money per unit, condo project maintained, money well-spent. No-brainer. The majority of the owners are Thai, by the way, and they voted for the special assessment. At 40 baht a sqm., the project has a ways to go till it gets to your 65 baht a sqm. figure. My condo is 52 sqm. so I am paying 2,080 baht a month, or about $65. As I said in my earlier post, a total bargain compared to condo fees in the US. If it at some point gets to your 65 baht, I'll be paying that with no whining, too.

I selected the second choice. I think the numbers will not be large at first but they need to make a start, any start, after so much dithering and flip-flopping. The sooner they get to just 1 requirement of fully-vaccinated and domestic restrictions like alcohol are eliminated, the better.

Yes, gimme one of those 2 bedroom/2 bath 100sqm 'very nice' condos in Bangkok for 1-2MB.

It might be a 35 baht health care system for something minor but it certainly isn't when major health care issues are being dealt with--at least in Bangkok. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it was over 2MB for my Thai partner's grandmother.

Still a bargain any way you slice it. Even at 65 baht a sqm (and none of my many condos here has been that high), an average 50 sqm 1 bedroom would be around $100 a month for condo fees. Eleven years ago I was paying $250 a month in condo fees for my small 1 bedroom condo in the US. Probably at least $300 now.

Sorry to be so tardy in replying. The condo I mentioned in my post was 24sqm. We bought off-plan and paid 2.4MB, so 100,000 a sqm. The developer paid the closing costs and sinking fund for early buyers. We were actually the very first buyer to go to closing. The condo came unfurnished and we fixed it up very nicely, adding a number of custom built-ins and a partition. The bathroom was very small and we changed the door to a sliding door, which helped some. Although it was tiny, this was one of my favorite renovations as it was such a big challenge to get everything I wanted and it turned out well. We had the condo for less than a year when we came to the conclusion it was too small and too far from the MRT station and we decided to sell it. My Thai partner and I were friendly with the condo staff and they had seen the condo when it was done so they knew how it looked. We let them know we were thinking about selling it. Before we got around to listing it, the condo staff alerted us that a buyer who had come to the front desk looking for a condo might be interested. We showed him the condo, he loved it, and he bought it. Young Chinese buyer. We made about 300,000 baht in profit. I'll be the first to agree this was an atypical sale. We weren't expecting a big profit having held the condo such a short period. Also, no matter how nice a condo looks, we have found that there is an upper price limit to what a condo will command when there are others also available in a project. We were able to make a small profit with this condo because we started with a low price to begin with, having bought off-plan. Then we made the condo very desirable compared to others in the project, didn't over-price it, and it found a buyer quickly. The timing helped, too--we sold in the first part of 2019, before covid. Having sold a number of condos here and in the US, we have found that some have sold quickly and some have taken a year or more. The right buyer can, in some cases, be the first buyer. Or, it can take a long while before he or she shows up. Patience is a virtue.

Agree. My Thai partner's Bangkok family had more than 2 million baht worth of medical expenses with his Mom. Long story short, everything she needed, there was no availability at the government hospitals. So, she had to use private hospitals for almost everything.