andbod

I would like to add some more informations : today the local health center contacted me and my wife and they will come to check our general health and if we respect the quaranteen rules.

They got the travel details from gophuket.com website, where I had registered before leaving from Bangkok. I don't think they are cross checking with passengers list.

I was on a plane from Bangkok to Phuket yesterday night.

The rules state that you should register online on gophuket.com before boarding, confirm your quarantine place and personal data on the same site, download Mor Chana application, always wear mask and follow strict distancing, quarantine for 14 days once in Phuket,.

The reality was really different : at departure no one at the airport informed us about the new rules, no advice of any kind, ground staff was not aware of anything.

Social distancing was respected while boarding. After arriving in Phuket everything started to go in a very different way : we disembarked from the plane with no distance at all and the ground staff used a single overcrowded bus to get us inside the terminal (about 25 people in a small bus).

At the terminal after a very quick temperature check (no swab available at all and no one asking if we visited any high risk zones) and a lot of AOT employees helping to register on Mor Chana app,

Most of the passangers just skipped the line and ignored the registration..

Before the registration zone the latest Phuket Governor order annuncing quarantine and other rules was clearly visible (in Thai only).

I asked why they do not scan the QR code generated by gophuket.com website and and AOT emplotee replied that the system is still not working and Mor Chana is enough. Asked how should I register my quarantine address since gophuket.com is not working they had no idea, just told me : go ask at Ob Or Tor (would it not be breaking quarantine rules?). I told them I had already downloaded Mor Chana app and they let me go without even checking my QR code.

6 hours ago, Crossy said:

A really stupid question before you start digging.

 

Have you verified that the dead phases are actually OK at the meter?

 

It wouldn't be the first time that meter connections have come adrift.

 

Yes we asked PEA to double check with our staff and the dead phases are ok at the meter

13 hours ago, alacrity said:

e

Yes, PEA can for a fee. Nothing more than a Varley Loop Test, or approved equivalence.

Don't understand your perception that the Condominium is responsible for your cable routing. Seems there's some missing historical data.

We checked with the juristic person manager the title deeds and the cable is running under condominium common areas (a parking lot).

The juristic person manager is insisting that without committee approval we can’t do anything else the pulling out the cable and replace it but no drilling work whatsoever.

We checked with the previous company owners and they told us they had only a verbal agreement with the condominium for the right of way so no way to enforce it.

If PEA will not be able to find where the problem is or to pull out the cable we will most likely drill without permission and then pay for compensation as required by civil law since we have no other way

14 hours ago, bankruatsteve said:

I doubt PEA will want to do it even if they have the tech.  Can you just pull it out?

Edit:  How do you know it's broken?  Check for loose connections.  Only 1 phase down or all?

Only 1 phase is working. We checked all the connections and and tried to pull the cable out but it is stuck somewhere.

Thanks everyone! A lot of useful information.

One last question: do you know someone in Phuket that has the required equipment to check where the cable is broken or does PEA offer that kind of service?

It is downstream.

PEA already checked and said that it is up to us to replace the cable, no advice given on how to proceed from the legal point of view

Greetings,

our company (a wellness center open to the public) is facing a problem due to a broken mains cable running from the transformer to the electrical panel (3 phase).

The cable is running mostly underground and is passing by a property we only partially rent (a condominium parking lot).

We asked the condominium committee the authorization to make an urgent maintenance work (break the concrete where the cable is running to replace the cable) since we are out of power but they are not answering.

We should have the right of way since the cable is already running in the exact same place where the work is needed but no written documents confirming it.

What can we do? Given the urgency can we start the work without a previous written authorization granted that we will preserve the parking operations and the area restoration?

Unfortunately the story didn't come to a good end as I hoped.

The person in charge of the company has changed few weeks ago and the new staff have no idea of the agreement I had, they can't find my contract copy (luckly I have the digital copy and reteined all the email) that clearly states that they will switch the units and don't want to proceed with title transfer.

Now they are asking me to pay for both the units and I would need to sell one of the units by myself since they don't have any contractual obligations and they don't recognize the new contract. Of course it is very unlikely to be able to sell one the units in current market situation. I must admit that they are not making any pressure on me but I'm quite concerned.

Also the old company manager is aking me to pay a part of the money cash, saying that it will help to solve everything. I have asked a lawyer to help me but it seems that the situation is complicated and there is no a simple solution and I would not like to become the victim of some unfortunate accident.

