Air travel has its benefits but also its downside. In fact the advent of long haul flights had a huge impact on everything we do. Forty years ago if you wanted to travel from Europe to “Far Away Places with Strange Sounding Names”, you had little choice but to get on an Ocean Liner in Southampton or Tilbury and spend five weeks at sea if you were lucky enough to travel before the Suez Canal was closed or six weeks if not, to get to Australia and longer to the Far East. The big white liners of the P&O – Orient Line (as it then was) together with Shaw Savill, Union Castle and many others plied their trade between these foreign destinations. Passengers were varied, from Diplomats taking up or returning from foreign postings, to assisted passage immigrants to Australia. Cruising was in its infancy and these ships spent more than three quarters of their time carrying people from one port to another. You could of course fly, but it still took a few days and several legs with stop overs in the Middle East, India and Asia.
What changed all of that was the introduction of the Boeing 747 in the mid 1960’s with its ability to carry large numbers of passengers great distances quickly and relatively cheaply. Almost over night this killed the Liners. Most had been built just after the Second World War with reparations from the British government for ships they had lost. Without a doubt they were in any case approaching the end of their useful life and only a few new ships such as the Oriana and Canberra had been built since.
Air travel changed the world and made it smaller. No longer were foreign vacations confined to Teneriffe or Majorca and these “Far Away Places” suddenly became accessible to far more people. Television also had its place in opening peoples eyes to what was over the horizon, and the Brits in particular, always ready to conquer new lands, set off to explore this expanding world. The Far East, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, could all be reached in a day. The tourist markets in these countries opened up and as wealth increased with age, the possibility of owning your own piece of Paradise became a reality for many people.
The world became more accessible to back-packers on limited budgets and eventually they found Koh Samui. Undeveloped, with few roads and very basic infrastructure. Travel here was by road or rail and ferry. Nothing much changed until in 1989 Bangkok Airways opened Koh Samui Airport. Once again air travel was the catalyst of huge change. It took a few years, but gradually word spread of this idyllic island and of course Alex Garland’s book “The Beach” was another influence. With the airport came people with money although it was not until about ten years ago that the influx of wealth started to have an effect on land prices and developers came to the island. Would they have come without an Airport? Almost certainly not. So air travel and in this case Bangkok Airways have a lot to answer for. Whether this is good or bad depends on your point of view. A subject for future discussion perhaps.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Koh Samui January Blog and Review of 2010
Still catching up on my posts but getting there. This is from January 2011
Let me start by wishing everyone a Very Happy and (hopefully) Prosperous New Year. Looking back over the last 12 months here on Samui I would say that the real estate market has been pretty static. As reported during the year there have been sales but almost exclusively in the price range below Baht 10 million. The Red Shirt protest in Bangkok earlier in the year clearly had a negative affect on tourism and combined with the strong Baht this has continued throughout the year so that even over the Christmas period hotels were reporting poor occupancy. The problem for the Thai Government is that the strength of the Baht is due to outside factors beyond their control so do not expect any changes there. The number of hotel rooms in Samui continues to increase in particular in the 5-star category with the opening of W in Maenam, Banyan Tree and Langham Place in Lamai, Hansar Samui in Bophut and soon Conrad followed by Vana Belle due next December. Infinity will also start operating as a hotel in the spring and I am aware of other hotels in the planning stage.
Earlier in the year I reported on the ring road having a layer of tarmac applied between Bophut and as far as the Law Courts in Hua Thanon. Whilst a great improvement it was always in doubt as to how long this would last as it was laid directly on to the concrete. Come the heavy rain of the monsoon and two areas not far from our office were quickly washed away but I was pleasantly surprised that this was the only real damage that occurred and for the most part the road held up pretty well. Back in May we were talking about the possibility of water rationing – certainly not needed now!
In July we had the mass protest against the proposed drilling for oil of the coast. Hundreds of people joined hands around the ring road in a mass peaceful demonstration. The proposal has since been put on ice for at least a year while further environmental studies take place.
September hosted the Samui International Jazz Music Festival which was a great success attracting hundreds of people to the lakeside venue in Chaweng. A mix of Dutch and Thai jazz musicians provided great entertainment for a full week and plans are already in hand for a follow up this year.
