Investment breaks record

Bangkok - Investment applications in Thailand hit a record 644.8 billion baht (19.5 billion dollars) in 2007, up 32 per cent on the previous year, even in the face of great political uncertainty, the Bangkok Post reported Friday.

The Board of Investment also approved - gave tax breaks - to a 744.5 billion baht in investments, almost double the year previously.

The board's secretary-general, Satit Chanjavanakul, said that investors clearly feel comfortable with the forward momentum of the Thai economy even as politics goes through a period of turmoil unusual even by Thai standards, according to the report.

Foreign investors' applications climbed 63 per cent to 502.73 billion baht. The outgoing caretaker administration and its military sponsors have ruffled foreign investors by flirting with tougher anti-foreigner regulations, as well as being widely perceived as being generally poor at boosting the economy. The political future remains uncertain even though the military claims it will respect the outcome of a December 23 election that will likely produce a coalition government dominated by a proxy party for the controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a coup in September 2006.

Thaksin's People Power Party has accused the Election Commission of bowing to military pressure by ejecting some of its winning candidates for electoral fraud so as to weaken its ability to put together a coalition with minor parties. The top foreign investors in Thailand were Japanese with applications totalling 149.07 billion baht, up from 110.47 billion baht in 2006. US and European investors were second and third, at 85.75 billion baht and 75.93 billion baht respectively. German investors showed the highest growth, from 1.28 billion baht in 2006 to 37.08 billion baht last year. Korean and Chinese investments also jumped 121 per cent and 38 per cent to 11.56 billion baht and 17.17 billion baht respectively.

Favourite investment projects were in the service sector, followed by automobile, parts manufacturing, chemicals and plastic operations. Satit said that a further positive sign was the interest of developers in creating new industrial estates. No new industrial estates have been built in Thailand since the 1997 financial crisis.

© 2008 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Thailand drawing investors

Investment is continuing to pour into Thailand from overseas developers and property-fund managers with the hospitality industry in traditional holiday locations attracting the lion´s share of foreign projects, according to a recent study carried out by The Nation.

The study also found that foreign companies, both on their own and via joint venture with domestic construction firms, have shrugged off the political and economic uncertainty of recent years and earmarked some Bt20 billion for further investment this year.

Among the biggest players to commit to Thailand´s property industry is Singapore-based Pacific Star International, who has formed two joint-venture firms with Asian Property Development to build two Bangkok condominium developments, one on Sathorn Soi 12 and the other on Ratchadaphisek Road, at a cost of Bt6 billion. The Nation also revealed that Hong Kong´s Concord Property Group has plans for an integrated property development worth up to Bt40 billion in the Pinklao area.

Singapore´s Banyan Tree Group has also ploughed massive sums into Thailand´s burgeoning property industry. In a further demonstration of faith the Kingdom the group set up a centre in Phuket where it trains service staff for use in it´s resorts and hotels elsewhere in the world. Another big investor is Hong Kong Real Estate International, which has invested some Bt18 billion in residential developments with various partners to date.

It is not just developers from other Asian countries investing in Thailand – a number of firms from the US and Europe are lining up to invest, predominantly, in the Thai hospitality business in tourist destinations such as Phuket, Koh Samui, Pattaya and Chiang Mai.

by Robert Carry / Property Report

Office Space (Bangkok)

Bangkok has the fifth cheapest office cost per workstation in the world based on a survey by the Singapore-based international property adviser DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.

Thailand sits with other cities in Asia Pacific at the bottom of the rankings. Indonesia's Surabaya was the least expensive at $1,550, followed by Manila (Ortigas) at $1,670, Jakarta at $2,170 and Tianjin at $2,830.

London (West End) continued to top the rankings as the most expensive location globally at $31,160 per workstation per year, followed by Hong Kong at $27,540, London (City) at $20,690, Paris at $20,430 and Tokyo (Central 5 Wards) at $18,430.

The top five locations with the highest annual growth in occupancy costs per workstation (quoted locally) were Moscow (95%), Singapore (93%), Dubai (74%), Manila (Makati) (73%) and Silicon Valley (San Jose, CA) (53%). On the other hand, Lisbon (-24%), Tallahassee (-22%), Atlanta (-20%), Los Angeles (-19%) and Las Vegas (-8%) experienced the largest decline in occupancy costs.

(Read More... BangkokPost)

The Lofts (Bangkok)

The Lofts Yennakart is a concept where international expertise and local knowledge has been combined to create a condominium where you will appreciate true value for money. The Lofts Yennakart offers high quality design and finishing in a variety of one, two and three bedroom units ranging in size from 55 to 177 sq.m.
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Rental Yields (Bangkok)

Rental yields for luxurious condominiums in Bangkok range from 7.2% to 8.9%. The exception is 300-square metre (sq. m) units yielding only around 6.84%.

In Hua Hin, mountain-side villas are cheapest with prices only reaching up to around US$649 per sq. m. While top luxurious properties can cost almost twice that, 150-sq. m beachfront villas are most expensive at US$4,333 per sq. m.

The River (Bangkok)

Magnificent vistas from The River

With the opening of The River’s Bt100 – million sales office and three floors of show rooms at its 13-rai Chao Phraya riverfront site, developer Raimon Land is now witnessing a big surge in bookings.

Raimon’s chief executive officer Nigel Cornick says the landmark development is setting a new benchmark for prime riverfront properties in design and pricing. “Buyers who had put off their purchase, signed up once they saw the units,” said a sales executive.

“We knew it would be best to show what buyers are getting,” said Cornick. “The views and show apartments speak for themselves.”

Visitors came away with awe once they visited the show homes, realizing The River’s units offer some of the very best residences in town.

The starting price of Bt 95,000 a square metre becomes secondary to the fact that the location commands unparalleled views.

Cornick says the project has received accolades from professional builders, designers as well as global investors, many of whom are keen to acquire the freehold apartment as part of their portfolio in the Kingdom.

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$5bn venture (Cambodia)

SET-listed Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD), Thailand's biggest construction company, is joining with five investment partners to develop a $5-billion coal-fired power plant in Cambodia. BangkokPost - Read More...

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