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Below are articles written by Neil Simmons for the 'Your Money' section of the Bangkok Post. He is a co-director of Property Bangkok.
Many condominium buildings, particularly older buildings, have not seen an increase in prices for over 10 years. It would appear that the continual steady supply of new buildings into the market has meant that pre-existing buildings are not experiencing much or in many cases any price appreciation.
It begs the question, it Bangkok the right place to invest in real estate?
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Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee has assured a gathering of American major mutual fund managers and investors of the Kingdom's economic viability. He said he informed them that the situation has now changed from two years ago when the country was affected by a military coup.
He also assured them that political parties in the Thai coalition government are now attempting to amend the constitution with an aim to stabilsze politics.
US investors, said Dr Surapong, responded positively and were confident in the Thai economy, but they also wanted the Thai government to start implementing mega-projects.
The minister led a group of senior executives of four major listed Thai firms on a US roadshow. He spoke with fund managers and business leaders who oversee 32 significant mutual funds with combined assets of over US$100 billion.
Dr Surapong reportedly told them that he was confident that Thailand's economy would march forward and people would not allow it to become sluggish as in the past two years when the military seized power and toppled an elected government.
He said the Thai economy has changed during the past two years. The current elected government has issued several short- and long-term measures to stimulate the economy, improving the infrastructure and finding ways to boost people's incomes.
On international investor concerns over rising inflation in Thailand, Dr Surapong said he had explained to the US business leaders that the Thai government was trying to contain the increases in goods prices.
He said the Thai capital market development committee is scheduled to meet on April 23 and that he would inform them of foreign investors' recommendations - including how to further improve the Thai market, increase tax benefits and add more good governance with an aim to attract more foreign investment into the market. (TNA)
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The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has threatened to hold a 20,000-signature collection campaign against MPs who join the bid by the government to amend the constitution.
The campaign will kick off at the PAD's second political forum on Friday at Thammasat University.
PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila said the 20,000 signatures, which were expected to be gathered within 15 days, would be submitted to the Senate to impeach politicians supporting the move.
The activist was speaking after a PAD meeting at the October 14 Memorial at the Kok Wua intersection yesterday.
He said the group would also ask the Office of the Attorney-General to rule on the proposed amendments.
The PAD said confrontations were unavoidable in the next two months as PAD networks nationwide mobilise in mass demonstrations to oppose charter amendments, while the government presses ahead with the move.
The PAD said MPs joining the bid to change the constitution would be violating Article 122, which stipulates that constitutional amendments by politicians must be made for the common interest of the people and be without any conflicts of interest.
The government's attempts to rewrite the constitution are seen as a conflict of interest, it said. Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej suggested the need to revamp the Election Commission (EC) and the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC). The PAD demanded the government hold a referendum on the proposed amendments.
Democrat deputy leader Jurin Laksanavisit said the charter amendments were for the government's own benefit.
The first step was to amend Article 237, involving party dissolution.
Mr Jurin said the last step was to weaken independent agencies to serve the government's own interests and establish a new and submissive independent agency under its orders.
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Proposed amendments to the constitution will not weaken Thailand's political stability, according to Surapong Suebwonglee, the deputy prime minister and finance minister.
Dr Surapong, who last week was in Washington to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank, has also been travelling to Japan and the United Kingdom over the past two weeks to brief institutional investors about Thai policy and economic trends.
He said investors were interested in the government's infrastructure megaproject plans and the political situation.
'Investors, particularly in the US and the UK, asked about politics. I gave them reassurances that the constitutional amendments are aimed at supporting democracy. We intend this process to be a transition. It will not lead to political disruption or a step back in democracy,' Dr Surapong said yesterday in Bangkok.
The Finance Ministry informed the IMF that economic growth this year was projected at 5% to 6% compared with 4.8% last year. Inflation, projected at 4.5% this year, was being driven by higher oil and farm prices.
Dr Surapong said the IMF welcomed indications that the growth rate for Thailand was improving.
'The IMF appreciated Thailand's projected economic growth rate, as we are the only country in the region that will enjoy higher growth in 2008. Other countries will see their economic growth rates revised down,' he said.
Dr Surapong said the ministry would not ease excise taxes for oil to cut prices, and would allow market forces to operate. However, later he appeared to soften his tone by suggesting that transport and fishery operators might get a tax break.
Instead, he said the government would increase its focus on programmes to promote energy saving.
'Tax reductions for certain sectors like logistics and fisheries are possible because they will not distort the market mechanism. But we will not reduce excise taxes on oil for general users. The principle is that we must not mislead people into thinking that they do not have to save energy,' Dr Surapong said.
The Excise Department has not finalised how it will move with the oil excise tax and plans to consider the issue together with the Energy Ministry, he said.
Dr Surapong said the ministry would soon propose to the cabinet tax incentives for second-hand home transactions, including lowering the property business tax, registration fees and transfer fees to 0.01% from 2%.
'The Interior Ministry is expected to agree with our plan on the reduction of registration and transfer fees. Only property on plots smaller than one rai will be eligible. The incentives will not apply to vacant plots to prevent the benefits from falling on land speculation,' he said.
The government will also submit to the cabinet its plan for skills training for workers as an economic stimulus measure, Dr Surapong added.
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The People Power party (PPP) wants existing independent agencies to revert to their former structures under the abrogated 1997 constitution, said Sukhumpong Ngonkam, the PPP deputy secretary-general. The PPP wants to put the Attorney-General's Office, an independent agency under the present charter, back under direct government supervision as a civil service agency.
The proposal has alarmed critics, who are concerned that the prosecution may become subject to the influence of politicians who could dictate the course of justice.
Mr Sukhumpong, who is on the PPP working group on charter amendments, argued that the prosecution had served as a state agency before, having functioned as the government's legal arm providing legal advice and looking after legal cases for the government.
But when the prosecution became an independent agency, problems kept arising, he said.
Mr Sukhumpong claimed the proposed change to the public prosecution structure would not benefit former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is facing criminal charges, including corruption.
Under the planned charter changes, other independent agencies reverting to their old working structures would include the Election Commission (EC), the Ombudsman, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC).
The proposals would also seek to revert the Courts of Justice, the Constitution Court, the military court and Administrative Court to their former structures under the 1997 charter.
In particular, the ion of people who choose the members of the EC and the NCCC would revert to the criteria of the 1997 charter.
The transitory provisions regarding the Privy Council, judges and senior prosecutors would be kept intact without any amendments made to them, Mr Sukhumpong said.
The views of members of the PPP's working group still differed on proposed amendments to other transitory provisions.
Some wanted Article 309 erased completely, while others wanted it retained.
Article 309 prohibits the judicial review of orders and announcements of the 2006 coup-makers, including the establishment of the Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) to investigate alleged corruption by the Thaksin government.
Its abolition could pave the way for an amnesty for the 111 banned executives of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai party.
Mr Sukhumpong said the working group will meet today to iron out their differences on some issues.
He expected the proposed amendments to be tabled to the government whip by Monday before being sent to other coalition parties for their consideration.
Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva criticised the PPP for being indecisive on the charter amendments.
He favoured more public participation in the amendment process rather than having it done by one particular party.
Komsan Phokong, a former charter drafter, accused the PPP of trying to mount a 'purge' of the independent agencies.
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The People Power Party is vetting a first draft of charter amendments in order to return the political system to that sanctioned by the suspended 1997 constitution and to cut down the power of independent organisations, MP Sukhumpong Ngonkham said yesterday.
The main coalition party is expected to formally file a motion for constitutional changes later this month, he said.
The party's vetting process should be complete in time for coalition whips to debate the proposed changes by April 21 before reaching the House floor, he said.
He predicted that independent organisations, such as the Election Commission (EC) and the National Counter Corruption Commission, would be revamped in six months to a year following the enactment of amendments.
Planned amendments include:
Provisions relating to state policies will be overhauled to allow leeway for an elected government to set policies in accordance with campaign platforms.
The electoral system for MPs and senators will be changed completely back to the 1997 model.
The mandate for electoral supervision will also follow the 1997 model.
MPs will be allowed to hold political office.
The mandate for the judiciary, including the Courts of Justice, the Constitution Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, will revert to the 1997 model.
The ion process for officeholders in the judiciary and the independent organisations will adopt the 1997 model.
The new independent organisations sanctioned by the 2007 Constitution, such as the Office of the Attorney-General, are slated to lose their status and become a part of the bureaucracy under the government.
Punishment by party dissolution will be restricted only to three offences: overthrowing the system of constitutional monarchy, opposing democracy and threatening national security.
The penalty would not apply to electoral fraud.
Article 309, which confirms the amnesty granted to the Council for National Security and its decrees, will be revoked since the clause is deemed redundant to Article 149 of the 2006 interim constitution.
The amendments on independent organisations will cut the tenure of office-holders from nine years to four.
EC member Sumeth Upanisakorn said wryly he was ready to leave office tomorrow if government politicians wanted to revise the rules to get rid of him.
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Administration 'could be toppled' if it takes the matter lightly
Pracharat Party leader Snoh Thienthong yesterday warned the government to be careful how it proceeds in amending the Constitution, saying it risks being overthrown if it takes the matter lightly.
Snoh was speaking as he welcomed the press to his home during the Songkran festival. He said he foresaw tidal waves ahead for the government.
The ship itself is having internal conflicts and the captain is facing his own problems, he said.
He warned the ship could sink before it is even hit by a big wave, because of the attempt to amend the Constitution. It is not a game. If the government is not careful, the ship will sink and will be hard to retrieve, he said.
However, Snoh added that some amendment of the charter was inevitable but refused to say which articles needed attention. He said the charter-drafters who wrote the law had been prejudiced against politicians.
They do not realise that there are both good and bad politicians. The Constitution blocks politicians from carrying out their roles. Now even good politicians cannot come in to help the country. Do not listen to a few people if you want to amend the Constitution, he said.
Siriwan Noksuan, an academic from Chulalongkorn University's Political Science department, warned politicians not to create conditions that may lead to conflict and violence in their plan to amend the Constitution.
The move should not be for self-interest and the amendment should be considered in all provisions with public participation, by appointing outsiders from all sectors to reduce the pressure from opponents, she said.
Siriwan voiced her opposition to organising a public referendum om any constitutional amendment, saying it would too expensive to do so and public hearings should be enough.
She supported the move to amend Article 237, saying the provision deprives the basic rights of party executives by having to shoulder responsibility for an executive who commits an offence. The law also affects political stability and destroys the political mechanism, she said.
Siriwan disapproves of amending Article 309, because the attempt could lead to a coup since it is believed it would destroy any checks on corruption.
The former president of the Constitution Court, Kramol Thongthammachart, said lawmakers must ensure they do not destroy the sacredness of the law, as laws could be changed for vested interests.
The move has been criticised so much because people believe MPs are doing it to help parties that face extinction, he said.
He said if MPs wanted to amend only certain articles, their attempt would be in vain because of social opposition.
They have to amend the Constitution systematically and with sincere objectives to benefit the public, he said.
Kramol disapproved of conducting a public referendum before any amendment, saying it should be done after the draft has been completed.
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For the second year, Thailand will play host to the World Tattoo Arts Festivals & Exhibition, from May 16th to 18th at Bali High Beach in Pattaya. “There will be around 70 booths from participants around the world who will be divided into zones namely Thailand, Asia, Japan, Europe and America,” says organizer and representative Rungwipa Sae-Ong.
The festival’s theme is the evolution of traditional Thai art motifs through the ages from ancient techniques to modern day tattooing. The men of various parts of Thailand once wore tattoos on their upper legs, almost like permanent underwear. A seminar called ‘Tattoo Spirit’ is scheduled for the first day of the convention at the Manita Hotel Pattaya.
“The organizing committee hopes this year’s World Tattoo Arts Festivals & Exhibition Thailand will help promote the traditional Thai arts among foreign visitors and generate income worth 400 million baht through the prosperity of local tattoo SME business and trading of knowledge and technologies. It also helps stimulate the economy through tourism promotion,” concluded Sae-Ong.
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FBI Probes Young Man's April 1 Vanishing After Parents' Ransom Payment Met by Silence
Robert Wiles, 26, was last seen April 1 at his job at National Flight Services in Lakeland Linder Regional Airport
The owners of a large airline maintenance firm have gone public with their son's kidnapping nearly a month after meeting a ransom demand and getting only silence in return.
Thomas and Pamela Wiles went to the cops last week after they complied with a ransom demand for the return of their 26-year-old son Robert Wiles.
On Friday the FBI held a news conference to delicately lay out some details of the case and the frightened parents pleaded for their son's release.
Robert was, Thomas Miles began, then quickly correcting himself. Is, is. He's a pilot with multiengine instrument ratings. He's a diver, athlete and a journeyman fisherman.
Robert Wiles was last seen at his job at the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport at 6:30 p.m. April 1. Lakeland is about 35 miles east of Tampa.
Wiles works as the business development manager for his father's company, National Flight Services, which performs repairs and maintenance at airports in Florida, Ohio, San Antonio and Toronto.
Robert Wiles' business also took him to Thailand and other overseas destinations.
On April 3, two days after he disappeared, Thomas and Pamela Wiles, who live near Toledo, Ohio, received a ransom note. The kidnappers demanded cash with specific instructions that Wiles' parents met.
Since then, there has been no additional correspondence from the kidnapper or kidnappers and the parents said they fear the money may never have made it to their son's captors. They also have said that they do not know of anyone, including business associates, who may have a problem with their son.
