TALAY VILLAS RESORT AND RESIDENTIAL ESTATE CLARIFICATION

The View Talay Villas Holiday Resort in Pattaya, which cheated me & my friend by sending emails in black & white saying offerring us a complimentary staying for a week. "The fact is there are 198 villas in the View Talay Villas Estate. Seven of these villas are owned and controlled independently by a Time Share company known as View Talay Villas Holiday Resort. This is the company your reader has complained about. Our company has nothing to do with this business, or Mr Ross Gould." Mr. Rob Astbury, Sales Manager

The heart of the matter

The rapid change that Bangkok is undergoing with train lines spreading in many directions might confuse property buyers, but to play it safe it is still best to be located in or close to the heart of the city because this does not change for generations, according to Pritpal Singh Gill, the country manager of Pacific Star International, Areas identified by Mr Gill as having the potential of benefiting from the spinoff of real estate values in the city centre include stretches further down Sukhumvit toward Soi 105 although he warned that this will take some time because there is still absorption left in the main Sukhumvit strip.

Investors 'cautious' over Thai property market

Many people considering purchasing property in Thailand remain cautious, despite the fact that the risk to investment is "not large", according to one expert. Commenting on the Thai market, Marsha Lu, head of the legal, diligence and compliance department at Property Frontiers, said that media reports on the recent military coup has prompted some investors to be wary of buying property there.

'Wide variety' of investors head to Thailand

A variety of investors are setting their sights on Thailand's property market, which continues to attract various different types of investor according to experts. Representatives at David Stanley Redfern maintain that the Thai property market is proving attractive to investors looking for pure investment opportunities, holiday home purchasers and business buyers alike, underlining the varied appeal of the market at large. Meanwhile Thailand continues to enjoy a strong tourism trade, with over 850,000 UK tourists having visited the country in 2006.

Does Thailand want foreign investment?

Like many others, I have watched the developments concerning the government's proposed revisions to the FBA with a lot of anticipation.The portion of the proposed revisions which has caused the most resistance from foreign investors, as well as many Thais, concerns preferential voting rights for foreign shareholders of Thai-registered companies. Under the current rules, companies which are majority-held by Thais are allowed to give preferential voting rights to the company's minority foreign shareholders giving the foreign shareholders effective control of the company while still enabling the company to be legally classified as Thai-owned.

Indian investors eye Phuket

Indians are following Thailand's success in developing resort properties, especially luxury villas, and its stellar hospitality industry with a view to tap expertise in these fields, says Ramesh K. Hamal, development director of Green Heritage Group which is handling the marketing and sales of Movenpick Residence in Phuket. Indians want this know-how because Thailand has an established market in high-end hospitality.

Elran to build mall in Ko Samui Thailand

The Elran Real Estate Group said Wednesday it signed an agreement to lease a 25.6-dunam plot on the island of Ko Samui off the coast of Thailand for $5 million. Elran plans to invest $50m. to construct a 73,500-square meter mall on the island, believed to be the first shopping mall constructed by an Israeli company in Thailand.

Thai property market slowing sharply

Most listed property developers have posted disappointing second-quarter earnings in a sign that consumers have delayed their home-buying decisions amid the economic slowdown and political uncertainty. KC Property's second-quarter net profit slumped almost 74 per cent from Bt43.27 million last year to Bt11.26 million on a 39.56-per-cent decline in sales. Asian Property was in the same camp as Lalin Property and KC Housing. Its quarterly net profit tumbled 58.13 per cent, from Bt234.35 million to Bt98.12 million.
A 19.6-per-cent fall in revenues and an increase in selling and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues from 12.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2006 to 18.1 per cent, were blamed for the smaller net profit.

Pattaya developer finds a niche

The Pattaya developer Indochine Asset Management Ltd is planning a 130-million-baht low-rise condominium, Highpoint Residence, in the Na Klua area of Chon Buri to tap young Thai and foreign buyers, according to sales manager Mark Bowling. The company has already developed four small projects in Pattaya: Regent Pratumnak, Viewtalay Sands, Citism@art Residence and The Regatta on Dongtan Beach. Mr Bowling said it was also planning a more ambitious flagship consisting of two luxury towers of 20 and 30 storeys in the nearby area next year.

Bangkok buildings near mass transit in heavy demand

Budget condominiums near mass-transit lines and their planned extensions are expected to be hot sellers at the Thailand Condo Expo 2007, according to Atip Bijanonda, president of the Thai Condominium Association. He said that locations near the subway and the Skytrain including the latter's new extensions in the Onnuj and Taksin areas remained attractive. Others promising locations are along the planned Red, Blue and Purple light-rail lines.

Pattaya has an image problem

For the last several years, however, Thailand´s real estate industry has argued that Pattaya is changing for the better, that it’s becoming a more conventional beach-side resort town. But is this really the case? What is the current state of Pattaya’s real estate market? And what does the future have in store? Will a slew of new real estate developments help clean up Pattaya’s image? Pattaya is slowly cleaning up, says Clayton Wade, of Premier Homes, another well-established local figure. “And I wish it would rub off a lot more on the real estate industry,” he adds. “It’s getting sleazier by the second.”

THAI KING INSPIRES INVESTORS

King Bhumibol Adulyadej may have won a new laurel. Not only is he the world’s longest-reigning monarch, he’s also the nation’s investment king, a Thai Warren Buffet, with $5 billion of shares invested in the Thai stock market. The 79-year-old king controls these shares through the Crown Property Bureau, the asset management company set up by the Thai government.

BBL in Singapore meets rising demand

Singapore Foreigners keen on buying freehold condominiums in Thailand have always had great difficulty obtaining financing from Thai banks, until Bangkok Bank's Singapore branch pioneered the service two years ago. Now the bank is extending its loan terms from 10 years to 20 and has also increased the amount available to 70% of the purchase price from 60% earlier.

VIEW TALAY VILLAS RESORT

The View Talay Villas Holiday Resort in Pattaya, which cheated me & my friend by sending emails in black & white saying offerring us a complimentary staying for a week. But after only one night staying, the resort manager Ross Gould (tel: 66-03 756-422 & mobile: 01-524-1376) come to the door of the room & saying he didn‘t want to waste his time if we are not interested in buying a membership card in a very rude manner (at that moment, my friend & i are totally having no clues about what he is saying).

Developer excited about challenge

During the past two decades, Cha said his family and the company have kept a relatively low profile in Thailand, operating the successful five-star Sukhothai Hotel on Sathorn Road and developing several small properties. Currently, Cha is in charge of developing 196 ultra-high-end condominium units on 7 rai of property attached to the Sukhothai. "This project will be one of the most high-profile things the family has done in Thailand in the past five or six years," he said.