Young Falang's

[Blackandwhite]

This is an observation only.

I first visited Thailnd some 15 years ago, at the time there were a few different types of Falang out there buying property with girlfriend or wife or if lucky both !

They fell into a few catagories

Old with money from home married thai living in nice house - old man dies family are then left money in will.

Older man with pension payout ( when they existed ) buys house for wife / girl friend lives happy ever after or splits from wife spend the remainder of pension on the fun life thailand offers

Average male in thailand of middle age, comes and goes with maybe the intention of moving to thailand to see out the winter months. Money there

Occasional young male marries nice lady and flit from place to place as building work is good in Europe and they holiday some for years then build own house

Oil workers drop in and out base in thailand supported by good income.

Poor man goes has the time of his life goes home poor saves against go back each year till he can't

The occasional younger person in thailand on holiday loves it begs to the bank of Mum and Dad back home buys a small house and bar - looses all goes home.

All the above meant houses were bought and sold at a good rate and kept then market high.

Also the European couples that fall in love with thailand and buy a house to holiday in, can't own it goes wrong they then sell house to try and recoup some money.

Now what I am seeing is younger men the same age as the ladies they are meeting falling in love and marrying thai ladies but and this is where I think things will change, they visa the ladies to europe live with family scrape enough money to buy a flat, the lady misses home and returns or they try to scrape enough money together to buy a house in europe, when they retire they can't afford to move to thailand as they have no spare cash as thing are tough in Europe and money scarce, pensions poor, investments non existant,

Even though esteticly it is nice for soppy people to see thai girls with men their age ( I don't mind either way ) there is a fundamental issues on many counts.

The money that has been brought into thailand unless there is a dramatic economical change will become lots less over the next 5 - 10 years. As the money that was there just is not there.

This in turn wil effect tourism and property, resorts and villages from Surat to issan are full of Falang and families with let's call old money, once the younger generation are heading to a time in life when they might choose to live in thailand they will not be able too, so what happens ??

Demand for property purchase goes down ?

Rental property becomes more popular ?

Houses retain value but less are required or maybe as rental demand goes up and yes there are lots of empty conds's ect empty already maybe house will also continue to be sold the the few that can afford them and rental properties ?

Thoughts

[Khun Jean]

You forget inflation. The mechanism that insures prices always go up. (not value!)

Salaries don't keep up, meaning owning will be more difficult every year.

Savings if existent drops in buying power.

What to do?

Spend it while you can. Preferably in things of value.

[Blackandwhite]

Also that is an issue also, genraly there is in the next ten year going to be lots less spare money coming in to Thailand so make you wonder what will happen to all those houses and condo's that are not being sold. Will it bring price down, my guess is yes or at least it will put prices back to what they should be for the destination.

Example is Hua Hin, very popular with Thias and falangs but they have different requirements to Europeans. Prices are extravagant to say the least surly property prices will have to stabilize or come down at some point.

[PattayaPhom]

Your first few paragraphs made me immediatly think of Lamai in Samui a few years back. Thailand is a changing place. With regards to property purchase you have overloked the domestic population of 65 Million, not to mention the influx of buyers from India, Malaysia, Singapore and Russia to name a few so a few old pensioners really is a drop in the ocean. As for the economy, what about 2015.....Of course, none of us have that crystal ball but Thailand and SE Asia are in a far better position than most of the world. Europe will see civil unrest on a scale not seen befor in the next 20-30 years, especially places like France and Holland with the changing demograph. First house I bought in the UK dropped 20% within 12 months and didnt increase for 7 years...but it was my home not an investment, and thats what people here are buying, homes.

[malcyx]

All the above meant houses were bought and sold at a good rate and kept then market high. ??

Average male in thailand of middle age, comes and goes with maybe the intention of moving to thailand to see out the winter months. Money there ..no house bought here.

.Oil workers drop in and out base in thailand supported by good income.. they dont all buy..

Poor man goes has the time of his life goes home poor saves against go back each year till he can't...no house bought.

This in turn wil effect tourism and property, resorts and villages from Surat to issan are full of Falang and families with let's call old money, once the younger generation are heading to a time in life when they might choose to live in thailand they will not be able too, so what happens ??... why not ? if thai can live their then farrang who live thir all there lives should cope.. get a job , start a business and live normal..

Thailand export will increase year by year especially the food stuffs they grow n sell. All the farrangs are irrelivant in the big picture...There will always be torists in thailand, masses of chinese n japanese will keep that going lol..

Europeans dnt contribute as much as you think percentage wise...

Dont forget there minaral wealth underground, gold,copper,rubis etc..

Its cheaper to live day to day in thailand compared to europe so people who are wise and work out what they need to have financially before they buy property will still do so...

[aussiebebe]

I agree with malcyx; the OP's assessment about the impact of older Westerners on the Thai housing market in overblown, they have, at most, a negligible impact. The market for condos may well be oversupplied but that has nothing to do with a statistically insignificant number of Western pensioners; even if fewer settle in the future, such tiny fluctuations will be compensated for other unpredictable events. I have two Japanese friends, for example, desperately concerned after the earthquake there a few years ago; they feel their government is concealing the truth about the extent of radiation which affects everything right down to the food they eat. I'll wager that just only the number of Japanese nearing retirement now looking more favourably at Thailand outnumber any possible decline in older Westerners in Thailand.

[johnnyk]

Western falangs tend to wildly overestimate their importance to the Thai economy. Mainly because they know nothing beyond the falang bar scene and think their beer consumption and bar fines are sustaining the Thai economy.

Thailand is turning its attention to tourists from the Asian land mass, including Russia where there is plenty of new money, few places in the sun in their own country and fewer with any charm. Chinese are traveling abroad in greater numbers, Koreans have money too. Asia is getting richer and that's where the market is.

Good point about the Japanese, their government's handlng of the tsunami has shaken them and they are rightly very concerned.

[bangkokburning]

The Japanese no longer come here because it is not thought of as safe. Japanese really prize saftey. They are done with Thailand.