Although the parents had been following the directions in the ransom demand, the communication stopped with the parents from whomever is responsible for Robert's disappearance, Dave Couvertier, special agent and spokesman for the FBI's Tampa office, told ABC News.
By going to the media, we agreed that we could try to get a message out to the person responsible for that ransom note in hopes they would continue communication with the family and we can get Robert home safely.
Couvertier said the FBI is working with local police departments, the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the state police, in addition to law enforcement in Ohio. The FBI's involvement in the missing person's investigation was triggered by the ransom element, he explained.
Kidnappings for ransom are very rare in the United States, unlike some other countries, he said, acknowledging that authorities believe that Wiles' life is in danger if he is still alive.
Couvertier declined to discuss many details common in missing person's cases. He would not say whether there has been any activity in Wiles' bank accounts or on his cell phone, for example, or whether he had a vehicle that was abandoned at the Lakeland airport the evening he vanished.
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PRESSURE has mounted on Austrian authorities amid claims that bungling by police and officials may have prolonged the agony of Elisabeth Fritzl, who was held in a dungeon and sexually abused by her father for almost a quarter of a century.
Video grab showing Josef Fritzl on holiday in Thailand. Picture: Sky News.
Josef Fritzl bought sexy underwear for his daughter and told a friend he had a bit on the side.
Friend Paul Hoerer has revealed he saw Fritzl buying frilly underwear and a slinky dress at a market stall while they were on holidays in Thailand.
He was really annoyed when he turned round and saw I'd been watching him. He then admitted he had a woman 'on the side', Mr Hoerer told Britain's The Sun.
While Elisabeth, 42, and her children enjoyed an impromptu birthday celebration for her 12-year-old son, Alexander, yesterday at a clinic, shocked Austrians questioned the investigation.
Lower Austria police chief Franz Polzer stonewalled as he was bombarded with media questions. He emphasised that Fritzl, the father of seven children from a relationship with Elisabeth, had acted alone in imprisoning his family in a cramped cellar beneath his home for 24 years.
We are not conducting an investigation into a crime involving accomplices, he said. But Colonel Polzer also announced the unravelling of the case was due to an anonymous tip-off.
Elisabeth was detained in the grounds of the hospital where her critically ill daughter, 19 - one of her seven children - was being treated. Police seized Elisabeth, suspecting her of child neglect until she told the full story.
Their action raises the question: who tipped off the police if not an accomplice? Reports suggested it was a hospital doctor.
Colonel Polzer said: Knowing about a crime is not the same as being an accomplice. The informant asked anonymity and we will respect that.
Police seem determined to rule out any possibility of someone being in league with Fritzl.
But the door to the dungeon, which had received building permission as a nuclear fallout shelter, weighed 300kg and could be hinged into position only with the help of someone else.
Fritzl also went on several holidays, including at least one three-week stay in Thailand, leaving Elisabeth and her children in the cellar. Even if the small pantry had been full of cans, it is unlikely there would have been enough food to feed them. And questions remain about how the imprisoned relatives disposed of rubbish.
Colonel Polzer blocked questions on the issue and seemed to deny knowledge of Fritzl's holidays. If there is a home video from this Thailand trip, then we would like the media to give it to us and we will then think about it.
The video, widely televised, shows Fritzl receiving a massage on a beach, eating pizza and riding on an elephant.
The case is based on two hours of testimony from Elisabeth, a partial confession from her father and DNA results, which confirm an incestuous relationship. The key question has been why his sexual history was not taken into account.
Although he was convicted of rape in the late 1960s, this record was expunged under a law that seeks to rehabilitate offenders.
The essential lesson from this case is that previous convictions for sex crimes should be taken into account in the case of adoption, said the Die Presse yesterday. The newspaper's call has been echoed across Austria.
Police would seek to reconstruct in detail the past 25 years of Josef Fritzl's life.
Police searched other properties owned across Austria by Fritzl, 73, and looked into possible links to other crimes.
Officers revealed they were searching for a connection between Fritzl and the murder of Martina Posch, 17, who was found near the shore of a lake in western Austria in 1986. Posch disappeared from her home on November 12, 1986, and her body, tied up in plastic bags,
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JOSEF Fritzl soaked up the sun on sex holidays to Thailand while his captive children cowered in a cellar, friends revealed yesterday.
Josef Fritzl enjoying himself on holiday
Fritzl would leave his group of friends each evening to sample the sordid nightlife of a notorious sex resort.
Paul Hoerer, 69, who travelled to Pattaya with him, said: “I have known him since 1973, we met on a camping holiday in Salzburg and we spent a lot of time together after that.
“Our friendship was so good we even went on holidays to Thai?land. One was for almost a month in 1998, the other was about three weeks. I went with my girlfriend and step?father. He travelled alone, he said his wife had to look after the children.”
Rainer Wieczorak, 62, also went on the trips. He said: “While we would all sit around the hotel bar, he was off on his own. We did not speak about where he went but it was pretty obvious he had another agenda. We almost never saw him, he was usually sleeping things off during the day, having a massage on the beach.”
Pattaya is a well-known destination for sex tourists, including paedophiles. Brothels line many streets while up to 50,000 bar girls cater for mainly Western visitors.
Mr Hoerer said that despite their different holiday interests, he had remained friends with Fritzl and even stayed at each other’s homes.
He said: “I was at his home in Amstetten at least three times, the last time in 2005. I always thought it was a wonderful family. I did know the cellar was out of bounds but never gave it a second thought. When I think about what was there I feel ill.”
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A man from the Swedish town of Kalmar, just wanted to take a swim Sunday, 27 April 2008. But he never came back to his hotel in Khanom in the southern part of Thailand, according to the website Barometern.
The Swedish citizen stayed in a hotel close to Khanom, near to Surat Thani. And despite warnings from the hotel staff, he decided against the local people, and jumped into the ocean.
When he did not come back after half an hour, the staff started searching for their guest.
Tuesday, 29 April, a Search started for missing Swede on the beaches in the area. To day, 1 May, the Coastguard of Thailand has been involved in the search.
”The embassy in Thailand is in contact with the local police, who is searching for the man, but we haven’t got any news yet”, the spokesman from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tobias Nilsson, say to the news agency TT.
According to the website Barometern, the man planned to stay in Thailand for three months.
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A drug suspect has revealed that her cocaine customers are mostly leading actors and upperclass nightlife seekers.
Sunisa Srikantarak, 19, told police that she earned between Bt2,000 and Bt3,000 per cocaine delivery.
I had delivered drugs to my customers at RCA area every Friday, Sunisa was quoted as saying at a press conference.
The Crime Suppression Division announced the arrest of Sunisa yesterday afternoon. So far, police do not identify actors whom Sunina accuses of buying illicit drugs from her.
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The British media reported on Saturday that Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra has fired Sven Goran Eriksson and has hired Luiz Felipe Scolari, the current Portugal national manager, to coach his team next season.
Thaksin Shinawatra's overtures and the promise of a 2.5 million-pound annual contract have been difficult to resist and Scolari has told his network of coaches and scouts he will take charge at City, said the Mirror newspaper.
The salary is equivalent to roughly 155 milion baht, almost $5 million.
Thaksin targeted Big Phil, as Scolari is known, after making it clear to Eriksson that the Swede will be fired at the end of the season, said the report.
Brazilian Scolari, 59, had already said he will quit as Portugal boss after Euro 2008, will then take charge at Eastlands after flying to England for talks with Shinawatra on Wednesday.
During the past week, there has been a threatened player revolt at Man City, with captain Richard Dunne, Martin Petrov and Elano unhappy at Eriksson's impending and shock departure. There was a brief threat to refuse to fly to Thailand for a match against Thai all-stars later this month.
Thaksin hopes Scolari's appointment will appease the fans and his players, as well as opening the door to big-name signings, said the Mirror.
[Thaksin] has made it clear there will be money to spend to strengthen the squad, but by sacking Eriksson he has also spelt out a strong message that he expects instant success.
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Thaksin Shinawatra's decision to fire Sven-Goran Eriksson is threatening to lead to a dressing-room mutiny at Manchester City after it transpired that the players had offered to boycott the club's end-of-season promotional tour to Thailand in support of their beleaguered manager.
A delegation of senior players - led, it is understood, by the captain Richard Dunne - approached Eriksson earlier this week and offered to put their names to a public statement expressing strong misgivings about Thaksin's ruthlessness and accusing the former prime minister of Thailand of making a grave mistake.
As a Manchester Evening News poll reported that 97% of City's fans were against Thaksin's treatment of Eriksson, it has also become apparent that Dunne is so aggrieved by the current chaos that he is thinking of leaving the club this summer and that the backlash extends to the boardroom, where the chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, and deputy chairman, John Wardle, both sympathise with the former England head coach.
While Mackintosh and Wardle reluctantly accept that they are powerless to prevent Thaksin from changing his mind, the mood among the players is so rebellious that they have held a lengthy meeting to discuss ways of offering a public show of support for Eriksson.
In the heat of the moment the players discussed effectively going on strike in a move that will evoke memories of Eriksson's time as England manager, when the Football Association withdrew Rio Ferdinand from a Euro 2004 qualifier in Turkey because he had missed a drugs test. On that occasion the other England players threatened to down tools before being talked out of being so militant.
The idea put forward by City's players involved embarrassing Thaksin in his native country by refusing to take part in a game against a Thailand Premier All-Stars team on May 17, as well as a match in Hong Kong against a South China Invitational XI five days later. The players, who are due to leave on May 14 and perform a series of promotional duties such as opening a new club shop, asked Eriksson what he thought about them putting together a letter in which they would refuse to travel without him in charge. Though grateful, Eriksson was against the idea, believing it compromised the players' own positions and would do no good anyway.
Since then it has emerged that, farcically, Eriksson might still be in charge of the tour anyway, for no other reason than Thaksin does not believe he will have a new manager in place, his first choice, Luiz Felipe Scolari, being contracted to the Portuguese football federation until the end of the European Championship.
The players, meanwhile, are still staunchly behind Eriksson but have accepted that they should not do anything that breaches their own contracts. Nonetheless, it is likely they will be far more reluctant to satisfy Thaksin's requirements than they have been in the past, most recently when Joe Hart and Darius Vassell were asked to record a video message saying how much they were looking forward to visiting Thailand. The clips were shown at a press conference to promote the event in Bangkok on Wednesday.
It is also clear that whoever replaces Eriksson will have his work cut out winning over a group of players who are so united behind the current manager and that it is quite conceivable Dunne will have left the club. The Republic of Ireland international has only a year left on his contract and, though he has strong emotional ties with City, he is said to be closer than any other player to Eriksson and disillusioned about the direction in which the club are going.
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Ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra has postponed his return to Thailand from Friday to next week, his personal spokesman Pongthep Thepkanchana said Friday.
Mr Pongthep, however, denied that the postponement has anything to do with the flag problem.
Last weekend, a Thai national flag bearing Mr Thaksin's name was shown at the Manchester City stadium. According to Flag Act, affixing pictures, letters numbers of other symbols upon the national flag is against the law with a maximum penalty of a year in hail and/or a 2,000 baht fine.
The spokesman said Mr Thaksin has to attend business abroad, so he has to return to Thailand later than expected.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said he will ask Mr Thaksin about the flag matter once he returns to the country.
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This much-recited line from our folk epic Khun Chang Khun Phaen seems a fitting consolation for Thai women amid the skyrocketing food prices and a news report that 70% of our sisters must endure lousy sex.
If you wonder why I link these two things together - food crisis and no-orgasm sex - it is because they stem from the same root cause: gender oppression.
When the male leaders tell us to prepare for the worst in the looming food crisis, we know that the burden will fall most heavily on women.
Nature may tell women to do their best to take care of their children, but it is the patriarchal culture that tells women that if they fail to do so, then they are condemned as ungrateful daughters or uncaring wives and mothers.
The food crisis, therefore, is the women's crisis.
This cultural mandate is not limited to female peasants foraging for food in community woods to feed their children.
The powerful indoctrination of family service and self-sacrifice has forced countless poor women to enter slave labour and the flesh trade to support their families.
Ask educated women why they refuse to go up the management ladder.
Many of them will tell you, too, that they are tied by motherhood - more precisely by guilt if they fail to meet role expectations as sacrificing mothers and wives.
Patriarchy does not only tell girls to serve, sacrifice and endure in silence, it says good girls must be asexual virgins while boys must be sexually experienced. This double standard supports the flesh trade and men's selfish sex.
No wonder why the Durex global survey on sexual well-being reveals that while 79% of men reach climax during sex, only 30% of women say they do.
Back to the Khun Chang, Khun Phaen advice on sexual abstention.
The verse in Thai reads: Od khao dok na jao cheewa wai, mai tai lok pro od saneha.
It is actually a plea from Pimpilalai, a female protagonist, to Khun Phaen against his persistent sexual advances during their secret rendezvous in a cotton field.
Over time, however, this demand for men's sexual restraint has changed into a message for women's endurance.
Ironically, many women use it to justify their having to endure bad sex and bad marriage for fear of losing the social status and financial support - if not for themselves then for their children.
The verse encourages the women's culture of silence, by saying that it does not kill.
Who cares if many women must suffer inner death from psychological trauma due to troubled marriages and adultery?
With the Aids pandemic, however, such silence has become fatal.
One national study shows that 40% of new infections occur between spousal male-to-female transmission.
Another study shows that Aids is the leading cause of death among female teenagers. Ask them why they do not press for safe sex, and the answers will be along the same lines.