The developer is Chalong Concrete and the project is in Karon.

I must admit that, at the end, they had been very reasonable, they even made me an extra discount on the new unit. I agree that the key was a good contract from my lawyer.

There is one company in Bangkok that offers mortgage for foreigners on units registered as condo or land. They offer about 50-60% of the property value (depending on property and location).

I have used them in the past and the process is quite simple. If you wish to have the contact details please send me a PM.

I finally got everything sorted out : letters from my lawyer sorted no effect until the contruction period was done and he noticed the developer in writing that the unit was not completed in time and late delivery penalties will apply until the unit will be exactly as advertised. At this point they got in touch with me (no idea why contacted me instead of the lawyer) and proposed to look at few other units that were still available and decide if I would like to exchange with my current one.

I found a unit that meets my expectation and everything is sorted out.

Thank you very much everyone for the kind support!

You can also check The Ark Karon. They have quite nice Penthouses with sea view. Not sure if still available.

I have found the post you mentioned and a few others that I didn't notice in my first search and elaborated a strategy with the lawyer that I hope it will be effective : I have rejected in writing to accept the unit and asked officialy to fix all the defects/provide missing items, until that I consider the developer in default and will count penalties (it is not too much, about 1000 THB per days but better than nothing).

According to the experience of other people this helps to speed the things up. If this fails I will try to enforce the contract with the help of the Office of Consumer Protection to get my money back.

Hope it goes well. Do report back here.

If you are in Pattaya I think you can get a free legal (second) opinion at the new tourist court, though I also think that at 700K the amount of the claim precludes you from using the new "fast track" tourist claim procedure. I think they are supposed to be introducing the same tourist courts in other main tourist destinations too, and presumably anywhere with significant new condo builds would be enough of a destination to qualify. Worth checking in your area anyway.

I will report the updates. It is Phuket and they also have a tourist court there but I really hope to find a solution that doesn't involve a lawsuit.

Buy the show unit?

Unfortunately the show unit has a different design than mine otherwise I would have saw immediately the differences.

It has been said before - never ever buy from brochures!

You are absolutely right and I generally don't, but in this case the main building structure was almost complete and the quality was really good, plus they had an adiacent finished project that is quite nice and I have asked to put all the photos/renderings as a part of the contract and to have the full specification of materials including manufacturer name.

It seems that even like that it is impossibile to get what you agreed. New rule learned.

Thanks once again!

The 700k is the cost of putting the missing/altered items right, unit value is about 15 times more and it is a quite small one (the unit price is about 20% more of other units/area prices due to high ceiling and high standard finishes that I didn't got). I would be satisfied even with a smaller amount since there are some defects (like the pool access door or missing bath tube) that won't be possibile to fix.

I have found the post you mentioned and a few others that I didn't notice in my first search and elaborated a strategy with the lawyer that I hope it will be effective : I have rejected in writing to accept the unit and asked officialy to fix all the defects/provide missing items, until that I consider the developer in default and will count penalties (it is not too much, about 1000 THB per days but better than nothing).

According to the experience of other people this helps to speed the things up. If this fails I will try to enforce the contract with the help of the Office of Consumer Protection to get my money back.

Thank you very much for your response.

Problem with other owners is that the overall quality of the building is good and the changes were made only to the pool access units, which are 4 and only 2 of them has been sold.

Regarding the contract was made by my lawyer and states that the seller can make changes only to comply with regulation authorities and, even in that case, the material quality has to be the equivalent or comparable.

Even if the changes were made at regulation authorities request (which is not the case) I can find quite hard to imagine that granite and laminate or wood and particel board are "equivalent or comparable" quality but this is exactly what the developer says and the lawyer gave me no other possibility than fill a lawsuit in this case.

I have been just told from the lawyer that I have still another option that is cancel the purchase in which case the devloper will give me back the money I sent - 30%.

The lawsuit seems a dead end (do to how it works in Thailand), buying a unit just to sell it the same (it will be on the market forever), I guess I will end up loosing 30% of the money I have already paid.

I have bought a unit in a condo and I'm now in the process of evaluating defects.