We have also seen at last the approval of the new electricity line from Taling Ngam to the new sub-station in Maenam which when complete will solve many of the power issues in the north of the island. The Municipality have approved the 22 metre steel poles which have caused controversy as being unsightly, but all other solutions were too expensive.
The exceptionally wet monsoon season has continued through December.
To see some of the damage go to these You Tube pages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT-RuPGWF44&feature=player_embedded for the fallen tree in Hua Thanon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nteH4xBa1s&feature=related for flooding in Lamai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrCPdMjNMvk&feature=related many views and more links.
Let me start by wishing everyone a Very Happy and (hopefully) Prosperous New Year. Looking back over the last 12 months here on Samui I would say that the real estate market has been pretty static. As reported during the year there have been sales but almost exclusively in the price range below Baht 10 million. The Red Shirt protest in Bangkok earlier in the year clearly had a negative affect on tourism and combined with the strong Baht this has continued throughout the year so that even over the Christmas period hotels were reporting poor occupancy. The problem for the Thai Government is that the strength of the Baht is due to outside factors beyond their control so do not expect any changes there. The number of hotel rooms in Samui continues to increase in particular in the 5-star category with the opening of W in Maenam, Banyan Tree and Langham Place in Lamai, Hansar Samui in Bophut and soon Conrad followed by Vana Belle due next December. Infinity will also start operating as a hotel in the spring and I am aware of other hotels in the planning stage.
Earlier in the year I reported on the ring road having a layer of tarmac applied between Bophut and as far as the Law Courts in Hua Thanon. Whilst a great improvement it was always in doubt as to how long this would last as it was laid directly on to the concrete. Come the heavy rain of the monsoon and two areas not far from our office were quickly washed away but I was pleasantly surprised that this was the only real damage that occurred and for the most part the road held up pretty well. Back in May we were talking about the possibility of water rationing – certainly not needed now!
In July we had the mass protest against the proposed drilling for oil of the coast. Hundreds of people joined hands around the ring road in a mass peaceful demonstration. The proposal has since been put on ice for at least a year while further environmental studies take place.
September hosted the Samui International Jazz Music Festival which was a great success attracting hundreds of people to the lakeside venue in Chaweng. A mix of Dutch and Thai jazz musicians provided great entertainment for a full week and plans are already in hand for a follow up this year.
We have also seen at last the approval of the new electricity line from Taling Ngam to the new sub-station in Maenam which when complete will solve many of the power issues in the north of the island. The Municipality have approved the 22 metre steel poles which have caused controversy as being unsightly, but all other solutions were too expensive.
The exceptionally wet monsoon season has continued through December.
To see some of the damage go to these You Tube pages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT-RuPGWF44&feature=player_embedded for the fallen tree in Hua Thanon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nteH4xBa1s&feature=related for flooding in Lamai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrCPdMjNMvk&feature=related many views and more links.
Koh Samui Weather, documents and DHL!
Once again I find myself behind with my posts for which I apologise! This is from December 2010.
The main issue over the past month has of course been the exceptionally wet monsoon season this year. As previously reported the Municipality has been working on improving the drainage at various points around the island but the weight of rain falling is still too much for them to cope with and the result is massive flooding in all the usual places – the link road between the Ring Road and Fisherman’s Village; the Ring Road by Bandara Hotel, Samui Town Centre and between the police box and Caltex Filling station; Laem Din and Dao Markets and the Beach road. However, the good news is that once the rain stops the drains do take the water away pretty quickly. Then you can see the damage that has occurred. It is not at all surprising that the tarmac road has been affected as laying tarmac directly onto the old concrete road was never going to be a long term solution.
As usual with severe weather there has been a lot of other damage including a large tree behind the 7-11 at the sharp turn in Hua Thanon which fell onto the adjoining building. You can see the damage in this photo taken a couple of days later when the weather had briefly improved. As far as I am aware no one was hurt. We had our own share of problems with a couple of broken roof tiles and a collapsed ceiling and of course finding someone to repair this when everyone was shouting for roofers and builders was not easy.
A word of advice. If you own your property through a Thai company. Do you know where all your original documentation is? The original incorporation documents and share certificates being the most important but also your Tax ID Card, Tabien Ban (House Book), audited accounts and tax receipts? You will need all of these if and when you decide to sell either by a share transfer or sale out of the company. If you do not have them, then it will delay the whole process by some considerable time.
