News & Articles - Green Door Enterprises

News & Articles

Thailand Declared Safe

U.S, Lifts Terror Warning 

On the 13th of January, 2012, The United States issued a terror warning, stating that there was a real possibility of imminent terrorist attacks in busy tourist areas of Bangkok. This came after Thai authorities arrested a Lebanese suspect who is accused of trying to attack spots in Bangkok that are popular with Western tourists. The Thai government said the terror suspect is believed to be a member of Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim group active in Lebanon that the United States and Israel view as a terrorist organization. The suspect (Hussein Atris), had been traveling on a Swedish passport, and had previously lived in Sweden. 

The 47 year old Hussein told the Swedish press ""I am 100 per cent not guilty of the terror crimes I am accused of," said Hussein, who was last week arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport on suspicion of preparing to carry out a terrorist attack in Bangkok. "Much of the materials police found in my storage had been placed there, probably by Israeli secret service Mossad,"

The government of Thailand voiced concerns that the Americans had overreacted, appealing for the Americans to lift the terror warning, as it might have a negative effect on the country's tourism industry. Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung was quoted as saying "Nothing to worry about', "I want to assure people that there is nothing to worry about. The police will take care of the situation and everything will be under control."

Since the infamous Bali nightclub bombing in 2002, there have been fears that Muslim extremists might launch a similar attack on tourists in Thailand. The Bali terrorist bombings, which killed some 200 people and injured hundreds more, has been clearly attributed to the al-Qaeda linked terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiya. The attack in Bali's crowded Kuta tourist district was initiated with a possible suicide bombing inside a tourist bar that funneled panicking victims into the street, exposing the crowd to the full blast of a large car bomb parked next to the neighboring Sari club. 

Despite these fears, Thailand has remained relatively safe, with no reported terror attacks against foreign tourists, however bombings have occurred in the troubled Southern provinces. Muslim separatists in the South have been involved in several violent clashes with the government over the years, with several bombings, however these cases are not targeting tourists, and tourism has not been affected. 

This week The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the United States revoked the terrorism alert in Thailand. They have replaced the warning on their website with a more general alert warning for East Asia, not naming any specific countries. The Thai government is assuring citizens that more stringent security measures will be urgently implemented to restore confidence. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Australia is preparing to revoke the alert and several other countries are expected to follow over the next few days. 

Source: The Nation: US lifts terrorism warning, seven other nations retain warning

Thailand Bids Farewell To Robbie Fowler

Just a year after his arrival in Thailand, Robbie Fowler is on the move again, this time he is heading to India. The 36 year old striker made headlines last year when he signed with Muang Thong United of Thailand's Premier League. Shortly after his arrival, the former Liverpool hero and England striker was also named as the team's player-coach. The signing of Fowler in July last year may have put the Thai Premier League on the map, making international sports headlines, but as far as the fans are concerned, it was a failed experiment. 

The 36-year-old striker, who scored 183 goals during eight years at Liverpool and won 26 England caps, would not score his first goal for Muang Thong United until almost 3 months into the season. After a disappointing start, Fowler replaced Henrique Calisto as acting head coach, however he did not fare any better than the man he replaced.

Muang Thong United won the league by four points in 2010. Just a year later there was a shocking swing of 29 points, seeing them finish in third place, some 25 points behind Buriram PEA. The final quarter of the season when Fowler was at the helm, turned out to be a complete disaster. Winning just one of their final eight games - a disastrous run which saw them lose to Buriram and rivals for second place Chonburi, and drop points to each of the bottom three teams all while Fowler was in charge.

Fowler did not leave Thailand on good terms with the club, he was quoted as saying "The president and CEO of Mtutd know why I quit and it certainly was nothing to do with results." This was in response to an article published in the Bangkok Post, quoting Fowler as saying "I want to take responsibility after the team failed to get good results". Fowler followed up on Twitter, flatly denying that he made any such remarks. 

Fowler joins fellow aging football stars such as Herman Crespo and Fabio Cannavaro, who have also made the move to the new upstart Indian Football League. The new league will be based on the American MLS, as well as cricket's IPL, around 30 players and six coaches from around the world will be auctioned off in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata for the league, to be staged between 25 February and 8 April.

With Cricket dominating the sports scene in India, their Fifa world ranking is a dismal 162nd overall, despite the fact that 60,000,000 Indians tuned in to watch The English Premier League football matches last year. The league's organizers are hoping that by bringing in high profile players like Fowler, Crespo and Cannavaro, Indian football will grow and improve in the coming years. 

When There Is Blood In The Streets, Buy Property

Part 2

In October of last year, I published an article here on this website, titled "When There Is Blood In The Streets, Buy Property". In the article I examined the old Rothschild wisdom, and applied it to the property market here in Thailand in the aftermath of the country's worst floods in the past 50 years. Throughout history, we have learned that in the days following tragic events such as wars, natural disasters and other tragedies, there could not be a better time to buy property. Despite the panic and negative reports in the media following the floods, my thoughts at the time were that buying property would be a solid investment.

 the price of property is only going to rise in coming years

Let's take a look back and see what has happened since October of last year? In December, The Nation Newspaper reported that Land prices in Bangkok's inner areas such as Siam Square surged dramatically after the floods. According to the report, the price of land has gone up from Bt1.2 million per square wah, to as high as Bt1.4 million per square wah, a 17% percent increase. They also went on to say that there were significant increases in property value in other areas of Bangkok, such as Wireless Road and Silom and Rajdamri roads.

The Nation also reported in January of this year, that condo sales in Pattaya surged by more than 120% in 2011. In my original article published back in October, I had said that "There couldn't be a better time to invest in property in a place like Pattaya". It seems that there is evidence to suggest that these predictions have indeed come true, as all indications are that the price of property across the country has risen dramatically since last year's floods.

There is still much concern regarding the future of Bangkok, and what steps the government will put in place to prevent future floods, not only this year but in the years to come. With many people convinced that future floods will continue to plague the country's capital, there has been a significant increase in demand in other areas, such as Pattaya, Hua Hin, and even Chiang Mai in the North. With the tourism industry growing each year, and the number of annual arrivals still expected to nearly double by 2014, the price of property is only going to rise in coming years, regardless of future floods, political instability, or any other adverse situations that may arise.

So as we look back, it should not be surprising to anyone that the old Rothschild's adage proved to be true once again, there are numerous examples of fortunes being made in the aftermath of history's darkest moments. There is no greater tool to predict the future, than to carefully study the past. We have all heard the saying that "history repeats itself", in this case we can suggest that the increase in property value after last years flood is much the same as what we witnessed in Phuket back in 2004, as land prices have roughly doubled since the tragedy occurred. As we look ahead, we all wonder what the future might have in store for us .. well I will go out on a limb, and say that it is going to be a lot like the past.