I have a fair fiew European and American friends who actually love living in Asia. In fact I just heard a really cute story from a new-found friend. Her name is Sky

Her Uncle was actually on his way to UK to visit another relative (he's from Australia), and he was in transit in Singapore. But he didn't make it to UK. He just went "missing". What actually happened to him was that while in transit in Singapore, he went on a tour and then fell in love with our little island city and decided to stay here for good. Hence he didn't continue on his flight to UK.

Apart from the good things...are there any bad impressions you have about South East Asia in general? What are the things in that country that will stop you from wanting to invest in that country.
1. political situation
2. Human rights violations
3. environmental concerns

Hope all of you can share your views.

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Hi agentkhoo,

Asia is a big place. You cannot generalize a lot of things. But some can be stated:

1. Political Situation
In India you have a relatively stable system since power changes hands between only a couple of groups (among them the Ghandi-clan). On a local level you have a great deal of bureaucracy and corruption in getting relatively straightforward things done. Fortunately there are soliciters and consultants specialized for the legal side of setting up businesses and property acquisition.
In other Asian countries like Malaysia you have a political cast that has everything pretty tightly under control but has great interest in foreign investment (which makes them richer).

2. Human rights Situation
In most Asian countries human rights are a relative term. If you do not have any money, authorities just don't give a damn about you. I do not believe this is out of pure malice, but just because keeping up any type of standard is just too much of a bother.
If you are an expatriate affiliated to some larger group then you will enjoy a greater deal of respect and protection. Again this is only because it is too much of a bother for authorities to take the flak for mistreating important people.

3. Environmental situation
Things are slowly changing in Asia insofar as environmental issues are at least getting some notice. But in actual fact (in China and India) they still do not care very much.
The only places where some regulations are being checked and upheld are the big cities. This is done because the level of pollution has reached nearly unbearable levels. In some Indian cities it is hard to breath in the summer due to exhausts.

This is admittedly a slightly biased but realistic view - Hope this answers some of your questions.

Silvana

An addition to my previous post:

Asia is very big and my experience is limited to India (particulary the Mumbai area) and Shanghai. So some of my previous remarks may seam a bit harsh and general. I am sure in the Philippines things are a little less corrupt.

My experience investing in property in India has shown me the pitfalls of dealing with Indian authorities. I guess your milage may vary.

Bye!

Silvana

dear

ASIA is well known for its hopitality.People are very friendly. things aer not as such as you said.if you belong to a larger group you could have good deal here.Asia has lot of potential in Real Estates property since 2001.so since a long term it is enriched for investment.policitical conditions are in favour.Asian economy is growing fastl.one of the best economists are here in Asia.i.e india china.litrarcy rate is becoming more.so you perceptions might not be correct.

Silvana, oh don't think that I'm against Asia. We're in Singapore, and we think the rest of Asia is great. That includes India, places in China, even in Indonesia are great places to invest in and live in as well.

I am just sad that there seems to be so much concentration of interest seemingly in Dubai on a daily basis here on this forum. I'm unfamiliar with the sentiments in the United States and in the various parts of Europe. I've only got family in UK and they aren't in much position to do such investments so their views and opinions cannot count.

I hope to go over to India to take a look. I heard that the market there is quite vibrant for property. We're going to have a realty expo on India property here in Singapore. I'll be dropping by the expo to learn more about the real estate in India.

Its important to know more about what is going on in the region, as we have inter-dependent economies. Don't you agree?

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Oh yes, the political situation in various countries could be improved for more stability and investor confidence. I hope that will improve soon. As a pragmatic and politically apathetic person, I'm quite happy in Singapore where we pretty much do not have such political upheavals.

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I have lived in Singapore 2 years and enjoyed it quite a lot. However, the endless hot and humid weather was getting quite disturbing time to time. I was really missing a fresh morning/evening breeze. I can take it for a year or two maybe, but not forever...

Hello all,

Just joined today but thought I would put my pennys worth in to this discussion.

I understand what kusadasisun says about the weather. I spend quite a lot of time in Thailand and it can get unbearable, especially being a northerner (Middlesbrough, England) and not used to such heat, so a fresh morning would be nice.

But I would say that living in Asia (Thailand anyway) is something I would do for 6 months or so at a time, I really do enjoy it.

I invested there around 4 years ago, when prices in Phuket were reasonable. Since then the prices have shot up, but recently I have noticed like in many areas of the world, the market has slowed down. Many of my mates there are trying to sell property and cant. Bargains perhaps?

As for political unrest, economy etc, that could be a real problem....but I know Thailand has bounced back (relatively) from a few problems in the past, economy collapse of 97, SARS, Bird Flu, Tsunami, military coupe....

Anyone else lived or living in Thailand?

Cheers

Simes

I am actually looking to take a job over there. It looks like such a beautiful place to live.

I have been only to Malaysia and Singapore. Singapore as a city state, developed, modern, clean environment, extremely safe due to serious punishment for any type of crime (make sure you'll be a good girl there), reasonably low cost of living, compact, with little traffic issues as it has a very good public transport system, very well connected to the rest of the world, very low tax rates, yes Singapore is my star!

Singapore also had its share from the property boom of late 1990-early 2000s, and then the crash! I was paying only 2000 SGD rent for an apartment that was sold for 1,300,000 SGD. The owner didn't want to accept 50% loss. He was desperately waiting for market recovery. Nightmare!

No matter what problems they will have, all SEA countries are very exotic, and you can make heaps of money if you get the right job. Sometimes, just being an English speaker is good enough. You can get promoted from being a shop assistant in the UK/US/Oz to a sales manager in SEA! That doesn't make sense, but it happens.