If you are intending to use a Courier Service to send anything to Koh Samui, another word of advice. Avoid DHL. They do not know where Koh Samui is. A client sent us three packages from Hong Kong correctly addressed to our offices with my contact details. This was on Friday 12th November. The same day I was given the tracking number which showed the destination as Phuket. DHL Hong Kong was immediately informed of the error. This is the route the packages took. Hong Kong – Cincinnati – Hong Kong – Bangkok – Phuket – Bangkok – Hong Kong – Bangkok – Phuket – Bangkok. At this point they gave up and sent it from Bangkok by Thai Post EMS. The first two packages arrived on Monday 22nd and I had to collect them from the Post Office – hardly the door to door service they advertise. The third package was missing. I contacted DHL in Bangkok on Tuesday morning and they confirmed they had sent it separately by post and gave me the tracking number. I went to the Post Office and they found the package but informed me they were about the return it to the sender (DHL) as it was incorrectly addressed. I was able to assure them it was for me, so eventually I had all three packages. DHL have an office on Koh Samui, but DHL Bangkok “think” they must just be an agent. Contact with DHL Headquarters in Germany just elicited the usual “We will look into your comments” and nothing further since.
If you wish to received a copy of the full Newsletter please email me at hbonning@kosamuiproperties.com
The main issue over the past month has of course been the exceptionally wet monsoon season this year. As previously reported the Municipality has been working on improving the drainage at various points around the island but the weight of rain falling is still too much for them to cope with and the result is massive flooding in all the usual places – the link road between the Ring Road and Fisherman’s Village; the Ring Road by Bandara Hotel, Samui Town Centre and between the police box and Caltex Filling station; Laem Din and Dao Markets and the Beach road. However, the good news is that once the rain stops the drains do take the water away pretty quickly. Then you can see the damage that has occurred. It is not at all surprising that the tarmac road has been affected as laying tarmac directly onto the old concrete road was never going to be a long term solution.
A word of advice. If you own your property through a Thai company. Do you know where all your original documentation is? The original incorporation documents and share certificates being the most important but also your Tax ID Card, Tabien Ban (House Book), audited accounts and tax receipts? You will need all of these if and when you decide to sell either by a share transfer or sale out of the company. If you do not have them, then it will delay the whole process by some considerable time.
If you are intending to use a Courier Service to send anything to Koh Samui, another word of advice. Avoid DHL. They do not know where Koh Samui is. A client sent us three packages from Hong Kong correctly addressed to our offices with my contact details. This was on Friday 12th November. The same day I was given the tracking number which showed the destination as Phuket. DHL Hong Kong was immediately informed of the error. This is the route the packages took. Hong Kong – Cincinnati – Hong Kong – Bangkok – Phuket – Bangkok – Hong Kong – Bangkok – Phuket – Bangkok. At this point they gave up and sent it from Bangkok by Thai Post EMS. The first two packages arrived on Monday 22nd and I had to collect them from the Post Office – hardly the door to door service they advertise. The third package was missing. I contacted DHL in Bangkok on Tuesday morning and they confirmed they had sent it separately by post and gave me the tracking number. I went to the Post Office and they found the package but informed me they were about the return it to the sender (DHL) as it was incorrectly addressed. I was able to assure them it was for me, so eventually I had all three packages. DHL have an office on Koh Samui, but DHL Bangkok “think” they must just be an agent. Contact with DHL Headquarters in Germany just elicited the usual “We will look into your comments” and nothing further since.
If you wish to received a copy of the full Newsletter please email me at hbonning@kosamuiproperties.com
Monday, 8 November 2010
Ko Samui Properties Newsletter - November 2010
Well at last caught up to date and I will try and maintain this as before on a monthly basis!
If you are a regular reader of this Newsletter you will have noted that each month I report on the change in asking prices as sellers respond to the correction in the market that has taken place over the last couple of years. We have over 600 properties on our web site in all categories and of these some 75 have reduced their asking prices and as a consequence some have sold. Since I started reporting on these changes we have seen prices fall by between 14% and 50% with an average of 25%. The immediate reaction by some people is that someone must be losing money – but that is not necessarily the case although inevitably there are some that do.
