They Came, They Saw, and They Settled in Pattaya After more than 20 profitable years in the international property industry Kathrine and Kurt Svendheim has finally settled down as the sole owner of New Nordic in Pattaya. And after 18 months in Thailand they are building and selling their first apartment project in Pattaya. By Bjarne Wildau
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athrine and Kurt Svendheim came to Pattaya first time in the spring 2008. The couple has been working in so different countries as Brazil, Spain and Belgium, and now they wanted to go down a new path being agents, selling apartments and house. “Soon after the arrival here at Nordic in Pattaya, we bought four apartments. We had never been in Thailand before and were absolutely taken by the Thai people, their culture and the climate” Kurt Svendheim says. Kathrine and Kurt had been traveling and moving time after time, and the feeling of “coming home” in Thailand began to sink in to the hearts and minds of the Norwegian couple.
Wonderful from day one “We had a wonderful time in Pattaya from day one,” the Norwegian investor says. While the experienced property couple was over the moon in Pattaya they had no problems discovering that the Norwegian owner of Nordic had problems keeping the crisis at bay.
18 ScandAsia.Thailand • December 2010
“Some people’s problems can turn into new openings for other people. Kathrine and I started to talk about what we could do about the crisis hitter Nordic,” Kurt explains. Kurt Svendheim, the CEO, and his wife, Kathrine, who attends to guest services and room decor, not forgetting their son, Marcus, who will take a progressively more active part as he grows older, ably helped by Sigurd, the General Manager, and Ronnie, the Sales Manager.
Turkey, Brazil and Bulgaria This Norwegian management team is helped by a 60-person Thai team of employees. Kurt and Kathrine also have investments in Turkey, Brazil and Bulgaria, but Thailand is by far their favorite location, as it is for many Scandinavians. Kurt and Kathrine have begun to explore Southern Thailand, most particularly the islands, and are looking forward to exploring further north as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Kurt Svendheim can’t and want break the confidential agreement, but the couple started counting. Almost 200 apartments were connected to an administrations service
with service and a rental system, securing a constant flow of business. The same with the restaurant, bakery, massage, transport service to and fro the airport etc.
Thailand for ever “What we saw was a fantastic possibility to settle. We didn’t want to travel, settle and pull up our roots any longer. And Nordic could be the business for the rest of our life’s”. And so it turned out. 15. July 2009 Nordic got new owners and a new name, namely New Nordic. During the interview 15 months after the take Kurt Svendheim can’t recall any kind of problems more than what is normal in a normal business when you employ between 50 and 70 people and served hundreds of apartment owners and guest. “New Nordic is running the service for the individual owners of the apartment, from taken care of the pools to maintenance of the common area. My wife Kathrine take care of that section included renovation of apartment”.
115 apartments for rent Kurt is handling the rental of 115 apartments and the restaurants and the bakery. In an way you can call the New Nordic complex a village. You hardly need to leave the place. Everything is there. Take the Christmas and New Year festival. Hundred of guest is attending. Maybe the more people having lute fish at the New Nordics Christmas eve than in the rest of Scandinavian restaurant all together in the greater Pattaya. At the top of what could be more than enough for most people, Kurt is also heading new developments. There will also be two further small condominium buildings, one currently under construction, VIP 1, with another, Grand, to commence shortly. Situated in one of the most exclusive locations in Pattaya, Phratumnak Hill, New Nordic is a close neighbor of the royal princess’ residence and has access to three beaches: Cosy, Cabbages and Condoms and Dongtan, with its own