Pattaya Crowded?

[sokal]

I read a comment from one of those pseudo TWITter "reporters" on the daily red rampage news ticker saying that the roads to Pattaya were heaving. Apart from anotherw^nker (who didn't want to come anyway but notably drove past much nearer and arguably nicer destinations just so he could come to Pattaya and winge about it), are there more out-of-town locals about? You can easily spot them, they have Bangkok rego's and jam up the Pattaya Klang-Soi 9 area as they circle their "mall away from the madness".

PS I was planning being in Pattaya this Thursday but I have extended this little moneyspinner in Vietnam by a week so that's a handy extra $10k in the pocket! The Soi 6 wife will be soooo happy to see me.

This is what traffic was like in the middle of the day on May 16 2010, the hight of the red shirt protests

[Heng]

I think everyone knows where one particular casino will be, just waiting for that one inevitable event that no one's heart is looking forward to, but hey, life must go on and 5-10-15 year plans should be followed regardless. We have acquired quite a bit of property and have built two neighborhoods right in the area.

[barryofthailand]

Looks like normal traffic to me, although theirs a lot to be said about your motorbike riding skills.

Barry

[sokal]

I think everyone knows where one particular casino will be, just waiting for that one inevitable event that no one's heart is looking forward to, but hey, life must go on and 5-10-15 year plans should be followed regardless. We have acquired quite a bit of property and have built two neighborhoods right in the area.

So would that 750,000 bht Koral studio be a decent investment or not ? I just want it to maintain value.

[Heng]

I think everyone knows where one particular casino will be, just waiting for that one inevitable event that no one's heart is looking forward to, but hey, life must go on and 5-10-15 year plans should be followed regardless. We have acquired quite a bit of property and have built two neighborhoods right in the area.

So would that 750,000 bht Koral studio be a decent investment or not ? I just want it to maintain value.

Just IMO, but a box of air supported by pillars that will likely crumble in X amount of time is not an investment. Now if you can find away to own that small square of dirt beneath it and build hundreds of such boxes above it, where just a few dozen boxes covers your cost of construction AND cost of acquisition of said dirt square, now that IS an investment with some decent return.

[sokal]

I think everyone knows where one particular casino will be, just waiting for that one inevitable event that no one's heart is looking forward to, but hey, life must go on and 5-10-15 year plans should be followed regardless. We have acquired quite a bit of property and have built two neighborhoods right in the area.

So would that 750,000 bht Koral studio be a decent investment or not ? I just want it to maintain value.

Just IMO, but a box of air supported by pillars that will likely crumble in X amount of time is not an investment. Now if you can find away to own that small square of dirt beneath it and build hundreds of such boxes above it, where just a few dozen boxes covers your cost of construction AND cost of acquisition of said dirt square, now that IS an investment with some decent return.

If its such a slam dunk for the developers then go buy some shares of the Major Development Public Company LTD.

Sure its a box of air (fully furnished and air coned) but $24,100 Canadian dollars is not allot of money either. Especially considering that a casino could go up next door.

What can you get for that money ? a decent used sports car ?

[Rimmer]

This is what traffic was like in the middle of the day on May 16 2010, the height of the red shirt protests[/url]

Enjoyed that tremendously, scary ride though cut down handlebars?

[Chunky1]

a casino will solve all of thailands problems.

for those who have been to macau, you know the level of training and skills in management that the staff possess. not to mention being fluent in english. not to mention cc tv throughout the island, no police corruption. i am trying to picture a thai casino in my mind and it ain't happening. a line up of tuk tuks outside and the taxi mafia? classy... thai gov corruption + a casino is just lol.

i can picture one of those hotel casinos for farang like tehy have in korea.

Edited May 30, 2010 by Chunky1

[Chunky1]

u guys keep talking about pattaya attracting people with money. what does pattaya offer people with money that bangkok/singapore/hk/macau/shanghai/tokyo/Taipei/Macao dont besides LOW COST...

it's designed for MIDDLE CLASS tourists. even Thais with money avoid it. u guys should do some more traveling beyond the mini van to Cambodia visa run, that u think patters is the height of sophistication and going to attract "the real money".

[Phil Conners]

The soothsayers have been proven wrong. Well into its second year Central hasn't gone broke and hasn't collapsed.

Why do you keep beating that dead horse? It hasn't collapsed YET - and hopefully it won't - but fact is there were some dodgy "fixes" done to the structure.

