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Tuesday 3 July 2007

News Round up from Koh Samui June 2007

The news has been fairly disjointed this month with nothing substantial worth commenting on. Mainly a lot of political in fighting following the dissolution of the Thai Rak Thai Party and the on going campaign against Mr T. who may or may not come back to Thailand to defend himself and whose safety the government say is guaranteed but the military say is not! In the UK we call this the silly season where the newspapers concentrate on the bizarre and odd stories that sell papers. I am not sure it quite works like that in Thailand and you get the feeling that the heavy hand of censorship is at work playing down the growing unrest at the present government. Certainly the rumours that we hear, and they are only rumours, are that the present economic limbo that Thailand finds itself in is at last being understood by those in power even if they do not know how to deal with it. However, those that do know what needs to be done and know how to do it are preparing themselves for power after the elections in December although it is now being reported that they might bring the Elections forward to November. We also “hear” that the lack of confidence and uncertainty surrounding the interpretation of the Foreign Business Act is very high on the agenda. Thailand still has a way to go to get back to normal but the indications are that this will happen, it may be a few months yet, but for those willing and able to hang on the future should be pretty bright.

For all the bad news that has been generated over recent months with regard to the economy and the FBA, we have seen an upturn in activity and June was probably our busiest month this year. There is no doubt that there are a lot of people out there who see this as a good time to buy real estate – and there are deals to be had with out a doubt – provided you get the legal niceties right. If the Newspaper reports are correct we appear to have a red carpet full of celebrities queuing up to buy property on Koh Samui. Sven-Goran Eriksson has bought and so has the world's No-1 female tennis player, Justine Henin. Now David Beckham has joined the list of possible purchasers with Wayne Rooney’s name being mentioned as well although we have it on very good authority that this is just one of those rumours that circulate here now and again. The list of five-star hotels wanting to be represented here is growing with Club Med also joining the list along with another internationally known brand we cannot name for confidentiality reasons that we are representing.

We are often asked about medical facilities on Koh Samui and in particular Dentists. From my experience in Thailand, Dental treatment here is not only cheap in comparison to Europe, Australia and the USA, but is also very good. Prices will vary between Clinics but as a guide a simple filling can cost as little as Baht 1,000, a Root Canal Baht 4,000 and Crowns between Baht 7,500 and Baht 15,000. Over the last five years numerous Dental Clinics have appeared and of course the Hospitals have their own. The only thing I would suggest is that you need some idea of what you want doing as there is a tendency for some Clinics to try and sell Cosmetic Dentistry on top of routine maintenance.

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