The wives would say they are afraid of appearing distrustful, which may be taken as an insult. Not a good thing for a good wife to do.
For the teenagers, they would say they fear appearing sexually experienced, which is a no-no because it will make them look like bad girls.
How to help women from food crisis and sexual oppression? Better wages? Better education? Better protection of the environment? More respect for women's voices?
Most certainly. But short of gender equality - and we are talking about real cultural transformation, not only cosmetic legal measures - these changes will not be forthcoming. That is why many more women will continue to die from hunger, poverty and making love.
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Every year we can look forward to Durex releasing their sex survey, used as a means to promote their products rather than giving us clear and accurate sex information.
This year is no exception, with the results setting up some kind of international sex contest with ‘global averages’ based around sexual frequency and other behaviours. Not all that surprising, they used the same approach last year.
The survey would be useful if it took into account a truly global approach rather than just 26 (mostly Western) countries. And if the survey wasn’t completed online which further restricts who can reply. Oh, and if it wasn’t hosted through a website for a condom manufacturer which further leads the kind of replies people will give and the type of person who’d want to answer questions. And if the company didn’t keep releasing lots of different data from the same survey - giving the impression more research has been completed than actually has.
The difficulty with the Durex survey is it continually confuses sexual frequency with ‘good sex’. In the latest survey we’re told how often people do it with countries reporting lots of sexual activity heralded as the ‘most sexual’. Which highlights a major flaw in this study’s design and indicates how unlike a reliable sex survey it is. Because in a reliable sex survey we don’t just ask about frequency of activity, we ask about how much someone enjoys what they do, or how concerned they might be about their behaviour. Meaning it’s entirely possible for someone who has a lot of sex to feel anxious or unsatisfied, and someone who has sex occasionally to have a wonderful time.
The media, predictably, have responded to the survey as though it was accurate and reliable. They haven’t acknowledged it’s a marketing tool and it will continue to be used to stack up sex features. Most coverage has reported international comparisons without recognising some glaring problems with the ethics, design, delivery and accuracy of the survey. Some of these I’ve reported on previously and they’ve also been covered in a recent book Panicology that details hypes and bad science in the media.
I’d feel far happier about the Durex survey if they were honest that it is very limited and is a PR tool not a piece of science. But I think we all know that’s never going to happen. I’d also feel reassured if, rather than completing an entirely new survey every year, the survey would be replicated on an annual basis and yearly differences or similarities in the data discussed. I’d also feel better if some kind of analysis was completed on the survey. After all, you can brag you’ve surveyed over 26000 people, but what’s the point in that if you only present summary data in the form of what percent answered what question. If you don’t analyse your data, compare answers or cross check what’s going on you’re just wasting all that information you were sent.
Of course you could say it’s mean to question a survey for a condom company. After all, shouldn’t we be encouraging condom use? Definitely we should, but there’s an ethical question when we’re encouraging condom use but creating inaccurate data alongside it that gives us misleading information about our sexual behaviour. And I’d like to see the evidence that the annual release of the survey data actually leads to an increase in condom use.
There’s nothing much that can be done about this survey apart from raising concerns about its accuracy wherever possible, and trying to educate journalists that there’s lots more reliable sex statistics they can use. Sadly when it comes to sex features most journalists like things quick and easy to find and set out in league tables. Which is why we’ll continue to have our sex lives informed by a commercial venture. And that’s not just bad news for science, it means we’re comparing ourselves to inaccurate and impossible standards.
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A recent global sex survey found that 70 per cent of Thai women cannot achieve orgasm.
Others reach orgasm through masturbation or having sex with another woman, while 79 per cent of Thai men climax during sex, according to research by condom manufacturer Durex.
The survey was conducted in 26 countries and questioned 26,000 respondents about their sexual behaviour and attitudes
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Kuala Lumpur - Heavily armed pirates in Malaysian waters attacked a Thai oil tanker carrying jet fuel bound for Phuket, a maritime watchdog said Tuesday.
Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre, said that in the April 25 incident, eight armed pirates on a powerful speedboat boarded the Thai tanker.
Maritime officials identified the tanker as Pataravarin 2.
Choong said the pirates attacked the ship's master and stole the seafarers' money before escaping in the dark.
The ship was heading into the Singapore Strait on the way to Phuket in southern Thailand, he said.
Choong said this was the second pirate attack in the past three months in Malaysian waters.
In another incident in the pirate infested waters of the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia, a South Korean bulk carrier came under pirate attack on Monday at about 0940 GMT (4:40pm Thailand time), he said.
Choong said pirates believed to be from Somalia attacked the ship for about 40 minutes with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
The ship was hit by a rocket and bullets, he said, adding that the captain took evasive measures to prevent the 10 pirates in two speed boats from boarding, he said.
Choong said the ship was still sailing to its destination in Europe despite the damage suffered in the attack.
There has been an unprecedented surge in pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden with 13 attacks so far this year, Choong said.
He urged seafarers to remain on high alert while plying the waters off Somalia which has emerged as one of the most dangerous waterways for seafarers amid a non-functioning government in the country for almost two decades.
The waters off Nigeria and Somalia are the world's most dangerous hotspots for seafarers, with pirate attacks increasing globally in the first quarter of this year, the IMB said last week.
It recorded 49 incidents worldwide in the period, compared with 41 last year. (Compiled by BangkokPost.com from Agency reports)
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New ferry routes will be introduced in the Gulf of Thailand and along Bangkok's canals under a plan drawn up by the Transport and Tourism and Sports ministries.
Deputy Transport Minister Anurak Jureemart and Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kohsurat, both from the Chart Thai party, said that if implemented, the plan would feature new ferry routes in the Gulf to serve both passengers and cargo, the development of ports along its coasts, the zoning of beaches and upgrading tourism services on Bangkok's canals.
According to Mr Anurak, there will be six projects to serve their idea.
Firstly, both ministries will push for concessions for ships that will ply between the towns on the east and western coasts of the Gulf.
That should reduce the need for cargo trucks seen as a source of bottlenecks on the south-bound highway in Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan provinces. This should greatly improve the traffic situation and in turn benefit tour buses and passenger cars in the upper Gulf.
Secondly, the ministries will promote the use of speedboats, such as hydrofoils, to ply between the eastern and western coasts of the Gulf and between the region's tourist destinations.
Recommended routes are Ko Chang to Ko Samui, Puek Tien to Laem Chabang, Hua Hin to Pattaya, and Cha-am to Chanthaburi.
Thirdly, the ministries will promote waterway tourism in the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan provinces.
Such activities in canals around the historical Rattanakosin island, including the Phadung Krungkasem canal, would also be encouraged.
On top of that, beaches in tourist towns would be zoned for water sports and to offer natural retreats.
The plan also includes the setting up of more marinas and floating markets.
'Although the Transport Ministry is the one which supervises the ports, it does not know how to promote them. The Tourism and Sports Ministry knows very well how to do that, but can't do it without their cooperation.
'As the ministers of both ministries are from the same party, we can talk. With their cooperation, I expect a new era of waterway tourism,' Mr Anurak said.
Both ministries will form a joint committee to work out the details of the six projects.
Wanchai Sarathulthat, former permanent secretary of the Transport Ministry and the current chairman of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), will head a committee that will include representatives from the TAT, the Marine Department and the Transport Ministry.
Supoj Saplom, director-general of the Rural Roads Department, said a 'Thai riviera' project proposed by his department would help support the ministries' projects as it called for road improvements for a combined distance of 615km along the western coast of the Gulf of Thailand.
If all goes according to plan, the riviera project will connect over 100 tourist destinations in Chumphon, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi and Ranong provinces.
The department has finished the design of the riviera and is now awaiting its environmental impact assessment report. It will take nine years and an estimated budget of 6.89 billion baht to complete. It will begin with the construction of 81 routes, worth 300 million baht, in the first phase next year.
Mr Supoj said the road project was proposed so that it could be adjusted to bring improvements to ports along the coast
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Despite sky-rocketing rice prices, Siriwan shop on Soi 85 off Charoen Krung road is keeping the price of the steamed rice it sells at two baht a bowl although the portion is a little smaller.
The government says that its decision to release rice from the state's stockpiles for sale to the public will ensure that consumers pay moderate prices for rice for the rest of the year.
The measure, which was approved by the cabinet yesterday, promptly brought down the standard-grade rice price by 4,000 baht per tonne in yesterday's trading on the futures market.
The cabinet gave the green light to bring 2.1 million tonnes of rice in the government's stockpiles nationwide to be sold as packed rice in order to meet demand, at prices 20% lower than current market prices.
Commerce Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan said the measure would help balance supply as well as the price of packed rice in the market.
'The low-cost packed rice programme will help Thai people to consume rice at moderate prices for the entire year because the programme will be carried out throughout this year while the new crop of rice will come out later in the year,' he said.
The current state stockpile, which will be distributed under the low-cost packed rice programme, comprises both 5% white rice, the most popular kind of rice consumed in the country and Hom Mali (Jasmine) rice, said Mr Mingkwan.
The government's packed rice will be available under the brand Thong Fah Maha Chon, or Public Blue Flag programme. The price is around 170 baht for a 5kg pack of standard-grade 5% white rice compared with the average of 200 baht currently available in the market.
Distribution of the low-cost packed rice will begin within two weeks through mechanisms of the commerce and interior ministries, and local administrations.
The cooperation of provincial governors and MPs in each areas would be sought to help distribute the rice.
The low-cost packed rice would not be available in either modern trade super stores or ordinary retail shops in order to keep sales prices reasonable.
The minister dispelled concerns over the country's food security following the depletion of the government's rice stocks. He said earnings from rice sales would be earmarked for buying off-season rice which would come out next month to replace inventories.
Mr Mingkwan said his ministry also projected that Thailand's rice exports this year were likely to be higher than nine million tonnes because the contribution from harvesting the second crop, the amount of which is expected to reach four million tonnes this year, will be increased by soaring rice prices on the world market.
Supplies of the new rice crop, starting from August up until November, would reach 20 million tonnes, 11 million of which would be for local consumption and the remaining nine million would for export, he said.
Somroek Tangpiroonthum, president of the Thai Rice Packers Association, said the cabinet made the right decision at the right time. Rice supplies in the market were plunging due to speculation by suppliers and consumer hoarding over fears of an unstoppable surge in rice prices.
The measure yesterday contributed significantly to the 5% in the rice futures price traded yesterday on the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand for rice to be delivered in June. The price fell from 32 baht to 28 baht per kilogramme, or by around 4,000 baht per tonne, he said.
Mr Somroek, however, cautioned that the measure might affect prices of paddy, particularly for the second crop which is under harvest.
As a result, the government should carefully implement the measure to ensure proper supply in the market in each period that it releases rice from the stockpile, he added.
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Thaksin Shinawatra's decision to fire Sven-Goran Eriksson is threatening to lead to a dressing-room mutiny at Manchester City after it transpired that the players had offered to boycott the club's end-of-season promotional tour to Thailand in support of their beleaguered manager.
A delegation of senior players - led, it is understood, by the captain Richard Dunne - approached Eriksson earlier this week and offered to put their names to a public statement expressing strong misgivings about Thaksin's ruthlessness and accusing the former prime minister of Thailand of making a grave mistake.
As a Manchester Evening News poll reported that 97% of City's fans were against Thaksin's treatment of Eriksson, it has also become apparent that Dunne is so aggrieved by the current chaos that he is thinking of leaving the club this summer and that the backlash extends to the boardroom, where the chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, and deputy chairman, John Wardle, both sympathise with the former England head coach.
While Mackintosh and Wardle reluctantly accept that they are powerless to prevent Thaksin from changing his mind, the mood among the players is so rebellious that they have held a lengthy meeting to discuss ways of offering a public show of support for Eriksson.
In the heat of the moment the players discussed effectively going on strike in a move that will evoke memories of Eriksson's time as England manager, when the Football Association withdrew Rio Ferdinand from a Euro 2004 qualifier in Turkey because he had missed a drugs test. On that occasion the other England players threatened to down tools before being talked out of being so militant.
The idea put forward by City's players involved embarrassing Thaksin in his native country by refusing to take part in a game against a Thailand Premier All-Stars team on May 17, as well as a match in Hong Kong against a South China Invitational XI five days later. The players, who are due to leave on May 14 and perform a series of promotional duties such as opening a new club shop, asked Eriksson what he thought about them putting together a letter in which they would refuse to travel without him in charge. Though grateful, Eriksson was against the idea, believing it compromised the players' own positions and would do no good anyway.
Since then it has emerged that, farcically, Eriksson might still be in charge of the tour anyway, for no other reason than Thaksin does not believe he will have a new manager in place, his first choice, Luiz Felipe Scolari, being contracted to the Portuguese football federation until the end of the European Championship.
The players, meanwhile, are still staunchly behind Eriksson but have accepted that they should not do anything that breaches their own contracts. Nonetheless, it is likely they will be far more reluctant to satisfy Thaksin's requirements than they have been in the past, most recently when Joe Hart and Darius Vassell were asked to record a video message saying how much they were looking forward to visiting Thailand. The clips were shown at a press conference to promote the event in Bangkok on Wednesday.
It is also clear that whoever replaces Eriksson will have his work cut out winning over a group of players who are so united behind the current manager and that it is quite conceivable Dunne will have left the club. The Republic of Ireland international has only a year left on his contract and, though he has strong emotional ties with City, he is said to be closer than any other player to Eriksson and disillusioned about the direction in which the club are going.