As finance is not available to foreign purchasers in Thailand, all purchases are in cash and with funds transferred from overseas. At the top of the market in 2005/2006, taking the Pound Sterling as an example, the exchange rate was around 70Baht to the GBP. Today it is 47Baht to the GBP which is a 33% change. So if you bought a Baht 10 million house in 2005 it would have cost you £143,000. You could sell that house at Baht 6,720,000 and get your money back. So whilst Baht prices have fallen, people have not necessarily lost money. There will always be exceptions and these tend to be where too much was paid in the first place and reductions greater that 33% are needed to get to present values.
Reduced asking prices are of course only part of the story as there is also considerably reduced demand and any prospective buyers in the market are well aware of their bargaining position. Basic economics tells us that value is determined by supply and demand. Supply here is created by an increasing number of people who wish to or need to sell. Demand is created by people who wish to and have the ability to buy. There are lots of the former and few of the latter.
The rainy season has well and truly arrived and we will now see just how well all the new drainage that has been put in place over the last year copes. Anyone following the Thai news will have seen that Bangkok and some of the northern provinces have been badly affected by flooding. So far Samui seems to have escaped, but a lot more rain is forecast so we must wait and see.
If you are a regular reader of this Newsletter you will have noted that each month I report on the change in asking prices as sellers respond to the correction in the market that has taken place over the last couple of years. We have over 600 properties on our web site in all categories and of these some 75 have reduced their asking prices and as a consequence some have sold. Since I started reporting on these changes we have seen prices fall by between 14% and 50% with an average of 25%. The immediate reaction by some people is that someone must be losing money – but that is not necessarily the case although inevitably there are some that do.
As finance is not available to foreign purchasers in Thailand, all purchases are in cash and with funds transferred from overseas. At the top of the market in 2005/2006, taking the Pound Sterling as an example, the exchange rate was around 70Baht to the GBP. Today it is 47Baht to the GBP which is a 33% change. So if you bought a Baht 10 million house in 2005 it would have cost you £143,000. You could sell that house at Baht 6,720,000 and get your money back. So whilst Baht prices have fallen, people have not necessarily lost money. There will always be exceptions and these tend to be where too much was paid in the first place and reductions greater that 33% are needed to get to present values.
Reduced asking prices are of course only part of the story as there is also considerably reduced demand and any prospective buyers in the market are well aware of their bargaining position. Basic economics tells us that value is determined by supply and demand. Supply here is created by an increasing number of people who wish to or need to sell. Demand is created by people who wish to and have the ability to buy. There are lots of the former and few of the latter.
The rainy season has well and truly arrived and we will now see just how well all the new drainage that has been put in place over the last year copes. Anyone following the Thai news will have seen that Bangkok and some of the northern provinces have been badly affected by flooding. So far Samui seems to have escaped, but a lot more rain is forecast so we must wait and see.
Ko Samui Properties Newsletter - October 2010
What is happening in the Koh Samui property market? Well it has been so quiet for such a long time that any movement almost seems like an earthquake. Sales are happening albeit at low levels and only in respect of properties the owners of which have accepted the market correction that has occurred over the last two years. There are clearly people out there who are trying to talk the market up which in the end only makes them look foolish and the last thing I want to do is give the impression that all is fine. There are still a tremendous number of properties, both new and re-sales, available and it is going to take some considerable time for then to sell. Nevertheless it is encouraging to see sales taking place.
The infrastructure of Koh Samui has lagged behind development and there are constant complaints about water shortages and erratic electricity supply. The difficulty the Municipality faces in both regards is a combination of lack of funds and time. Major infrastructure items are costly and expensive. They need time to plan and obtain funding. Driving round the island you can see the new lengths of black water pipes being laid which according to officials will alleviate the current unpredictable water supply. Also in an article below there is news of the long planned extension to the electrical distribution system which will bring a supply to a new sub-station in Meanam. We have already seen some road improvements and the road by Bandon Hospital is in the process of being widened and re-laid. Slowly, slowly the island is getting what is required – not fast enough for many, but at least it is happening.
Driving back from Tong Krut on a regular basis I pass “The Garden of the Fool” Puppet and Art Shop. The owner, Barrabas, has a large number of puppets available and it is worth a visit just to see the craftsmanship. “The Garden of the Fool” can be found by turning left after Hua Thanon (coming from Chaweng) onto the lower ring road (4170) and it is about one kilometer on the right hand side.
