3 hours ago, webfact said:

Now they were pressing the government to offer long stay privileges for those who invest 5 million baht in property so that they could get visas of one year duration renewable five times. 

Even if you used an agent at 15,000 a year, that 75k comes in 4,925,000 less than the silly option of buying a house or condo to get the same privilege. 

With their treatment of Elite visa holders the Thai Govt have, once again, shown themselves to be completely untrustworthy. Which foreigner would believe any promises they make? 

8 minutes ago, biggles45 said:

Which foreigner would believe any promises they make?

The Chinese of course ????

You want to stimulate the economy let us spend the 800,000 baht that is gathering dust in a Thai bank!

3 minutes ago, bikerlou47 said:

You want to stimulate the economy let us spend the 800,000 baht that is gathering dust in a Thai bank!

Those 800k are being spend, 10x over, just not by you.

Fractional banking means the bank can lend out million of baht with your 800k as collateral. 

In last years visa procedures have only become more complicated and so the majority of foreigners have already left to more welcoming places. Instead of easing visas just stop to build condos ????.

Interesting how government officials are the first to let go of integrity and merit for a few quid.    It is all just a game to them.   Just like calling a national emergency then having to recall it.  Were the Shinawatras this bad?  One would guess the 1% own most of these condos.    

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

No question the property market is in bad shape. And few in a position of authority are facing the music. Courageous of BAM chairman Bunyong Visatemongkolchai to state the truth. The pain will be felt for many years to come. I anticipate condo prices to drop by half. A friend of mine recently moved to Pattaya. He looked at condos in Jomtien. He walked into one of the nicest towers, looked at a 36th floor unit with panoramic views, and when he was quoted 26,000 a month, he offered 10,000. Though the agent was either shocked, or pretended to be shocked, they settled on 13,000. He said the agent more or less admitted the building was nearly empty, and they could not rent or sell anything, at this time. 
 
Demand is way down. The Chinese market is nearly gone, Russians and others are very hesitant to commit. And the long term tourists are gone too. So, who does that leave? Wealthy Thais, many of whom see the market collapsing, and would rather wait and see how all of this shakes out, and ex-pats with cash, many of whom are smart enough to be shopping for bargains right now. 

 

Anyone interested in buying a condo right now, would be better off waiting awhile. Timing is on your side. Time is now your ally. The economy is going remain devastated here, for a very long time to come. And the longer this goes on, the more people are going to be affected by it, and the more desperate some will become. For the wealthy it barely matters. But, there are many middle class people who have money invested, and there are alot of Chinese and Russians who bought, and cannot even visit Thailand. Some of them will want to unload their properties. Wait. The condo market is severely overbuilt. And demand is low, for all but the top buildings, in the best locations. For condos and houses in the suburbs, and the smaller cities, the market is very soft. 

 

You always sound like expert on everything. 

1 hour ago, CraigInBangkok said:

can't see the igloo doing so well here, although they may be able to sell ice by the truck load ????????

They are known as Inuit, and I don’t think they’d like the weather in Thailand. I did meet one once in a bar on soi 22. He was from Greenland.

This is the most bad idea of all.   It will be the last nail in the coffin for cheap land houses in Thailand.  Once there is no restriction of land ownership it will all be bought up.  
 

Many foreigners and also you with

a Thai wife would want relaxing on land ownership.   But believe me.  The situation you will find yourself in a few years ahead is nothing you will wish for.  
there are hundreds of thousand Chinese people that would buy house and land if they could. 
 

Be warned !

4 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

the fastest way to fix the Thai real estate market especially the condo market is to give a five year visa to anyone who buys a condo over one million baht. BUT NOOOOOOOO.

Why not make it 500k...pick-up those quality Nirum Condo buyers in Pattaya too?

4 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

After 5 years, then what?

 

 

Either another 5 years or more likely 1 year extendable...not too complicated.

4 hours ago, Grumpy John said:

Will take much more than that to entice people to buy now....well Westerners.  The government must think because they live in a bubble the world outside Thailand doesn't know whats going on in Thailand.   Soon to be retired William and Sarah from Buckinghamshire have done their due diligence and decided Malaysia would be a nice place for a holiday home.  Vietnam and Myanmar are on their short list but after several visits to Malaysia they are pretty much sold.

Who said anyone wants more Westerners in Thailand...this is Asia remember. You really need to get over yourselves...Westerners haven't been the apple in any Asian's eye for at least 20 years.

3 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

As the Chinese economy continues to suffer, we will see thousands, maybe tens of thousands of Chinese buying garbage Thai property. 

Or sellling, if they need to raise working capital to keep businesses going. Not sure how it'll net out.

1 hour ago, holy cow cm said:

Err, if you have been with a gal married for over 5 years and can prove as have stayed with her then what is the problem? Don't think these IO's are people who just fell off the cookie truck and can't tell body chemistry. Even now days they have better checks and balances on the marriages and my current wife is not one of those gals you seem to look down upon. And what does that have to do with the price of tea in Japan even if some guy fell in love with a gal who was serving beer or giving companionship? We still cannot outright own things here for the most part. For me no biggie as I have children to take over on all invested assets as well as my wife.

