Digger

If I recall correctly our resident expert on aviation matters, DaveYo has mentioned before that he works on 777 engines at BKK airport

Dave - Whats the story? Can you share any non confidential info?

A square meter of luxury condominium space in Bangkok now sells for about one-tenth the price of similar units in Hong Kong and one-third in Singapore.

So condo prices in Singapore are 3 times more than in Bangkok.

I'm no real estate expert, but I'm thinking:

By what multiple are salaries of people in Singapore higher than in Bangkok?

Are there more or less pressures on space in Singapore than Bangkok?

So who is going to buy all these condos?

He notes that many multinational businesses have established regional hubs in Bangkok, swelling the ranks of foreign executives working here by 13 percent

How many genuine "foreign executives" are there in Bangkok? What impact would a 13% rise in that number have on the condo market?

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Typical Singaporean Sales Manager with a decent track record would earn around 12,000 S$ Month or 275,000 baht month. Singaporean VP or Director could easily be earning 20,000 S$ month. Taxation is low at around typically 15% of salary but also dont forget they can use CPF funds towards property acquisition (i.e their retirement pot).

Land is very limited of course in SIngapore and the govt strictly controls how much land is released for housing and of what type so not to over burden the market.

I think the 13% quote of increase in expats is confusing. How many additional people have had to apply for work permits but have been here donkey's years working on the 'grey' side of things. Personally, I have seen more expats leaving Thailand (e.g the closure of Kimberly Clarks Regional HQ in BKK - a loss of some 30 very highly expats) than new arrivals.

Half-finished buildings abandoned during the financial crisis are being completed and sold.

Really, I wonder if Crispin could point to one?

7 years exposed to the elements, rotten steel inside the concrete, etc. etc. Yeah, right!

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Actually there are more than you think, for example, The Lakes in Soi 16 Sukhumvit was planned to be a office building and has been altered to be a residential condo. Sold out in 3 days but they were not greedy with the price. Just been opened and first people moved in I believe.

Also the Northshore is another example in Pattaya.

Thai banks have a simple method of property valuation. Firstly they calculate the building cost on a sq M basis of the house, which is typically 7,500 baht for a single floor house and 9,000 baht for a 2 floor house. They then value the land based on TW. They will also value the swimming pool if their is one based again on a SQ M price. No consideration is made of anything removable such as Air con, Kitchens, bathroom fittings etc. They do not take into account tiles or floors either. Basically they are looking at what is the bare shell of a property in the event that if they repossess it and the owner knows its happening, likely that he will remove everything that can be sold for cash.

Most Thai developed houses do not include kitchens, aircon etc - its up to the buyer to do that themselves.

Therefore there are frequent big differences in valuations as the purpose of the valuation is not its market worth as a fantastic house, but a simple shell building which is normally all that is left if they have to re-possess. Therefore they use the worst case scenarios to protect themselves. I have never seen a bank valuation get higher than 75% of any property I have bought here in Thailand, but every one I have managed to re-sell for at least 20% more than I paid.

Incidentally, I have also never achieved a mortgage higher than 50% of the bank valuation and invariably they want to restrict to 5 yr term.

Hope this helps

Only a crazy man in my opinion would buy a condo in BKK aimed at the upper market and I spend my days buying and selling property.

The dynamics are all wrong in BKK. Way too few people able to afford these properties (unlike Singapore or HKG where there are huge numbers of very well paid personnel plus more liberal purchasing laws for foreigners.)

And as for the Raffine devlopment in Sukhumvit, I would hazzard an educated guess that at least 8 of those "sold" units have been sold at around 50% of retail price to a selected group of influential people so that when Mr & Mrs Jo Public go and have a look, the sales agent says, "well of course you know Khun Big Nob has bought a place here and dont forget that TV actress Khun Vanity she's got the place just 3 doors down from the one you are interested in....., my this condo is attracting more generals than a VIP motorcade, we are seriously wondering if we even need to employ security guards as their will always be so many bodyguards here protecting the elite."

