Many expats moving to Thailand do so after having visited on
business or on holiday. Most of those folks visited "tourist" locations
like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Koh Samui, etc., and fell in
love with the area. So when they decided to move, they naturally selected
these regions. So as a result, certain areas tend to host the
majority of expats living in Thailand.
Expats in these areas started up different types of businesses.
Two common expat businesses are beer bars and real estate development.
Most new expats seem to feel safer dealing with a fellow expat,
after all. And where else to get better advice than the gent
on the next barstool.
If you talk to certain barstool lawyers .. or if you read the wrong forums aimed at living in Thailand, you might assume that buying land here is perfectly straightforward and that western real estate developers are pillars of the community. Before you make up you mind, here is one part of an issue discussed in an Asian expat forum. Please note that we have rewritten it for formatting, spelling, etc.
"Seeing 'real estate' and 'honest' in the same sentence
always makes me laugh.
The farang walled ghettos seem to be suffering badly. Most of
the half finished bungalow villages that have spread like a pox
around the periphery of the town over the past few years look
forlorn and empty. And with the economic situation getting worse
in Europe, the tumbleweed look may spread.
With the recent firebombing and consequent shooting of an owner (who
dared to complain about his house and its polluted water supply)
making the news, buyers are becoming very aware of just
how careful they have to be before buying a house or bungalow
here. And that is before having to deal with the agents and
lawyers and ownership requirements.
One or two agents here distance themselves from
the rest, and maybe they do offer quality in their service and
in the property they sell. If so I hope they are successful.
A 30 page argument / discussion between the victim, numerous
owners, developers and agents and the accused ran on the
Monsters and Critics blog for months until the victim was shot.
That told readers a lot about the kind of people operating in
the property business here. Despicable doesn't even come close
to describing the situation.
A local thai lawyer told me that he refuses to do any property
work for foreigners here in spite of the money to be made from
such work. He feels sorry for foreigners buying into the wrong
project and wishes the authorities could do something about
it. But , he said , it is all controlled by important people
that are too powerful to cross. Even powerful farangs.
He would not give details and would not discuss it further when
I asked more questions. He went all quiet and started to shuffle
the papers on his desk.
There are many high end footballer style homes with big 'For Sale'
or 'For Rent' notices pinned on the gates. At least those have been completed. Because they are ridiculously priced by greedy owners or developers they
will surely remain empty for some time to come.
The farang market seems to be dying on its knees, and its about
time. Too many developments, too many pointy roofs and too
many midget sized swimming pools. Enough is enough. Hopefully,
many of the foreign developers will go under and be forced to
give up their cocktail parties and their tooth whitening and
their self congratulating junkets that are so well reported in
the local news sheets.
They may have made money for themselves and their Thai partners
, but they are ruining the town with their awful handiwork and
false promises. Just as they have done everywhere else they lived,
they wash up in Thailand.
I just wish they would take their money and GO.
Thai buyers would not be seen dead in any of these
developments unless they happen to be the wives of foreigners.
Middle class Thais who want a weekend retreat or second home
in Hua Hin will have more sense than to buy into these poorly
set up, poorly managed, Disneyland designed ghettos mostly
run by foreign sharks in league with local sharks whose only
aim is to maximize profits and provide minimal return.
Thais know how things work in this country and they stay clear. They buy condos, usually off plan. If any foreigner wants to buy safely and securely in Hua Hin they would do well to buy into a Thai condo built by a Thai company with a good history that has a majority of Thai owners .. and stay away from the foreigners here involved in the business.
I'm sure there are some happy buyers in Hua Hin and it would
be nice to hear from them and hear which developments they have
bought into.
Here's hoping for a partial collapse and complete shakeout of
the housing market and those who run it in Hua Hin."
While this is the opinion of one person, the expat scouting for a home in Thailand would do well to swim cautiously in the shark infested water of Thailand's property sector.
