Situated on 12 rai of land (slightly less than 5 acres), there's ample room around Northpoint's majestic skyscrapers for its lush gardens and that's because Northpoint's 300 plus units are spread upwards which leaves considerable living space that are used for its gardens, swimming pool and parking.  Watching Northpoint's construction seem to slowly grind to a screeching halt (I live practically next door) there were times that I wondered if the project would ever be finished.  The economies of Europe and the U.S. had gone into a recession and there was no end in sight--and there still isn't.  Raimon Land was asking its prospective buyers 120,000 bhat and up.  Where would the money be coming from?  But that was several years ago.  It's now early October 2011, and I'm reading a list of available units for Northpoint which shows that as of September 30, 2011 there's just one unit left in tower A and 7 in tower B.  Meanwhile Raimon Land's sales representatives are focusing on Zire Wongamat, Northpoint's sister condominium project which will add two new towers measuring 37 and 54 levels tall to the two towers that have been completed, and all four towers will be on a total of 18 rai of land.  So here we are in the middle of the world's worst recession since the Great Depression and Raimon land's making a huge success out of selling luxury condominiums here on Wongamat Beach.  What's going on here?

I am reminded of the Englishman who keeps telling me, "Have you seen all those bars in Pattaya?  No one's in them.  All these places are going out of business.  The economy is terrible the world over and it's getting the same here."  This is the same Englishman who tried to tell me that the city of Hanoi in Vietnam didn't have rush hour traffic at 8 a.m.   Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I've never found a city of 6.5 millions people in the entire world that didn't suffer from rush hour traffic at 8 o'clock in the morning.  As for the Englishman I've never know the man to get up before 11 a.m. which leads us to ask:  "Just how would he know whether there's rush hour traffic in Hanoi or not considering that at 8 a.m. he's always sleeping off his hang overs."  This myopic view of the world is shared by many Americans who believe the world is an America centric world, and that if it's not happening in the United States, it's not happening anywhere.  So what does this mean for sales success luxury of condos at Wongamat Beach such as The Cove and Northpoint?  What it means is that just because the economic outlook for the U.K. and the United States is bleak this doesn't mean that it's bleak for all countries in the world.  It also means that just because most Americans are going to fare badly in the world economy, this doesn't mean that all Americans are headed to the poor house.  Bottom line is not all prospective buyers of condos at upper scale projects such as Northpoint and the Cove have to be Englishmen, Americans or for that matter, Western Europeans.  Moreover, just because most Americans and Englishmen are doing badly in today's world economy, this doesn't mean that all Americans and Englishmen lack the funds to buy luxury condominiums in Thailand. 

Let me quote Descartes, who is best known for having said, "I think, therefore I am."  Applying Descartes to the future success of luxury condominium developments at Wongamat Beach, we might well conclude "Since Northpoint has sold over 90 % of its condos for over 120,000 baht per meter and since it is poised to start building its ambitious Zire twin tower project just meters away from Northpoint, that there is a large market at Wongamat Beach for future luxury condominiums.  There is also the existence of the five star Centara Hotel just up the street from Northpoint with its 800 rooms starting at over 4800 baht a night.  I just checked its web site only to find out there are no vacancies for two days from now.  There being no vacancies out of 550 rooms is supported by the fact that I recommended Centara to friends of mine who drove to Centara two months ago only to find that there were no vacancies.  Obviously in spite of the great world recession somebody out there is buying all these luxury condos at Wongamat Beach and staying at expensive hotel rooms at Centara.  So who are these people and why are they buying into Pattaya, which is perhaps best know world wide as the possible number one sex tourist destination on the planet?

Once again let's apply Descartes to the theory that building and developing large luxury condominium buildings and hotels might be a great idea even in the middle of the Great Recession.  All three, the Cove, Northpoint, and the Pattaya Centara Hotel are projects started up by some of the finest  and most successful real estate developers in Thailand.  The Centara Hotel is owned by Central Group which also owns the Central Festival Shopping Center down on Beach Road in Pattaya, which is reputedly Asia's largest beach front shopping mall.  Centara also owns and operates five star resorts in Bangkok, Hua Hin. Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai, Rayong, Samui, Trat, Udon Thani as well as a number of other locations throughout Thailand as well as in Vietnam and India.  Now let's move along to Raimon Land.

