PM proposes low-cost housing for low-income families

[webfact]

PM proposes low-cost housing for low-income families
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- PRIME Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha Monday floated the idea of building low-cost apartments for low-income people at locations close to mass-transit stations or major public-transport systems.

"Each unit should cost no more than Bt300,000," he said. "This means buyers will only have to pay a monthly instalment of just between Bt1,000 and Bt2,000."

His proposal aims to pull people out of slums and clear public spaces, such as plots along public waterways, for common use.

The prime minister said this while presiding over a ceremony held to mark World Environment Day, which is marked on June 5 every year.

At the ceremony, the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion signed a memorandum of cooperation with other countries to campaign that people refrain from using plastic bags on the 15th of every month at least.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/PM-proposes-low-cost-housing-for-low-income-famili-30262342.html


-- The Nation 2015-06-15

[lildragon]

Ohh? You'd have to get rid of all the big fancy high so condos next to them Mr PM. Good luck to you on that.

[djjamie]

With the proposed rail and transit networks proposed in the future this will be a great location for the planned accommodation for the poor.

Being close to transit points though I would not be surprised if the poor rent the units out for 5k to 10k a month and stay in the slums that they are accustomed to while pocketing the rent money.

If it was to proceed it needs to be regulated so that the poor it is aimed to help are the ones living in it. Thailand has learnt a bitter lesson in projects aimed for the poor when in fact it is everyone except the poor that benefits from it.

Lets not go back to those dark days.

[tonbridgebrit]

Yes General, this is a super idea. Please go ahead and do it. Put up thousands of these units, how about tens of thousands ?

Actually, not just near mass-transit stations and major public-transport systems. How about in areas that are not so close to these areas as well ? I really do hope that this super idea will go ahead.

[JOC]

With the proposed rail and transit networks proposed in the future this will be a great location for the planned accommodation for the poor.

Being close to transit points though I would not be surprised if the poor rent the units out for 5k to 10k a month and stay in the slums that they are accustomed to while pocketing the rent money.

If it was to proceed it needs to be regulated so that the poor it is aimed to help are the ones living in it. Thailand has learnt a bitter lesson in projects aimed for the poor when in fact it is everyone except the poor that benefits from it.

Lets not go back to those dark days.

Thailand has learnt a bitter lesson in projects aimed for the poor when in fact it is everyone except the poor that benefits from it.

Coming from a junta-supporter it is a little strong!!

No doubt Mr P and his mighty sponsors only have improvement for the poor as their main goal.........

[JOC]

Yes General, this is a super idea. Please go ahead and do it. Put up thousands of these units, how about tens of thousands ?

Actually, not just near mass-transit stations and major public-transport systems. How about in areas that are not so close to these areas as well ? I really do hope that this super idea will go ahead.

Spot on !!

It is a good idea. Hua Hin started doing it 10 years ago, and the first projects sold out very quickly, so they were followed by more.

Units can't be rented out or sold the first 10 years!!

And surprisingly, the first projects still look beautiful since the owners of the units take pride in their first own home!!

[casualbiker]

Haven't the Thai government done this before but @ 3,000 per month.

[coulson]

I don't disagree with this idea in Principle, so long as proper planning and integration is seriously considered. Take a look at what Singapore did with the HDB system, and what other Countries did 'incorrectrly' with their social schemes.

At the same time I'm reading too many of these quick fixes to BKK current problems, targeted at each demographic to gain popularity.

More follow through please!

[halloween]

i was under the impression high-rise public housing didn't work out so well in the UK.

[tonbridgebrit]

Okay, okay, I've got it. Right, this is what we do.

Get a Thai girlfriend, and make sure she's poor. Okay, get her to apply for one of the new low-cost apartments. And then, when she's allocated one, okay, you yourself pay for it. We're talking 300,00 baht here. That's like £6,000 or $9,000 if you are American or Australian. You'd pay that much for a half-decent car back home !!!

And once you've done it, your Thai girlfriend will love you forever. And, and you yourself then live in there with her. What more do you want ? And also, it's 300,000 well spent. Why blow 300,000 baht at Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza over two years (actually, some people will take less than one year) when you can actually buy a place ? And the place you buy might be not that far from Soi Cowboy or Nana Plaza ! Do something usefull, yes.

