Hot Resale At The Golden Tulip - Foreign Quota

[striderman]

On 29/02/2020 at 14:38, talung66 said:

? is the roof top garden reality or artist impression 

take a wild guess

[Yabusaki]

Aloha,

From today on until further notice, all the common areas' facilities will be closed! I feel sorry for the Europeans, what are they going to do now, sad, very sad!

[article22]

16 hours ago, jpmelville said:

Every condo I have lived in Pattaya, had a condo front door opened into the corridor, so I think it's not against fire regulations. None of those condos had those low thai quality problems as water leaks anywhere. Maybe I have used to that as here in Finland I haven't see 1 front door which would open inside. Even my toilet door opens outside. Also if you have a small room, door opening outside will add some space for your stuff.

I was living in the brand new condo in Hua Hin and that soap box had all of those problems. The most hilarious one was in the balcony drain. All the water went to the exact opposite side of the drain and it started to work just before the room was flooded. Absolute shite quality.

Interesting theory though I think it is incorrect.

I own a condo at Unixx and all the room doors open inwards and actually have decent solid doors (which is a better indicator of quality imo. When I first rented at Unixx, I rented off a UK Lawyer who said he bought the condo because of the doors...I laughed but now understand where he was coming from). I am now back in London and in the last 2 rented apartments I lived in (which were all worth > £600k) they both had inward opening doors but again with solid doors.

https://www.onthemarket.com/details/3832729/

https://www.onthemarket.com/details/7313052/

Personally I would look at the state of the pool and gym for quality, in Unixx both are still immaculate after 8 yrs. I was renting in Art on the Hill in 2017 as a contrast which had outward opening condo doors, but very thin hollow doors, and the pool area was still unfinished with tiles falling off and mold growing even after only a couple of years.

[Czmate]

I have bought and rented condos and I cannot ever recall the door opening outwards I think as mentioned this may contravene some fire regulation. But on thinking about it the reason will probably be related to a low end complex where internally the Condo has some space constraints and putting the door out swinging gives it more space. Reminds me of those small Ibis hotels with a small bathroom squeezed into them. My current place actually has a Sliding door on one of the bedrooms which actually works quite well in my opinion.

[gusincebu]

The only time I experienced an outward opening door is when it was a secondary ..screen/security door fitted outside the original inward opening door .

Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

[Yabusaki]

Aloha,

Unit number B811 is available for lease, but be careful, the shower stall is one of the smallest in the complex and still leaks! The corner unit faces the afternoon sun so it's extremely hot for approximately 6 hours!

If you decide to purchase or lease a condo, please take a shower in the unit before signing a contract! I lost 52,000 bhat because I broke off the lease agreement!

[Fired Up Paul]

2 hours ago, Yabusaki said:

Unit number B811

On the flipside, I have heard that this particular unit has a very good, near new washing machine. 555

[Yabusaki]

1 hour ago, 1500B said:

On the flipside, I have heard that this particular unit has a very good, near new washing machine. 555

Aloha,

Shit, I only used it for 3 times! Therefore, I paid 4,000 bhat per wash! I'm a fool but I hope other PA members learned what not to do during Real Estate transactions!

Thankgoodness, I'm an American citizen, I'll be receiving $1,200.00 from Federal Government, which will offset my loss!

Have a nice day!

[Fired Up Paul]

1 hour ago, Yabusaki said:

hope other PA members learned what not to do during Real Estate transactions!

I have made heaps of mistakes on "other" transactions despite all of the good information here and I am sure I will on Real Estate when the time comes.

But your story and others like it help immensely.

How are you liking the development and the location?

[stubby]

On 25/03/2020 at 00:10, jpmelville said:

Every condo I have lived in Pattaya, had a condo front door opened into the corridor

Never seen this other than the screen door added later maybe this is in newer shoe box size condos they build now as i have only stayed in 60sqm + older condos.

[Ru4Real]

OT but interesting an "the door has been opened" as it where ...

