POSTBAG: Enough is enough

Hats off to Nigel Cornick, chief executive of award-winning Raimon Land, who was voicing the view in Spectrum last week of hundreds of foreign-led developers and real estate agents who want the laws relaxed on condominium ownership in Thailand, so that foreigners can own more than 49% of any particular project. However, what Cornick does not say is that as a rule, statistics show that most Thais cannot afford to buy into in these projects and those that can, do not want to. As a result, many condos are either almost half empty, or the developers are already breaching regulations. So why does Thailand need to keep up on top of the competitive foreign property market in Asia? I cannot think of one good reason, apart from greed. My list of places to return to in this world gets smaller all the time, due to the ravages of condominiums and tourist developments, authorised by governments who do not know when to say enough is enough.There is never a perfect balance when cash is involved.The Bangkok Post's own articles on fishermen living in the Andaman islands sum up this situation more adequately. Soon they will just be a tourist attraction themselves.

written by ANDREW DRUMMOND from Postbag comments Bangkok Post November 2008

The above comments are well written by a journalist who is experienced in Thai affairs. Thailand & foreign realtors have flooded cities like Phuket, Bangkok & Pattaya with up market condos no thanks to greedy western developers who build for there own at foreign prices-- this is what has caused the bubble to burst in the West as developers buy up tracts of land and develop properties aimed at the West thus inflating land & property. The Thai Government must protect themselves and this is the best country that has these laws not allowing foreigners to come in, borrow money from abroad and speculate at the expense of the Thai people. The answer is NO dont give in Thailand. It does not give the Thai people any hope for their future as these greedy individuals are speculators and all theyre interested in is their pocket. Thailand must not be like the west as this will lead to land prices being highly inflated out of proportion. Just take a ride around Pattaya or Bangkok. It is time to stop as theres many empty condos.

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