Over the past few months I have been getting more questions about Thai companies, nominee shareholders and foreign property ownership. Lately, the questions have become much more direct.
When foreign families move to Pattaya, one of the first questions is often about schools. Which international school is best, where should we live, and how long will the school run take every morning?
If a foreign buyer asks me whether I prefer freehold or leasehold ownership in a Pattaya condominium, my answer is very simple.
After nearly 30 years in Pattaya, I still find one thing difficult to explain to people who have never really lived here: Pattaya is alive. Not only during the day, not only during high season and certainly not only in the tourist areas. Food, shops, services and people are around almost 24 hours a day, and that makes everyday life remarkably easy.
One thing still surprises many foreign buyers when they arrive in Thailand: there is no compulsory nationwide professional licence for real-estate agents comparable with the licensing systems used in many other countries.
Foreigners can rent property in Thailand without much difficulty. The legal part is usually not the problem. Finding the right property can be.
Here we go again. Another Thai temple, another investigation and another astonishing amount of money involved. This time police were originally looking into the alleged disappearance of more than THB 92 million from Wat Phutthaisawan in Ayutthaya.
After nearly 30 years in Thailand, people still sometimes ask me why I decided to move here.
Sukanya Gale, Co-Owner of The Riviera Group, opens up the side of development buyers never see: the decisions made years before launch, why unit layouts are the hardest mistake to fix, what real luxury actually feels like, and how trust is protected when a project's plans have to change.
When buyers ask me which area of Pattaya they should live in, I never start by naming a district. I first want to understand the people. Lifestyle matters, family routine matters and budget matters. If somebody works in one part of town and their children go to school in another, that will affect daily life far more than a glossy brochure ever will.
Thura Soe (Abar) on the discipline behind live special effects, zero tolerance for risk and the infrastructure that could help Pattaya compete for more mega-events.
Thailand already has a legal route to foreign condominium ownership. Maybe we have simply been building the wrong product.