Never lived anywhere with a residential door opening outwards.

With most doors that would leave hinges on the outside so easier to break in (although harder to kick in if outwards opening), can't install external security screens, easier to push a door closed than pull a door closed against an intruder, easier to see someone outside the door if just opening it a little with a door chain, suddenly opening a door into a public area could hurt a passer by, opening into corridors during an evacuation of a residential building could cause problems ... smart arse kids/neighbours could stick a wedge under it so locking you in..

Scandinavians lean towards opening outwards as they reckon they get a better seal against the elements (rain, wind although must be a pain in the arse in a blizzard and the snow banks up?) and saves them being blown open by extremely strong winds. The latter point the reason they are now being installed in places that are hurricane prone in the US.

Public buildings tend to have outward opening doors on main thoroughfares due to potential evacuation situations where the crush of people if panicked could result in doors being unable to be opened.

[brutox]

On 24/03/2020 at 10:34, brutox said:

... fire codes, even the most basic ones, prohibit doors [from] opening into a corridor, as it blocks egress in the event of fire.

That .. THAT .. is the one, single reason .. full stop .. end of sentence .. end of paragraph .. end of statement.

Let me make this simple .. if you live in any building where condominium/apartment/hotel/office front doors open into the hallway .. you are living/working .. in an unsafe .. building .. period.

The question you should ask yourself is: "How many other life safety issues did the developer ignore, or what other hazardous conditions did the developer create by omission or design that make this an unsafe building?"

The list of possibilities is long, and is not confined to fire safety only:

• Fire safety codes are critical, sure, but there are other key codes protecting the public;
• Electrical codes are to me the equal to fire safety .. just reading anecdotally over the years here, more people die from electrocution in Thailand than fires [see note below]; 
• Structural codes .. long discussion here that deserves its own post, but many buildings are designed for two or three, or four stories, but after building inspectors final inspection, the owners commonly create a 'bonus floor' out of the roof; and,
• Minor codes beyond these have fewer life safety concerns .. plumbing, mechanical, parking, etc.

[ Note:  A not so anecdotal, personal experience .. a Bangkok apartment into which I moved in about 2012 was built in about 2002 .. two young boys were electrocuted by a non-grounded poolside electrical outlet .. it was horrible .. the apartment owner, a Thai family, denied vehemently any responsibility .. at all .. when I dug-in, I discovered that the building was designed and built by the owner's crocodilian-brained father .. unsurprisingly, nothing came of the police investigation .. we moved out that month .. I told the owners we heard ghosts, the worthless f#@ks .. despicable, soulless subhumans for whom greed is more powerful than the sanctity of these two young boys' lives .. it was just horrible .. there is are select people who I genuinely .. deeply .. hate .. the members of this loathsome family are among them. ]

Foreign buyers arrive here with the false belief that the public is protected by building codes and regulations, as in their home countries .. despite the many Mercedes and the modern flyovers and Bangkok's (somewhat) impressive commuter rail systems, Thailand is in many ways a compellingly seductive deception .. one needs to scratch through the thin veneer to understand its true measure of modernity.

For projects I have developed in Asia (excluding Japan), I always appoint consultants that work with and design to international building codes (US and UK primarily) .. local codes are inadequate for institutional grade, class A commercial projects .. but, for residential projects the current Thai codes are sufficient .. if .. if .. they are followed.

This is a key, key reason that I would not personally buy into a project developed by a local-local developer .. not .. ever! .. local foreign developers are no better than their local Thai developer cousins .. however, publicly-traded Thai developers can be counted on to conform (at a minimum) to Thai building codes.

Thai building codes have come a long way over the last 20 years, but their enforcement remains a chronic issue .. with unreliable enforcement, can local-local developers be trusted to self-police their own projects? .. no f#@kin' way .. publicly-traded developers can by and large be counted on to honor the regulations .. their cost of failure is much too high if they get caught .. local-local developers have little at risk .. they just go around the corner, re-brand themselves and do it all again.

