Welcome to Thailand - the Land of Smiles! With its warm, tropical climate, exotic landscapes, warm crystal blue seas, golden sandy beaches, welcoming people, delicious cuisine, array of entertainment options and affordable prices, it's easy to fall in love with Thailand. So it's hardly surprising that Thailand has become one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, attracting 20 million tourists from all over the world every year. And most popular resort city of all is ... Pattaya - Where the World Comes to Relax and Play For most of these visitors, one trip to Pattaya is just not enough - many dream of either relocating to the city permanently or buying a second home here to escape from the winter blues. Until recently, purchasing freehold real estate in Thailand was impossible and the only alternatives - either buying leasehold or owning as a minority shareholder in a Thai company - was a major turn off. But following the passing of the Condominium Act in 2008, it's now possible for anyone to buy a condominium in Thailand - and it's theirs for keeps. Currently condominiums in Pattaya start from just 15,000/$25,000. But prices aren't going to stay this affordable for much longer - they're starting to rise fast. So the right time to buy is right now. In this book, overseas property expert, Nick Pendrell, provides a complete buyer's guide for anyone interested in buying property in Pattaya. It will take you through the buying process from start to finish in order to ensure that you select the perfect property which meets all your needs for the best possible price, avoiding any potential pitfalls in the process.

Buddhism, often described as an austere religion that condemns desire, promotes denial, and idealizes the contemplative life, actually has a thriving leisure culture in Asia. Creative religious improvisations designed by Buddhists have been produced both within and outside of monasteries across the region—in Nepal, Japan, Korea, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Justin McDaniel looks at the growth of Asia’s culture of Buddhist leisure—what he calls “socially disengaged Buddhism”—through a study of architects responsible for monuments, museums, amusement parks, and other sites. In conversation with noted theorists of material and visual culture and anthropologists of art, McDaniel argues that such sites highlight the importance of public, leisure, and spectacle culture from a Buddhist perspective and illustrate how “secular” and “religious,” “public” and “private,” are in many ways false binaries. Moreover, places like Lek Wiriyaphan’s Sanctuary of Truth in Thailand, Suối Tiên Amusement Park in Saigon, and Shi Fa Zhao’s multilevel museum/ritual space/tea house in Singapore reflect a growing Buddhist ecumenism built through repetitive affective encounters instead of didactic sermons and sectarian developments. They present different Buddhist traditions, images, and aesthetic expressions as united but not uniform, collected but not concise: Together they form a gathering, not a movement. Despite the ingenuity of lay and ordained visionaries like Wiriyaphan and Zhao and their colleagues Kenzo Tange, Chan-soo Park, Tadao Ando, and others discussed in this book, creators of Buddhist leisure sites often face problems along the way. Parks and museums are complex adaptive systems that are changed and influenced by budgets, available materials, local and global economic conditions, and visitors. Architects must often compromise and settle at local optima, and no matter what they intend, their buildings will develop lives of their own. Provocative and theoretically innovative, Architects of Buddhist Leisure asks readers to question the very category of “religious” architecture. It challenges current methodological approaches in religious studies and speaks to a broad audience interested in modern art, architecture, religion, anthropology, and material culture.

Discusses how to make the most of internet marketing techniques to promote your accounting firm. Discusses social media, building and improving your web site, newsletters, search engine optimisation and Google AdWords.

With rich photography and insightful commentary, this Thai architecture and interior design book showcases some of the finest modern masterpieces in Southeast Asia. A tremendous body of sophisticated and sensitively designed architectural work has been produced in Thailand in the first decade of the 21st century. The 25 houses in The Modern Thai House illustrate the radical new ideas coming from a dynamic younger generation of architects who are producing work comparable with and sometimes even surpassing the very best architecture in the world. Most of these architects were trained in the U.S. or U.K. and reflect not only American and European sensibilities but also affinities with their contemporaries in Asia --including Japan, China, Singapore, and Bali--all hotbeds for innovation in modern design. The houses in this book are readily accessible from Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiangmai. They reflect a wide variety of concerns and solutions, such as: sustainability; responses to climate; strategies for cooling with minimal electricity; openness versus security in a large metropolis such as Bangkok; cultural sensitivity and responsiveness, as evidenced in a "three-generation house," built for a society in which the extended family is still prevalent; and cultural memory, as in the use of elements such as pilings, verandahs, and steeply pitched roofs with large overhangs that echo traditional Thai designs. Nurtured by an increasingly knowledgeable and wealthy clientele, modern architecture in Thailand is emerging with a variety of innovative architectural expressions.

In a rapidly urbanizing and globalized world, cities have been the epicentres of COVID-19 (coronavirus). The virus has spread to virtually all parts of the world; first, among globally connected cities, then through community transmission and from the city to the countryside. This report shows that the intrinsic value of sustainable urbanization can and should be harnessed for the wellbeing of all. It provides evidence and policy analysis of the value of urbanization from an economic, social and environmental perspective. It also explores the role of innovation and technology, local governments, targeted investments and the effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda in fostering the value of sustainable urbanization.

This publication informs advocates & others in interested agencies & organizations about supplemental security income (SSI) eligibility requirements & processes. It will assist you in helping people apply for, establish eligibility for, & continue to receive SSI benefits for as long as they remain eligible. This publication can also be used as a training manual & as a reference tool. Discusses those who are blind or disabled, living arrangements, overpayments, the appeals process, application process, eligibility requirements, SSI resources, documents you will need when you apply, work incentives, & much more.

TheDK Eyewitness Thailand's Beaches & Islands Travel Guidewill lead you straight to the best attractions Thailand's Beaches & Islands has to offer. The guide includes unique cutaways, floorplans and reconstructions of the city's stunning architecture, plus 3D aerial views of the key districts to explore on foot. You'll find detailed listings of the best hotels, restaurants, bars and shops for all budgets in this fully updated and expanded guide, plus insider tips on everything from where to find the best markets and nightspots to great attractions for children. The DK Eyewitness Thailand's Beaches & Islands Travel Guideshows you what others only tell you.