Beachedwhale

The other rumour that is floating around - is that a desalination plant is on the draftingboard.....anyone?

The desalination plant is in fact already operational. It is located in Plai Leam just opposite the Thongsai Bay Soi entrance to the Plai Leam Temple. The water from the desalination plant is already being pumped around the island and inserted into the existing main line at certain locations.

I am on council water and usually in June - July it runs out on a regular basis and I have to truck it in - but has not done so this year (just as likely to do with the weather, but I am sure the plant has helped to support the larger demand from the construction and new hotels and homes etc).

As for the Ban Rak pier, they are attempting to dredge it but the dredger only works at night - not sure why but one explanaition given was that the boom on the crane dredging it was a potential hazard for incoming planes so has to work when planes are not coming in. Also it will be interesting to see the finished product (still a long way off at the current pace), because the dredged sand is being taken out to sea bout 500 metres and then dumped. This will either get pushed back into the pier or will create a new sandbar 500 metres from shore ... oh I love theses sots of projects, they just give me something to look at and talk about for ages while lying on the beach with my laptop and book.

Maybe they are trying to depress the propertymarket so that they can jump in and buy some more ... and then later (perhaps after the election) tell a story about how Samui is cleaned up and a wonderful place to be and the land prices go up again .... just a thought

I agree that the much of the responsibility lies with the adminstrators but also feel that the whole problem happened so fast that no-one really noticed it coming. I for one moaned and groaned about the infrasructure a few years ago -mainly the electricity and water. The administrators did get around to enhancing the capacity of both ... but I do not believe anyone could have foreseen the exponential growth and changes that have occurred in the last 2 - 3 years .. making the progress that had been made become ineffectual. It certainly needs strong control now to manage it going forward, but I cannot see how we should solely lay the blame at any particular group. We all had a part it in it.

My previous statement "Regrettably we need to let the new breed have the place as they want it because we certainly cannot have our old Samui and Phangnan back." was more related to my personal view that without laying blame, Samui has changed and it will never be the Samui I came to see 15 years ago. Either I personally accept it or I move on. If I accept it and stay then rather than rant on about the past, I should help in whatever way I can to make sure Samui is still going to be a worthwhile place to stay in. Because I am a foreigner here it is going to be extremely difficult for me to influence the administration etc, so I personally will be here for a few years more but ultimately I will sneek off to find a different sort of place ... just my own personal view

The problem with this situation is that there is truth on both sides of the argument and the Island is now in a spiral that it cannot seem to get out of ... Samui is certainly not the idylic Island it used to be and never will be again, but the new tourist coming here do not necessarily want the same thing that we all came here for. For us that came to Samui over 10 years ago it is probably time to move on somewhere else. The quiet and lonely beaches, the empty roads, the need to speak Thai or put up with getting something totally different to what you think you ordered, the ability to get away from "civilasation" etc have almost gone (due to the large increase in hotels etc stealing all of the good staff, it is still possible to get a waiter or waitress at your village restaurant that does not understand you and so gets your order wrong).

I understand people selling their land because the huge money being paid out would tempt anyone. Every day I hear of some huge price paid for a house or land and cannot believe it ... I even heard of a house in Lipa Noi that was on the market for THB110 million but eventually went for THB150 million because 2 people got in a bidding war (Obviously they were making profit at 110m so that extra 40m is a great little windfall)... is it unscrupulous that the seller (a major developer on the island) let the bidding war develop when they should have ethically taken the first firm offer at the asking price or is it just good business sense? To me the lucky person is the one that missed out on getting the house because I can certainly show them some better things to do with 110 million.

No-one individual group can be blamed, it is just that we have sellers willing to sell, buyers willing to buy, customers willing to pay the high taxi prices, customers willing to pay the higher food and drink prices. The good old economic theory should eventually sort it out when the buyers are no longer willing to pay the high prices, but I do not see that happening in the near term.

So in summary, I think us Samui (and Phangnan) "oldies" just need to quietly sell up and walk away or else we will end up twisted and bitter about it all. Regrettably we need to let the new breed have the place as they want it because we certainly cannot have our old Samui and Phangnan back.

I apologise if this is not the right forum but I cannot find anything regarding the topic (in recent threads anyway). I am a farang in Koh Samui with a restaurant trying to sell farang food (as well as Thai). I am dissapointed to find that the majority of the farang type vegetables that we can source at a reasonable price in Samui come from China or elsewhere offshore - carrots, potatoes, lettuce, broccoli .. plus fruit such as apples.

I am a little bit surprised as I thought that the Isaan area could have the climate to produce many of these, just a small matter of having the right stock, soil, water and farming skills.

Does anyone have any information about where I can source such product in Thailand .. and I suppose, if it is not available - does anyone know why not? (once I get out of the rat-race that Samui is becoming, maybe I will go to Isaan with my Isaan wife and our kids and have a go at producing such items).

Cheers

Sorry Roo if my sarcasm went unnoticed as I forgot to put one of those smiley icons on the posting. I agree that we should not be naming names, I just thought the whole article was sensationalism and cannot believe that the police would let out such information when they have not even arrested anyone yet. As they say ... the truth does not always make the best stories...