Last month I promoted the Samui International Jazz Music Festival. This has just finished as was a great success. Look out for more of the same next year!
For the full version of the Newsletter please send an email to hbonning@kosamuiproperties.com
The infrastructure of Koh Samui has lagged behind development and there are constant complaints about water shortages and erratic electricity supply. The difficulty the Municipality faces in both regards is a combination of lack of funds and time. Major infrastructure items are costly and expensive. They need time to plan and obtain funding. Driving round the island you can see the new lengths of black water pipes being laid which according to officials will alleviate the current unpredictable water supply. Also in an article below there is news of the long planned extension to the electrical distribution system which will bring a supply to a new sub-station in Meanam. We have already seen some road improvements and the road by Bandon Hospital is in the process of being widened and re-laid. Slowly, slowly the island is getting what is required – not fast enough for many, but at least it is happening.
Driving back from Tong Krut on a regular basis I pass “The Garden of the Fool” Puppet and Art Shop. The owner, Barrabas, has a large number of puppets available and it is worth a visit just to see the craftsmanship. “The Garden of the Fool” can be found by turning left after Hua Thanon (coming from Chaweng) onto the lower ring road (4170) and it is about one kilometer on the right hand side.
Last month I promoted the Samui International Jazz Music Festival. This has just finished as was a great success. Look out for more of the same next year!
For the full version of the Newsletter please send an email to hbonning@kosamuiproperties.com
Ko Samui Properties Newsletter - September 2010
When sending funds to Thailand I have always found it better to convert to Thai Baht here. For large sums of money it can make a big difference but even on relatively small sums every penny saved is worth it. Just recently I received a transfer for a rental payment. The Baht amount required was 72,000. The client had his bank in the UK convert to Baht and gave him a rate of 49.7916 which cost GBP 1,446.02. If he had transferred GBP the cost would have been GBP 1,419.98 as the rate here was 50.705 a saving of GBP 26.04. Now you say, how do I know how much to send? Every bank here has a web site and on that site it shows currency exchange rates. We use Bangkok Bank and you can find their currency rates at http://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkok%20bank/web%20services/rates/pages/fx_rates.aspx
Look at the Buying Rates TT Column and you will see the rate in real time for whichever currency you are sending. Obviously you need to allow for charges – inward transfers to Bangkok Bank are usually Baht 200 but can be higher for larger amounts – but you will get those anyway. Rates change from day to day and my experience is that transfers from the UK sent standard rate take 2-3 days although they will always quote 3-5 days. In the nine years I have been here and receiving client’s funds, I have never known anyone get a better rate offshore.
Everyone has different ideas about street food. Some love it some hate it. Many people regard it as unhygienic but I have to say in the ten years I have been in Thailand, so far (touch wood) I have never had a problem and have sampled the delights in Bangkok and many places in between and of course here in Samui. One place I call at regularly is in Hua Thanon, usually mid afternoon on my way back to the office following a site visit.
Every week day afternoon between 3pm and 6pm, Em sets up her stall and makes these delicious sweets. Made from a combination of rice flour and sugar, topped with coconut milk they are cooked fresh in a baking tray. Five for ten Baht served in a banana leaf basket, you must let them cool down a little before eating as they are really hot! You can find Em as you enter Hua Thanon from the direction of Nathon, on the left hand side. Look for the cardboard cut out boy with the red shirt!
Look at the Buying Rates TT Column and you will see the rate in real time for whichever currency you are sending. Obviously you need to allow for charges – inward transfers to Bangkok Bank are usually Baht 200 but can be higher for larger amounts – but you will get those anyway. Rates change from day to day and my experience is that transfers from the UK sent standard rate take 2-3 days although they will always quote 3-5 days. In the nine years I have been here and receiving client’s funds, I have never known anyone get a better rate offshore.
Everyone has different ideas about street food. Some love it some hate it. Many people regard it as unhygienic but I have to say in the ten years I have been in Thailand, so far (touch wood) I have never had a problem and have sampled the delights in Bangkok and many places in between and of course here in Samui. One place I call at regularly is in Hua Thanon, usually mid afternoon on my way back to the office following a site visit.
