Pattaya Real Estate Market: Transportation

Showing posts with label Transportation. Show all posts

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Governments new plan to reduce traffic on Pattaya Beach Road

Baht Bus Pattaya Beach Parking Zones opened by Provincial Governor

Traffic on Pattaya Beach to be reduced by limiting where "Baht Buses" can legally park.

As Pattaya continues to grow as a city so does the traffic problem. The recent widening of Pattaya's Beach Rd has been one step in attempting to reduce the problem. It has been long discussed that one of the major problems is just way too many baht buses " sorng taews" on the streets. They seem to stop and park where ever they want, well it looks like things are about to change on Beach Rd. check out this article from Pattaya One

On Wednesday the Governor of Chonburi Province, officially opened 17 dedicated pick-up and drop-off zones for Baht Buses along Pattaya Beach, which has been done to reduce traffic congestion along the Beach Road.

In a colorful and melodic ceremony, which included a Marching Band, long speeches and the ceremonial cutting of a ribbon, 17 new parking areas for Baht Buses were opened, which culminated in a demonstration of how a Baht Bus is expected to conduct itself in the future.

For many years the Baht Buses, which currently number 712, have been able to park where they want, regardless of any parking restrictions. Police have been seen to issue parking tickets to the Baht Bus Drivers but overall the influential Baht Bus Cooperative members have been able to stop where they want.

The Governor claims this is about to change and any Baht Bus who stops outside of a parking area will be fined and clamped which the Governor hopes will alleviate the traffic jams at peak times on Pattaya Beach Road.

Many are skeptical and believe the zones will largely be ignored by the drivers who are unlikely to ignore tourists who flag them down, especially those who need transportation off of the main routes which normally commands a higher fee than the standard 10 or 20 Baht you would pay if the Baht Bus is running along a designated route.

Baht Bus Pattaya Beach Parking Zones opened by Provincial Governor - See more at: http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/114512/baht-bus-pattaya-beach-parking-zones-opened-by-provincial-governor/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PattayaOneNews+%28Pattaya+One+News%29#sthash.io2GLZX2.dpuf

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Thailands concerns over the rise of the Thai Baht

BANGKOK: -- The Bank of Thailand is widely expected to take action soon to rein appreciation of the baht as its "excessive" gain is having a widespread negative impact on the export sector as well as the government's tax revenue.

Bank of Thailand's former chairman says BOT should buy more dollars.

According to this article i found today on Thai Visa Thai's are getting concerned about the continual growing strength of the Thai baht against major currencies. Check out the article below...

Markets are braced for the action. Touching a new 16-year high yesterday with a 0.18 per cent rise from Friday's closing to 25.58 per US dollar, the baht later lost 0.2 per cent to 28.74 at 3.12pm. So far this month, the baht has gained more than 2 per cent against the dollar and 8 per cent over the Japanese yen, making Thai goods more expensive in the countries where trade is denominated in the two currencies.

Pakorn Peetathawatchai, Stock Exchange of Thailand’s executive vice-president, yesterday recommended investors to closely monitor exchange rates, saying that there could be capital controls due to the baht's excessive gain.

"It remains to be seen how the authorities will act to control the hot money. We can't afford to take no action. We have never witnessed the baht appreciate this quickly, or the sharp rise in the stock market like this," Pakorn said.

In the first quarter, the SET index gained 12.15 per cent, making it the world's best-performing market after Vietnam (18.7 per cent), the Philippines (17.1 per cent), Laos (15.9 per cent) and Indonesia (14.5 per cent). Overseas investors bought US$2 billion more Thai sovereign debt than they sold this month through to April 19, adding to net purchases of $9.8 billion in the first quarter.

To stem the baht's appreciation, former Bank of Thailand chairman MR Chatu Mongol Sonakul urged the central bank to buy more dollars, rather than cut the policy rate.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar yesterday, Chatu Mongol said that it is necessary to take care of the export sector, which is suffering acutely. He said he understood that financial stability is the BOT's priority, but it should also pay attention to economic progress.

He noted that heavier sterilisation - the buying of US dollars to depress the baht's price - would boost the BOT's accounting loss, but said that's just a figure. China's central bank has also accumulated more than $3 trillion in foreign currencies to stabilise the yuan. With reserves of more than $200 million - 60 per cent of gross national product (GNP), the BOT has the capacity to strengthen its sterilisation efforts, Chatu Mongol said.

He strongly opposed a cut in the policy rate, as suggested by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong and exporters, saying that could spur consumption and hence inflation.

"It's better for the central bank to shoulder the sterilisation cost than to cut the rate, as higher inflation would affect the entire country," he said.

Foreseeing continued inflows of foreign capital, he noted that it was time to allocate some foreign reserves to finance a sovereign wealth fund, as the fund's overseas investment would counter capital inflows.

Hurting revenues:

While saying that the baht's rise is too fast, Paiboon Kittisrikangwan, an assistant governor of the Bank of Thailand, was adamant that BOT had policy options in hand. Yet, for now, it wants to observe market reactions and assess the necessity of measures.

On Friday, the Commerce Ministry, which still maintains this year's export target at 8 to 9 per cent, will hold a discussion with exporters. The Thai Frozen Foods Association earlier estimated that its producers will lose Bt20 billion for every Bt1 increase in the baht against the dollar. The association is fretting that it may fail to achieve its revenue target of Bt1 trillion this year.

The strong baht is also now expected to hurt the government's revenue projections.

Wanee Thasanamontien, principal adviser on tax strategies, said that export-oriented companies in particular will see a sharp decline in revenue when dollar-denominated income is converted to baht. With lower profits, the companies will also pay lower income taxes.

Meanwhile, the stronger baht would make dollar-denominated imports cheaper. The Revenue Department, which collects taxes according to CIF (cost, insurance and freight) rates, will then collect a smaller amount of tax.

This will further lessen the department's revenue, as the corporate income tax cut to 20 per cent this year would slash annual revenue by another Bt80 billion. Wanee estimated that if corporate earnings show annualised growth by 25 per cent or more, this would compensate for the missing revenue. The department aims to collect Bt1.77 trillion this fiscal year.

The Nation 2013-04-23

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Thailands Pattaya and Jomtien Beaches...Oh how they are being missed

Hello to all readers, Pattaya Real Estate Market clients and advertisers. I have been unfortunately out on an assignment until around the 10th of next month.

Business is as usual as both Khun Sa and Khun Naan are there handling things. I am being forwarded messages and in the loop despite the very poor internet out here offshore. Please check back on the blog as i will be forwarded updates and able to help with translation I will still be updating this blog as much as i can in addittion to the forsaleinpattaya.blogspot.com and forrentinpattaya.blogspot.com blogs.

Having been stuck in a hotel in a remote town for the last three weeks in Malaysia made me realise just how much Pattaya and Jomtien have grown.
For example.
                   It was a 700B cab ride to the nearest atm machine.

                  Beer was on average 180B for a big bottle of Tiger and 22B for Heineken.$$$.

                  We had 15-30 minute waits for taxis, no sorng taews or motorbike taxis anywhere. Often very difficult to get one to come pick us up in an offbeat area.

As much as Pattaya and Jomtien have grown and as much as the congestion is building at least there is almost always cheap public transportation available, and a 7-11 close by not to mention the plethora of atm machines and the convenient access to your money. Looking forward to getting back. Thanks for all the support from our friends, family, clients, and advertisers!

Brian
Pattaya Real Estate Market Team

Pattaya Real Estate Market

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