Psychological torture of condo living Jomtien

[bbabythai]

A classic post. One would have to have rocks in ones head to buy a condo in pats. Why would anyone do it? Rent and move on is the best.

[williamgeorgeallen]

i put a 30% (600k) deposit down on a condo in jomtien over 5 years ago. it is now finished (but title is not available and probably held by the bank) decided to walk away for it and bought another rental property in nz. wont take long to make the 600k deposit back as the property market is good in nz.  i only do a few months a year in thailand each year and will stay in several different condo projects before i every consider buying again. buying off plan is like paying to take a bargirl in a burkha. best to see what you are getting before handing over your cash. better again is renting.

[Peterw42]

46 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

Not really. An airport or a road is a fixed and external event over which one has no control, so it would be daft to buy nearby and then complain. Unnecessary noise from ill-behaved people is entirely optional and can come or go from one day to another for no reason. Up to management to put a stop to it.

 

Reasonable pool noise is to be expected near a pool, but not unrestrained and unreasonable noise.

I can (just) hear the road from my building but I would never complain about it unless it started to be used as a midnight speedway track, for example. Other things I would complain about would be loud noise from bars etc. It simply does not have to be loud.

 

I get what you are saying, but it doesn't take much foresight to look at the giant pool, waterfall, kids playground, wave machine etc and think "hmmm, it could be noisy". Condos, apartments, shared spaces etc, have a level of noise, they are not Buddhist meditation retreats. 

The OP probably should have done some research visiting some established and populated Condo blocks.

I get the feeling that what is an unacceptable level of noise for the OP is probably normal condo noise levels and acceptable to others.

Edited May 13, 2017 by Peterw42

[Denim]

Lesson seems to be why buy when you can rent ?

 

A condo purchase is a big commitment and if things go wrong you can't just walk away from your ' investment'.

 

With a rental it's a lot easier to move on if circumstances beyond your control make your life a misery.

[Berkshire]

8 hours ago, swissie said:

Above comments mostly miss the point. Under these circumstances, OP has only 2 options left: Tolerate the situation or move out. (sell out). By selling out and moving out, he is likely to suffer a financial loss, given the circumstances.

Yes, he'll lose some money if he moves out.  But how do you put a price on peace-of-mind?  The OP is going to be hating life if he stays in that condo any longer.  He needs to get the heck out, go find a place to rent in the suburbs where he can only hear crickets.  Seriously OP, if it's really that bad, you have no other choice.  I'd hate to see you fly out the balcony out of frustration.  Because there's absolutely nothing you can do to change things in your condo.

[guzzi850m2]

No a water park in a condominium is asking for trouble, looking good on paper and the model at the sales office but it will attract families with kids like flies on a turd. 

 

You can still find good condominiums here but research very very carefully first if you want to buy something here. 

 

Good luck to OP whatever your choice is, get used to it or sell out and move.

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

 

Probably another condo building to join the long list of poorly managed / poorly maintained even derelict condos in Pattaya, in fact in many locations.

 

Cut your losses and sell.

 

Probably another condo building to join the long list of poorly managed / poorly maintained even derelict condos in Pattaya, in fact in many locations.

 

Cut your losses and sell.

 

15+ years ago I accompanied a friend who was going to visit another friend who was visiting friend in his condo just off the main tourist beach at Pattaya.

 

- Giant building (1 of 3 buildings in a row).

- Lobby totally deserted, filthy dirty, half the lobby space used by somebody as a rough storage area, no attempt whatever to keep the storage area neat etc.

- No security whatever. No lights and no water supply.

- One lift works, but with vial smell, paneling on the walls falling off and just dangling, floor covering a total mess, old plastic food bags on the floor.

- Get out of the lift on highest floor (from memory about F25).

- Corridor filthy dirty, walk past several units where door has been removed and internal built-ins have been savaged.

- Get to the actual units we were visiting, owner opens the door about 10 cm with latch still in place to check who is knocking, then unlocks the very heavy duty door.

- The owner is old foreigner who had purchased about 4 units off the plan. Internally a very big condo and still a very beautiful and comfortable condo with a great view of the sea and a couple of islands.

- Turns out the building is in darkness every night because main electric supply was cut years earlier when developer abandoned the building and older bills never paid. And this owner in fact never leaves his condo after dark.