Every week day afternoon between 3pm and 6pm, Em sets up her stall and makes these delicious sweets. Made from a combination of rice flour and sugar, topped with coconut milk they are cooked fresh in a baking tray. Five for ten Baht served in a banana leaf basket, you must let them cool down a little before eating as they are really hot! You can find Em as you enter Hua Thanon from the direction of Nathon, on the left hand side. Look for the cardboard cut out boy with the red shirt!
Koh Samui Newsletter - August 2010
When writing about Koh Samui it would be easy to extract just the negative and many people do only seem to see the down side. I have always tried to keep a balance in reporting both the good and the bad. There is no point in hiding the blemishes but there is also every reason to promote the highlights. I read many articles published on the internet about Samui, many are bland repetitions of much that has gone before but a couple recently caught my eye as being totally absurd. I will not reprint them here but you can follow this link to one which is dated July 2010 but must have been written by someone who has never been here. http://www.ihrthailand.net/samui-thailand/property-trends-in-koh-samui . Let me look at some of the statements.
“demand is already greater than supply when it comes to the residential market, and shortfalls are already being felt in some sectors” .
Just look at our web site and you will see there is no shortage of supply in any sector.
“There is currently no real secondary property market on Samui as most of the properties are brand new.”
Where on earth does that statement come from?
“without any stock to fall back on, agents are literally having to tell people to wait for more houses to arrive”
What!
“Despite rapid residential growth, some raw land is still available on Samui,”
Unbelievable! How much do you want?
One of the glossy real estate magazines, which is also published on line, recently carried an article by a local real estate agent which discussed buying land in this area. The information given was simply wrong. Unfortunately many people will read this nonsense and believe it. I have no problem with being positive, but anything that is published must reflect reality.
House addresses in Thailand do not seem to have any logic. Take our office address – 52/5 Moo 3, Bophut. The best you can elicit from that is that we are in Chaweng - Moo 3. 52/5 has no relevance to location. Even the Post Office needs a location map for a new address! However, even having the correct address does not always help as I found out in my very early days in the UK doing Building Society valuations. Victorian terraced houses, of which there are hundreds if not thousands in Leicester, look very much alike. One road looks very much like another. So with the confidence of youth I knocked on the door and was greeted by a very charming Indian gentleman to whom I introduced myself as The Surveyor, and he had obviously been expecting me. So tape and damp meter in hand I proceeded to prod and poke, jump up and down on floor boards (an old and tested method of identifying wet and dry rot in floor joists) and generally give the place a good going over. When I got to the Kitchen at the rear of the house he had laid out a set of plans which he proudly showed me of the new bathroom extension he was going to build. It was at this point that the first seeds of doubt were sown. Why would he build a bathroom if he was selling the house? Did I think he would get the grant, he asked me? Time to take a closer look at the plans – and more specifically the address on the plans! Right house number – wrong road! I assured him that I thought everything would be OK and beat a hasty retreat to find the right house. I do hope he got the grant!
Building Society valuations were really just that. They were never intended as structural surveys and the main purpose was to ascertain that there was sufficient value in the property for the intended loan. Obviously condition comes into this and the main things we looked for were wet and dry rot, rising damp, wood worm, ancient electrics and plumbing and of course glaring structural defects, generally evidenced by cracks in the walls. The skill was in deciding if the crack was a result of natural settlement, shrinkage or something more serious which required further investigation. Here in Koh Samui the vast majority of residential buildings are based on reinforced concrete columns and beams which form the main structure and everything else is just infill. Cracks in the infill are not structural and usually the consequence of shrinkage as the mortar in the wall and the plaster rendering dry out. This is a particular problem in hot weather when evaporation occurs too quickly but is in no way serious and is soon taken care of with decoration. That is of course something of a sweeping statement as there can be occasions when the vertical alignment of the infill can be out of line but this is unusual. Nevertheless we have had instances here where so called “experts” have advised against purchasing a property due to serious structural defects which when I looked at them, turned out to be no more than a single hairline crack in some concrete block infill which did not even reach the concrete frame.