Given its all face, Mr & Mrs sucker get dragged in and are hooked at the thought of living in the same place that all these celebs live. I have seen this done many times at high end condo's in BKK. Of course, the celebs if they are smart sell off the place ebfore its finished to another sucker and gain a huge profit.

hi guys,

my dads a builder who has recently recovered from an operation and is looking to move to thailand, he has been there a couple of times befor, and my uncle (his brother) has been dozens of times and is currently there for a few weeks on koh samui and is looking to move there aswell. as my dad is relatively computer savvy-less i was wandering if i could ask any of you if you may know where a good place would be to start looking for construction site supervisor jobs. a construction job agency maybe or something of the like. just a heads up kinda thing...

any help will be much appreciated.

thanks.

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Personally I believe their will be a crackdown in the near future as there was a comment in the Phuket Gazette couple of weeks ago by the governor to that effect.

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I feel sure that the governor of Phuket is at this moment on Thaskins version of airforce one and winging his way to Pattaya to oversee the arrests of these naughty farang builders, and then he will probably arrest all farang bar owners and any farang seen to be cleaning their car or bike.

I have heard that they will be arresting tourists in the near future if they have the audacity to close their own hotel curtains in their own rooms, obviously this is highly illegal as 1, they are on a tourist visa, and 2 they could employ a Thai person for this menial task, actually rumour has it that these tourists will be arrested regardless even if they get a thai person to close their curtains, mainly due to them not having formed a company and being able to employ someone of Thai nationality to close their curtains.

I have also heard rumours of immigration approaching maids in the major hotels and offering them rewards for grassing up tourists for making their own beds.

I have also heard that pigs can fly and father christmas is real, h.ell im a sucker for these ridiculous rumours aint I...

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Pattaya falls under Chonburi Province in case your not aware. Just some word's of advice for the poster - up to them what they do with that information. Can ignore it of course but cant say nobody told me of some of the difficulties they will encounter in that field of work, or at least to do it legally.

Hope this helps

hi guys,

my dads a builder who has recently recovered from an operation and is looking to move to thailand, he has been there a couple of times befor, and my uncle (his brother) has been dozens of times and is currently there for a few weeks on koh samui and is looking to move there aswell. as my dad is relatively computer savvy-less i was wandering if i could ask any of you if you may know where a good place would be to start looking for construction site supervisor jobs. a construction job agency maybe or something of the like. just a heads up kinda thing...

any help will be much appreciated.

thanks.

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Construction is a very difficult employment category to obtain a work permit. By rights, no need to permit a foreigner to do a job that a Thai can do.

Having said that there seems to be a huge amount of foreign builders/developers in and around Pattaya at the moment. Personally I believe their will be a crackdown in the near future as there was a comment in the Phuket Gazette couple of weeks ago by the governor to that effect.

So unless your dad has some particular skills that Thai's do not possess or he is setting up a company with capitalisation over 30,000,000 baht and he plans to be the MD, I would not expect him to get a work permit. Any housing development over 9 houses also needs a developers licence which I think is only granted to Thai nationals, although outside of BKK thats not currently enforced too much.

Hope this helps

Villa at Soi 33 Sukhumvit stocks the Yorkies products made out of Jomtien.

If I am not mistaken Tesco Lotus in Rama 4 are about to commence stocking the Simple Simon range of bacon, sausages and pies as partof a bigger plan to expand their deli section.

Both are made by British butchers

Hope this helps.

I ve found Makro in Chonburi to be one of the worst f*** up and disorganised places I've encountered so far. Employees re-arranging shelves in one spot and "emptying the whole lot in the aisle in a mound and go around" style, terrible line-ups at checkout... tons of carts are just left there full of stuf people were going to buy but got fed up with waiting.. Always amazed every time at the amount of cash lost with all the abandoned shopping carts, if upper management was aware of this they'd probably have some manager skinned alive, but then again...maybe they are aware... mai bpen lai

I think you will find that these trolley's belong to people who have filled them up, go and find another and then start again. many times I have seen 2 ladies navigating 4 trolley's out of Makro in Chonburi to the pickup where of course the lazy guy is sat in the drivers seat with the door open doing absolutely nothing except watching the ladies steer towards him. They then unload all the stuff without any help from him and he then drives them back to their little shop.

What works well in Thailand - BKK airport is pretty efficient, not often delays, not often gate changes and the food is always on the plane when the doors are closed. many times I have flown with airline such as BA when they have announced that they forgot/could not wait for the meals and so have left without them.

Want a premium car - BMW can get you an X5 in a week in the colour you want, try waiting 6 months in the UK. Same with Volvo XC90.