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Thaksin Shinawatra might not be happy with Saturday's home defeat of his Manchester City football club. But many Thais, including Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, were upset for another reason _ seeing a national flag bearing his name hanging at the stadium.
A flag bearing the first name of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is seen hanging at the City of Manchester Stadium during a match on April 26. It is against law in Thailand to print any name on the national flag.
The flag with Mr Thaksin's name on it became a hot topic yesterday after a picture of it appeared in the Matichon newspaper. The focus was on whether it was appropriate. The prime minister felt it was not and called for an explanation from Mr Thaksin.
'It is inappropriate,' Mr Samak said at Government House. 'It must not happen again.'
The flag was displayed on Saturday at the City of Manchester Stadium, where Mr Thaksin, the team owner, was a spectator. His team lost 3-2 to Fulham.
Mr Samak said Mr Thaksin should have complained if he saw the flag.
Under Article 53 of the 1979 Flag Act, affixing pictures, letters, numbers or other symbols upon the national flag is against the law with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and/or a 2,000 baht fine.
A regulation of the Prime Minister's Office, issued by the Thaksin administration in 2004, also prohibits private entities from putting up the national flag for commercial proposes.
But the laws cannot be applied in this case as it happened in England.
Mr Thaksin's former and present aides defended him, saying their boss and the football club had nothing to do with it.
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama, who was Mr Thaksin's legal adviser before joining the cabinet, said the flag's artwork was the work of football fans.
Mr Thaksin's spokeswoman Sansanee Nakpong suspected it was the work of people wanting to fan social divisions.
'Please do not jump to conclusions. No one would be happy seeing their name on the national flag,' she said.
She maintained that Mr Thaksin supported reconciliation and this was reflected in his call not to link his name to anything political.
Democrat deputy secretary-general Thepthai Senpong urged Mr Thaksin to warn football fans, or to issue a club rule banning the use of his name on the Thai flag.
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KOH SAMUI : A Samui brokerage agent says he found a life-changing opportunity after his first visit to the island 10 years ago. After graduating in marketing from a university in Australia, Bangkok resident Chaiyakarn 'Heng' Sudampanthorn visited Samui to take care of his parents' hotel business. Two years later he became a real-estate broker after he than doubled his money from trading a land plot on the island within six months. He decided to leave the hotel business by selling it to one of his friends, and further his eduction in the real-estate business.
'I started from buying a one-rai plot of uphill land priced at 2.5 million baht and sold half of it at five million baht six months later,' he recalled. Three years later, the second half was sold at 13 million baht.
'The tsunami was a crisis for Phuket but a great opportunity for Samui,' said Mr Chaiyaporn, now 36 years old. His company made windfall profits as demand for beach villas and resorts overflowed into Samui, more than doubling land prices.
After he received a broker's licence, he took more short courses on real estate and sat in an examination to obtain a certified international property specialist (CIPS) licence. Then he set up Samui Estate Corporation Co Ltd in 2003 as a real-estate broker and consultant.
Two years ago, the company obtained a new investor from the Middle East, who helped the company double its registered capital to 20 million baht. Each year, it manages property sales of around two billion baht.
Last year, it decided to cover the Phuket market by setting up Phuket Estate Corporation Co Ltd and changed the name of the original company from Samui Estate Corporation to Thailand Estates Corporation.
'A big boy (a large international property consultant) is coming soon to Koh Samui.
We have two choices: buying international brands to market or managing our own Thai brand,' said Mr Chaiyakarn. 'But we're quite confident in our local knowledge and connections.'
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After spending three billion baht in the eastern resort market over the past three years, the Thai-Swedish developer GlenAsia plans to spend at least 800 million baht to develop two resorts on Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, according to executive director Per Olov Ragfelt. He said the company was poised to acquire a 30-rai hillside plot on Koh Samui priced at six to seven million baht per rai to build resort villas. The project would target foreigners seeking second homes in a beach destination.
On Koh Phangan, it would develop a resort and four- to five-star hotel on a beachfront plot sized between six and 11 rai this year, said Mr Ragfelt.In the next six months, the company would start phase one construction on a residential project on an 11-rai plot near the Eastern Star Golf Course in Rayong. The phase would comprise townhouses priced from 3.5 million to four million baht a unit.
The company yesterday announced a new project, GlenAsia Resort & Residence Bang Saray, worth two billion baht. It will be located on a 10-rai beachfront site in Bang Saray, Chon Buri.
The project will have 140 condominium units priced at 70,000 baht per square metre and sized between 45 and 500 square metres. Construction would be completed in October 2010, he said.
'We will have roadshows in Hong Kong, Russia, Sweden, Singapore and Korea in June to September this year,' said Mr Ragfelt.
According to Colliers International Thailand, the project's sole agent, statistics from the Tourism Authority of Thailand showed an increase of 17.4% in Scandinavian tourists throughout the past five years with 757,734 visitors in 2007.
These tourists flocked Thailand's top destinations including beachfront areas in the South and the Eastern Seaboard. Bang Saray was perceived as one of the most sought-after locations for the targeted customers.
GlenAsia was established in October 2005 by HSH Prince Ticomporn Yugala, Mr Ragfelt and other Thai partners. It has developed three projects: in Bang Saray worth two billion baht, Ban Pae worth 1.5 billion baht and Jomtien worth 500 million baht.
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While Phuket already has five marinas, the development of one for superyachts will help the resort island to become Asia's yachting capital, says Ramesh K. Hamal, development director of Green Heritage Group.
The existing five marinas have a total of 800 yacht berths. The three largest are The Boat Lagoon with 170 wet berths and a hard stand for 120 yachts Royal Phuket Marina, developed by the Bombay-born British tycoon Gulu Lalvani with 300 berths for yachts of up to 30 metres and Yacht Haven Marina, which can accommodate up to 200 vessels.
Although the current level of development on the island is good, Mr Hamal observed that the capacity to berth superyachts would help Phuket leapfrog ahead and tap a very lucrative market.
Singapore has facilities to berth superyachts, but this is more for commercial purposes than recreation. Mr Hamal noted that a marina for these huge yachts need not be geared just for commerce because many wealthy people now own superyachts. Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire owner of Chelsea football club, owns five of them.
Such a facility might be necessary for Phuket's tourism industry to stay ahead because one of its regional rivals, the Malaysian island of Langkawi, which may develop facilities for mega-yachts.
The Green Heritage Group is trying to promote the construction of such a facility and has approached investors for such a venture. A superyacht marina would have to be on Phuket's east coast or on an island because the west coast is already well-populated, making it difficult to get the required oceanfront land.
It is also worth remembering that marinas benefit the island's real estate industry because residential projects generally crop up around them.
It seems that the luxury end of Phuket's property market has not been affected by the American sub-prime crisis but Mr Hamal cautioned that if the situation worsens it could feel an impact.
Right now the debt market is very difficult because the banks are putting a moratorium on debts so that will have some impact on the low- and mid-level markets. But I don't think the luxury market will be affected by this. I see that in general, Thailand and Phuket are undervalued compared to the rest of the region.
However Green Heritage's director mentioned that the concept of luxury has changed with well-heeled buyers no longer satisfied with a good location alone. Many demand a complete package of personalised, professionally managed services.
This has led branded properties to surge to the fore. Among them is Barama Bay Island resort, which is to be managed by the Dubai hospitality group Jumeirah The Yamu, which would be run by GHM and The Taj Group, which is said to be developing a six-star hotel and villas on Lone Island.
This is precisely the reason that developers are looking at bringing in professional companies to manage their projects. Serenity Terraces has linked up with Outrigger from Hawaii to take care of that end of the business.
Now at Katamanda, our company has set up the structure for the management of the entire common area ... but it's very hard when you don't have a brand, you don't have that network of offices around the world, said Mr Hamal.
While luxury property owners and buyers are not too concerned about rental returns, those in the middle to lower brackets often do seek income from their properties, which would most certainly covering the branded variety.
However, Mr Hamal observed that they are rarely familiar with the new buy-back and lease-back concept and have to be aware of the restrictions they might face. For example, even though own the property, they might not be able to use it during Christmas and New Year's.
It is a market that is growing because it has all the fundamentals but this requires some sophistication in structuring the brand protection.
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Rising numbers of top-end buyers are contributing to higher resale prices and developers are paying attention
Strong demand for luxury residential properties in Phuket has driven the resale price up 100 per cent between 2004 and now, Surin Hill Development's deputy managing director Wanwipa Horbut said.
She said the company's Baan Thai Surin Hill project, which was sold in 2004 at Bt90 million, now has a resale price of Bt160 million.
The demand has gone up with the rising number of foreigners planning to buy a second home in Phuket.
Given the strong demand, a number of property developers from Bangkok and other provinces have scaled up their investment in residential projects in Phuket.
For example, Pattaya-based property developer, the Bay Cliff Company, has set aside an investment budget of Bt2 billion to build residential projects in Phuket from now till 2012.
City & Country has introduced the West Sands project in northern Phuket. Sansiri and Supalai have also launched their new residential projects in the resort destination.
The Bay Cliff Company's general manager Bhumiwat Dhammasaroj said the company will focus on Phuket because it believes that demand for residential projects in Phuket holds strong growth potential, especially given the demand from foreign investors.
Prime locations for building villas are limited. Thus, we will focus on low-rise condominium projects that suit our budget and customer demand, he said.
The company's first project in the resort is BayCliff Patong, a low-rise condominium project with 54 units across three buildings - one with four storeys and the other two with five storeys. Prices start at Bt100,000 per square metre, or Bt7 million per unit, which is spread across 70.58 sq m. Prices go up to Bt35 million for largest-sized unit with a utilisation space of 178 sq m.
According to research conducted by Colliers International Thailand, 28 luxury hotels will be opened in Phuket from now till 2011. Estimates put the investment budget between Bt30 billion and Bt50 billion.
The research indicates Phuket is increasingly attracting investors from the top end of the market. This area is fast developing into the pinnacle of luxury travel in Southeast Asia. The hills stretching from Surin beach have long been known as Millionaire's Row.
Of late, the area south of Naithon beach has been competing for the status of the island's most exclusive neighbourhood. Despite this development boom, the island lacks infrastructure, particularly on the west coast where most of the high-end projects are located.
The area has an absence of high-quality retail amenities, fine dining and entertainment options required to serve the high-end clientele.
The trend for high-end property development in this area began with Trisara located at Bang Tao Beach. However, the hills at the southern end are also seeing super-luxury property development.
Phuket's top-tier hotel market has a strong representation of guests from Asia and Europe. Asian guests come mainly from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan while Europeans come mainly from the UK and Germany.
Over the medium to long term, the continued development and growth of Phuket's tourism industry will support the growth of Phuket's hotel market.
Thailand, and the key destinations of Bangkok and Phuket, will continue to be one of Asia's most active hospitality-investment markets.
Centara Karon Resort's general manager Andre Bruhart said hotels here record an average occupancy of more than 70 per cent a year.
At the peak of the tourism season - between October and mid-April - occupancy of up to 90 per cent is recorded, and even the off-season records between 60 per cent and 70 per cent occupancy.
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Authorities in Phuket have hailed Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's idea to develop the tourist island as a paradise, but say he must ensure there is adequate budget funding. Phuket governor Niran Kalayanamitr said Phuket is already a popular international tourist destination and has generated a huge income for the nation for years, so it deserved more than a peanut budget for its infrastructure development.
Phuket needed serious and systematic development to maintain its charms and remain a magnet for visitors.
The projects were there that could boost the competitiveness of Phuket as a world-class tourist destination, but there was no money to realise them, the governor said.
During his weekly talk show on Sunday Mr Samak said that he wanted to set up a 15-member board to supervise Phuket's development, comprising five representatives each from the government, regional and local authorities.
The governor said conservation is a key issue because of continuing forest encroachment on the island.
Almost 2,000 rai of forest on Koh Lon and Khao To had been encroached on and the problem was worsening.
Mr Niran thanked Mr Samak for paying attention to Phuket.
But he made the point 'the allocation of a decent budget is more important than a 15-member board'.
He said the key to Phuket's problems was money, but the proposed board could play an important role in scrutinising the development projects.
Paiboon Upatsaring, the newly elected Phuket provincial administration chief, said the government's focus on Phuket should lead to the allocation of a bigger budget and result in concrete development on the island.
He complained that Phuket had received unusually low allocations in the past because the government had based the budget on the island's registered population, which stood at only 300,000 people.
Actually, up to a million people live in Phuket and around six million people visit the island annually, he said.
Maitree Naruekhanpichai, president of the Phuket Tourism Business Association, welcomed the government's proposed development policy.
He said although Phuket was generating almost 100 billion baht for the nation yearly, it was still facing transport, infrastructure, garbage and tourist safety problems.
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Thailand is looking fearfully at the not-so-unlikely prospect of crude oil prices hitting US$200 a barrel, which could result in motorists paying 56 baht a litre for premium petrol.
Speaking at the Thailand Energy Showcase 2008 seminar, Energy Minister Poonpirom Liptapanlop said the $200 mark was possible based on statements by the president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), Chakib Khelil, who attributed the weak dollar to the US recession.
According to Opec, every 1% in the dollar's value will result in the crude price rising by $4 a barrel.
Lt-Gen Poonpirom advised the industrial sector to prepare for the possibility by adopting energy saving measures and switching to renewable energy.
A source at PTT Plc said premium petrol would reach 56.5 baht a litre at the pump if the crude oil price trading in New York hits $200, based on an exchange rate of 32 baht to the dollar.
Diesel prices could reach 53 baht.
Premium petrol currently sells for 37.09 baht and diesel 33.94 baht.
