Leaver

Good question, kinyara. It's not that I am not seeing it, it's just whether or not such investment will be successful, or not, in the future. Only time will tell. I have often said that tin roof beer bars day's are numbered here. Main reason is, they are ground floor. The land owner is wasting the strata. (the air above the tin roof) What's the point of having 50 beer bars under a tin roof, when you can build a condo block or hotel that has 30 floors with 10 condo's / hotel rooms per floor, so 300 rentals or sales? Another reason was, who is going to pay 90 baht to sit in the heat, dust, traffic noise, mosquitos, beggars, and hawkers, whilst listening to loud <deleted> music by a young Thai DJ, and paying to take a leak in filthy toilets, when for the same price, or cheaper, you can go to a nice gentleman's club, for example? The use of the land changes. They can now build and sell condo's with water views to wealthy Bangkokians, for example. However, on the point of investment, let's just imagine a big Chinese company bought the land where Soi Made in Thailand sits. The land would be in a Thai company's name, but controlled through the usual methods. Imagine they built something like The Base, or a large hotel. Say they do a deal with all the Chinese tour companies for their customers to stay there, or rent the condo's to Chinese holiday makers on the equivalent of the AirBnB platform in China, like what happens at The Base and elsewhere. The Thai land owner gets their money for the sale of the parcel of land, obviously. A Chinese architect will probably be used to design the building. A Thai construction company will probably be used, but many of them use Burmese laborers. A lot of the construction materials will be made in Thailand, but a lot also made in China. For all we know, for such a project, tiles, taps etc may be shipped from China by the company, similar to the way they did in Sihanoukville in Cambodia for the casinos. Once completed, there's some work for some 300 baht a day Thai's, but many of the cleaners may be Burmese as well. The rental transactions are all done in China. That money never even hits Thailand. So, what really has been "invested" in Pattaya / Thailand in this case? Whilst the above is a hypothetical for Soi Made in Thailand, we have already seen it with the tourism industry in Thailand. Chinese owned hotels, boats, buses, restaurants etc. They even built a fake Thai Temple for Chinese tourists. Remember that one? Getting back to general "investment" in Pattaya. In years gone by we have seen many starry eyed newbies open a bar, only to go broke 12 to 18 months later. In many cases, these guys have over capitalized, building it bigger, newer, shinier etc, only to see the market was not prepared to pay 100 baht a beer, for example. So, there's sound investment, then there is a waste of time and money. Time will tell for many new businesses and refurbs around Soi LK Metro, Pothole, Baukhao and Tree Town, and whilst this area may do well in the future, it comes at the expense of bars and nightclubs going broke in other areas. In my opinion, Walking Street will not be able to compete. Their rents are too high, which is reflected in their pricing, with most of the market is no longer prepared to pay, or can afford to pay, with a viable alternative a short distance away. So, whilst there may be investment in one area, what about the lost investment in another area, or do you think there are enough tourists, particularly western tourists, to keep building endless bars, hotels, shopping malls, restaurants, gogo's, gentleman's clubs etc?

I have medical insurance, but thankfully have never needed to claim. At 25k, wouldn't insurance cover a test/s like that?

That's quite a mark up.

Time will tell if whoever does arrive for high season, is enough to make the businesses here that have survived as busy as if it was a proper high season.

As per the below website (random Google search) 19,070 Thai people have died from covid. https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/thailand/

Wake up, Harry. You may just learn something, rather than keep building houses in Issan.

The problem is, benefits became a lifestyle choice for many, not something to fall back on whilst looking for a job. Generous benefits has removed the incentive to work for many. The problem now is, there are so many on benefits that no political party can bring in any policy that reduces the money or puts a tougher criteria to meet before getting benefits. In effect, those who have never worked, nor ever will, hold the country to ransom, as they now make up a huge percentage of the voter base. What future does a country have when that is the case?

Bloke, is English your first language? I simply asked why your friends will never come back to Pattaya? Yes, I live here, and see the economic devastation. Will it go back to pre covid conditions as soon as borders open, of course not, but it will not stay a deserted city forever. It will take several years to go anywhere near what it was pre covid. Do you and / or your friends think it will NEVER return to anywhere near pre covid conditions? If so, why?

And how do you change a law / policy? You make it an election / vote issue, which is what I suggested.

Since the world discovered that despite being vaccinated you can still catch covid and still spread covid, and the fact no vaccine is not 100% effective, post covid, in a 80% population vaccinated society, it then becomes a matter of hospital capacity. Fully vaccinated people are still getting sick, some very sick, with some of the very sick still dying. For Thailand's hospital capacity to even go near coping with the numbers, it would need at least 80% vaccinated, with 90% preferable, as we are seeing in other countries now with the vaccination of children also. I see your point. Many tourist will know covid is going to "rip through" Thailand's tourist areas, in the same way it is quickly spreading through the fully vaccinated countries. It's possible many tourists will wait to see the Thai government's reaction to high sickness numbers and deaths in their vaccinated population. As you suggest, they may order future lock downs and border closures to let the hospitals keep pace with admissions. We all know how the Thai government doesn't like any information or media reports that are negative towards Thailand's tourism industry, which may well cause the knee jerk reaction you suggest may happen.

Word starting to spread that all the bars in Soi Made in Thailand are finished. The land will no doubt be redeveloped.

For what purpose?

With little to no bookings, why would they continue to pay for a parking slot?

I thought rape was as well. I guess it all depends on who is your father.

Even when we are fully open here, there will still be darkened streets and shuttered businesses. As the popularity of many Youtube channels seems to suggest, people are interested in the economic devastation here. Maybe closed Pattaya is a tourists attraction in its own right. ????

Why hold the event before Pattaya is back in full swing? What's the point? This event could have kicked off the full reopening of Pattaya, particularly for domestic tourism.

Not a good advertisement for electrical workmanship in Thailand.

Maybe the jails are overflowing with covid desperate people and there's nowhere to house those that commit minor larceny offences, such as shop lifting.

If they were to do this, there would be no tourism industry until well into 2022.

True. All most countries are doing is trying to get the stats to such a point that their hospital capacity can deal with the ongoing sickness and death from covid. At any point in the future, for any country, if their medical system becomes overwhelmed, it's possible there will be more lock downs, to be able to get back to a patient admission number that their hospital system can manage. It must be remembered, it's not just covid patients in need of medial care, there's also heart attack, stroke, car accident, cancer patients etc that require a bed.

Thailand needs a vaccine against crazy driving.

Yes, I just happen to disagree with the policy. It very well may become an election issue in the future, as more and more leave the UK in retirement. In any case, as said before, once I step off the plane in the UK, I become a resident again. ????

Does she have kids? Don't you mean "OUR" assets, not "my" assets? It's a joint account. Maybe her family see a lawyer and the lawyer arranges the account to be frozen pending legal action. Who knows? Never assume anything in Thailand. Many accounts from guys kicked out of their own homes in Issan because the wife died before them and the family wanted the house, despite the foreigner paying for the land and the house. Do you trust her family members s well? What is "trust" worth in Thailand? Can it be relied upon? Correct. Exactly. Question is, does your wife have a will, and who does she leave her assests to, including cash at bank?

Swim in your hotel pool. You can still do some resistance exercises and it's convenient and in general, clean, plus no vendors and other associated BS to put up with.

Is it right that those who have never contributed a quid in their life get access to all the services, and those that have contributed a considerable amount over their working life don't get access, simply because they are no longer in the UK, despite many still contributing in the UK despite being abroad?