[halloween]

Okay, okay, I've got it. Right, this is what we do.

Get a Thai girlfriend, and make sure she's poor. Okay, get her to apply for one of the new low-cost apartments. And then, when she's allocated one, okay, you yourself pay for it. We're talking 300,00 baht here. That's like £6,000 or $9,000 if you are American or Australian. You'd pay that much for a half-decent car back home !!!

And once you've done it, your Thai girlfriend will love you forever. And, and you yourself then live in there with her. What more do you want ? And also, it's 300,000 well spent. Why blow 300,000 baht at Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza over two years (actually, some people will take less than one year) when you can actually buy a place ? And the place you buy might be not that far from Soi Cowboy or Nana Plaza ! Do something usefull, yes.

Because my knees are stuffed, and I don't want to live in a BKK walk-up shithole. Because I don't want to hand my Thai g/f the equivalent of B300,000 and hope she doesn't tell me to take a hike while the ink is still drying. Because I can rent a 2 bedroom aircon house, 200m from the beach on Samui for B84,000/year.

Edited June 15, 2015 by halloween

[coulson]

i was under the impression high-rise public housing didn't work out so well in the UK.

Exactly, many schemes don't work, others do.......I just hope whoever is entrusted with executing such an ambitious plan has the decency to do a little bit of research outside Thailand.

In the meantime I'll wait for the next scheme to be announced, maybe the farmers could be loaned some money in return for rice, once it's harvested they then pay back the government.........the payback scheme.........or something like that!

[DrTuner]

From a slum to a ghetto. I suppose that is improvement.

[halloween]

From a slum to a ghetto. I suppose that is improvement.

When I was a kid they used to smear me with chocolate, pour cream over me and put a cherry on my head. Life was tough in the gateau.

[bkkgooner]

Sounds like it would just result in ghettos

[phoenixdoglover]

The real estate developers in Bangkok have their eyes on prime riverfront properties. But first the government needs to help by developing riverside parks and relocating the riff-raff to cheap apartments.

This formula is played out just about everywhere. Follow the money.

[Srikcir]

Ghetto housing is usually found in GHETTO areas where property is CHEAP. If the government wants to offer Bt300,000 condo units near high demand transportation hubs, it will have to SUBSIDIZE a condo for at least Bt1 million.

A more practical solution would be to build low rent condominiums on MILITARY PROPERTY.

[tonbridgebrit]

Okay, okay, I've got it. Right, this is what we do.

Get a Thai girlfriend, and make sure she's poor. Okay, get her to apply for one of the new low-cost apartments. And then, when she's allocated one, okay, you yourself pay for it. We're talking 300,00 baht here. That's like £6,000 or $9,000 if you are American or Australian. You'd pay that much for a half-decent car back home !!!

And once you've done it, your Thai girlfriend will love you forever. And, and you yourself then live in there with her. What more do you want ? And also, it's 300,000 well spent. Why blow 300,000 baht at Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza over two years (actually, some people will take less than one year) when you can actually buy a place ? And the place you buy might be not that far from Soi Cowboy or Nana Plaza ! Do something usefull, yes.

Because my knees are stuffed, and I don't want to live in a BKK walk-up shithole. Because I don't want to hand my Thai g/f the equivalent of B300,000 and hope she doesn't tell me to take a hike while the ink is still drying. Because I can rent a 2 bedroom aircon house, 200m from the beach on Samui for B84,000/year.

Right, so 300,000 baht might buy you a low-cost condo in central Bangkok in the future, or 300,000 is actually not enough for four years rent for a house in Samui.

I've got to admit, 7,000 bt per month rent for a house in Samui is a good price !

Okay, in that case, loads of men have bought a car for the Thai girlfriend, or a car in her name. A lot of these cars would have cost more than 300,000 baht. How about buy the low-cost unit in her name, let her sister (and sister's Thai boyfriend) live there. She'ill still love you forever, and hopefully, she won't want you out of her life next week !

[heybruce]

Is the government going to build low-cost housing for the poor?

There was a time, not too long ago, when this would have been criticized as unaffordable populism.

[tbthailand]

Am I correct in understanding this as being only in BKK?