The minister said proposals to cut the tax on diesel had gone nowhere as they needed approval from the Finance Ministry, because of the impact it would have on government revenue.
The ministries are still discussing details of the likely effects.
'Considering the likely consequences, no decision is likely soon,' she said.
Instead of relying on tax cuts to pull down domestic fuel prices and relieve the burden on consumers, the ministry will promote the use of alternative energy sources to deal with energy costs over the long run.
The Energy Ministry favours a tax exemption for petrol stations which also sell compressed natural gas _ which is sold as natural gas for vehicles (NGV) by the monopoly distributor, PTT.
Petrol stations will receive tax incentives when they install NGV distribution outlets, she said.
'We will also look at measures to save household energy consumption.'
The ministry had allocated 10 billion baht for 'clean-loans' for households under its energy-saving programme.
The ministry was negotiating with electrical appliance makers for a 5% to 10% discount on energy saving items for households who join the programme, she said.
Rising oil prices are also hitting private and state-run bus operators, who held talks with Land Transport Department staff yesterday about a fare hike.
While agreeing that bus operators should increase their fares to reflect rising costs, acting director-general of the Land Transport Department Chairat Sa-nguansue said the agency would study the actual costs of passenger bus operators, and report its findings to the Central Land Transport Committee on May 15.
The committee would make the final decision.
Fuel should account for 30-40% of operating costs, but at present it made up half.
City bus operators want to raise fares from 8.50 to 10 baht for ordinary buses and by two baht to 14-26 baht for air-conditioned buses.
Inter-provincial bus operators want an increase ranging from three to nine satang per kilometre.
Deputy Transport Minister Songsak Thongsri argued that the nine-satang increment was too much.
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May 2 (Bloomberg) Chalongphob Sussangkarn knows a thing or two about volatile currency markets.
Until February, he was the finance minister of Thailand, which over the last decade saw its currency plunge too low and surge too high. Yesterday, I bumped into Chalongphob at a Madrid hotel as he grappled anew with the vagaries of exchange rates this time as a consumer exchanging dollars.
``I should just get rid of these dollars before they fall even more,' joked the president of the Thailand Development Research Institute, as we exchanged U.S. currency for euros.
Thailand's currency, the baht, has risen 16 percent against the dollar over the past 18 months, part of an Asia-wide trend. Hastening the dollar's slide is a Federal Reserve set on avoiding recession at all costs. On April 30, the Fed lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to 2 percent, the seventh cut since September.
While the Fed hinted it may be ready to pause, the amount of monetary stimulus in the pipeline is a growing threat to Asia. One immediate side effect is rising currencies, which poses challenges for Asia's export-dependent economies.
The bigger issue is that easy money is fueling global inflation.
``With inflation running very high in most countries, the ability of central banks to reduce interest rates to offset the impact of the U.S. slowdown is going to be constrained,' says Subir Gokarn, Tokyo-based Asia-Pacific chief economist at Standard & Poor's.
Fed Up
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke acts in the U.S.'s interest. Yet the Fed's cuts are adding ever more liquidity to global markets. While bad weather and the increased use of biofuels explain part of the run-up in food prices, rising oil costs are as a much a consequence of liquidity as demand.
Asia is on the front lines of the phenomenon, especially with investors like Mark Mobius betting on more rate cuts. Mobius, who oversees $47 billion in emerging-market equities at Templeton Asset Management Ltd., says Bernanke may cut rates to 1 percent as U.S. housing foreclosures worsen.
Central bankers in Asia could be excused for feeling a bit, well, fed up by sliding U.S. rates. Their concern is over ``hot money' flows of the kind that wreaked havoc in Asia a decade ago. Investors who had poured in amid rapid growth fled even faster at the first sign of trouble. Large amounts of the liquidity created by the Fed are heading Asia's way to tap its rapid economic growth.
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This article has been included within our articles section
The TBA claimed police had arrested a man who stole user names and passwords by installing software to capture keystrokes when clueless users employed his computer to check their banks, and then stole their money.
The TBA was so rushed and excited that it forget to give any other details such as the man's name or what banks were involved.
The Thai Bankers Association issued two warnings for you: Don't use public computers or Internet cafe's to log into your bank account and don't download or install software you're not sure about.
The TBA claimed police had arrested a man who stole user names and passwords by installing software to capture keystrokes when clueless users employed his computer to check their banks, and then stole their money.
The TBA was so rushed and excited that it forget to give any other details such as the man's name or what banks were involved.
This article has been included within our articles section
Mobile phones will soon be banned from cinemas as the government strives to combat the high level of intellectual-property-rights (IPR) violations in the Kingdom.
The move follows a meeting yesterday between Deputy Commerce Minister Banyin Tangpaporn and officers of the International Intellectual Property Association (IIPA).
The association urged the creation of a law forbidding mobiles in cinemas, because it found that easy access for high-technology late-model phones had increased copyright infringements.
Yesterday's meeting also sought closer cooperation between the IIPA and Thai authorities in the suppression of IPR violations, following Thailand's relegation to the US Priority Watch List (PWL) for failing to protect US movies, music and computer programs against piracy. The list entails extra scrutiny and the threat of economic sanctions if the US decides to pursue complaints before the World Trade Organisation.
The IIPA has called for stringent laws to forbid mobile phones in cinemas, because there is reportedly a high level of violations when they are allowed in, Banyin said.
Thai police say cases of mobile phones being used to violate film copyright in cinemas have been reported to them.
The Intellectual Property Depart- ment will be asked to call a meeting of relevant agencies, including cinema operators and owners of film copyrights, to discuss the problem.
Banyin said film-copyright violations have destroyed the country's image in the eyes of the international community.
We have the Copyright Act to control such crimes we may need more regulations and stringent punishments.
.This article has been included within the articles section of Rightmove Real Estate Co. Ltd.
True Corporation is increasing its marketing budget to spur WiFi internet demand in anticipation of the arrival of WiMax, the more powerful next generation of wireless broadband technology. The company plans to apply for a WiMax testing licence from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) as soon as it is available.
Commercial service would be scheduled to start next year.
The move is part of a strategy to expand broadband internet services to rural areas that True's network does not cover.
Phaibul Sirivanich, director for consumer services of True Corp, said the company expected WiFi users to increase from 40,000 to 100,000 by the end of this year. Broadband internet subscribers would reach 700,000 this year, up from 550,000 currently.
He said True planned to move aggressively in stimulating WiFi service demand in the third quarter to pave the way for WiMax, expected to be launched next year.
True would need to invest at least one billion baht in building a whole new WiMax network nationwide.
But the investment scale would depend on the conditions and regulatory framework set by the NTC.
Mr Phaibul said the company planned to promote WiFi and WiMax on a single tariff platform under its convergence services, with the planned introduction of a bundled tariff package for both WiFi and WiMax.
Existing WiFi customers could be upgraded to WiMax immediately once the company rolls out the service.
True yesterday joined with Unilever to allow customers to exchange two Unilever ice-cream wrappers for a free True broadband entry fee, worth 500 baht. The campaign is targeted at pre-teen customers aged between 10 and 15 years old. Mr Phaibul said it was expected to attract at least 5,000 young users.
He said that True had five broadband customer segments _ pre-teen, university students, newly graduated students, stock investors and new users of notebook computers.
Average revenue per WiFi user is about 400 baht per month.
Mr Phaibul said Thailand's broadband penetration was projected at 1.5 million subscribers this year, up from one million last year.
.Yongyuth Tiyapairat yesterday announced his immediate resignation as House Speaker, saying he did not want to show up as head of Parliament before the Supreme Court tomorrow for an election fraud case.
In doing so, the legislative branch's dignity would be affected. And that would be unfair to other fellow lawmakers, he said.
Yongyuth also expressed concern about the political conflict, which is becoming increasingly severe.
I hope I am the last victim of the friction. I want our society to coexist peacefully.
Yongyuth, who is also a deputy leader of the ruling People Power Party, is facing three election-related cases. In one of them, the Supreme Court is considering whether to endorse the Election Commission's decision to disqualify him as an MP for vote-buying.
A court endorsement could give the EC the grounds to seek dissolution of his party.
Political sources have cited Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama or Justice Minister Sompong Amornwiwat as possibly succeeding Yongyuth as House Speaker.
Sompong's name had been circulated as Speaker ahead of Yongyuth right after the December 2007 election results were known.
Either minister's move to the Speaker's post would trigger a reshuffling of the Cabinet, which already faces the potential loss of Public Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsap and Deputy Commerce Minister Wiroon Techapaiboon due to their failure to disclose their assets as required by law.
A less disruptive choice would be to promote first deputy House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont, political sources said.
Yongyuth told an outdoor press conference at Parliament House that his stepping down as Speaker would not affect the Supreme Court case against him, nor was it aimed at accommodating the coalition parties' motion to seek a constitutional amendment.
It won't result in ending the case, he said.
Even though he was on leave of absence since the EC filed its case with the court, he said a caretaker Speaker could perform his job.
.Developers return to Koh Samui
source: The Nation April 8, 2008
Builders to resume work on projects as government dispels uncertainty about FBA
The Koh Samui property market is poised to stage a recovery this year, following the government's decision to relax the Foreign Business Act (FBA), says property expert Pisarn Tangkasombat.
He said demand for residential projects on Koh Samui doubled in 2006 from the year before but that most developers suspended projects after the previous government tightened the FBA and announced stricter norms on land holding and construction licences for developing residential projects.
Pisarn, also president of the Arayaburi Group, which owns five hotels and resorts on Koh Samui, said most developers - foreign investors and local developers who were partnering foreign investors - had suspended the launch of new projects and work on existing ones. This was because of uncertainty surrounding the Act, as they were not sure whether their projects would be considered illegal.
However, Pisarn said after the new government outlined a clear policy regarding the FBA, developers who had planned projects on Koh Samui would restart work soon.
Some foreign investors will now begin work on their projects in collaboration with local partners, while others have decided to sell their projects to local developers, he said.
We believe the property market, especially the residential segment, will stage a recovery this year, as the government has announced a clear policy regarding the Foreign Business Act, Pisarn said.
Research by CB Richard Ellis has shown that Koh Samui, Asia's emerging boutique resort island, is seeing significant growth.
Last year, the island had 1.5 million visitors, up from 600,000 in 2000.
The research also indicates that the number of tourists heading to the island may rise once Thai Airways increases the number of flights on the Bangkok-Samui-Bangkok route to two a day.
The number of airport arrivals this year is expected to surpass 2 million after this.
The improved connectivity will be a key factor in supporting growth in the area's property market. CB Richard Ellis expects increased demand for homes, said CB Richard Ellis Samui manager Prakaipeth Meechoosarn.
CB Richard Ellis remains confident of the long-term prospects of the Thai resort market.
Last year, the company opened two offices - on Koh Samui and in Pattaya - as part of its plan to expand its network in Thailand. The research said land prices in Koh Samui continued to rise last year even though the number of individual transactions ped, due mainly to the uncertainty surrounding the FBA.
Last year, the value of property transactions in Samui was estimated at an average of Bt413 million a month, down from an average of Bt450 million in 2006.
Since last December's general election, reports of viewings and bookings have risen. The type of residential projects most popular on Koh Samui is luxury villas.
Seventy per cent of the villas are priced at below US$1 million (Bt31.65 million).
CB Richard Ellis is now witnessing more developments within a price range of $2 million to $3 million. And as the luxury-villa sector on Koh Samui grows, chances are prices may move to a level that is on a par with Phuket, at least for the top end of the market.
Thailand is a low risk property market, and is facing a very limited impact from the sub-prime mess in the United States, mainly because Thai banks are still haunted by the ghosts of 1997 and have been very conservative in their lending to the real estate sector, says James Pitchon, the executive director of CB Richard Ellis.
However this does not mean Thailand is completely immune from sub-prime tremors because between 30% and 49% of the buyers of high-end residential condominiums are foreigners.
'The good news is that because Thailand insists that any foreign purchasers bring in the money from overseas, limiting the ability of foreigners to borrow, the market for condos above 80,000 baht a square metre is extremely unleveraged because 40-50% of the buyers are cash buyers,' says Mr Pitchon.
'It's probably the most unleveraged luxury property sector in the world.'
While this is very positive, he warned that with residential real estate markets falling in the US, Spain and Ireland at the moment, coupled with the risk that markets in other western countries could also slump, it raises the spectre of western buyers initially becoming reluctant to buy Thai property.
'But on the other hand it also provides an opportunity that as other markets go down people will focus on markets that are not in a bubble and have not had dramatic price inflation and Bangkok is one of those cities.'
It is also worth remembering that the sub-prime crisis is bigger than most people think. Mr Pitchon notes that it is not merely a problem of property owners in the US defaulting on their mortgages but a problem caused by many types of structured credit, leading to a credit crunch in numerous categories.
Domestically the market has been subdued, with CBRE data showing total new residential supply for the first nine months of 2007 fell 20% year-on-year.
'If you look at mortgage loan growth there was almost no growth in the total value of new residential loans and that has been the situation since 2004,' says Mr Pitchon. 'So for the overall Thai market, the broad-based picture is that we have less new supply, almost no significant growth in new domestic mortgage loans, we have had conservative lending from Thai banks and we understand that banks have been rejecting up to 30% of new mortgage applications.'
Mr Pitchon sees a key change in Bangkok, which is becoming more centrally focused. Historically the 'centre' of the capital has tended to shift to wherever the newest buildings were being built. Years ago, Charoen Krung Road was the main zone, followed by a shift to Surawong and then Silom. When offices were built on Sathon and Wireless roads, they became the central business district.