 

Ill-repute? Sounds like what the masses of Thai think about the elite and powers that be. The stigma of bar girl and foreigner is fading as the dating websites are producing more different types of couples now. I have been here a long long time, and back in the day one might have been able to grease a palm or two and easily got the PR. The fact is a foreign woman married to a Thai guy has all green lights, where we as gentlemen do not as it is a double racist standard. If these elites and regime were or are ever banished from power  then this might just be a better society for us who have made a life here. I do think the USA and all other countries should do a Tit for Tat and see how their people like it.

 

By going on the offensive you have completely missed the point about more affluent foreign men exploiting poor local women which is the main concern of the authorities here.

 

The opposite rarely happens thus foreign women marrying Thai men is not of a similar concern.

 

You may think the stigma is disappearing but as Thailand is a very conservative country under the surface, older Westerners marrying young Thai women especially those of questionably repute will never be socially acceptable to the vast majority of Thais.

 

PR is fairly easy if you are determined enough. Get a job, pay taxes for three years, learn to speak Thai and then apply for permanent residency. It's not rocket science.

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

Even if you used an agent at 15,000 a year, that 75k comes in 4,925,000 less than the silly option of buying a house or condo to get the same privilege. 

The agent option may disappear. (Until about 2006 it was possible to get 1 year 'business visas' for China, no questions asked, in HK. By 2008 6m was the maximum, and the price had doubled. Around the 2008 Olympics the visa agents started saying "meiyou".)

2 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

PR is fairly easy if you are determined enough. Get a job, pay taxes for three years, learn to speak Thai and then apply for permanent residency. It's not rocket science.

That assumes someone wants/needs/is able to do a job (of the kind available to a foreigner in Thailand).

Just now, onebir said:

That assumes someone wants/needs/is able to do a job (of the kind available to a foreigner in Thailand).

Then don't complain if you don't want to put in the effort to get permanent residency.

 

People here think it should be a gimme if they get a massage while on holiday.

3 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

Does ANYONE STILL believe foreign tourism and related spending is merely 9% of GDP? ANYONE??!!

Yes... you need to look up 'multiplier effects' which are large for employment intensive sectors (especially where productivity, or value added per employee, which is what gets counted in GDP, is low.).

5 minutes ago, onebir said:

The agent option may disappear.

In a country of backhanders, I seriously doubt that.

"Stimulating the economy" would actually not only require honesty and transparency, but a fair amount of alive and working brain cells generating synaptic sparks within the skulls of those people in charge... Given this, I find it rather difficult to hold my breath.

Clarifying laws on short term rentals would help.....Yield is what finally drives every investment.... apart from bubbles

1 minute ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Then don't complain if you don't want to put in the effort to get permanent residency.

Wanting 'to do a job that doesn't suit you'; and 'wanting to get permanent residence' are equivalent?

The 49% condo total area  & land ownership rules are a good idea.

Without them it would end up like Cambodia ,,,,,,,just a mess

The developers who have been saturating the condo market must be really hurting & I

for one have no sympathy for them as the overdevelopment was just    GREED not proper planning.

Whoever did their feasabilities in the last 6 years must be smoking something

Q house on Sukhumvit 6 a classic example Prices start at 18mill,,, joke.

I see 3 units occupied (I presume sold)

Their holding costs must be killing them

 

1 minute ago, RichardColeman said:

In a country of backhanders, I seriously doubt that.

And China isn't???

Just now, onebir said:

Wanting 'to do a job that doesn't suit you'; and 'wanting to get permanent residence' are equivalent?

The criteria to obtain PR is quite clear and if you want to get it you have to put in the effort.

 

Why would you do a job that doesn't suit you? There are plenty of options if you are clever enough. 

 

6 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Why would you do a job that doesn't suit you? There are plenty of options if you are clever enough. 

I don't think being "clever" has anything to do with it. It depends on what your skill set is. In my field, there are probably only 2 companies that would pay the salary I would want and I worked for one them already for 9 stress ridden years. Not everyones situation is the same as yours. 

Ahaa.... ALL those empty condos on sukumvit road with the lights turned on at night?

NO? 
it’s coming boys hold on! 
that’s what she said 

2 minutes ago, CraigInBangkok said:

I don't think being "clever" has anything to do with it. It depends on what your skill set is. In my field, there are probably only 2 companies that would pay the salary I would want and I worked for one them already for 9 stress ridden years. Not everyones situation is the same as yours. 

If you worked for them for nine years then why didn't you apply for PR?

Amazing that they can address getting Visas for more investors, But are Ignoring the

ones that have ALREADY invested in Thailand with families and properties but can NOT

return to Thailand since many are out of the Country since March due to bad Air Quality.

This is a shameful way to treat long term supporters of the Thai Economy. The focus on 

short term Chinese tourists is a slap in the face to the long term Expats.