Furniture, TV, Washing machine etc - all delivered same day often within 1 hour of buying it - try getting that service in Europe !!

Id agree with BKK Barney - If you buy a house do it in company name, car is more difficult without long term visa's but could be held in company however not sure if there are complications there.

Having said that, not sure if buying is the best option for a retirement. Even high end property can be rented at by European standards very low prices - I saw a place on a very exclusive development going for 50,000 baht unfurnished on a long term contract - thats about GBP 650 pound a month for a 3 bedroom house, private pool, landscaped garden. Included in that is the pool and garden maintenance!! To buy something like that you would need around 6,000,000 baht +. No maintenance worries or headaches and they even allow you if you want furnished option to choose your own interior furnishings (from a range). This particular project is out by the resevoir - many other farang couples in the vicinity, 15 mins from Pattaya proper. Very secure project, first I have seen with TV cameras surrounding it as well as security guards. manager of the project is formerly front office manager at Grande Sheraton Sukhumvit so the developers are spending big bucks on the whole thing - even the gardners had t-shirts with the company name on it. Unfortunately little bit out of my price range but certainly the best development I have seen around Pattaya.

Hope this helps

I have sensors on every windown of my house plus a motion detector in the living room and panic alarms in bedroom. I also have bars on the small windows (toilet etc) but not the larger windows as I think they look hideous. Easily installed where I live in Pattaya - cost was about 50,000 baht from memory and the cabling was installed when the house was being built so you do not see any wires.

Hope this helps

I really am getting bored by all this negative stuff about the tourist police volunteers. If they wish to give up their time to assist then its up to them. However clearly there is a major public relations problem in that most of the Pattaya residents see them as some kind of disaster. Sounds to me like there needs to be a concerted effort to actually publicise far more effectively what good the tourist police (and MIB) actually do in Pattaya. Personally, I think some concerted efforts at stamping out crime would not go amiss.

My ideas to kick start a discussion include:

Sting operation on pickpockets in Soi Blues factory (3 people I know have been pickpocketed in last week down there)

Work to improve the lighting outside Royal Garden Plaza which is virtually black after the mall closes.

Keep a continued effort at tackling the Katoeys who are basically hardened criminals (and I have nothing against katoeys, but seems there area group of extreme one's who must be known to the police - keep clammering down on them and hopefully they will go somewhere else or change their ways.)

Carry out more randomn drink driving tests over the key routes in the city - how many more people need to die to actually get something done about this - drinking & driving is a major problem in this town 52 weeks a year - not just at Songkran.

I dont think you will have any problems as you are legit here and working. My GF applied for visa couple of years suported by my work permit - the only question they were interested in was are we travelling out and back together (we were) and that we intended to return to Thailand (which we also were). Visa issued same day.

Hope this helps. By the way, I provided copies of my documents not originals (at least for the passport, although that had been issued by them at the embassy in BKK, so they could if so desired go and look up all the original documents).

Hope this helps

They must have gone undercover

The only company I know of that is held in high regard is Master safety Enterprises - Dutch guy called Andre owns and runs it - been in Thailand about 20 years. Never heard a bad word against him. They have a web site and advertise in things like Pattaya Trader. He could do a survey of what you need but it might be as simple as looking at getting decent locks and window grills. Also another common point of entry is through your roof - they simple remove a few roof tiles and they are in in many properties.

Interestingly I saw up by the Resevoir the other day a new village being built that had security cameras covering the walls as well as the entrance. Thats a first for me in terms of that level of security but the sign infers that the houses are high end executive homes for lease only - probably looking at the company paid housing market. Of course whats not clear is if anyone actually looks at the pictures the cameras produce although their was a security guard hut by the main entrance.

Also, I bought a safe that is fire prrof and operates with a key and electric number keypad for only about 5,000 baht from some stall in Tesco Lotus - thing weighs a ton so not easy to move that.

Hope this helps

I disagree CTG.

I travel a lot on business and never carry much cash, gave up on travellers cheques years ago. I rely on being able to draw small amouts of cash from the "hole in the wall" with my ATM card or credit card.

Major bills get paid by credit card.

Much easier, until the B--T--DS mess you about in the name of Fraud Protection.

I was embarassed in Tesco Lotus last month when my card was refused, because I had also tried to pay a bill over the internet a week before.