'The centre could have kept moving whenever and wherever people built new buildings, that's stopped, because the mass transit systems have anchored the city centre,' says Mr Pitchon. 'It's no longer this moving object, now all developments are focused on the mass-transit stations and very much in the city centre where networks cross over.'
This has led to Bangkok for the first time seeing a scarcity of land. 'Bangkok has only historically seen scarcity of development sites in certain locations. This has now changed especially in Lumphini and parts of Sathon and Sukhumvit,' he says. 'For example (the developer) Sansiri bought an old apartment building on Soi Ruam Rudi and demolished it in order to build a new condominium building. That has been very rarely seen in Bangkok before. I think this central focus to the city underpins value.'
Bangkok is also seeing quite dramatic price rises, mostly linked to replacement costs. Over the last 10 years land costs have essentially doubled in the city centre areas and construction costs have increased by 40% since 2000. Construction costs of a luxury condominium project now range between 50,000 and 80,000 baht per square metre of net sellable area.
A slide in the single house and townhouse segments of the property market has led to demand surging in the condominium sector, says Adipong Puttarawigorm, head of strategy of SCB Securities.
He has identified three key factors spurring the condo market: condos suit the lifestyles of Bangkok residents, they are seen as good substitutes for houses, and they’re affordable.
Even though interest rates have stabilized and are expected to decline this year, banks are not offering the attractive mortgage deals the offered two or three years ago, Mr Adipong pointed out. This has dramatically changed many consumers’ perception of what they can afford.
Three years ago, he said, homebuyers were able to obtain mortgages for as little as 3% in the first year, 3.5% the second and 4% in the third, followed by the minimum lending rate (MLR). “These terms don’t exist anymore-it starts with MLR and this too has risen by 1%.”
This means that those who could previously buy a five-million-baht detached house can now afford to purchase a three-million-baht condominium. Also those who were previously in the market for a three-million-baht house are now looking at condos costing 1-2 million.
This change in behavior has led to new players entering the condo market, while incumbents such as L.P.N. are moving forward aggressively. Among new Set listed players are Preuksa Real Estate (PS) and Areeya Property (AREEYA), which previously focused on detached housing.
Landowners along the skytrain and underground routes are also benefiting from the condo market surge, either selling their plots to developers or undertaking projects themselves. “They build and sell units costing 1-2 million baht each-the Lat Phrao area is full of them.”
Mr Adipong pointed out that the property sector benefits from this sort of competition, and is also helping contractors, many of which see dim prospects for government construction work.
The main listed contractors buildinf condos are K-Tech Construction (KTECH) and Syntec Construction (SYNTEC). Another non-listed player, Ritta Company, is expected to enter the market soon.
Mr Adipong noted that some listed developers tend to employ non-listed contractors to build cheaper tow-rise condominiums and only hire listed companies to build the more expensive projects with units costing three million baht upwards.
Despite the promising outlook of the condo market, nervousness felt by some Thais has led to prices ping at certain projects, especially those slightly away from prime areas. However, Mr Adipong pointed out that this would not have a major impact overall because it only slightly dents developers’ profit margins, which are usually as high as 30%.
The commercial real estate company CB Richard Ellis Group Inc said it would buy smaller rival Trammell Crow Co for $1.9 billion in cash, expanding its business of managing properties for large corporations.
The acquisition, which includes the assumption of debt, will allow CB Richard Ellis to generate a more consistent revenue stream from long-term contracts, making it less dependent on one-shot property sales and leasing brokerage fees.
“Part of (our) strategy was to continue to diversify the revenue,” CB Richard Ellis chief executive Brett White told Reuters. “This is really the sweet spot of what Trammell Crow does.”
The British government yesterday completed the of part of its Bangkok embassy compound on Phloen Chit Road to the Central Group, the country’s largest retail operator.
The price of the prizes nine-rai plot to Central affiliate Tiang Chirathivat Real Estate Co was not disclosed but industry experts estimated it at three billion baht.
Central edged Land & Houses Plc, the country’s largest residential developer, in the contest to acquire the site. The company wants to turn the plot into a shopping area, serviced apartments or a hotel and entertainment anchor to complement its nearby Central Childlom store.
Intense competition in the retail business in Bangkok’s central business district has driven Central to seek ways to build on its existing business, which are now constrained by limited space, according to industry analysts.
Central Executives declined to comment on the deal, but the British Embassy said yesterday it was the largest-ever property sale by the Foreign Office. The historic residence, the embassy and the ‘green character” of the compound would be preserved, it said.
About 770 million baht of the proceeds will fund redevelopment of the remainder of the compound, including new staff accommodation, recreational facilities, remodeling of the embassy offices and security work.
The embassy said that the 32.3-rai compound, purchased in 1922, was larger than needed. It said the land sold was the most polluted and noisiest part of the compound, next to six-lane Phloen Chit Road and the BTS sky train.
The War Memorial and statue of Queen Victoria would be moved to appropriate sites near the residence, officials said.
Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center (bitec) is set to invest billions of baht to expand its trade exhibition space by between 70,000 and 100,000 square metres to meet expected rising demand after the opening of Suvarnbhumi Airport and the future expansion of the skytrain system to the east.
“The blueprint [of the expansion plan] has already been drawn. What we are waiting for is just an opportune time and stable politics, probably simultaneously with the construction of the skytrain extension from Onnuj to Samrong, or after the completion of the skytrain extension,” said Sarnit Karunyavanij, Bitec’s business development director.
According to Mr Sarnit, Bitec boasts the nearest facility for Mice (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) to the country’s new airport.
Since it sits about halfway between Suvarnabhumi and Bangkok’s city centre, executives say it’s the most accessible venue for large international events.
The airport is 14 km away from Bitec, and the city hub is 12 km away. They are linked directly by the expressway.
The skytrain, a mass transit rail system, is about four kilometres away and is accessible by shuttle busses. By early 2009, the skytrain will be expanded right to the gates of Bitec, Mr Sarnit said.
Opened in 1997, Bitec spans 68 acres, or 270,000 square metres. About 36,000 square metres of that is column-free space, and the total exhibit area of 50,4000 square metres id used for exhibitions, conferences, meetings, product launches, banquets and other special events.
According to Mr Sarnit, Bitec is set to invest more than 23 million baht this year to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
The money will be spent advertising in both local and international media, renovating existing restaurants and food outlets, and adding food stalls, minimarts and coffee corners to accommodate more guests.
The advertising budget alone was estimated at more than 10 million baht, a rise from the average of 7.5 million baht spent in past years.
“Consumer-related trade events increased dramatically in 2006, drawing a large number of consumers particularly among new residents at housing projects developed at the surrounding area of Bitec,” said Mr Sarnit. “For instance, the Bangkok International Motor show is visited by about 1.5 million people every year in a period of 10 days.”
Bitec is designed to accommodate up to 14,000 delegates for conventions and between 100,000 and 150,000 visitors per day for exhibitions.
According to Mr Sarnit, Bitec’s business in 2006 remained in good shape, with revenue growing 20% from last year, out performing the market, which is expected to grow about 15%.
Thailand’s trade exhibitions and conferences market is estimated at 10 billion baht, but the Mice market is enormous. The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) projects income from Mice to 100 billion baht, or 10% of total annual tourism revenue, within three years, from at least 50 billion baht this year.
According to Mr Sarnit, the market’s outlook for this year is bright, given that Thailand is a production hub of several key industries, including automobiles, gems and jewellery, electronics and electrical appliances and food.
“In the very near future, Bitec will be surrounded and supported by nearby transport infrastructure, be it the international airport, ports, the skytrain, and expressway. That will offer us a competitive edge in attracting international trade organizers.”
Many condominium buildings in Bangkok had their common area management fees set over ten years ago when the buildings were first completed.
Not only has the cost of providing standard services risen dramatically but, as buildings age, the cost of repairs and the need for improvements have also risen significantly.
Ms. Chanpen Thavorncharoenpon, Director of Asset Services as the CB Richard Eills, looks at the challenges facing condominium management committees and condominium co-owners.
Most condominium buildings have two sources of funds: firstly, common area management fees paid by co-owners normally on a monthly or quarterly basis and secondly replacement “sinking fund”.
The sinking fund should be made up of the contributions made by co-owners when owner ship title was transferred by the developer. The fund should be deposited in an interest bearing account and technically should be used for replacement of capital equipment in the building.
Common area management fees were, in many buildings, set when the building was completed and, since that date, costs have risen considerably.
CB Richard Eills estimates that electricity costs for a condominium, which are one of the largest single expenses, have risen significantly.
It is not only the daily operating costs that have risen but, as buildings age, the cost of repairs increases as it also becomes necessary to undertake improvements for example, the renovation of the main lobby and common areas.
Some repairs are critical and can not be delayed. Lift ropes, for example, have a life span of 10-15 years, after which they need to be replaced. Smoke detectors and lift safety devices also start to fail about ten years after installation. CB Richard Eills has recently completed the full replacement of the smoke detection and fire alarm systems at several condominium buildings that now are more than ten years old.
“We believe that condominium owners can not compromise on safety issues and need to ensure the safety of all the occupants of the building,” said Ms. Chanpen.
In contrast, hotels undergo a major refurbishment of their public areas at least every seven years.
There are many condominiums in Bangkok which are now more than ten years old and have not had significant improvements to the common areas.
This is an issue which is increasingly affecting property values. The value of a condominium is determined by its location, design and specification. Many older condominiums are 50% of the cost of new condominiums in a similar area.
Somkid Gardens, which was completed in 1991, is one of the few older developments where resale prices have kept pace with new developments in the area. CB Richard Eills believes this is due to the condominium management committee spending considerable money on upgrades to the common area and co-owners renovating their own units.
Ms. Chanpen added: “We believe that, even to maintain minimum necessary standards, condominium owners will have to pay higher common area management fees. If co-owners want to maintain the value and attractiveness of their property they will have spend additional sums on improvements to the common areas.”
“Condominium management committees have two choices of raising funds they can either raise the common area management fee or ask co-owners to make a capital contribution to finance the repairs and improvements.”
The Condominium Act requires agree to an increase in common area fees. This is difficult in many cases where less than 75% of the co-owners attend the annual general meeting. There is a proposal to amend this to a simple majority vote of all co-owners but it remains unclear when this amendment will become law.
Despite the difficulty in getting a 75% vote, co-owners need to take action because, in many cases, expenses will now exceed income, resulting in funds from the sinking fund being drawn down to pay for ordinary operating expenses.
Issue26/11/2006
Ascott sets benchmark with banking and medical
Ascott Sathorn has bolsters its offerings with provision of medical and banking services for all guests, said Bangkok marketing chief Daniel Tan.
Under a special arrangement with Bangkok Nursing Home, English-speaking doctors have been assigned for guests. Further, Ascott now provides services from United Overseas Bank (UOB), a global chain that recently bought the Bank of Asia. UOB also provides links to financial and securities trading services. If a visitor wants to buy a condominium, they can obtain professional advice from a reputable bank,” said Tan.
“When a visitor comes to Bangkok, he has no idea where to go for a check-up. To save time and discomfort, we provide them with this option as well.”
Tan said that Ascott’s direct medical and banking links are special in that they go beyond the boundaries most hotels have imposed on themselves.
Ascott is already the largest serviced-apartment operator in the Asia-Pacific, with properties in Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. It has two other brands, the Somerset and Citadines.
Bangkok Hospital on Soi Soonvijai is seeking to acquire more serviced apartment as part of a broarder plan to create a medical complex that features a shopping mall and movie theatres in addition to healthcare services.
“The new stand-alone serviced apartment is expected to materialize over the next six months,” said Dr Chatree Duangnet, chief operating officer of Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Plc(BGH), which operates Bangkok Hospital. “The investment could be made through the acquisition of existing condominiums adjacent to the hospital, or a new construction.”
Bangkok Hospital at Soi Soonvijai started managing apartments when it spent 20 million baht to transform the seventh and eighth floors of Building C into 40 apartments that opened in August. BMC Serviced Apartment, which manages the rooms, claims it had booked up to 90% of them.
Customers are mainly foreigners who accompany foreign patients. They are mostly form the Middle East, Bangladesh, England, Burma and rural areas of Thailand.
Rooms fetch 1,800 baht per night for a standard studio, and 2,500 baht for a deluxe room that includes a buffet breakfast and lunch.
On top of standard facilities on par with those of leading hotels, the serviced apartments also offer additional services such as visa renewals for foreign customers and airport transport.
According to Dr Chatree, requests for apartments have been overwhelming, particularly from foreigners, Since the hospital’s 15 rai have already been fully utilized, the company must purchase new land for the new stand-along apartment building.
Bangkok Hospital at Soi Soonvijai currently operates six buildings. They include the stand-alone Bangkok International Hospital, Bangkok Heart Hospital,and the Rehabilitation Center. It recently added Wattanospth Hospital for cancer treatment.
To fulfil its Bangkok Hospital Medical Complex plan, Bangkok Hospital needs to invest in a stand-alone serviced apartment building, a specialized hospital for neurology treatment, a smallish shopping mall and a movie theatre. It should be completed within two years, said Dr Chatree.
Bangkok Hospital on Soi Soonvijai currently contributes about 35% of BGH’s total revenue, which was estimated at 1.2 billion baht this year. The hospital treats an average of 2,500 patients a day. Of those, abut 800, or 32%, are foreigners.
