If Thailand in general – and Pattaya in particular – doesn’t start looking at how they deal with foreigners seeking to invest and live in the country, they could start missing out to their South-East Asian rivals.
That’s the view of Northern Thai managing director John Seymour, who was talking to me in the office he recently opened in Angeles City in the Philippines.

Strong involvement
It should be made clear right up front that I don’t believe that John is a “knocker” by nature. Indeed, given his strong involvement in the Pattaya property scene it is hardly in his own best interests to run down the city or the country.
But he is concerned about a lack of direction in which Thailand seems headed so he has decided to reduce his company’s dependence on the local property market and “export” its expertise to a place which, in his view, has many parallels to the Pattaya of 15 years ago.
“I see many similarities between Angeles and the Pattaya of the’80s and ’90s,” he said. “Here in Angeles there are really only two condo blocks worthy of the name. It’s not that long ago we had a similar situation in Pattaya though when you look at the number of condos in Pattaya now that seems hard to take in.

Boom around the corner
“I believe a boom is just around the corner in Angeles and Northern Thai wants to be part of it. Developers currently working in Pattaya are showing an interest in Angeles and there is no shortage of money being invested here.”
As in the Pattaya of several years back professional real estate agents are comparatively thin on the ground in Angeles. Most are “one man bands and fairly disorganised”.
“John and Northern Thai have been like a breath of fresh air in the local property scene by bringing a company with 25-plus years of experience here,” was a remark made to me by one of his partners in the Angeles venture, which is named NT Realty.
That “fresh air” takes many forms but most noticeable is in the area of marketing. Within its first month of operation NT Realty had 10,000 copies of a 16-page brochure about its operations printed and distributed. “We put them into the main hotels, restaurants and bars and have even gone out dropping them into mailboxes. Also we have taken several pages of advertising in the local magazines.”
This advertising spend and the brochure seem to have turned the Angeles real estate market on its head.
“Before, if people wanted to sell their house they would stick a sign on their gate. There used to be a reluctance to speculate here by advertising, but we are doing it and good things are happening as a result.

Advertising is helping
“The advertising is helping to draw people to us. They can see there is a professionalism in how we go about our business,” said John.
The office really got underway on August 4, about four weeks prior to my visit. “Already we have 4,000 houses or plots on our books,” said John.
During my short trip, I had the chance to visit some of the new housing projects and I was surprised by the wide roads and ample street lighting that is put in prior to any land plots being sold.

Plot sizes
For the westerner, the land plots in Angeles are small but, because the prices are low, it is often the case that the buyer will buy two or three plots on which to built their dream home.
“Prices here are roughly the same in pesos as it would be in baht,” said John. The exchange rate when I was there was 1.3 pesos to the baht. Hence you could get a property that costs 2m pesos there for about Bt 1.4m here.
Bars and restaurants are areas where the similarities between Pattaya and Angeles are most noticeable. For the uninitiated, Angeles is a city that owes most of its growth to the fact that it used to be home to a large American military base at the then named Clark airfield. In its heyday it was the biggest US base outside the States.
As often seems to be the case where the military goes the bar girls follow. This is very true of Angeles where the nightlife scene is just as vibrant as in Pattaya, maybe more so. Ladies dance (twitch is more accurate) around poles and, apart from Filipino girls having a better command of English, visitors could be forgiven for thinking they had never left Pattaya when they venture down Fields Avenue, Angeles’ answer to Walking Street. There is no beach, the nearest is 35 minutes away by car at Subic Bay.
Those familiar with recent Philippines history will be aware that the Americans left the Clark base in 1991, around the time that nearby volcano Mount Pinatubo erupted leaving hundreds dead and destroying 4,979 homes and damaging another 70,257. The base was handed back to the Philippines government later the same year. More recently the old base area was declared a Freeport zone which carries tax incentives and some relaxation on duties.

Moving back
John said: “Quite a few expats living in the Angeles area decided to move to Thailand to settle down in the wake of the Pinatubo disaster. Now many of them are considering moving back because they are disillusioned with how things currently are in Thailand.”
John added: “There are days when I despair slightly about the Thai way in their dealings with foreigners who want to do business in Thailand. Here in Angeles the administration welcomes foreigners; welcomes people who want to do business and create jobs.”
In John’s opinion it is easier for an expat to live in the Philippines. Visa laws are more relaxed and it’s possible to stay in the country and not have to keep leaving on visa runs. Those granted residency have to report just once a year as opposed to the every 90 days of Thailand.
That said, the rules about ownership of a house or land are fairly similar between the two countries. Indeed, ownership in a condo is capped at 40 per cent (49 per cent in Thailand).

Simpler visas
“Thai authorities should look at what’s going on in the countries around them,” said John. “They need to make visa regulations a whole lot simpler. They need to prove that international trading is something they are interested in. At present it seems they are not!”
John said he knew of a few people who had opted to buy in the Philippines and turn their back on Thailand. I sensed that the businessman in him was happy to avail himself of the opportunity this presents but the man who still wants to live in Thailand was saddened by it all. “I couldn’t sit back and wait for the Thai government to slowly come round to greater acceptance of foreigners – that’s part of the reason why I’m here,” he said with a rueful smile.
His business partner in Angeles was very upbeat about progress in the first few weeks saying: “Foreign money is coming here to Angeles. And there are some lovely estates being built. We needed a real estate company here like Northern Thai.”
John already has six Filipino ladies on his staff and is considering talking on more to help cope with the interest generated to date.
At the time of our chat he was splitting his time fairly evenly between Angeles and Pattaya. “I can see this continuing for the next several months,” he said adding that, once the Angeles office was bedded into the group, he would probably spend more of his time in Pattaya where he is also planning a new office.

Process of recovery
“I still believe Pattaya has plenty to offer,” John concluded. “I love the life here and so do many others I speak to. So all the ingredients are here to attract people once the world gets sorted. A loosening of regulations would go a long way to help the process of recovery we all seek.”
In the meantime John is obviously relishing the prospect of exploring a new market. Ω