Fortunately I had my mobile and was able to "call the bank" and give them a big B-LL--KING. I followed up with a letter and they did compenaste me with a small sum for phone calls.

I dont think anybody would disagree with your strategy, but we are talking a GBP3 night or US$5 Hotel room bill. If this guy has no cash then he really is a clown.

I also travel extensively but have always got at least US$100 of local currency + 3 different credit cards just in case one has problems.

I saw an physco Scotsman the other day in a bar in Pattaya with two ARMED Thai bodyguards, apparently both police (i guess of duty) - that guy must be into some serious shit if he needs that kind of protection.

definate case of Pattayaitous - next symptoms are jumping off high floor of condo building with hands tied behind your back and a plastic bag over your face.

But hehe, at least you get a free ride home (but alas no food or option to watch the movie

Enroll her in Ramkapheng (spelling?) Uni as a student studying from home - then she is legit, can learn anything she wants and might become a better person as a result of it. (sorry not saying she is not a good person but Im sure you know what I mean).

Hope this helps

why dont you tell us the bar and then we can all go and check up on her for you. Cant be too many girls speak fluent Dutch working in NEP.

Forget the private eye, we will do it a short time fee and you save heaps of money

I love HSBC - so when the teller said "call your bank", I did that and was assured, the card could be used again.

I had missed the checking out date at the 160 Baht/night hotel Little Court on Soi 13. And I told them I would now get money. But the problem persisted. ** afraid of returning empty handed, I didn't - and couldn't call the Embassy at the Tourist Police. Sent off e-mails... Ran around frantically, trying the card repeatedly.

In need of a shower and new clothes, hungry and desolate, i realize that it was most unwise to rely on mastercard. (encountered a Scottish Lady who couldn't get cash with her card either).

This is an all time low in my life - and I'm not some freeloader or beach bum (I hope).

This is very bitter - so you guys better wear a money belt with a few thousand Baht as iron reserve... Who gives a hoot about your credit limit if your card is blocked?!?

Paying a 160 baht night hotel bill with a credit card - what next asking a baht bus if he takes plastic for the 10 baht fare? - This is a cash society and you would do well to remember that.

jp beer bar, it if was'nt for the idiots that seem to gather there (and the dregs of the bg society) it would'nt be a bad place.

it does'nt help with t shirt logos like "where your guaranteed to get layed", they should put "and get a dose" at the end.

and you could also add, "get your wallet nicked" as you walk down that narrow Soi after closing time, way too many people and easy pickings for some lightfingered characters.

I know 3 people had their wallet taken in that soi either in or walking past that beer bar outside your place Dave.

I presume you have insurance coverage now? If not have a chat with jack who's office is above Northern Thai real estate office on second Road by Marriott. he can sort you out a comprehensive policy on the spot, assuming of course you have a Thai driving licence.

Can anyone tell me where the nearest squash court is to Pattaya? I can't seem to find one.... maybe there will be some at the new athletics stadium? ..>

http://www.pattayamail.com/current/news.shtml#hd1

Horseshoe Point Hotel has two air con squash courts available to members of their health club but cant help with any prices. Horseshoe Point is out on Siam Country Club Road about 15 minutes from central Pattaya.

Interesting question and very interesting and diverse answers.

From own personal experience as a person born in the UK and have travelled and experienced the world from behind a camera, I can honestly say the country has no future and has lost itself in its past glory.

I do not blame the immigrants, I don’t blame the people but the entire country is in the grip of a few grey haired men in grey suits that steer a grey paths.

I left the UK vowing never to return as the county will have no future for my kids and soon many others will leave as the incentive for life is drained from individuals who try in preference for those who don’t.

To sum up the UK --- Bad weather, bad government, bad rules, bad councils, bad feelings bad service, many restrictions, rules, little Hitler’s in the councils, expensive, dull, boring, speed cameras, Blair & Bush sharing the same brain, traffic wardens, the Dome, tax, tax and more tax followed by more tax and then stealth tax………. and at PETROL at $3000000000.05 a litre

Well its best you go and dont look back should you ever need a new passport.

Loyalty is beyond words and people like you deserve none whatsoever. Please go try and find another country that you are considered acceptable to become their citizen and I suspect you will be hard pressed to find anywhere. Jesus moaning about speed cameras - follow the law of the land and you will have no problems.