[sokal]

u guys keep talking about pattaya attracting people with money. what does pattaya offer people with money that bangkok/singapore/hk/macau/shanghai/tokyo/Taipei/Macao dont besides LOW COST...

it's designed for MIDDLE CLASS tourists. even Thais with money avoid it. u guys should do some more traveling beyond the mini van to Cambodia visa run, that u think patters is the height of sophistication and going to attract "the real money".

people with real money like low costs, thats why they are rich

[Chunky1]

lol

Keep telling yourself that Sokal, if it helps ease the pain.

I really do think that this whole obsession with Russians/Thai tourists in Patters comes down to jealousy. Farang who are living modestly insist that these people are wealthy and not middle class because that would mean that they (the farang) are lower than middle class. I would love for you to tell me what Pattaya offers that the other cities I listed don't.

Edited May 30, 2010 by Chunky1

[actiondell4]

Maybe, I dunno. I was looking at a new studio called the Koral. Brand new condo with modern furnishing for a whopping 750,000 bht. Thats beer money.

Would probaly be ok if you were going to live in it yourself,but i think it would be hard to rent out,thus sitting idle.

Edited May 30, 2010 by actiondell4

[Heng]

I think everyone knows where one particular casino will be, just waiting for that one inevitable event that no one's heart is looking forward to, but hey, life must go on and 5-10-15 year plans should be followed regardless. We have acquired quite a bit of property and have built two neighborhoods right in the area.

So would that 750,000 bht Koral studio be a decent investment or not ? I just want it to maintain value.

Just IMO, but a box of air supported by pillars that will likely crumble in X amount of time is not an investment. Now if you can find away to own that small square of dirt beneath it and build hundreds of such boxes above it, where just a few dozen boxes covers your cost of construction AND cost of acquisition of said dirt square, now that IS an investment with some decent return.

If its such a slam dunk for the developers then go buy some shares of the Major Development Public Company LTD.

Sure its a box of air (fully furnished and air coned) but $24,100 Canadian dollars is not allot of money either. Especially considering that a casino could go up next door.

What can you get for that money ? a decent used sports car ?

Didn't say it was a slam dunk, was saying it was an actual investment compared to what the customers actually get, which IMO is very little in the long run regardless of decor. I own a few condos as well, but I don't look at them as investments, more like a convenient service (a place to drop into now and then when I'm out late, a place to put visiting relatives I don't want at my house, etc.... also easily mothballed and relatively secure).

Agree it's not a lot of money, and yeah certainly a better 'will depreciate to zero' item than a used sport car (which will depreciate to zero a lot faster). Not absolute zero of course as you likely will have recourse to a few square centimeters or perhaps even meters of property in the first case and you'll have quite a bit of steel and aluminum in the latter case.

Nothing against condos or toys, I have both, but you did ask what I thought about it as an "investment."

[tropo]

The soothsayers have been proven wrong. Well into its second year Central hasn't gone broke and hasn't collapsed.

Why do you keep beating that dead horse? It hasn't collapsed YET - and hopefully it won't - but fact is there were some dodgy "fixes" done to the structure.

I just mentioned it in passing as a joke. It would seem you're the one "beating that dead horse".

[whynot?]

Pattaya is one hour from Bangkok and by the sea. Geography says it will never die

dude-you drive a Ferrari or what?

[sokal]

lol

Keep telling yourself that Sokal, if it helps ease the pain.

I really do think that this whole obsession with Russians/Thai tourists in Patters comes down to jealousy. Farang who are living modestly insist that these people are wealthy and not middle class because that would mean that they (the farang) are lower than middle class. I would love for you to tell me what Pattaya offers that the other cities I listed don't.

-your aloud to drink and drive

-you have the option of buying your way out of trouble

-lots of cheap counterfeit merchandise

-cheap good food

-cheap jet ski and street bike rental. 750 bht for 24 hours on a brand new CBR 600 like <deleted>?

-contraband available at pharmacies.

-Mcdonalds and berger king

-nice shopping malls

-nice cheap modern condo's

[sokal]

Didn't say it was a slam dunk, was saying it was an actual investment compared to what the customers actually get, which IMO is very little in the long run regardless of decor. I own a few condos as well, but I don't look at them as investments, more like a convenient service (a place to drop into now and then when I'm out late, a place to put visiting relatives I don't want at my house, etc.... also easily mothballed and relatively secure).

