Thai Property No 'White Elephant'

A solid economy coupled with a renowned reputation as an attractive tourist destination is having a positive affect on the Thai property market, providing some excellent and varied opportunities for the overseas property investor.

Resort developments such as those in Pattaya, are proving particularly popular not only with foreign buyers but also Thai residents, the thriving ex-pat community and the emerging Asian middle classes especially the Chinese for whom Thailand is the 4^th most popular destination for foreign travel. As a consequence of shifts in worldwide tourism trends, Thailand’s tourism market is experiencing a dramatic increase in demand for longer-term rentals in villa and condominium accommodation as opposed to traditional hotels. 

“This is where the Thai property market is prospering”, comments Kevin Prior, Sales Director of Obelisk International. “Property costs a third of other tourist hot spots and when combined with impressive capital growth shown to have been maintained over several years and a year round rental season with consistently high returns there is significant attraction for investors.”

Growing demand from overseas investors

To fulfil the growing demand from foreign second home owners, retirees and expats, coastal resorts are being developed. Pattaya is Thailand’s most developed and popular tourist destination dubbed the “Thai Riviera” attracting over 5.8 million visitors annually (2006, TAT).

Being only 1 ½ hours from the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok (capable of receiving 45 million passengers annually) as well as having its own regional airport means that Pattaya is more accessible than ever before.

The real estate market in Pattaya is booming with Thai nationals buying first ‘western style’ homes here as well as foreign nationals purchasing second or retirement properties. Many experts believe the city to be experiencing a second cycle of growth as increasingly higher end luxury developments such as the 91 floor Ocean 1 Tower and other residential communities spring up in Pattaya.

Future of prosperity and success

The Chornburi province in which Pattaya is located has 7900 registered expats (Labour Ministry, Sept 2006) and this community has been growing by 20% per year since 2004.

With regards to rental incomes, western style condominium properties are among the most sought after in Thailand. Average rental yields are expected between 6 and 7% per annum with a conservative monthly rental income of £489 for a 1 bedroom apartment. Tourist arrivals to the province have increased at an annual rate of 10% since 2001 so there is no shortage of demand for rental accommodation.

“The Thai property market is very much on the up,” comments Kevin, “investing in real estate in regions such as Pattaya is by no means a liability or white elephant. On the contrary we at Obelisk International believe Thailand has a future of prosperity and success ahead of it. This is just the beginning.” [via TheMoveChannel.com]

 

Ed. I'm always wary about posting articles like this because more often than not they are driven by vested interests. I went with this one because I just wanted to post something positive about Pattaya for a change. It's the season to be.........    

 

 

Sierra Tangos

 

• Police believed the bombing at the People Power party's office in Lat Phrao district late Monday night was meant to threaten party members. Two bombs, a smoke bomb and a hand grenade, were thrown into the party's office at 10pm. The hand grenade was not activated, as its release pin was still in place, but the authorities could not assure that it was not intended to explode. [via Bangkok Post]

 

• eBay and Sanook launch Shopping.co.th - eBay and Thai partner Sanook, a subsidiary of Naspers, have quietly launched a beta version of shopping.co.th to over 16 million Internet users in Thailand. The partnership between eBay and Sanook was announced back in May. It appears the site uses the eBay auction and fixed-price shopping engine but with a Sanook look and feel. The two companies have an undisclosed revenue-sharing agreement.

 

• Skytrain service to extend until 2am on New Year Eve - Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) Skytrains will extend its operation hours until 2am on the New Year eve to accommodate party-goers to safely and quickly get home afterwards, said BTS executive Anat Abhabhirom on Tuesday.

The extended operation hours of both the Mor Chit-On Nut route and the Saphan Taksin-National Stadium route were expected to accommodate nearly 100,000 party-goers to join the Bangkok Countdown at Central world as well as party-goers at other malls and companies along the routes. [via The Nation] 

 

• The People's Alliance for Democracy launched a convoy on Tuesday to drum up the opposition to the People Power Party, seen as the proxy of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ahead of the balloting on Sunday. "It is time for the silent majority to choose between the nation and Thaksin," PAD adviser Pipop Thongchai said in reference to undecided voters and those who planned not to vote. [via The Nation]

 

    

 

•  Rhian Sugden graduates from Page 3 to Lads Mags. Not hard to see why.