Raimon Land is one of Thailand's highest regarded real estate developers having now completed both Northshore and Northpoint in Pattaya, in Bangkok--the Lofts Sathorn, the Lakes, the lofts Yennekart, the River, and in Phuket--Kata Gardens and the Heights.  One can count Raimon Land as one of Thailand's heaviest hitters and certainly no fool in paradise.  And for that matter, the same can be said for the man behind  Perch Development  which developed the Cove.  The Cove is owned by a private company which is basically a single owner who is apparently richer than God.  Much of the land open for development in Naklua a long with over 1000 rai of land in Bangkok and Pattaya have been in his family ever since World War II.  Both the Amari and Dusit Thani Hotels in North Pattaya were built by Perch Development.  

Since the developers of all three projects are  highly respected, successful, and well financed, one would be wise to assume that all three have a long term well thought out plan for Wongamat Beach's future development and that all three have done their market research homework exceedingly well.  Although we cannot get into the mindsets of these developers we can get a glimpse of where the future is heading from the Raimon Land web site.  Raimon's Land's figures In its condo focus 2011 publication are certainly revealing.  In the pie chart for the top ten nationalities for tourists, 26.9 % are Thai, 21.4 % are Russian, and 11 % are Chinese for almost 60 % of the total tourists throughout Thailand in the first three quarters of 2010.  Of particular note is the figures for Americans and the British at just 1.7 % and 2.6 % of the total.  What this means is the average English or American visiting Thailand is an absolute irrelevancy to the fortunes of the Kingdom no matter how highly these two  national groups think of themselves.

Note the keyword, however, "average" as I apply it to British and American visitors to Thailand.   Another revealing chart appears in Raimon Land's Condo Focus for 2010 towards the bottom of the report.  Note that 67.2 % of all condo buyers are Thais  with 9 % being Russian and 8.3 % American.    8.2 % are French and 3.5 % are Italian without the British being given a bare mention except for the fact that they must constitute a portion of the 3.6 % sliver of the pie designated as "all others". 

One more interesting statistic can be gleaned from the two Raimon Land marketing reports.  Note how the number of Russian tourists increased from 14.9 % from the first three quarters of 2009 to 21.4 %.   Let me repeat that --14.9 % to 21.4 % IN ONE YEAR.   That's an increase of 44 % in just one year.

Obviously, by far the largest segment of buyers of Raimon Land condo buyers is Thai.  The next is Russian, followed by American and then the French.  From this I would conclude that there will always be large number of wealthy people worldwide regardless of whether there's a depression or not.  Furthermore, whether we Westerners want to admit it or not, there's a very large number of very wealthy Thais around and they most definitely are buying expensive condos on Wongamat Beach.  Thirdly, there really is a Russian Invasion of Pattaya.  It's even gotten to the point that if you go to the Khao Kheow zoo at Siracha and see a white person chances are you are looking at a Russian.  So one can expect to find more and more Russians buying condos in Pattaya.  This is due to two reasons--first, Thailand's the only game in town for most Russians and second, Russia has huge reserves of oil, natural gas and mineral wealth and all that translates into huge wealth, and I don't care what the world economy will be doing, energy is king and there will always be large numbers of Russians cashing in on it who can afford to buy expensive condos in Thailand.  As for the only game in town, Russia's got the Black Sea to swim in and that's about it.  It's cold in most of Russia so the warm waters of Thailand must seem like a godsend to many Russians.  Much of Russia is not that far away from Pattaya so it's going to be a natural for hordes of Russians to keep invading Pattaya.  Fourth--expect to see a lot more Chinese investment in Thailand, particularly in Pattaya.  China is destined to replace the United States as the most powerful, richest country in the world, so one must expect more and more very wealthy Chinese wanting to buy the finest condos in the best locations they can find in Thailand.  Fifth---Expect to find more rich Indians to come here looking for first class condos as their economy continues to take off. 