- The owner of this condo had somehow got the electricity authority to agree to install anew cable up the outside of the building in a heavy steel piping very well secured to the outside of the building. Cost him a fortune for the work plus he had to pay the old outstanding electricity debt for the whole building, I recall around 1 Million Baht, plus he had to pay a very sizable deposit for the new connection.

- Same thing had happened with the water supply. 

- The foreigner concerned was in fact a quite old very wealthy business owner from England who was still getting large profits from all his UK based business ventures.

- He had a staff of 3 young Thai men (they were there when I visited his condo, all early twenties, all well dressed, polite etc., they had all been to English school at his expense, they spent their days cleaning the condo (it was spotless) shopping, cooking etc., and every evening 1 or 2 of his team slept overnight.

- He had the resources to just abandon his condo and move on, but he was also very very stubborn, he had a strange but pleasant sense of humour, in fact he enjoyed the whole silly scenario.

Edited May 13, 2017 by scorecard

[biggles45]

Are the people who come on a short rental stay? I read that it was illegal for an owner to rent a condo for less than one month, a big clamp-down due to complaints from the hotel owners. Why doesnt the Juristic committee make a formal complaint to the appropriTe authority .,

[scorecard]

19 minutes ago, biggles45 said:

Are the people who come on a short rental stay? I read that it was illegal for an owner to rent a condo for less than one month, a big clamp-down due to complaints from the hotel owners. Why doesnt the Juristic committee make a formal complaint to the appropriTe authority .,

 

Possibly because the 'management is getting 50% of the short-term rental money, and also possible they are telling the owner their unit is rented for 10,000Baht a month but in reality it's rented for 30,000Baht a month.

 

Also possible that the 'management' is telling the owner they can't find a tenant so the 'management' is actually taking 100% of the rental income.

 

Also meaning that the 'management' are unethical and don't give a damn about laws etc. and the juristic person may well be part of the 'management'

 

So why would the 'management' speak up to anybody about anything?

Edited May 13, 2017 by scorecard

[Gary A]

It's a simple thing. You have to adapt to your situation. I live upcountry in my wife's house. The roosters used to drive me crazy and they have no idea what time it is. I used to think that they only crowed at dawn. Silly me. After a few months I no longer hear them. At our house, we have only one rooster. He won't tolerate any competition. The neighbor had a champion fighting cock. One day our sliding gate was open and the fighting cock came in. The neighbor saw him go through the gate and he worried that the fighting cock would kill our resident rooster. The neighbor came running in just in time to see our common barnyard rooster jumping up and down on his fighting cock. He picked up his bloody fighting rooster and carried it back home leaving a trail of blood. I thought it was pretty funny. Our small village is normally pretty quiet except for weddings and funerals. You just have to get used to the fact that Thai people love noise.

 

On the other side of the coin, I also have a condo in Jomtien and yes, it overlooks the swimming pool. There was one little girl who had a particularly annoying shrill scream. Of course the other kids enjoyed hearing her screech so they taunted her. I mentioned it to the office ladies one day and it was NOT a Russian girl. She was an Iranian. That screaming is also something that you get used to. Closing my patio sliding doors dampens most of the screaming but I rarely have to do that. During really hot days, the doors are closed and the drapes drawn with the air con running. Maybe my condo is better built than some others because when it is closed up with the air con running, it is remarkably quiet. One gripe I have is the hammer drills. There should be a bounty on the guy who invented them. Our condo association forbids condo work after about 6:00 PM and on Sundays so that noise stops then. Sometime back I had painters come in on a Sunday. I had to argue with security telling them that painting wouldn't make any noise.

 

The bottom line is that some people would not be happy regardless of where they happen to be, They just enjoy complaining to anyone who will listen. They always have the option to go back to their home countries. As for myself, I intend to be here in Thailand until I pop my clogs.

[cruisemonkey]

I understand the OP's original dream - there was a time a couple of years ago when I actually considered buying a condo in Thailand... but all my research kept uncovering 'red flags'. It's nice to dream... so long as one doesn't wake to a nightmare.  