During the inspection I found a lot of changes in material quality and unit design :

1) Bedroom floor : instead of been engineered wood floor, it is ceramic floor

2) Kitchen : Instead of high quality wood cabinets I got a cheap cabinets with particle board from SbDesign

3) Kitchen : instead of grainte top they changed with a laminate top

4) Kitchen : the design is completely different from the rendering and looks much cheaper

5) Toilette : bath tube is missing and they changed with a walk-in shower

6) Pool : instead of a marine wood door they changed with a aluminium framed door (it is a huge door 3,5 x 5 mt)

Beside that there are a lot of small problems like missing silicon in a few points in the bathroom, missing wallpaper finishing, door is not closing propertly, some missing common property items (they advertised a bar and a gym while there are not),

I have refused to accept the defects and asked to fix everything before unit handover but they refused so I have asked to get a compensation since the value of all the above is more than 700.000 BTH (escluding the missing common areas) and once again they refused even to give 1 BTH. Instead (even if I have not accepted the defects) they sent me the final invoice and "politely" reminded that if I will not pay immediately they will default all my previous payments (about 70% of unit value) and I will get nothing.

My lawyer told me that I have few options :

1) Pay everything and fix the unit myself or sell it

2) Do not pay a fill a lawsuit (knowing how the things works in Thailand seems not a real option)

Each of the options seems to me a very bad solution. Have someone else experienced a similar situation ? What you sugget do do ?

Thanks a lot!

Andrea

The company name is my name so it should not be a problem. The money laundry scares me a bit but there is an officially registered invoice, a registered contract, a real service, I will pay all the related taxes in my home country and will not withdrawal more than 3000-4000 EUR totally on a total of 10-15.000, the rest will be used to pay some invoices by international wire transfer.

Great, thanks!

Yes I understood about no restrictions receiving money from the bank point of view but was not sure about the immigration/revenue department laws (sorry but I live in a country were even a wrong letter in a wire transfer description can cause you more then a headache).

Greetings,

I have read a lot of posts and seems there is no strict limitations about receiving money in Thailand but I'm in a quite unique situation : few days ago I had to flee my country do to war. Lukly I have a condo in Thailand and will stay here for a while hoping the situation in my home country cools down.

For my company services (programming made by employees) I get a some money every month, problem is that due to war my country banned money widthdraw.

Would it be possible to receive the payments on my personal Thai account ? The wire will come for a company (and this seems not to be a problem) but will clearly show that is for a specific invoice sent by me. Could it be a problem ?

Could Thai Immigration see this operation as job ?

Could Thai Revenues see this operation as a profit and should I pay some taxes ?

Of course I will pay the taxes in my country and will be able to show that I have paid everything if needed. It is just for 1-2 months and 10-15k EUR maximum.

Best regards!

Andrea

I know it is quite an old post but has anyone a photographer name to share ?

Better if based in Karon, I just need 8-10 photos of a construction site to see the building progress.

Well 5% net would be already very good, I was expecting 5% but not net! The 10% is the real estate agent fairy tale.

I know quite well the costs to renting (especially when you can't directly supervise them) since I already own quite a few condos in different cities around the world.

What I don't know is what happens in Thailand if owners don't pay their fees. Even in underdeveloped countries in east Europe if the owners don't pay the fees for a long time the condominium has the right to expropriate the condo. Is it not the same in Thailand ?

Thank you very much for the advice!

I indeed saw a lot of empty condos in Kata and Patong (much more than a few years ago) and I tried to find a project with good occupancy (at least in highest season I saw a lot of russian there, but since my wife comes from the ex-soviet block this is not a big matter).

Of course the real estate agent told me that I should expect at least 15-20 days occupancy per month in high season and a 10% p.a. return on rentals but I'm fully aware that it is absolutely impossible. My best expectations are for a 5% p.a. return on rentals (including the 3-4000 USD I would save or my rental), based on my calculation it should be 5 days per month of occupancy but based on your comments I suspect that I will be already lucky if I can pay back the maintenance fees.

I'm also aware of all the problems with Visa, immigrations visits and raising cost of life but I don't plan to be in Thailand for more 3-4 months per year and before choosing Thailand I have tried Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore before (don't like Carribean or Africa or Hawaii too much) and each has his pros and cons.

Other choices would be hotel managed condos like Absolute or Movenpick but while it works better for renting out, I don't like living in an hotel room and investment is only a secondary goal for me.

Based on your suggestion I have decided to wait and see what happens with the Bath. If it will go down to 32-33 to USD (what I made the math it was 28) I will buy anyway and forget about the investment part otherwise I will wait for a few years more.