So why is it that so many of these people whether they are Thai, Russian, American or French want to buy expensive condos on Wongamat Beach?   The water really is not safe to swim in here.  Those who know better don't.  Short time tourists do because no one has pointed out to them everything that's coming into the sea here.  Nevertheless, the coastline is potentially very attractive the way it curves and twists in every direction and the lure of the sea is still here, particularly at night when you can sit down close to the water relaxing with a beer as you listen to the soothing sounds of the waves lapping up against the shore.  And then there's that priceless sea breeze that no amount of money can buy that makes it so much cooler down near the beach than much farther inland.  And if you want to enjoy a nice clean beach with good clean salt water to swim in there's always Ko Larn Island just five miles out of Pattaya only forty minutes away by ferry.   Ko Larn is truly a little gem of an island that is overlooked by most tourists and expats alike.

Certainly Pattaya's beaches cannot begin to compare to Krabi's or Phuket's, Koh Samet's.  However, none of these places have a Bangkok Pattaya Hospital either.   And although Krabi has the most sensational scenery I've seen yet in Thailand, it's significantly hotter there than it is in Pattaya.  And none of these beautiful resort areas have anything like the Pattaya Central Festival Mall.  Furthermore, the night life in Pattaya puts the night life anywhere else to shame and this includes Bangkok.  Lastly, most of my European and American friends have the slightest clue about what's really available to them here in the Pattaya area.  They are just too busy getting drunk every night or picking up women to know or to care.   Taking a look at my 12 Wonders of Pattaya will give you a clue of the wide spread activities awaiting the discrimating person who asks a little more out of life than an endless nightly pilgramage to Pattaya's huge selection of bars and other night life venues.  And there's a lot more than just what I've mentioned as my 12 wonders such as over 20 well maintained golf courses in the area.  One's choice of television channels is quite good here and the internet is far better than it is in most other places.  When it really comes down to it, flaws, warts and all, it is almost impossible to find any place in the entire world that begins to offer so much as Pattaya offers.  And that's going to be a large part of the reason why luzury condominiums such as Northpoint and the Cove will continue to be built here on Wongamat Beach.  Certainly the landscape is changing here with the Russian Invasian, the continued success of the Chinese economy with the emergence of India, and the recognition of wealthy Thais, particularly Thais in Bangkok that Pattaya offers so much more than being merely a sex tourist destination.   It's even gotten to the point that there is really very little reason to ever go to Bangkok other than the occasional visit to one's embassy simply because Pattaya has grown to such an extent that it offers just about everything that can be found in the capital while offering less congestion, a cooler climate, cheaper prices and a more relaxed pace. 

Obviously Northpoint is magnificent.   In case one is afraid that he's going to have to wait too long for an elevator, there's four high speed lifts per tower.  And as for the view, it's captivating, whether one is looking out across the Gulf of Thailand or out across the city itself.  At one time there was a lot of variety in one's choice of sizes for his dream condo when Northpoint's units first came onto the market.  Starting with one bedroom units at 73 to 74.5 square meters one move up to 102-106 two bedroom units or opt for even larger  three bedroom 133 or 143 meter units (there's 10.8 square feet in one square meter).  There were also even larger two story duplexes measuring 172 and 208-220 square meters. 

There is of course the prospect of getting one of the units that will be certainly coming up for resale or getting one of the few units left.  Or one can wait several years for a condo in one of the two Zire condos which are to be built next year.  Zire's units will be much smaller and considerably cheaper, and although Raimon Land is targeting upscale Thais from the Bangkok area for its primary sales prospects, I'm sure it wouldn't mind selling you one either.  Starting with either a 38 or 39 square meter unit at 2.5 million baht, one can move up to sizes ranging from 49 square meters to 62  and 75 square meter 2 bedroom units. 

There lurks, however, the extreme possibility of a fly in the ointment to all such revelations.  I'm now getting e-mails from Raimon Land for North Point time shares and introductory offers to what amounts to hotel room style accommodations in its twin towers.  One must ask the question then, if there are so few condominiums available then why are so many on the market for time shares or very short term hotel arrangements?