[Peterw42]

7 minutes ago, biggles45 said:

Are the people who come on a short rental stay? I read that it was illegal for an owner to rent a condo for less than one month, a big clamp-down due to complaints from the hotel owners. Why doesnt the Juristic committee make a formal complaint to the appropriTe authority .,

Many Juristic managers do take action against short term rentals. My condo block in Jomtien has signs in the foyers stating that its illegal, and they actively stop rentals and get listings removed from Airbnb etc. It all takes resources to investigate and police. Its not like you can report it and the police will send round a swat team and arrest the owner.

Unless you have security checking for title deeds and lease documents for every person entering a block, its hard to know who is a short term renter.

[wpcoe]

17 hours ago, shady86 said:

I would always look for a condo not facing main road, high floor and clear from future constructions. Anything other than these is recipe for disaster.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

The "high floor" part can be hit or miss:  sound travels up a building in waves.  When I lived in a mid-rise building on the 13th floor, road noise wasn't bad, but friends a few floors above heard the road noise much louder.

[bkkrooftop]

I used to have these same problems.. Im a light sleeper and I like my quiet environment.. Between the chinese, russians, and thais/drunk expats,.. As well as the poorly built /thin walls.. u basically hear people breathing on the other side.. So, slamming a door, fighting, etc.. Can make you lose your mind. 

 

I have found one thing that works.. Find out where the japanese stay.. They are almost obsessive with every thing.. It gets annoying but it is a sanctuary of peace.  You also want to find an older building. Something that was made 20-30 years ago.  The walls will be thick /dense and definitely better with noise.  I would never stay at a new, modern place in bkk.  They are so poorly made but look fancy on the outside.. ( for about 5yrs ) .  I have found that even in cambodia, the places are built better. 

 

I would just rent it out if I was you and live somewhere else.. good luck. make a choice and live with it.  Dont hide in your bathroom.. that sucks.. I have found here , if it is bad.. It usually doesnt get better.. Just move

 

 

[robertson468]

15 hours ago, ukrules said:

Well you can't buy a house in your own name so that's a good place to start.

 

 

Interesting comment, but why are there 100,000 of foreigners living in houses?  You might need to do a little more research before making this comment.

[bbabythai]

12 hours ago, Rhys said:

cut your loses...buy a house up country... close to a major city...

sound advice but amended to 'close to a major city airport'

[Gary A]

I was always a farm boy. I couldn't imagine living in a condo. I am afraid of fires in high rises and I hate the long narrow dark hallways. The smells are sometimes also overpowering. Since I consider paying rent a total waste of money I did go condo shopping. I discovered a low rise complex. They are five stories high. They are built in a rectangle with the center open to the sky with things planted in that space. I found a unit on the third floor. I only take the elevator when I have gone shopping. It has a separate bedroom and is 60 square meters. A livable size. If you look hard and long enough, you can find a condo that suits you.

[ross163103]

Just a thought, but how about sell and move.

[ThailandLOS]

17 hours ago, aussienam said:

Gloating parents bounce around their kids stimulating them and over exciting them so that they erupt in vocal expressions much to the delight of their self-absorbed parents.  

I suppose you never had children?

 

You might be better off in a country free of children, tourists and basically people that make any type of sound.

[jak2002003]

Sorry OP... you have to get used to it.  This is what things are like in Thailand.  Quiet places are very rare.. even in the countryside.

 

I live out in a small rural village.. up north.  I have noise every day... and I mean sometimes ear splitting noise so we have to leave the house at 6am and stay out all morning if the village temple starts up its loud speakers.

 

On a bad day here is the schedule to look forward to...

 

5am - 10am.  Temple music (Thai pop music) and ranting monks.  Have to leave the house.  Hurts the ears.. walls and windows vibrating.. no ear plugs, sleeping in windowless store room or TV on Max volume will help.

 

10am - 6pm.   Swimming pool for school kids opens up... constantly screaming children, loud base music, gangs of teenagers racing up and down the street with loud exhaust pipes on motor bikes.

 

6pm - 8pm.  Next doors neglected chained and caged up dog collection starts screaming, howling, barking and yapping until the owner feed them.

 

8pm - 1am.  Parties, parties, parties, loud base music... even when far off.. base beat travels over the rice fields to our house.

 

During this time there are also..

