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Pattaya commercial
development expanding
The continuing commercial development in Pattaya has prompted one company to
expand to satisfy demand in this market. “We are actively looking for
quality commercial properties,” says Paul Sutton, the manager of the new
Commercial Division of Northern Thai Realty, Pattaya’s longest established
real estate company. “We have the buyers and we are looking at listing
hotels, guest houses and restaurants, as well as considering other
businesses,” he said.
The Commercial Division also includes Tingli, the office manager, as many of
the commercial establishments currently being made available are Thai owned
or Thai developed.
Paul Sutton, who has been in Pattaya for five years, and previously in the
field of customer service in the UK, says that he can offer buyers the
complete package. “With the forthcoming amendments and easing of
restrictions in the Foreign Business Act, we expect an increase in interest
in commercial properties. Northern Thai has the complete support package
available, including financial and legal advice and full insurance services,
and we have extended our market coverage from purely the Eastern Seaboard to
encompass the Chonburi province. We are also providing our services at some
of the lowest rates seen in Pattaya, as being a large and diversified
company, our overheads are ultimately lower.”
After some years in the doldrums, the increase in commercial interest in
Pattaya is being taken by Northern Thai Realty as an indicator that buyer
confidence is again on the increase.
Property values in South
fall against other regions
The value of land and commercial property in Thailand’s south
has fallen by some Bt52.18 billion (about US$1.64 billion) due to the continued
insurgency in the region, while property values in other regions have increased
without interruption, according to a leading property assessor.
Sophon Pornchokchai, chairman of the Asset Value Assessment Association of
Thailand, said that the country’s property had a combined value of Bt47.53
trillion (about $1.5 trillion), or seven times the gross domestic product (GDP)
or 30 times the present annual budget.
Property values in Bangkok and its environs reached the highest at Bt12.79
trillion (about $403.8 billion).
Of this, Bt10.54 trillion (some $331.9 billion) represents the value of
residential units while Bt2.26 trillion (about $71.2 billion) represents land
for agricultural use.
The property value in the Northeast hit the second highest at Bt11.65 trillion
($366.8 billion).
Of this, Bt5.61 trillion ($176.7 billion) comprise the value of residential
units and Bt6.04 trillion ($190.3 billion) is land dedicated to agricultural
use.
While prices of property countrywide had increased on average, he noted,
property values in the south had decreased due to the widespread instability in
the region.
Without the violence in the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and
Narathiwat, he said, combined property values in the region would have increased
to Bt497.78 billion in 2005, Bt519.49 billion in 2006, and Bt544.44 billion in
2007.
But the real value of the property in the region dropped to Bt494.37 billion in
2006 and Bt492.27 billion in 2007.
It indicated that property values had decreased by Bt52.18 billion due to the
rising violence in the region. The overall amounts do not reflect the
incalculable losses of lives and property damage incurred during years of
violence. (TNA)
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