Agree it's not a lot of money, and yeah certainly a better 'will depreciate to zero' item than a used sport car (which will depreciate to zero a lot faster). Not absolute zero of course as you likely will have recourse to a few square centimeters or perhaps even meters of property in the first case and you'll have quite a bit of steel and aluminum in the latter case.

Nothing against condos or toys, I have both, but you did ask what I thought about it as an "investment."

True enough, the condo flipping days are over but that is not really what I meant by investment. Casino's have a history of attracting allot of money and allot of attention when they come into town though.In the long run, adjusted for inflation, that 750,000 condo might be a better place to dump some pocket change now then you think, especially if you can use it yourself.

[Heng]

Didn't say it was a slam dunk, was saying it was an actual investment compared to what the customers actually get, which IMO is very little in the long run regardless of decor. I own a few condos as well, but I don't look at them as investments, more like a convenient service (a place to drop into now and then when I'm out late, a place to put visiting relatives I don't want at my house, etc.... also easily mothballed and relatively secure).

Agree it's not a lot of money, and yeah certainly a better 'will depreciate to zero' item than a used sport car (which will depreciate to zero a lot faster). Not absolute zero of course as you likely will have recourse to a few square centimeters or perhaps even meters of property in the first case and you'll have quite a bit of steel and aluminum in the latter case.

Nothing against condos or toys, I have both, but you did ask what I thought about it as an "investment."

True enough, the condo flipping days are over but that is not really what I meant by investment. Casino's have a history of attracting allot of money and allot of attention when they come into town though.In the long run, adjusted for inflation, that 750,000 condo might be a better place to dump some pocket change now then you think, especially if you can use it yourself.

Yeah, if you put it that way, I'd agree... the most important part there is the 'use it yourself' part. Ideally the land we've acquired is potentially for folks who might want to build condos or neighborhoods or other with folks like you in mind.

[Chunky1]

lol

Keep telling yourself that Sokal, if it helps ease the pain.

I really do think that this whole obsession with Russians/Thai tourists in Patters comes down to jealousy. Farang who are living modestly insist that these people are wealthy and not middle class because that would mean that they (the farang) are lower than middle class. I would love for you to tell me what Pattaya offers that the other cities I listed don't.

-your aloud to drink and drive

-you have the option of buying your way out of trouble

-lots of cheap counterfeit merchandise

-cheap good food

-cheap jet ski and street bike rental. 750 bht for 24 hours on a brand new CBR 600 like <deleted>?

-contraband available at pharmacies.

-Mcdonalds and berger king

-nice shopping malls

-nice cheap modern condo's

Did you forget which side of the argument you were on?

[johnwboy]

In my opinion it is ALWAYS worth going to Pattaya... No matter what the critics of Pattaya say, its a fun place and quite the holiday town.

Go and enjoy it...

But yes, there are alot of Arabs, Indians and Russians there.

Oh man... all these negitive posts about Patty. Was a visitor to BKK back in the sixties, and thought it was a great place. Now want to visit Patty to check it out for future retirement (next year) but now don't know for sure, with all the negitivity going around. It still has to be better then the US.

[Michaelaway]

In my opinion it is ALWAYS worth going to Pattaya... No matter what the critics of Pattaya say, its a fun place and quite the holiday town.

Go and enjoy it...

But yes, there are alot of Arabs, Indians and Russians there.

Oh man... all these negitive posts about Patty. Was a visitor to BKK back in the sixties, and thought it was a great place. Now want to visit Patty to check it out for future retirement (next year) but now don't know for sure, with all the negitivity going around. It still has to be better then the US.

Please don't take to heart all of the negativity you read here. These guys' days aren't complete without a bit of Thai or Pattaya-bashing, but they don't represent the majority of farangs living here; just the loud, obnoxious minority. While it is true that Pattaya attracts many farangs looking for wilder action, it is definitely still possible to enjoy a comfortable, peaceful and relaxing (normal) lifestyle here. Please do come here for a look-see; don't be disuaded by ignorant negativity... it is better than the U.S.!

[Heng]

Generalization alert...

Make sure you are able to afford it for the long term. Independent income (whether interest or rental is easy enough) from abroad. A lot of whingers are stuck in situations where they can't earn much locally while their expenses continually increase. They can't go home because they become more outdated and unemployable with each passing year.

Make sure you don't get locked in a relationship where you are a 'family' slave with no personal freedom. I've seen a lot of unhappy fellows who definitely don't wear that pants in their house and seem like they are just a step up from work horse, only you push a shopping cart instead of a pulling a wagon or other farming equipment.