The solution:  Avoid buying condominiums by local-local developers .. there are other more important reasons for that .. this is but one .. the 'great deal' buyers think they are cleverly getting from these local-local developers is in the end not such a great deal .. nor a enduring investment.

There is a market for buyers who knowingly accept they are buying an inferior product for this discount, but unless they know development at a professional level and can see beneath the veneer, I suggest most do not knowingly do so.

 

[wido]

On 02/03/2020 at 02:53, brutox said:

Be damned happy that the project is substantially complete. 

As I cautioned earlier in the thread, even with completed projects, buyers are still only halfway home with developers as this .. now .. try getting your title deed. 

I have my titlle deed already six months. But i see they are finishing everything with the maintenance staff paid by the owners.

[brutox]

5 hours ago, wido said:

I have my titlle deed already six months. But i see they are finishing everything with the maintenance staff paid by the owners.

Man, wido, you must feel pretty damned jazzed.. and you only got half rat-fucked (though they are ) .. so, umm.. congrats.. I guess. 

Still.. you've taken the risk and endured the entire cycle.. after everything you've been through, knowing what you now know, would you do it again?

 

[jpmelville]

On 22/04/2020 at 06:12, brutox said:

That .. THAT .. is the one, single reason .. full stop .. end of sentence .. end of paragraph .. end of statement.

Let me make this simple .. if you live in any building where condominium/apartment/hotel/office front doors open into the hallway .. you are living/working .. in an unsafe .. building .. period.

 

Haha. Thank you for the info. I have lived in the unsafe apartments my whole 45 years of life. Even in Thailand I went to the unsafest option, which didn't have usual thai condo problems such as leaky taps, moldy bathroom and blocked sewers and everything else was working as a charm but had the life threatening outwards opening door.

Maybe the fire codes are not the same everywhere and I don't think your US codes are not always the best ones even you think they are. Our codes are made for sensible people who know how to escape in the case of fire. We can not sue if someone is stupid enough to not know the fire drill.

As for the theft prevention we have this fixed in our doors. You can not lift the door from the hinges, even the hinges are outside. We are not stupid even our doors are opening outwards.

Edited April 28, 2020 by jpmelville

[Evilfriar]

On 29/04/2020 at 07:25, jpmelville said:

Haha. Thank you for the info. I have lived in the unsafe apartments my whole 45 years of life. Even in Thailand I went to the unsafest option, which didn't have usual thai condo problems such as leaky taps, moldy bathroom and blocked sewers and everything else was working as a charm but had the life threatening outwards opening door.

Maybe the fire codes are not the same everywhere and I don't think your US codes are not always the best ones even you think they are. Our codes are made for sensible people who know how to escape in the case of fire. We can not sue if someone is stupid enough to not know the fire drill.

As for the theft prevention we have this fixed in our doors. You can not lift the door from the hinges, even the hinges are outside. We are not stupid even our doors are opening outwards.

What's the name of the Condo?

Think I've only stayed in about 5 different complexes now but they all had doors opening inwards, seems crazy to me that the doors should open out into the corridors.

Someone chucks a wedge under the door and your trapped for one thing.

Cheers

[brutox]

On 29/04/2020 at 04:25, jpmelville said:

Haha. Thank you for the info. I have lived in the unsafe apartments my whole 45 years of life. Even in Thailand I went to the unsafest option, which didn't have [1] usual thai condo problems such as leaky taps, moldy bathroom and blocked sewers and everything else was working as a charm but had the life threatening outwards opening door.

Maybe the fire codes are not the same everywhere and [2] I don't think your US codes are not always the best ones even you think they are. [3] Our codes are made for sensible people who know how to escape in the case of fire. We can not sue if [4] someone is stupid enough to not know the fire drill.

As for the theft prevention we have this fixed in our doors. You can not lift the door from the hinges, even the hinges are outside. [5] We are not stupid even our doors are opening outwards.