 

 

 

• Transmitta II might sound a little bit dyslexic, but this is a pretty nifty device when you think about it.

The Transmitta system comprises of two small, rechargeable, and very portable units - one is the transmitter, the other is the receiver. You can plug the transmitter into your audio source (be it an iPod, CD player, computer, TV, Radio, you name it) via a headphone socket or USB. If you choose the latter then the transmitter will also recharge as it works. The receiver can be plugged into whatever device you are using via an auxiliary socket, and voila - you can send your music wirelessly around your house, flat or workplace. You might love your on-line radio stations, but you want to listen to them in the living room where your computer ain’t - just use your Transmita II to send your radio tunes to your hi-fi. Play MTV on your TV and listen to it through your radio in the bathroom. The Transmita units speak to each other via 2.4GHz frequency allowing for CD quality audio to be streamed, and uses frequency hopping to make sure there is no conflict with any other devices using that frequency.

The Transmitta II can be yours for £49.95. [via Coolest-Gadgets]

 

• Amazon is a great source of deals. The real question is how do you find all of the deals that you’re looking for without spending hours browsing through their products each day. Deal Locker has setup a great search tool for Amazon that will help you hunt down some of the cheapest stuff being sold.

  Deal Locker isn’t using any search features that aren’t already offered directly from Amazon, but the interface is a bit better. First off you can choose which Amazon site that you want to search: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, or France. If you’d like you can enter a keyword that you want to search for, but more importantly you can choose a category and discount range to view. For example, you can have it show cheap Xbox games and accessories by entering in the following:

  • Keyword or Brand: Xbox

  • Category: Computer & Video Games

  • Discounted from: 90% - 99%

Your results will look something like this. Now you may look at some of the items and say “hey, that’s not at least 90% off.” What I noticed rather quickly is that it also takes a look at the used and new prices, which are often much cheaper than what Amazon is selling the items for. I did do some searching around for DVD’s, and I was quite surprised at some of the new releases that it came up with at a rather reasonable price. I definitely recommend checking into the service. [via CyberNet] 

 

• The Asian beauty caught in Hugh Grant's bar snog-fest last week is former porn star, Shu Qi, it was revealed. Taiwanese, Qi, was pictured kissing the 47-year-old 'Love Actually' actor in a London restaurant, while Grant's friend, John Duigan, groped Qi's thigh at the same time. The 31-year-old actress launched her career with nude modelling before moving into soft porn, claims the Mirror.

In 1999, Hollywood took note of Qi after director Ang Lee offered her the role as, Jen, in hit film 'Croughing Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. However, the beauty knocked it back preferring to do lucrative Coca Cola adverts instead. Director, John Duigan, played down the racy pics, saying: This whole thing has been beefed up. It was just people having fun in a bar.'  [via Metro]

 

• Angry Thai women lead world in penis slashing [via Asian Sirens]

 Ed. Ouch. Isn't this a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• This morning I received a phone call from a gorgeous ex-girlfriend who called 'out-of-the-blue' to see if I was still around. We lost track of time, chatting about the wild, romantic times we used to enjoy together. I couldn't believe it when she asked if I'd be interested in meeting up and rekindling a little of that "old magic". "Wow!" I was flabbergasted. "I don't know if I could keep pace with you now", I said, "I'm a bit older and a bit grayer and balder than when you last saw me. Plus I don't really have the energy I used to have." She just giggled and said she was sure I would "rise to the challenge". "Yeah." I said. "Just so long as you don't mind a guy with a waistline that's a few inches wider these days! Not to mention my total lack of muscle tone...everything is sagging, my teeth are a bit yellowed and I am developing jowls like a Great Dane!" She laughed and told me to stop being so silly. She teased me saying that tubby, gray haired, older men were cute, and she was sure I would still be a great lover. Anyway, she giggled and said, "I've put on a few pounds myself!" So I told her to fuck off.

 

• Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien will return to the air with new shows without their striking comedy writers on January 2^nd. Leno and Conan are hoping we'll all still be drunk from New Years and laugh anyway. [via Gorsefeathers, RadioOnline.com]

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