A Piece Of Land In The Kingdom

[Pierrot]

If you could buy a piece of land in Thailand, around 20 rais, where would it be and what would you do with it ? I'm looking for a small activity that can pay the bills and allow me to dig in my savings in case of emergency only.

[Pakeha]

If I 'could' buy a piece of land I'd buy Beach front land in an area with practically no tourists (I'm not saying exactly where although expect a few members will know which area I'd be talking about) and build a nice little eco-friendly resort. Sorry - I should say 'supervise the building of'...

If tourists came I'd have an income. If they didn't - who cares I'd have somewhere nice to live while I worried about my dwindling savings and bad investment decisions....

[teacup]

I would buy up the place and set up some kind of eco-tourism - for simple relaxation and meditation

The place that has…..

A beautiful valley with grass so green it hurts your eyes!

The sky so blue, the clouds so white, and the wind so gentle.

Or

You can watch the sunset or rise, with a wave dancing in the distant - over the ocean at a very warm secluded beach…..

I would make sure that…..nobody is around you and nobody is watching you, wind is blowing continuously, birds are cheerping in the background……where honeymooners can go to relax and be close to the true nature, or for people who need a place…”Just To Think”

……in their own tent!.......haha

[Pierrot]

eco-tourism, eco-resort, eco-friendly ... eco is all the rage at the moment. What gives the label "eco" to a resort ?

Edited January 23, 2009 by Pierrot

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Marketing. And getting away with not providing lots of stuff because it's not eco.

If I'd pick the current key words in the hospitality industry then it'd be "Boutique Eco Homestay". Just add the name of wherever your land is and there you go for a name.

But anyway, running any kind of hotel/resort/homestay type of business I think doesn't qualify as 'a small activity'.. It's a major investment, and also a major (more than) full-time job.

Edited January 23, 2009 by WinnieTheKhwai

[thesunset75]

I dont want to buy, im selling all what I have instead

[LennyW]

Grow tatties, good quality ones!!

[Pierrot]

Marketing. And getting away with not providing lots of stuff because it's not eco.

If I'd pick the current key words in the hospitality industry then it'd be "Boutique Eco Homestay". Just add the name of wherever your land is and there you go for a name.

But anyway, running any kind of hotel/resort/homestay type of business I think doesn't qualify as 'a small activity'.. It's a major investment, and also a major (more than) full-time job.

If you don't want to compete with Hilton, why should it be? We have been staying in a number of B&B usually run by families who want to get some additional income, of course you need to be organized but it can be a good way to make friends from all over the world and make some extra money in the process.

[yabaaaa]

eco-tourism, eco-resort, eco-friendly ... eco is all the rage at the moment. What gives the label "eco" to a resort ?

Usually marketing BS!! I can see global warmimg and eco friendly going out of the window now the world is in the S*** People will want cheap at any cost.

[Huey]

eco-tourism, eco-resort, eco-friendly ... eco is all the rage at the moment. What gives the label "eco" to a resort ?

Usually marketing BS!! I can see global warmimg and eco friendly going out of the window now the world is in the S*** People will want cheap at any cost.

Exactly Eco and Boutique....<deleted> is boutique...just marketing. And eco usually means getting less and paying more. Give me the classic full service hotel style like the Mandarin Oriental, any day.

[Pakeha]

When I say 'eco' I just mean a resort that has a minimal impact on the natural environment and is operated in a sustainable manner.

So instead of rollin in and bulldozing everything to build bungalows, with no thought of runoff into the waterways you build around the natural landscape - low impact.

Minimise waste - plastic water bottles etc.

Eco is an overused marketing term but the concept itself is good. Simple changes to reduce peoples impact on the surroundings we develop. Look at Kho Phi Phi... That's the exact opposite of what I'm talking about.

[billd766]

We have 20 rai in 2 lots, one we live on and another 2 km up the road where my wife has a small shop and noodle stall. Half where we live is planted with cassava but the price of that has dropped this year.

On the other part she plans to put in a few small places, 1 room, toilet shower, no air just a fan, and rent them out at 2 or 300 baht a night. We live on the edge of the Mae Wong national park and it is a simple way of life.

She wants to build them basic and Thai style with no frills.

For me it just means running a power cable from the shop to each hut in series, getting someone to build a septic drain tank and running a water pipe from one to another.

Perhaps we will dig a fish pond close so that people can fish off the hut and there will be NO ADSL, local TV only if you bring it with you, no luxuries or western style anything and it will cost about 300 baht a night.

Good views, good food and a place to relax.

The huts may cost as much as 50,000 baht to build or less as I havent costed it out yet and the running cost may be as high as 75 baht a day. The village is 8 k down the road if you need to buy things but my wife has a shop and restaurant there and she is making a good living now without that but I am 65 this year and we need to invest in her and our sons future after I die.

[Pierrot]

I think the investment needed shouldn't be so high but we really need to think out of the box.

I see a lot of young educated Thais, bored with the city life, moving to the countryside and they have a lot of very imaginative projects : eco resorts, bio agriculture, even theme restaurants in the middle of nowhere. Of course no all succeed but if we want to invest in the long term it would be wrong to consider Thailand as a backwater country.

Hence the brainstorming …