6 Oct

6 Oct - Lots more rain . . . all day yesterday & all day today. The road near bridge over the Klong Plu river has again been almost washed out, half disappeared last night.

Siam Royal View have released more beachfront plots and marina plots which should be of interest for anyone looking for a beachfront house or wanting to own a riverfront house where they can moor a boat right outside the door. (I'm told that this plot plan was drawn by a guy who used to illustrate the Biology textbooks you used in high school. His inspiration for this plan was the anatomical diagram of a flaccid willy on page 89.)

Peace and quiet has been restored to VJ Apartment; the apartment of choice for foreigners who cant find anywhere better to stay, Thai nurses & middle management at hotels. The junkie English guy who had been consistently keeping most of the building awake by noisily beating his Thai wife was finally kicked out as events came to a head with him returning home after a night out only wearing a t-shirt, which was quickly dispensed with. It was up to the police to suggest he put some clothes on and point out that banging on all the doors on his corridor wasn't a good way to make friends.

Keeping on the topic of drunk foreigners . . . the grandly-named Koh Chang Entertainment Complex, and the girls who work there, were declared open for business on 2 October. If only there wasn't a particularly interesting episode of may favourite Thai soap opera on, I'd have been there with my camera to record the event for posterity. History's loss. But if you're looking for a night of cheap beer and mindless conversation about the size of your wallet and the option to "You nice man. You pay bar for me?" at the end of the evening, make a beeline for Koh Chang Entertainment Plaza, just north of Klong Prao beach.

There's a new steakhouse opening on Whitesands next week. I've got an invite to the Grand Opening and the food's free, so regardless of menu price, atmosphere and service the Texas Steakhouse on Whitesands is my recommended steakhouse on Koh Chang . . . . and will remain so, until I have to pay for a meal there or another steakhouse owner offers me a freebie.

Slight correction made to the ' Battle of Koh Chang' blurb in the Articles section - after a Thai historian emailed me. Some people are sensitive about facts, whereas I'm not one to worry too much if a specific ship was or wasn't sunk 60 years ago, which isn't an attitude shared by historians apparently.

After repeatedly criticizing D(is)ASTA the organisation in charge of tarting-up Koh Chang up for tourists, it looks like I may end up helping write their English language user guide to the island and even getting paid for it as the guys in charge are apparently "good people" but clueless. So I'll be in good company.

There's a small plot of commercial land for sale by the roadside a stones throw from the Amari Emerald Cove and half a dozen other resorts. Just under 1 Rai & suitable for retail or long stay / apartment type accommodation. Asking price of 7 million baht is negotiable. Foreigners can own leasehold on 30+30 year contract or usufruct if required.

If the terms 'usufruct' and 'superficies' mean nothing to you . . . they should. Especially if you're thinking of living or doing business in Thailand, as owning land though the previously common Thai registered company route is now very difficult / impossible to do. Usufructs & Superficies are two fully legal alternatives which provide security for foreigners. I added a bit about them to the Real Estate Section for anyone who's interested.

10 Jan

10 Jan - Don't miss out on this if you want land for a house or two on Koh Chang . . . If there's one thing rarer than finding a decent cup of coffee on Koh Chang then it must be an affordable, small plot of land in a quiet, undeveloped location but only 5 minutes walk from the beach.

I went to see the land yesterday morning. As the plot plans have only just been produced, marker posts aren't yet in the ground and access tracks aren't complete. However, I was surprised by how nice an area it was and also by the fact that some plots will have sea & sunset views. In my opinion, this land is probably the best deal that I've seen since I've been living on Koh Chang.

A local developer has done a deal with land officials to have small plots of government owned land with 'Chanote' title (meaning that you can get permission to legally build houses, resort, restaurants etc etc) available for long lease, up to 30 years.

All contracts will be signed and registered at the Government Land Office in Trat and are done through a Trat based lawyer. (Buyers wont just sign a piece of paper from a landlord.) As it's a lease a foreigner's name can be on the contract, no need to set up a Thai company or have a Thai name on he contract. The leased land, and/or property built on it, can be sub-let or sold as it's no problem to change the name on the lease agreement which is between the lessee and the government.

There are ten plots, prices are from 930,000 baht (620 sqm) - 2,880,000 baht (1920 sqm) In addition to the purchase price there's annual rent of 4,800 baht per year to pay the government for the land. As of today, two of the plots have already been taken.

The deal is that 50% is payable on initial contract signing and the remaining 50% when the official document from the Land Office is received - around a month later.