 

Blasts from village loud speakers,

Drunk neighbours base music form their pick up truck in the garden,

Trumpets, drums, hysterical group laughing, Bollywood music from the Hindu meditation place,

Full volume radio music from Buffalo farmer and his wife who have built a hut overlooking out swimming pool.

And the various country noises like crowing roosters, packs of fighting dogs in the street, etc.

Oh, and not forgetting the twice a week outdoor dance / keep fit group base music down the street.

 

So, OP you don't have it so bad!!!!  Don't think country living is any quieter than the city.  In fact, I often escape to the city for the day to get some quiet time and relax.

 

 

[Destiny1990]

My guess is you are either at Atlantis or grande carebean and yes those are family resorts and with poorly isolated units best advice is buy a good set of earplugs.

[Peterw42]

2 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

My guess is you are either at Atlantis or grande carebean and yes those are family resorts and with poorly isolated units best advice is buy a good set of earplugs.

The OP could be in most blocks in Jomtien, I am thinking the condo block has at least one of the following, a giant swimming pool, a pirate ship, a wave machine, a slippery dip into the water, some waterfalls. Non of those things attract families and kids, lol

[Destiny1990]

Just now, Peterw42 said:

The OP could be in most blocks in Jomtien, I am thinking the condo block has at least one of the following, a giant swimming pool, a pirate ship, a wave machine, a slippery dip into the water, some waterfalls. Non of those things attract families and kids, lol

Yes so why he selected a resort with a pirateship isnt that asking for trouble?

[Classic Ray]

I chose Chiang Mai as I was not bothered about seaside, lovely to be surrounded by jungles, mountains  and fields, the smoke is not that bad, only one hour flight from Bangkok.

 

Most condos and moo bans are quiet, Russians and low grade farangs not much in evidence. We have Chinese but they don't bother me except for their driving!

 

All the shops and Farang bars, food and restaurants you want. Nice university city.

 

I have 3 rai of land in a very quiet area for sale for only a little more than your Pattaya condo cost. Condos are cheap here to rent or buy. 

 

Get out of Pattaya and try the North!

 

 

[JSixpack]

Well, we gotta do the CONDO GLUT and FOOLS BUY REAL ESTATE thread again.

 

Let's keep perspective here. And the perspective is

 

2 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

. . . for every story of "psychological torture" posted on TV there are undoubtedly thousands of people who are quite pleased with their condos or homes.

 

As I've often said over the years, buying off plan here in our Third World country is for idiots or well-heeled speculators who know what they're doing. So what we have here is a complaint prompted by unrealistic expectations, helplessness, and of course sour grapes. Look a bit closer at the OP.

 

Quote

. . . live retirement bliss.

 

The graphic representation of the condo off the plan looked totally amazing and in my mind I envisioned other like-minded farangs of similar age filling up the foreign-ownership condominiums

 

Mistaking the prospective condo that families would surely love for nothing less than a retirement home. Just a fantasy. Wouldn't you talk to the other elderly residents of any retirement home before buying in? Duh.

 

Of course the graphic looked good as all marketing materials do. I imagine the condo turned out looking pretty good, too, hence popular w/ short-term renters.

 

Quote

 My due diligence on the construction and property developers I thought was something that would ensure I did my homework right. 

 

Due diligence--not. Actually TVF is a good source of how to do proper due diligence. Renters don't know a lot but we have some hard-nosed owners posting here with great advice.

 

Quote

The sliding doors and windows now keep shut all day despite wanting to get the occassional breeze outside.

 

Yup. But it's merely exaggeration to imply they must be shut all day at all times. We expect exaggeration around here, however.

 

Quote

But even those measures do not stop the high pitched sounds penetrating through glass.

 

Obviously you aren't being tortured enough. Or perhaps we have a case of latent masochism. First thing I'd do is get double glazed PVC windows installed from one of several companies around PTY, even HomePro. Then you add an airtight, bombproof security door for the hall noise. Sorted. 

 

Quote

Angry owners at yearly AGMS are left bewildered and confused as we are told why things are just not getting maintained, repaired or improved. 

 

So angry owners should change the management. There should be enough of them, if there's a real case here, not just whinging by the ubiquitous whingers. They can manage themselves (though many are idiots) or hire a reputable company. Sorted.

