After over one year in Pattaya as the General Manger of the pres-

tigious Hard Rock Hotel in Pattaya, Mr. George recently addressed professionals from the tourism industry, with the aim of giving them the right perception of Pattaya today.

Some of the professionals were not too enthusiastic about featuring Pattaya in their Thailand holiday pro-grammes, and Mr. George took the opportunity to talk with them at recent exhibi-tions.

To these people he dedicates this article with the hope to change their views on what he perceives as Asia’s Best Tourist Destination!

Pattaya has grown tremen-dously in the past 20 years and has reached the stan-

dards of a truly world-class tourist destination: where else can you find sandy beaches, tropical islands, sunshine, world-class branded hotels with impeccable facilities and friendly service, shopping that would make Singapore pale in shame, restaurants and bars from all the corners of the globe, 26 Golf courses within one hour travelling, first-class entertainment, exclusive ac-tivities and excursions, a smooth road infrastructure, 2 hours away from Bangkok and all under one roof?

And where else can you buy a top-of-the-range condomin-ium for under US$30,000?

Ladies and Gentlemen of the World Tourism Industry, you don’t have to believe me, come and pay Pattaya a visit; you will be positively surprised to re-discover a real top class

Verehrte Damen und Herren der weltweit operierenden Touris-musindustrie: Kommen Sie und besuchen Sie Pattaya! Das beste Tourismuszentrum Asiens und seine Bewohner freuen sich auf Ihren Besuch!

Дамы и господа мирa инду-стрии туризма, добро пожало-вать в Паттаю, лучшее место для туристов. Жители Паттайи рады приветствовать вас!

Verdens globetrottere; besøk Pattaya; en av Asias beste turist-destinasjon. Pattayas befolkning ønsker dere velkommen.

PAT TAYA THE BEAUTIFUL…

by George Hazard

destination that deserves your expert endorsement.

The people of Pattaya wel-come you to their home!

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Thailand Weathers the Recession Well

With a slowing of economies in

most countries around the world, how is Thailand stacking up? Sur-prisingly, a lot better than we anticipated, because it is vir-tually debt free on the inter-national scene, - having kept its overseas borrowings to a minimum. The wealth of a na-tion lies in its productive ca-pacity, and Thailand has plen-ty, starting with being a major rice producer, not to mention its huge industrial base.

On the Thai real estate scene things have certainly stabi-lized, with lower priced prop-erties remaining unchanged, but higher priced offerings seeing the trimming off of some fat. This is not as seri-ous as the huge deflation in prices suffered by many of the western countries, whose financiers handed out irrecov-erable loans on highly inflated

property prices like there was no tomorrow.

In London a currency fall of up to 40%, plus a 20% fall in property prices has dubbed their real estate offerings as the “Half price sale.” Howev-er, Thailand is still way in front on “value for money” in the property stakes, because of lower cost structures across the board, and side benefits, such as the very best in lo-cally manufactured fixtures & fittings at bargain basement prices.

It may come as a surprise to many readers to learn that Thailand rates very highly on the world scene in terms of fi-nancial stability, despite some recent hiccups on the political front. Taken on balance, the world’s major investors see Thailand as a prime invest-ment opportunity with a high-ly geared growth factor for at least the next 10 – 20 years.

Wie steht Thailand im Vergleich zu den derzeit eher schrump-

fenden Ökonomieen der meis-ten Industrienationen weltweit? Erstaunlicherweise besser als erwartet, weil das Land weitge-hend schuldenfrei ist. Auch der Bankensektor ist wesentlich sta-biler als der der meisten anderen Industrienationen.

С замедлением экономики в большинстве стран по всему миру, как Таиланд поднима-ется? Удивительно, но гораздо лучше, чем мы ожидали, по-тому что страна практически свободна от долгов на между-народной арене.

Thailand gjør det bra til tross for den politiske uroen. Lettelse fra myndighetene restriksjoner når det gjelder utenlands for-retningdrift, samt mindre regu-lering rundt eiendomsforhold, ville imidlertid gjort landet mer konkurransedyktig og attraktivt sammenliknet med sine nabo-land.

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Eight Tips For Financial Fitness

Have your fixed monthly 1. bills paid automatically to avoid late fees and / or interest. Also pay off your credit card balance each month or you will pay higher interest, and also pay your taxes on time.

If you’re switching jobs 2. roll the money over from your retirement fund into your new em-ployer’s fund.

Switch credit cards 3. if you’re carrying a high interest rate balance, to one with a lower inter-est rate and fees. Ask for a discount on services like your TV, phone, gar-bage removal etc, and of course ask “is that the best you can do?” on any big ticket purchases.