[casualbiker]

Am I correct in understanding this as being only in BKK?

They already have low income housing outside of BKK. Almost every larger town has one or two of the apartment units!

30sqm apartment is 299,000 at 3,000 per month including the land fee. They usually have larger 1 and 2 bedroom units as well.

[halloween]

Is the government going to build low-cost housing for the poor?

There was a time, not too long ago, when this would have been criticized as unaffordable populism.

You don't see the difference? In this scheme, poor people benefit.

[oneday]

The "projects" are coming to Thailand...imported from the finest large cities in the US.

[little mary sunshine]

Great idea. Hope it works for the poor and working poor Thais.

Hope it comes to Pattaya and Chiang Mai too

[halloween]

Okay, okay, I've got it. Right, this is what we do.

Get a Thai girlfriend, and make sure she's poor. Okay, get her to apply for one of the new low-cost apartments. And then, when she's allocated one, okay, you yourself pay for it. We're talking 300,00 baht here. That's like £6,000 or $9,000 if you are American or Australian. You'd pay that much for a half-decent car back home !!!

And once you've done it, your Thai girlfriend will love you forever. And, and you yourself then live in there with her. What more do you want ? And also, it's 300,000 well spent. Why blow 300,000 baht at Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza over two years (actually, some people will take less than one year) when you can actually buy a place ? And the place you buy might be not that far from Soi Cowboy or Nana Plaza ! Do something usefull, yes.

Because my knees are stuffed, and I don't want to live in a BKK walk-up shithole. Because I don't want to hand my Thai g/f the equivalent of B300,000 and hope she doesn't tell me to take a hike while the ink is still drying. Because I can rent a 2 bedroom aircon house, 200m from the beach on Samui for B84,000/year.

Right, so 300,000 baht might buy you a low-cost condo in central Bangkok in the future, or 300,000 is actually not enough for four years rent for a house in Samui.

I've got to admit, 7,000 bt per month rent for a house in Samui is a good price !

Okay, in that case, loads of men have bought a car for the Thai girlfriend, or a car in her name. A lot of these cars would have cost more than 300,000 baht. How about buy the low-cost unit in her name, let her sister (and sister's Thai boyfriend) live there. She'ill still love you forever, and hopefully, she won't want you out of her life next week !

Loads of men do something very silly (at least) so I should do it too? The g/f and I have been together 10+ years, I don't need to buy her affection, and her sister can buy her own house.

BTW the trick to getting cheap rent is to first negotiate a good deal, and then stay put. I pay the rent in cash annually, and do the minor maintenance replacing lights & ceiling fans when needed, a bit of fresh paint here and there. He thinks he has a great deal, so do I. 100m up the road is a double string of 1 room dog-boxes that rent for B5000/m - go figure.

[casualbiker]

Great idea. Hope it works for the poor and working poor Thais.

Hope it comes to Pattaya and Chiang Mai too

They already have low cost housing!

[RasiMike]

Fantastic idea. Only 2 exits to guard when the next curfew is in place.

[xen]

Didn't Thaskin build low cost housing for the poor - perhaps one of the few things he did that didn't benefit directly himself but driving around the country side i have seen these little villages of two storey cabins . Most of them still look basic and tidy although a few would i not like living next door to, Most seem to be plonked in the middle of nowhere though and so the dwellers need a car worth more than their house is worth to go to work or whatever they need to do.

[casualbiker]

Didn't Thaskin build low cost housing for the poor - perhaps one of the few things he did that didn't benefit directly himself but driving around the country side i have seen these little villages of two storey cabins . Most of them still look basic and tidy although a few would i not like living next door to, Most seem to be plonked in the middle of nowhere though and so the dwellers need a car worth more than their house is worth to go to work or whatever they need to do.

Most of the low income housing was/is apartment blocks BUT in some area's they did build houses.. The way they kept them cheap was the fact that you only got the house or apartment then had to pay a pepper corn rent on the land. So not true home ownership.

Or you are looking at pretty much any Thai Moo Baan made by Pruksa!

[Emster23]

Who says this government isn't smart and responsive? They'd already tried building high cost housing for the poor, but didn't sell too well. Reminds me of liberal party in Australia suggestion regarding high priced housing in Sydney "Get a well paying job".....