Moved Permanently

An interview with Saksit Namwong, senior architect at Ton Company Ltd.

Saksit Namwong (Tor),
from Loei in north-eastern Thailand, is a graduate of Mahasarakham University (MSU). After gaining a degree in architecuture he broadened his knowledge and experience through working in the fields of urban planning, interior design and traditional furniture making, as well as for architectural firms such as Charoen and Associates in Bangkok.
He joined Ton company as senior architect in 2007.

AIS and Research In Motion (RIM) today announced availability of the BlackBerry Pearl™ 8120 smartphone to Thai customers.

Designed to meet the needs of mobile consumers in Thailand, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone comes with a range of new and innovative features including built-in Wi-Fi, a 2-megapixel digital camera that supports video capture, an externally accessible memory card slot and an enhanced visual interface.

Private House / studio for rent in Ao Nang less than 2 km from beach

1 large room and 1 large bathroom, Garden, A/C and Hot water

6,500.00 THB / Month * Yearly contract

Call 081 370 78 86 English or 075 695 633 Thai

1) Buying your dream home in Thailand

You might be surprised to learn that the home countries of some expats have property laws that impose restrictions on real estate ownership not unlike those applied to foreigners here in Thailand.  The difference is that in some expat home countries these restrictions are imposed on everyone, not just foreigners.

Hotel and tour operators foresee a tough time this year from several uncontrollable factors, including a global economic slowdown reducing tourist arrivals as the number of hotel rooms increases.

The Thai Hotels Association (THA) said big new hotels featuring more than 30,000 rooms were being developed nationwide and would open between now and 2010. Of these, about 12,000 rooms are scheduled to become available this year.

For more details and pictures (PDF format) click here

The Treasury Department recently completed its four-year assessment of land prices, confirming what property industry executives have known for quite some time: Land prices in resort areas like Phuket and Krabi are leaping.

In Phuket, price of premium land on strategic location along Patong Beach nearly doubled to more than THB 37 million a rai. While these figures on land prices seem to indicate a great surge, they are still likely to be somewhat below market prices—albeit by a much lesser amount than now. Still, some firms may try to complete land transactions prior to January 1 to get land assessed at a highly discounted rate.

source: Bangkok Post -

Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn decided to double the amount of currency that can be brought in or taken out of the country undeclared to US$20,000 from US$10,000, Deputy Finance Minister Sommai Phasi said Wednesday.

According to Mr Sommai, the new restriction is a result from the expansion of economics and higher inflation.

He added that tourists from several countries including Russia like to use cash in addition to credit cards.

Individuals wishing to carry cash in or taken out of Thailand with the amount larger than the US$20,000 must report to authorities.