Maybe you should rent 4. instead of buy, before you spend on highly priced items; - Whenev-er you rent something, mark it on your calen-dar and avoid late fees. Conversely buy instead of renting items you use regularly and keep a long time.

If your gift-giving is cost-5. ing you more than you can afford, offer a more reasonable alternative; - also limit the cost of gifts especially to chil-dren.

Cook for yourself at 6. home or opt for “take-aways” instead of dining out, and quit bad hab-its like smoking, over-eating and drinking, so you’ll save on long-term health costs. Most peo-ple regularly throw away nearly 15% of the food they buy, so save money by eating everything you buy.

Balance your cheque 7. book and avoid receiv-ing overdraft fees, and when withdrawing cash use your bank’s ATM to avoid extra fees.

If you’re paying for 8. Cable-TV, why not use all of it - and save some money; - ( watch movies, do fitness sessions and read magazine articles off Cable-TV). Taking home a little dog or cat can cost you thousands of baht per year; (that’s a down payment on a motorbike

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Da zur Zeit weder Lohnerhöhungen noch neue Arbeitsplätze in Sicht sind, sind wir alle sehr vor-sichtig mit unseren Ausgaben. Während wir auf bessere Zeiten warten, gibt es jedoch viele Mög-lichkeiten um die eigenen Ausgaben zu kontrol-lieren. Hier sind 8 einfache Ratschläge, die Ihnen eine Menge Geld sparen können.

Мы никак не дождемся увеличения заработной платы и рабочих мест, поэтому большенство из нас ведут себя очень осторожно в плане расхо-дов. Есть несколько простых способов, чтобы сохранить каждый бат пока вы ждете наступле-ния лучших времен, так что здесь восемь сове-тов, которые помогут вам сохранить бюджет.

De fleste av oss er opptatt med å redusere våre ut-gifter. Der finnes enkle måter å passe på pengene mens du venter på bedre tider. Artikkelen viser 8 tips for å spare penger.

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WHY INVEST IN PROPERTY NOW?

The recently released Capgemini / Merrill Lynch 2009 Asia-

Pacific Wealth Report suggested that Asian high net worth (HNW) inves-tors moved more money to cash last year, from 25% to 29%, adopting a more cau-tious stance. However, the report also reflected a slight increase in real estate invest-ment across Asia Pacific.

What might it sug-gest for the Pattaya and Jomtien region? The maintenance of real estate invest-ment allocations and the higher cash lev-els on the sidelines may portend a stron-ger real estate going forward.

While safety of prin-cipal predominated in investors’ minds last year, replacing the usual balance be-tween risk and return,

a more adventurous investor is likely to re-emerge as sta-bility of economies returns. Investors soon tire of the low returns offered by savings of cash.

The property markets in Pattaya and Jomtien would benefit from this shift. One should not expect an over-heated market, but instead recognition of the region’s re-cent enhancements.

Some of the recent improvements include:

The New Suvarnabhumi In-ternational Airport is located less than 150 Km from Pattaya and U-Tapau International Airport (which is due to be upgraded), has attracted more international businesses to the eastern seaboard.

More Than a Tourist Desti-nation: The Board of Invest-

ment has approved new projects within and around the boundaries of Pat-taya, which promise to expand Pattaya beyond being a des-tination for tourists. There is already a large expatriate com-munity, drawn from retirees, local busi-ness owners, and workers from nearby industrial estates. Focus on Higher Quality Standards:

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The rising standards in ac-commodation are shown through the quality construc-tion materials and resort de-velopments that are increas-ingly being built. Projects such as Northpoint, South-shore, The Loft, The Cove, The Wave and The Ocean Pearl are some notewor-thy examples of this trend to more luxury standards in Pattaya, developed by real estate professionals with a vision for Pattaya.

These substantial improve-ments in the region suggest a resurgence in the real estate

market is possible as inves-tors move their assets from the low yields available on cash and pursue the higher, but still stable returns avail-able in real estate.

Der aktuell weltweite Trend zu Bargeld dürfte eher kurzfristig zu sehen sein. Mittelfristig hat der Immobilienmarkt der Ost-küste Thailands gute Aussich-ten, von höheren Renditen und stabilen Erträgen zu profitieren.

Растущее появление на-личности, вероятно, будет

временным. Улучшение по-ложения в регионе Восточ-ного побережья,также может улучшить положение к более стабильной прибыли в сфере недвижимости.

Den voksende allokering av likvide midler er trolig midler-tidig. Regionens bedrete eien-domsklima kan dra nytte av et ønske om høy, men stabil av-kastning i eiendomsmarkedet.

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