 

Quote

historically these condos are eventually in such a state of disrepair and lacking in funds that owners give up and walk away.  The complexes are eventually left as abandoned shells and one day demolished

 

Comes the sour grapes. "These condos." What percentage among the vast number of buildings here in our beloved cesspool? Yep, there are some, left to validate the Primal Laws Of Survival In Thailand, but most just keep on going in a less-than-perfect-but-good-'nuff state of repair. And you could get used to that--TIT. Other buildings--and there are many such older buildings in PTY (so much for "historically")--kept in reasonably good repair.

 

Quote

The property market has taken a dive

 

Didn't you know it's been in a dive for the last 20 years?

 

But sounds like from your tirade that your building is awfully popular in the rental market. Should be easy to rent out and perhaps that's what you should do. Rent in a retirement home elsewhere and you've many years to sell, if you want to, into the perpetually depressed Pattaya real estate market.

 

Edited May 13, 2017 by JSixpack

[tolsti]

OP has a classic case of Buyers Remorse. Of course it isn't his fault, it never is.. It's everyone else's 

[pgrahmm]

19 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

Sorry OP... you have to get used to it.  This is what things are like in Thailand.  Quiet places are very rare.. even in the countryside.

 

I live out in a small rural village.. up north.  I have noise every day... and I mean sometimes ear splitting noise so we have to leave the house at 6am and stay out all morning if the village temple starts up its loud speakers.

 

On a bad day here is the schedule to look forward to...

 

5am - 10am.  Temple music (Thai pop music) and ranting monks.  Have to leave the house.  Hurts the ears.. walls and windows vibrating.. no ear plugs, sleeping in windowless store room or TV on Max volume will help.

 

10am - 6pm.   Swimming pool for school kids opens up... constantly screaming children, loud base music, gangs of teenagers racing up and down the street with loud exhaust pipes on motor bikes.

 

6pm - 8pm.  Next doors neglected chained and caged up dog collection starts screaming, howling, barking and yapping until the owner feed them.

 

8pm - 1am.  Parties, parties, parties, loud base music... even when far off.. base beat travels over the rice fields to our house.

 

During this time there are also..

 

Blasts from village loud speakers,

Drunk neighbours base music form their pick up truck in the garden,

Trumpets, drums, hysterical group laughing, Bollywood music from the Hindu meditation place,

Full volume radio music from Buffalo farmer and his wife who have built a hut overlooking out swimming pool.

And the various country noises like crowing roosters, packs of fighting dogs in the street, etc.

Oh, and not forgetting the twice a week outdoor dance / keep fit group base music down the street.

 

So, OP you don't have it so bad!!!!  Don't think country living is any quieter than the city.  In fact, I often escape to the city for the day to get some quiet time and relax.

 

 

I'd move... 

[EnlightenedAtheist]

Architects and many buyers never seem to care and look for building that are well insulated for sound. To be sure, it is not an easy proposition, technically, with concrete flooring a must. Sound is like colours there are many different frequencies and waves. These sounds move into the tiniest of spaces, bouncing back and forth, echoing. And, then, the airplanes start to hover the building.

 

Houses are not immuned. They have birds waking up at 4 a/m with roosters and the others at 5 or 6 a.m. if you are lucky and a/c units and people's noise outside can be go into bedroom spaces as well. The a/c does help a great deal, but not for birds noise. I could start talking about temples, restaurants playing loud music to 11p .m., karaoke bars, and night clubs, moving next door too. My next house has no windows! Oh! But code says! Rrrr! There are ways to get around that though. People are either too agreeable or too uneducated, but architects and engineers are to blame too. As to the engineering city depts, all they know is inspection fees and the code book. Of course, THEY can afford a house on 1 acre!

 

Btw, contrary to popular belief, double glaze windows work to some degree, but don't work at attenuating many frequencies, especially the very low ones.

[StevieAus]

16 hours ago, ukrules said:

Well you can't buy a house in your own name so that's a good place to start.

 

 

You can utilize the provision of "user  fruc "when you die it's no use to you anyway !

[JSixpack]

4 minutes ago, EnlightenedAtheist said:

Btw, contrary to popular belief, double glaze windows work to some degree, but don't work at attenuating many frequencies, especially the very low ones.

 

OK, some of the very low-voiced kids screams may get through.