Of the 1.2 million foreign patients who came to Thailand for medical treatment last year, more than 500,000 sought medical treatment in the Bangkok Hospital network, which includes those under the Samitivej, and BNH brands.
BGH currently operates 17 hospitals under three brands –Bangkok Hospital, Samitivej, and BNH. The company also holds a 19% stake in SET-listed Ramkhamhaeng Hospital, and 15.76% of Prasit Patana Public Plc (PYT), the operator of the Phyathai Hospital Group.
The group is also expanding regionally. A hospital in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is scheduled to open in the next few weeks. Shares of BGH closed yesterday at 35 baht, unchanged.
New York- The average price of a Manhattan apartment rose to more than $1.14 million in the fourth quarter of last year, up 5% compared to the same period the year before, according to two new real estate reports.
The median price for the apartments was $760,000, a new record, beating the figure from 2005 by 9%, said the reports released yesterday. The median value is the middle price, at which half the sales are higher and half are lower.
The median price is also an important indicator of a market’s stability, said Greg Heym, who authored the reports for two Manhattan real estate firms, Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Property, Heym is the chief economist for Terra Holdings, which owns both firms.
Heym, who also serves on the city’s Economic Advisory Panel, said Manhattan is experiencing a more balanced market , meaning that price increases have become more sustainable-unlike in 2004, when double-digit gains were common.
There reports also reflect the New York market’s resilience in the fact of a nationwide housing slump.
One of the biggest price surges took place on the Upper West Side, where four-bedroom and larger apartment cost an average of $5.7 million, or a 48% increase over the fourth quarter from 2005.
An average price of an apartment with three or more bedroom on Upper East Side was about $3.8million, up 22%.
The average price per square foot in Manhattan rose to $1,050 (the equilvalent of 404,000 baht per square metre), topping $979 in the fourth quarter a year ago and setting a new high.
Heym said he “doesn’t see prices softening going into 2007 thanks to solid job growth in the city, a healthy economy and low interest rates ”All of those factors, he said, are driving the market.
“It looks like demand will remain pretty strong.” He said.
Heym added that record Wall Street bonuses, expected to top nearly$24 billion, also should buoy the housing market across the board.
Both reports were based on 2,364 reported sales. A
THERE WERE 27 new property projects launched in February, 41 per cent fewer than last year’s monthly average for new project launches, according to the Agency for real Estate Affairs, an independent property consulting firm.
The combined value of February’s new projects was Bt9.9 billion.
The number of units in February’s projects also fell by 20 per cent from last year’s average, to 4,017 units, the agency said.
Of the 27 new projects, 26 were residential and one was geared toward the home office market.
Condominium projects contribute the most units, accounting for 53 per cent of the total, while single detached homes accounted for 44 per cent of the total project value.
February’s new projects include 953 single-family homes worth Bt4.27 billion, 24 duplexes worth Bt38 million, 530 town-house units worth Bt924 million, 26 commercial units worth Bt112 million,2,194 condominium units worth bt3.1 billion, 290 developed land plots worth Bt740 million, and 28 others valued at Bt740 million.
The average price of individual properties in February’s projects was Bt2.3 million for residential and Bt2.5 million for commercial-both down by 27 per cent from last year’s average property prices.
This year the agency expects 324 property projects to break ground with 48,540 units worth an aggregate Bt11.9 billion.
Of these, 312 projects will be residential, comprising 48,204 units worth Bt110 billion.
Price ranges betweenBt501,000 and Bt1 million per unit are the most popular in the market today and account for 26 per cent of total projects. Most units in this price range are condominiums.
The second-most popular price range, representing 25 per cent of new units, is between Bt1 million and Bt2 million.
Only 10 per cent of new property units are priced at more than Bt5 million.
22nd Feb 2006
Office vacancy rates in Bangkok fell from 17.2% at the beginning of the year to 13.3% at year end. 2005 was a good year for the office property market.
Based on a survey conducted by the CB Richard Ellis research team, grade A rents in the Central Business District (CBD) rose by 23.3% while grade B rents in the same area rose by 19.6%. There is very little new supply under construction and CB Richard Ellis expects that the rents will continue to increase as demand exceeds supply.
A total of 229,000 square metres of new office space will be completed in 2006. The recently completed 59,000 square metre Q. House Lumpini, located on the corner of Sathorn and Rama IV roads and next to the Lumpini MRT station, is already 45% leased.
Exchange Tower with 36,000 square metres of office space and a 6,000 square metre retail podium at the Asoke-Sukhumvit-Rajada intersection will be completed in the first quarter of 2006. Tenants are already fitting out office premises and True Fitness is opening a 3,800 square metre fitness centre in the retail podium.
The mixed use Column Tower, with 31,000 square metres of office space, and an Oakwood managed serviced apartment is expected to be completed by the first quarter of this year.
Fenix Tower with 15,000 square metres of offices and a 10,000 square metre retail podium will also open in the second quarter of 2006.
Comlink, formerly Thansetthakij 2 located on Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road, is scheduled for completion of 20,000 square metres in the first quarter this year.
Later in the year, CB Richard Ellis expects that Supalai Grand Tower on Rama III Road (46,000 square metres), and Rasa Tower II on Phaholyothin Road (22,000 square metres) will also be completed. However, there is still limited new supply which is due to be completed in 2007 and 2008.
“Total net take up in Bangkok was 306,666 square metres in 2005,” said Mr. Nithipat Tongpun, director and head of Office Services at CB Richard Ellis. “Since the year 2000, the annual net take up of office space has been between 250,000 and 350,000 square metres per year and we expect that take up in 2006 will be around 300,000 square metres”.
Demand clearly exceeds supply and therefore, CB Richard Ellis expects that average rents will continue to rise.
“Tenants will have to start budgeting for increased office accommodation costs. The difference between CDB grade A rents and suburban grade B rents is about 295 baht per square metre per month, so we may see some relocation to save costs,” added Mr. Nithipat.
For tenants needing 1,000 square metres of space or more, there is very limited choice. The majority of grade A buildings are approaching full occupancy and, in many developments, 1,000 square metre premises are not available.
Companies who know that they will need to expand when their lease expires now need to plan two years ahead because of the limited availability of space.
The Pattaya developer Indochine Asset Management Ltd expects to tap the high-end market with its 135- million-baht Viewtalay Sands project on Na Jomthien Beach, about 10 mintues from Pattaya. The seven-story building will house 12 duplex and penthouse apartments with sizes between 132 and 156 square metres and priced between 78,000 and 97,000 baht per sq m. Construction is scheduled to be completed in November.
Mark Bowling, the company's sales manager, said the show suite for the project would be opened on Saturday to allow prospective purchasers to look at the finished product before making a decision. The company has also sold 25% of the project and is now receiving more inquiries from both Thai and foreign potential buyers.
'There has been strong interest in this project as it nears completion. Buyers can see for themselves Viewtalay Sands truly is something very special,' he said.
Mr Bowling said the planned amendment of the Foreign Business Act had certainly affected the company's business and made it harder to sell Thai ownership, but he was confident that conditions would improve greatly next year after an election in late December.
The company is currently planning a new luxury twin-tower project on Soi Na Klua 22, the Imperial Siam, early next year as its flagship development.
It will consist of more than 230 apartments with prices expected to range between 80,000 and 130,000 baht per sq m.
.Foreigners can safely invest in leasehold properties and are unlikely to run afoul of the Foreign Business Act (FBA) in its current state or even if the changes planned by the current government are implemented, according to Marcus Collins, a partner with the Bangkok law firm McEvily & Collins.
The FBA does contain a number of business activities that have a direct impact on the property sector, chiefly property development and rental of property. Rental is going to be in Annex 3 which is a services provision and land development is in Annex 1.
An important change being considered is that the majority of directors need to be Thai but Mr Collins explained that the FBA in its current form does not have such a provision.
So you could argue that if it doesn't deal with that, why make it tougher than it is? Why make it tougher than the original intent of the purpose of this law, a law ... that was put in place by a military dictator in the 1970s?
Legal interpretations still hazy, says Mr Collins
The original law, which is the FBA as it stands today, says a company is Thai if the majority of the shares are held by Thai shareholders, which is minimum 50% plus 1 share, for the purpose of engaging in activities in Annexes 1, 2 and 3. This is not the same as what the Land Code says, in which the split has to be 49-51%.
It doesn't say they have to have the majority of the votes in a shareholders' meeting, nor does it say you have to have majority of Thai directors in a company.
However, Mr Collins explained that if the changes are implemented it would allow existing companies that have different shareholding ratios and fall under Annex 3, which includes rentals, to be grandfathered. So any company that now has a leasehold development with different rights for different types of shares would be okay because it wouldn't have to change that.
However, the nominee issue persists because a company would still have to have Thai shareholders who are not considered nominees.
That issue doesn't go away ... either in the Land Code or the FBA. That issue has not been addressed properly in any of the discussions that we have seen in the past year or so, [under] the military government that has been in place or even previous to that when the whole debate started about Thaksin Shinawatra and Shin Corporation.
So it's funny, it's been a year now and nobody has yet come out from the government with a statement. 'Okay, we believe the nominee is the following person, we consider the following structures to be nominee.'
Mr Collins added that this was an issue that must be resolved even if the authorities abandon FBA amendments.
If we focus on the rumour for a moment, some Democrat Party members have come out with statements ... that first they felt it was wholly inappropriate that a temporary military government would start messing around with laws that have such an enormous impact on the Thai economy. So their first statement was. 'Apart from all this discussion about amending the FBA, we feel that actually this current government shouldn't really start messing with this law.'
If the Democrat Party is part of the next government, it is possible that it could opt to deal with sensitive business issues by means of specific laws already on the books, for banking, insurance or other sectors. That is the way they should do it because it would be a much more targeted approach, says Mr Collins.
However the nominee issue lingers in the Land Code, which has not been amended for many years.
Mr Collins pointed out that over the years the Interior Ministry has instructed Land Department offices how to deal with land acquisitions by companies that are partially owned or run through a board of directors by foreigners.
.14th Nov 2006
Lalin Property Public Company Limited, Thailand?s leading property operator completes its 9 months of 2005 with over 2,029.5 million baht worth of sales and 515.8 million baht in net profit or 0.63 baht worth of net earnings per share and 15.4% growth. Net profit for the period grew 19.5% against the same period a year ago as in the 2nd quarter, the company reported realized income worth 716.6 million baht, net profit of 185.3 million baht and net profit per share of 0.22 baht and income worth 719.1 million baht, net profit of 181.3 million baht and net profit per share of 0.22 baht in the 3rd quarter
Chaiyant Chakarakul, Chief Executive Officer of Lalin Property Public Company Limited, outstanding property operator with stock sign of LALIN, disclosed that his company?s performance for the first 9 months of 2005 revealed lucrative figures with growth of 15.4%, and when compared the 3rd quarter figure with that of 2004, the growth soared to 17.9%. ?Negative economic factors and rising production costs may become an obstacle for the property industry but Lalin has always been prepared for the situation with a well-thought up strategy to allow quick adjustments. Combined with experience and expertise of the company in dealing with medium-sized single-detached houses, Lalin is able to perceive the market and effectively cater to the needs of homebuyers,? he said.
However, in 2005 Lalin was able to execute plan as expected with 3 new projects for combined value of 3.25 billion baht launched in the 1st quarter and 3rd quarter of the year,? he said. These projects include:
1. Baan Burirom Outer Ring Road ? Pinklao (1.3 billion baht Q1)
2. Baan Burirom Rama II ? Ekkachai (1.215 billion baht Q1)
3. Baan Burirom Srinakarin ? Outer Ring Road ? Suwannabhumi ? Theparak (700 million baht Q3)
At present, Lalin operates the total of 18 projects in 5 zones in Bangkok and its vicinity. The company is confident in achieving continued success in medium.sized houses with plans to launch new projects to satisfy homebuyers in
terms of pricing and quality.
Thailand’s leading property developer, Goldenland Property Development Public Company Limited, unveils its restructuring plan, business vision and financial status. It firmly assures that the restructuring plan will not affect its business and the company is also confident that its new, highly efficient management team will lead the company to achieve all excellence in property development field.
Currently, Godenland has developed 4 single detached housing projects. The new phase of the Palm at Golden Legend has boosted up 650 million baht sales while the Golden Nakara- Bann Sri Nakarin reached 500 million baht sales. The latest and trendiest Princely Lakeside Residences, a 22-units lakeside house in the elegant Grand Monaco project of Bang Na area will soon be opened and expected to boost around 650 million baht. Lastly, the Golden Heritage- Bann Pinklao has already generated 800 million baht.
Khun Ying Sasima Srivikorn, Goldenland Property Development Plc CEO, revealed ?the restructuring plan will not affect the company?s business in all ways. The new highly proficient and experienced management team will effectively handle and continue all the works. Together with the previous executive experts, this is surely a great combination. A clearly categorized organization structure will begin in January, 2006.?
For the forth quarter, the company projects 800 million baht more of year-on-year sales, being close to a targeted revenue at 3,500 million baht.
All these four projects also benefit from the public transportation system. The red-line Makasan- Suvarnabhumi skytrain, located only 500 metres away from the Golden Nakara, is now under construction and expected to finish in the next 30 months. There will be 3 newly expanded skytrain lines the Tha Pra- Bang Kae blue line, the Talingchan- Suvarnabhumi pink line and the National Stadium-Pran Nok green line, connecting to the Golden Legend and the Golden Heritage. However, the company has no further plan to purchase more lands next year as its land bank containing thousands of Rais are still projected to generate a sales of over 20,000 million baht.