I know there are often good reason for having name suppression but wouldn't it be more appropriate in this case to name the suspect as all other "Indian-born British property developer s .... married to a Thai and runs at least 10 land development firms" now become suspects as well?

I have lived in Bangkok, Phuket and now Koh Samui. They all have their plusses and minuses and depends on your lifestyle choices. To me the only real problems with Bangkok are the polution and the traffic at peak times. Bangkok is relatively cheaper to live than either Phuket and Samui - for rent, food, clothes, taxis (especially compared to Samui), it has better overall entertainment opportunities (not just girls, but also live music, shows etc), has better variety of life and yet is still within relatively short distance (within 3 hour drive) to beaches etc if that is what you want.

Phuket missess out on the "big city" advantages but makes up for it in my opinion in having nearly all of the facilities needed (decent shops, restaurants, schools, bars etc) while still allowing you to live in a quiet coconut grove or near a beach etc. It has one huge advantage over Koh Samui in that is the bridge to the mainland allowing you the freedom of driving off the Island - when I get a day off in Samui I still cannot get away from the place without flying or queuing for a ferry, so there is a potential tendencey to get Island fever. Now that I have a mariage visa I also miss the opportunity to do a visa run (sad but true). Phuket also has better roads than Samui and I believe the Phuket indiginous people are generally more friendly toward farangs than Samui indiginous people.

I like the beaches so the choice is between Samui and Phuket (only been to Pattaya once and that was at Loi Kratong so really cannot comment but when I get time I would like to go and look around more) and while I currently live in Samui, I am making plans to some back to Phuket as my first choice location.

see http://www.thaivisa.com/car_malaysia_border.0.html

I agree with Samui coconut .. sell and buy new, the process of gettting it legally in the country is not a good way to start your time in Thailand as it will only frustrate you and cost you ...

Is there any more news on a marina being built in Samui? What is happening in the South of the Island?

As sighted by my security guard last night around 9.30pm there was a Thai man shot in the roadside area nearby Nara and Mermaid. I have heard today that the man was shot 4 times and that he may be the deputy Poo Yai Baan from Banrak (not confirmed). There is speculation that since he was making noises about officials in Samui being corrupt and that 2 more went into Jail yesterday after visits from the DSI, that they are blaming him. We will probably know more details from the BKK post Tomorrow.

I agree.. and one of the other issues that you should be aware of is keeping a low profile. A key issue in the recent activity was that the developers put up a large sign, did a lot of advertising etc etc, which in many countries you would expect to happen. But here in Thailand being "in your face" is often construed as aggressive and unrespectful behaviour. Also as long as you are a "small operation" then you are unlikely to be impacted. The government is not after the retireees who are spending there well earned pension to build themselves a nice little home to retire in the warmth of Samui, they are after the large developers who are not getting proper licenses, who are making transactions and not paying taxes, who are corrupting the local officials by offerig them bribes etc. IMO the government does not want to stop the majority of farangs coming here and building etc, just the ones that are offensive or doing things illegally.

It will not be straightforward as that is one of the ways of Thailand, it is not straitforward for Thais either with the law being grey about whether a Thai woman legally married to a Farang can in fact buy land in her name .. potentially yes if there is a letter from the Farang saying that he will not make claim to the land if there is divorce proceedings and that the oney from the purchase was the Thai wifes ... but then again this just reinforces the attitiude that underneath it all Thailand does not want Farangs to own Thai land.

Suthep is one of the better lawyers on Samui in terms of efficiency, getting the administrative things done etc, he has at least 300 or more farang clients of which many are the major farang businesses in Samui ... so certainly go with him for the operational aspect, but he is not any good for litigation ... I had to use someone else out of Bangkok when I went to court over a failed land deal .. and even then it is 4 years on and there is no resolution because the court system loves it when a farang sues a farang ... best to settle out of court and move on to the next project if you can...

If your wife is Thai, your daughter can get a Thai passport and be a Thai citizen - my son is half Thai and born offshore so he does not have to go in the Thai Army (well that is the thinkng at this stage, we'll have to wait and see), but he has a Thai passport, legally owns Thai shares etc

I have been involved in Samui land purchases for over 6 years and after 2 marriages to Thai ladies I am surprised about the comments .. might be better to "have a quick transfer to the wife" ... my personal view is that you are better off trusting the government. The whole Thai community believes that Farangs come here in order to give wealth to the Thais. In my restaurant I hear besotted husbands talking about how they have just bought some land or a truck and put it in the wifes name because it was safer or eaiser ... then I hear the girls talking about how lucky the wife is for having the farang buy her a truck or land, she has really got her future sorted out.

I believe that it is the same as any type of risky investment, only do it if you can afford to lose it, otherwise don't do it or take the only true legal avenue of a lease and do it in your own name... or if you are married and have children, then put the shares in the kids name and not the wifes, they cannot sell their shares until they are 18 years old without going through a court process but you can have all of the signing authority you like including selling all assets etc. The wife may complain but if you go and buy her a gold neclace or something she will probably forgive you.