Rawai / Nai Harn (over)development

[pooket]

I moved to the Rawai / Nai Harn area in May. I walk every day for exercise and have noticed a lot of building and construction going on. I also see a lot of houses with "for rent / for sale" signs on them. I don't understand. If there are a lot of vacant properties, why all the construction? Is it so busy from Nov. to April that there is a need for these homes to be built? Most of them are big, expensive monsters. Is there really a market for such huge homes? I would love to hear some comments from people that have lived in this area for a while. Thanks!

[thefalang]

This is a classic example of what the absence of a coherent master plan, zoning laws and a planning dept can result in. It's a construction get-rich-quick "free-for-all" with no real practical thinking involved. Commercial construction with no parking, etc, etc. Legal set backs from the road & beach & basic development/construction legal requirements are not enforced.

The local Or Bor Tor should be shut down. The Or Bor Tor officials are profiteering from extortion, receiving graft for illegal construction, charging fictitious fees, etc, etc. It's a disgrace to Thailand and is responsible for much of the "ad hoc" non-conforming, illegal construction in this area.

Nai Harn & Rawaii was actually quite nice 15-20 yrs ago. It looks like Patong more and more every day.

[steelepulse]

I'd like to know who is actually buying and moving into these places?  Certainly there can't be this many people out there looking to move to Nai Harn/Rawai are there?

Yeah there is definitely some illegal buildings around.  What ever happened to that illegal development over at Ao Sane?  I have neighbors on both sides of me that are much closer to the median high tide line than the law allows.  One 3 year old house is directly on the sand with a concrete retaining wall supposedly there to stop erosion. Sure that 3 storey house is 50 meters back.

[fiddlehead]

Thais sure love their shophouses aye?

How many vacant (new) ones are for rent in the Nai Harn/Rawai area at the moment?

At least 40 from my guessing.

Will they ever fill up? I highly doubt it.

Who's paying for it all? The banks.

[chickencurry]

I moved to the Rawai / Nai Harn area in May. I walk every day for exercise and have noticed a lot of building and construction going on. I also see a lot of houses with "for rent / for sale" signs on them. I don't understand. If there are a lot of vacant properties, why all the construction? Is it so busy from Nov. to April that there is a need for these homes to be built? Most of them are big, expensive monsters. Is there really a market for such huge homes? I would love to hear some comments from people that have lived in this area for a while. Thanks!

I live in Nai Harn. I don't claim to have been here "for a while" but have been here 9 months now and did see the high-season. Yes, it was very packed out Dec/Jan/Feb, quite shockingly so. We were between properties at end December and had to find a rental place for a month and, believe me, it was very very difficult (and that was booking 6 months beforehand). As for this year.... well, who knows with the world recession, political turmoil, and currency volatility if it will be just as busy.

I think there probably is a market for the big homes (long term) - but it's the new money mainly (Chinese, Russian) and not to forget Singapore and Hong Kong. Bear in mind that a big home in Rawai/Nai Harn costs nothing compared with a tiny condo in Singapore - so it's a big attraction. Maybe there won't be so many Westerners buying in the future (but who knows).

As prev poster said, clearly there's a lot of dodgy developments being built and that's a big concern.

I hear quite a few of the old-timers saying Rawai or Nai Harn was better 10, 15 years ago, but that depends on what you mean. I don't know but I imagine that there was more spectacular scenery, obviously less housing. But personally I wouldn't want to live in the middle of nowhere with few shops, restaurants, banks, hospitals - but guess I'm just practical (probably an age thing ).

[petitechevre]

if u want to see crazy, go toward chalong circle (the road on your right from rawai)

everytime on your right you see a small road, go through it.. after 1 km you're gonna find developement of smallish western houses. after that u drive like 500m and fnid an other one.. all empty xcept maybe 1 sometimes.. owned 90% by the same westerner trying to rent those crap small houses unfurnished for 20kbaht/month he even ptus dif phone numbers on the 'for rent/sale' signs that all forward to the same one...

Who the hel_l would be dumb enouhg to rent/buy a house 1kilo away from the main road, in dirt trracks surrounded by houses that all look the same for the same price as u get in a close to main road 'secured park' with concrete roads and a 7/11 nearby.

[pooket]

I started this thread 8 days ago...yesterday a large plot of land 50 meters from my house was cleared. Today, they stated building small temporary structures. When will it all end? Personally, I feel this area is in danger of losing its charm. If I wanted people everywhere, I would've moved to Patong.

Also, what's up with the denuded mountainsides in the Nai Harn area. Do Thai people have a word for "erosion"?

[kerr17]

I started this thread 8 days ago...yesterday a large plot of land 50 meters from my house was cleared. Today, they stated building small temporary structures. When will it all end? Personally, I feel this area is in danger of losing its charm. If I wanted people everywhere, I would've moved to Patong.

Also, what's up with the denuded mountainsides in the Nai Harn area. Do Thai people have a word for "erosion"?

By the way dos anyone know where to buy a nice and cheap piece of land where to build an house around that area ?

[LivinginKata]

By the way dos anyone know where to buy a nice and cheap piece of land where to build an house around that area ?

That made me laugh... nice & cheap land .... just does not work out. I truely wish you the best of luck ....

[kerr17]

By the way dos anyone know where to buy a nice and cheap piece of land where to build an house around that area ?

That made me laugh... nice & cheap land .... just does not work out. I truely wish you the best of luck ....

happy to make you laugh, by the way thanks for your advice, and thanks for your wishes, seems already to work out

I live so many years in that areas that it won't be difficult to find something suitable to me.

Cheers

[steelepulse]

There is some nice and cheap land, it's just got bad title.  There's lots of tor bor 6 land around that supposedly one day will be converted to chanote.....or at least that's what the land sellers have been saying for years.

7 or 8 years ago I knew some clown that bought this type of land, started building on it, then one day the local gov't official came by and told him to stop.  This didn't sit well with this chap so he punched the gov't official.  Next thing you know the guy is run out of the country and lost his 3 million baht.

[LivinginKata]

There is some nice and cheap land, it's just got bad title. There's lots of tor bor 6 land around that supposedly one day will be converted to chanote.....or at least that's what the land sellers have been saying for years.

The ONLY land title acceptable (to me) is Chanote or Nor Sor 3 Gor. Maybe Nor Sor 3 is acceptable, but it takes a month waiting period before title can be transferred, allowing time for any objections or title claim by another party.

[steelepulse]

There is some nice and cheap land, it's just got bad title. There's lots of tor bor 6 land around that supposedly one day will be converted to chanote.....or at least that's what the land sellers have been saying for years.

The ONLY land title acceptable (to me) is Chanote or Nor Sor 3 Gor. Maybe Nor Sor 3 is acceptable, but it takes a month waiting period before title can be transferred, allowing time for any objections or title claim by another party.

I'm with you, so with that in mind, I don't think there is any nice and cheap land in Rawai/Nai Harn.

[paulfromphuket]

Buy land. They've stopped making it. - Mark Twain

[steelepulse]

>>Buy land. They've stopped making it. - Mark Twain

Been to Singapore lately?  They make land there and call it "reclaimed" land.

I think Mark meant to say, buy "high in demand land" such as ocean front, certainly not "ocean view" and definitely not "mountain view", and definitely defintely not "overbuilt shophouses in Rawai".