[ I am going to mess with you a little bit here, jpmelville .. so, don't take it personal .. I think it could be one of those sense of humor things that sometimes does not translate well digitally. ]
________________________________________________________________

Haha .. you are right, jpmelville .. haha:

1. Maybe I am overthinking this, but you seem to acknowledge the deficiencies in the very basic, basic design practices here are in your words  .. "usual" .. you are, of course, correct .. fire safety is no less deficient here than the all-important bathroom floor drains .. as you correctly suggest, deficient design codes and building practices are still common here.
2. Easy there jpmelville .. I am not nearly so prideful in my nationality and dismissive others as some in these threads .. I did not claim that US codes are the best .. actually, the best are in Japan, where I developed a regional shopping mall .. (they miss absolutely nothing .. a legacy of the horrific fire bombings in WWII, which killed far more people than the A-bombs .. that wiki will give you nightmares) .. the US and UK fire codes are not uniquely well-developed .. there are others .. the US and UK codes are merely widely translated into many languages, and English is in my experience (investing in and developing property across three continents) the most commonly shared language by international-standard building engineering and architectural firms.
3. And yes, sure jpmelville .. Finnish people are sensible and require no well-developed fire codes .. what .. as opposed to other developed nationalities who are not sensible and do require well-developed fire codes .. don't be so prideful .. but, let's keep this light and friendly and not go there, eh? 
4. The stupid ones do not know the fire drill? .. really? .. like the part of the sensible Finnish fire drill that sensibly directs people trapped in their condo by a blocked front door to sensibly go to the sensible only remaining alternative exit route .. off the balcony .. into the swimming pool .. that one? .. (just messing with you jpmelville   )
5. Fire code interpretations are commonly convoluted, no matter what the jurisdiction, and commonly require fire safety consultants to negotiate their application during design .. it does not help that some local jurisdictions are granted the authority to concede special exceptions .. so, no, jpmelville, Finnish people are not at all stupid .. and neither are you .. I think you are merely uninformed about a technical and very specialized subject.

10 hours ago, Evilfriar said:

What's the name of the Condo?

Think I've only stayed in about 5 different complexes now but they all had doors opening inwards, seems crazy to me that the doors should open out into the corridors.

Someone chucks a wedge under the door and your trapped for one thing.

Cheers

Yes, Evilfriar .. that really is crazy .. condo doors opening into a fire-rated exit corridor, creating a potential obstruction to exit .. it defies that Finnish sensibility to which jpmelville proudly refers above .. just simple common sense.

An obstruction needn't be a wedge .. it could be:

• A person who passes out from smoke inhalation;
• An abandoned hotel janitor's cart;
• A fire hose wedged beneath the door;
• A person in a blind panic blasting from inside their condo into a fire exit corridor could flatten another panicked person blasting blindly down a smoke-filled corridor; or,
• Someone who dropped their box containing their weekly supply of door wedges and ran in a panic (don't laugh .. it could happen .. it could  ).

These are the things about which fire safety engineers think .. and in some cases overthink.

_____________________________________________________

jpmelville, you inspired me to actually pull-up the Finnish fire codes and brief the section on the protected fire exit 'envelope' .. a very well-developed code .. smart (and sensible, as you proudly emphasize .. although I found the very sensible 'Blocked Front Door Exit Balcony Alternative Exit Plan' for the non-stupid people section pretty thin .. heh-heh-heh ..  ) .. unsurprisingly, in the 10-minute read of the high points of the protected fire exit envelope before I got bored, I read nothing that departs from the fire safety codes in other developed countries.

Peace, bro'.

[ Gawd a'mighty, are we freakin' booooored! ] 
 

[jpmelville]

Thank you for explaining couple of key points. Here is the video from expat living in Finland explaining some weird stuff we have as a standard features in our apartments:

On 30/04/2020 at 21:19, Evilfriar said:

What's the name of the Condo?