Old buildings, and I mean very old buildings, always presented a problem. Technically many of them should not have been standing but when you are talking about a timber frame cottage that has been there for the last 300 or more years how do you justify stating the building is unsound! It has evidence of wood worm and Death Watch Beetle although it is clear the infestation is old and no longer active, but what hidden damage was caused when it was? Yet this old house is a solid as a rock. Modern buildings are not built to last hundreds of years and due to advances in technology and changing social requirements many are out of date within 20 – 30 years – more so perhaps with commercial and industrial buildings than residential, but I doubt we will see many of the houses we have around us today in a couple of hundred years time. Yet I bet that old timber frame, wattle and daub cottage will still be there and there will be another Surveyor standing there scratching his head and wondering how?
“demand is already greater than supply when it comes to the residential market, and shortfalls are already being felt in some sectors” .
Just look at our web site and you will see there is no shortage of supply in any sector.
“There is currently no real secondary property market on Samui as most of the properties are brand new.”
Where on earth does that statement come from?
“without any stock to fall back on, agents are literally having to tell people to wait for more houses to arrive”
What!
“Despite rapid residential growth, some raw land is still available on Samui,”
Unbelievable! How much do you want?
One of the glossy real estate magazines, which is also published on line, recently carried an article by a local real estate agent which discussed buying land in this area. The information given was simply wrong. Unfortunately many people will read this nonsense and believe it. I have no problem with being positive, but anything that is published must reflect reality.
House addresses in Thailand do not seem to have any logic. Take our office address – 52/5 Moo 3, Bophut. The best you can elicit from that is that we are in Chaweng - Moo 3. 52/5 has no relevance to location. Even the Post Office needs a location map for a new address! However, even having the correct address does not always help as I found out in my very early days in the UK doing Building Society valuations. Victorian terraced houses, of which there are hundreds if not thousands in Leicester, look very much alike. One road looks very much like another. So with the confidence of youth I knocked on the door and was greeted by a very charming Indian gentleman to whom I introduced myself as The Surveyor, and he had obviously been expecting me. So tape and damp meter in hand I proceeded to prod and poke, jump up and down on floor boards (an old and tested method of identifying wet and dry rot in floor joists) and generally give the place a good going over. When I got to the Kitchen at the rear of the house he had laid out a set of plans which he proudly showed me of the new bathroom extension he was going to build. It was at this point that the first seeds of doubt were sown. Why would he build a bathroom if he was selling the house? Did I think he would get the grant, he asked me? Time to take a closer look at the plans – and more specifically the address on the plans! Right house number – wrong road! I assured him that I thought everything would be OK and beat a hasty retreat to find the right house. I do hope he got the grant!
Building Society valuations were really just that. They were never intended as structural surveys and the main purpose was to ascertain that there was sufficient value in the property for the intended loan. Obviously condition comes into this and the main things we looked for were wet and dry rot, rising damp, wood worm, ancient electrics and plumbing and of course glaring structural defects, generally evidenced by cracks in the walls. The skill was in deciding if the crack was a result of natural settlement, shrinkage or something more serious which required further investigation. Here in Koh Samui the vast majority of residential buildings are based on reinforced concrete columns and beams which form the main structure and everything else is just infill. Cracks in the infill are not structural and usually the consequence of shrinkage as the mortar in the wall and the plaster rendering dry out. This is a particular problem in hot weather when evaporation occurs too quickly but is in no way serious and is soon taken care of with decoration. That is of course something of a sweeping statement as there can be occasions when the vertical alignment of the infill can be out of line but this is unusual. Nevertheless we have had instances here where so called “experts” have advised against purchasing a property due to serious structural defects which when I looked at them, turned out to be no more than a single hairline crack in some concrete block infill which did not even reach the concrete frame.
Old buildings, and I mean very old buildings, always presented a problem. Technically many of them should not have been standing but when you are talking about a timber frame cottage that has been there for the last 300 or more years how do you justify stating the building is unsound! It has evidence of wood worm and Death Watch Beetle although it is clear the infestation is old and no longer active, but what hidden damage was caused when it was? Yet this old house is a solid as a rock. Modern buildings are not built to last hundreds of years and due to advances in technology and changing social requirements many are out of date within 20 – 30 years – more so perhaps with commercial and industrial buildings than residential, but I doubt we will see many of the houses we have around us today in a couple of hundred years time. Yet I bet that old timber frame, wattle and daub cottage will still be there and there will be another Surveyor standing there scratching his head and wondering how?
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