Think I've only stayed in about 5 different complexes now but they all had doors opening inwards, seems crazy to me that the doors should open out into the corridors.

Someone chucks a wedge under the door and your trapped for one thing.

Cheers

Three condo blocks where I was living were Siam Oriental Garden, Siam Oriental Plaza an Siam Oriental Garden 2.

 

Sorry for the fucked up post.

[Evilfriar]

1 hour ago, jpmelville said:

Three condo blocks where I was living were Siam Oriental Garden, Siam Oriental Plaza an Siam Oriental Garden 2.

 

Thanks mate, and kinda explains why I've never stayed in one where the doors open into the hallway.

Siam Oriental maybe builds different to most others.

I've stayed in mainly View Talay buildings which build them the non Finnish way 55555

Cheers

[Yabusaki]

Aloha,

FYI, to all the perspective renters and buyers of the Grand Avenue Residence, monthly electric charges are generated by Juristic Office and not by Provincial Electric Authority of Chonburi! Therefore, my monthly unit price of electric usage are higher than other condo renters and owners!

[forcebwithu]

1 hour ago, Yabusaki said:

Aloha,

FYI, to all the perspective renters and buyers of the Grand Avenue Residence, monthly electric charges are generated by Juristic Office and not by Provincial Electric Authority of Chonburi! Therefore, my monthly unit price of electric usage are higher than other condo renters and owners!

5B/unit isn't a bad rate. I pay PEA directly and my last bill after taxes was 4.2B/unit.

[brutox]

4 hours ago, Yabusaki said:

Aloha,

FYI, to all the perspective renters and buyers of the Grand Avenue Residence, monthly electric charges... 

 

2 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

5B/unit isn't a bad rate. I pay PEA directly and my last bill after taxes was 4.2B/unit.

Hey, Yabusaki.. as forcebwithu comments, the rate is not outrageous. 

All-in costs for my household during the peak season heat (now) generally runs about 1,500-1,800 per machine per month, when school is in and the condo unoccupied through much of the day. 

Depending on how sequestered inside you are each day, 2,500/month is not crazy if you are running one AC unit as you move from room to room during the day. 

But.. BUT!.. if that water bill extends out at 7x245 (1, 715/month)!.. eee-yeow!.. man, I'd get all over that!.. unless you are operating a laundry service, that would be criminal.

By comparison, my family is 3 teens and me.. Bangkok condo payment to juristic.. lots of laundry.. dishwasher.. we are generally at about 500 monthly. 

Edited May 12, 2020 by brutox

[forcebwithu]

7 minutes ago, brutox said:

Hey, Yabusaki.. as forcebwithu comments, the rate is not outrageous. 

All-in costs for my household during the peak season heat (now) generally runs about 1,500-1,800 per machine per month, when school is in and the condo unoccupied through much of the day. 

Depending on how sequestered inside you are each day, 2,500/month is not crazy if you are running one AC unit as you move from room to room during the day. 

But.. BUT!.. if that water bill extends out at 7x245 (1, 715/month)!.. eee-yeow!.. man, I'd get all over that!.. unless you are operating a laundry service, that would be criminal.

By comparison, my family is 3 teens and me.. Bangkok condo payment to juristic.. lots of laundry.. dishwasher.. we are generally at about 500 monthly. 

Since there's nothing in the Amount column for the water charge I'm thinking they screwed up and put the total in the Unit Price column. That's still quite high at 35B/unit. Just got my water bill today and it works out to 12.2B/unit.

[Yabusaki]

Aloha,

Thanks for your comments! My only concerns were unit price for electricity. Several of my friends got their monthly electric bills from Provincial Electric Authority of Chonburi and their unit price was much lower than mine! IMHO, Unit cost or unit price should be same acrossthe board set by Provincial Electric Authority of Chonburi! 

[likeaking]

^ My experience with guesthouses, not condos, is the guesthouse sets the monthly rates and they vary between guesthouses.