The Mayfair Marriot and the Ascott Bangkok are both enjoying its continuing long-term and short-term residences. The Infinity, with an average selling price of 135,000 baht per square metres, now closes its deal and a construction process will begin in November so that all rooms can be delivered to customers within 2007 as aimed.
The One Sathorn Square is now in the schematic design phase and the Polo Park & Resort in Krabi is under process. More details will be unveiled early next year.
Presently, Goldenland Property Development?s financial strength is well accepted by Thailand?s leading financial institutions. Recently, the company has received a full financial support from 3 major banks 1,000 million baht debenture from Siam Commercial Bank, 660 million baht Capital for the sold-out Infinity 1 project and a 30% down payment from customers, totaling 600 million baht. Siam City Bank yields a 904 million baht credit for the Golden Nakara Rama IV with a current sales of 1,470 million baht. 350 million baht will be used as revolving fund and another 554 million baht as a supporting budget. Goldenland also gains a 500 million baht credit from Thanachart Bank for the Golden Legend Sathorn.
3rd March 2006
Thailand’s leading developer of industrial estates Hemaraj Land And Development Plc., recorded a 20% increase in Operating
Profit, outperforming industry averages in many key areas and providing a solid base for double growth in 2006.
David Nardone, President and CEO of Hemaraj announced net income of Baht 583.7 million from operating business in 2005, an increase of 20% from 2004 and total net income of Baht 637 million. Operating revenue increased by 21% to 2,930.4 million baht with total revenues at 3,009.9 million baht. The Gross Profit margin of the year was at 41% while the EBITDA Margin was 29%,
both levels exceeding industry margins.
“We are benefiting from the growth in automobile and petrochemical industries.
Broadening the property development strategy at Hemaraj has enabled us to
increase revenue predictability, profitability, and maintain ongoing strength in the balance sheet. The bottom line contributions from The Park Chidlom are
improving the profitability and leverage of Hemaraj. Our broadened revenue
growth strategy continues to be on target, with revenue for 2006 doubling over Baht 6,000 million is on track”, said David.
In 2005, Industrial Land Sales were 716 rai with 51 contracts, being 23 new
customers as well as 28 projects expansion from existing customers bringing
total industrial customers to 312 with 103 automotive customers. SME Factory for Rent and Sale area increased by 22%, or 24,000 sq.m. In 2005, a total of 20 SME Factory contracts were signed: 13 rented and 7 sold. Industrial estate utilities consumption quantities increased modestly. Year-end sales of The Park Chidlom were 158 units or 72% sold with total contract value more than Baht 4 billion.
Business expansion activities in 2005 include the joint venture in S I L Industrial Land (Saraburi) with The Siam Cement Group, and the joint venture in
“Glow Hemaraj Energy” with “Glow Energy (Suez)” to develop and enter the
next round of IPP bidding.
For the year 2006, Hemaraj is developing 1,700 rai at Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate Phase 1, expanding Hemaraj Eastern Industrial Estate further, opening a Free Zone in SIL Industrial Land (Saraburi) for electronics and others transferring The Park Chidlom. We also plan to pursue Utility and Power
opportunities.
He also stresses that revenue growth will be from all Hemaraj business lines.
Industrial land sales for 2006 is targeted at 1,000 rai, or a 40% increase from
2005 indicated by the continual flow of Foreign Direct Investment to 2006 Thailand, especially in automotive, petrochemical and electronics industries.
SME Factories rental and sold area are projected to grow 30% year on year basis. Industrial estates utilities projected to grow 25% as many chemical
customers start their operation this year.
The year 2006 will see the completion and transfer (on schedule) of The Park Chidlom. As of February 2006, 78% of total units were sold and the cumulative contract value reached over Baht 4.35 billion.
Hemaraj Land And Development Plc. is Thailand’s leading developer of
industrial estates, utilities, property, and infrastructure customer. Founded in
1988 and listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 1992, today Hemaraj has assets of approximately Baht 9,000 million (USD 225 million)
Scramble to join Bangkok's serviced-apartment expansion threatens to turn into cut-throat competition.
While many high-end residential developments, including luxury condominiums, have suffered from sluggish sales so far this year, serviced apartments in central Bangkok that target foreigners have been enjoying the opposite experience.
The number of foreigners working in Bangkok keeps increasing, and the number of serviced apartments under construction keeps rising. The allure of high returns and long-term revenue is drawing many old and new players in the property industry to invest in the booming serviced-apartment market.
Real-estate-services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (Thailand) says Bangkok had 10,350 serviced apartments as of July, with 68 per cent of them pitched at the high end of the market. Of these, 449 units were finished in the first half of the year.
Sukhumvit Road remains the most popular area. It had three new projects - Citadines, Two Three Mansion and Alcove Residence - completed in the first half. Two new projects - Arasia Luecha Park and Tango - opened in the Phaholyothin Road area. There was only one new project - Fraser Suites Sathorn - in the central business district (CBD), which was a second Bangkok project for Singapore's Frasers Hospitality.
And the frenzy continues, with construction expected to finish on another 1,404 serviced apartments by the end of the year, the highest six-month figure in about a decade. Next year, 1,537 new apartments are expected to open, and construction has already begun on a further 1,058 units to be completed in 2009.
Most of the new projects will be managed by big names in the business. The Ascott Group will manage eight new projects for a total of 1,500 units, scheduled for completion in 2009. Centre Point will manage 1,400 units in three new projects, and Oakwood will pick up three projects for a total of 400 units.
From now until the end of 2009, the Sukhumvit area is expected to get 2,504 new serviced apartments, the CBD will get 1,010, and 260 new units will open along the Chao Phya River.
At the same time, more and more foreigners are expected to arrive in Bangkok to work here.
As of June, 63,410 work permits had been issued this year, up 10.7 per cent year on year.
However, there are many factors affecting demand for serviced apartments, and occupancy rates do not automatically follow the rising supply of foreigners. First, the appreciation of the baht has resulted in an increase in room rates, particularly for those who pay in US dollars. Second, many foreigners are choosing to rent units in existing condominiums rather than serviced apartments.
Overall, there has been a slight increase in rental rates, and the occupancy rate in grade-A serviced apartments has fallen to 80.8 per cent this year, from 85.6 per cent last year.
Most new customers prefer serviced apartments around Sukhumvit Road, particularly Japanese and other East Asians, so the occupancy rate in this area has fallen only marginally, from 85.4 per cent to 84 per cent.
Rental fees have increased at a slower pace than normal. Earlier this year, rates had increased only 0.4 per cent to Bt1,196 per square metre per month, due to falling occupancy rates and increasing costs for those paying their rent in dollars. Some developers were also trying to attract customers by offering lower fees for those willing to lease rather than rent.
Jones Lang LaSalle believes between now and the end of 2009, all developers of serviced apartments will face cut-throat competition as market supply increases significantly. The market will grow 13.2 per cent annually, compared with only 6 per cent over the past two years.
Developers of new serviced apartments are making a big effort to provide international standards to attract new customers from Japan and Europe. Some condominium developers are also setting aside part of their projects as serviced apartments.
The standard procedure in Bangkok when renting a condominium or apartment unit for a year or longer, is for you to deposit with the landlord 2 times the monthly rental amount. This money is held by the landlord until you move out, interest free a deposit against damage caused not through wear or tear, or against the tenant doing a runner without paying utilities or rent. Everyone who has rented has had to pay this deposit, but not everyone has got it back!
Most articles that I write are based on my experiences as a real estate agent in Bangkok. My last article was about property buyers keeping all of their paperwork safe. The same of course applies for people who are renting.
A colleague of mine recently learnt about this and is at the beginning of an uphill struggle. I’m glad to say that he was not a client of mine, because he rented a unit in the Nana area and the person that he rented the unit from was not actual the unit owner.
There are many individuals who own second and third properties in Bangkok, in fact some people have so many condominiums I loose count. In this case, the owner of the condominium unit had provided a shop owner in the condominium with a set of keys, and this shop owner was doubling as a letting agent.
My friend paid his advance rent and the 2 months deposit to the shop owner. Everything was good, until he moved out and asked for the deposit back. This was followed by an entourage of delay tactics that only a seasoned professional could pull off. When he asked about why it was taking so long to receive his deposit, some inspirational excuse would follow.
Eventually he managed to obtain the correct contact details of the owner from the building management. The owner informed him that he had never received a security deposit. The plot thickens...
It has since come to my attention that it is not only my friend who has experienced similar difficulties with this shop owner. Fortunately, my friend has kept the receipt that he got from the shop keeper, and he has a witness to the payment. This story is still happening and he may have to contact the police to speed up a conclusion.
Back when I was managing condominiums myself, we had an incident where someone had paid the 2 months deposit to an agent, who mysteriously vanished into a puff of smoke. It was an expensive building in Bangkok and the amount paid was quite a lot. Luckily in this case, the police caught up to the thief.
The main things to bear in mind is be weary, get copies of I.D. cards and receipts and of course keep these somewhere safe, check with the building manager that the person you are dealing with is the actual owner, or if not the actual owner then make sure they have a power of attorney and an original signed I.D. copy from the owner allowing them to sign a lease agreement for the unit on the owner’s behalf. If they have a power of attorney, still try to contact the real owner by phone or email if you can.
A clause in the lease agreement confirming that the signatory is authorised to rent the unit can’t hurt either. If your job requires you to be sent elsewhere at a breaths notice, then try to make some friends here in Bangkok who can help to follow up about the deposit for you after you have left.
Author: Neil Simmons, a Director of Ideal Homes Real Estate Co. Ltd.,
Thailand does not follow the same capital gains rules for property that some other countries use.
If we make a comparison with, say England, the main consideration that people need to consider in England when selling a property is capital gains tax. In England, there is no capital gains tax on a persons primary residence, but if an individual has more than one property, then they will be subject to capital gains tax on these other properties. The amount of tax is calculated on the amount of gain (difference between purchase price and sales price), less a factor for inflation calculated on the number of years of ownership.
In Thailand there is no primary residence rule so everyone has to pay tax when selling, but not capital gains tax. There are 3 main taxes that need to be paid when ownership of a property is transferred at the Land Department. The first is the transfer fee, which is a flat 2% of the Land Departments’ appraisal value of the property.
The second is called either business tax or stamp duty, and is a flat rate of either 3.3% or 0.5% of the declared sales price depending on whether the owner has owned the property for more or less than 5 years. The 3.3% rate applies for ownership less than five years this is referred to as business tax.
The third tax is a withholding tax and is a more complicated calculation based on bandwidths and years of ownership. It generally increases as length of ownership increases.
People who are selling their property within 5 years of ownership are subject to the higher 3.3% business tax. This is a considerable amount to factor into the equation. If you are selling your property for 10,000,000 Baht then this tax alone will set you back 330,000 Baht.
People are of course always looking to minimize their exposure to tax, and so some sellers will consider the total sales price as two parts one part for the unit itself, and another part for the furniture, fittings and design.
Using the example above, if the seller agreed with the buyer that the sales price for the unit is 6,000,000 Baht, and the cost of the furniture, fittings etc included in the sale were equal to 4,000,000 Baht, then surely the price that needs to be declared at the Land Department for the sale of the unit is just 6,000,000 Baht. The business tax on this amount would equal (6,000,000 x 3.3%) 198,000 Baht. The seller has therefore just saved 132,000 Baht.
However, very strict rules have been put in place regarding foreign remittance. Should the seller go to the bank to transfer the 10,000,000 Baht back to his home country, then the bank will be very vary of doing this. After all, they only have evidence from the Land Department that the sale was for 6,000,000 Baht.
I recently met an individual who did just this, and experienced this very same problem with remitting his money back to his home country. The ironic thing with this case, was that the man was suffering from a life threatening heart condition and needed the money back in his home country to help pay for treatment.
Although this was true, the bank didn’t know if this was an old wives tale or not and irrespective of the man’s health were not budging. However, the individual concerned did transfer the full amount (in the example about 10,000,000 Baht) from his home country to Thailand 3 years ago to buy the property, and still had the foreign exchange certificates to prove this. Hence, please fully consider your actions, get proper legal advice, and always keep your paperwork safe!
There is still a lot of interest in the Bangkok property market by international investors, who still feel that real estate in Bangkok is cheap when compared to other Asian cities of a similar size.
Are these people making the right comparisons? There are a number of differences between Bangkok and other more expensive cities in Asia. Take Hong Kong or Singapore (probably the 2 main cities that the people in the group above are comparing with). Firstly, both Hong Kong and Singapore have obvious land constraints. The whole country of Singapore is about the size of Bangkok and they literally can’t keep building because they don’t have the land, unless they find a way to build on water! Bangkok on the other hand does have the land. The south of Bangkok is sea-locked but east, west and north are all there and open for the taking. The north of Bangkok is already quite developed, no doubt this being partially a result of the old international airport at Don Muang, but heading out east and west of the city you will quickly come across large open green areas waiting to be developed upon.
Secondly, the average salary per capita is higher in Singapore and Hong Kong than Bangkok. People in Hong Kong earn more. Everything is determined by supply and demand and if you get paid more in Hong Kong wouldn’t you be willing to spend more there? Would people ever be willing to pay the same price for real estate in Bangkok as Hong Kong if salaries were 5 times more in Hong Kong? Is this situation likely to change? On a similar note, I would imagine that it is easier to employ cheaper labour in Bangkok and therefore cheaper to build in the first place.
Let’s look at some figures for 2006. The average price per square metre of a 120 sq.m. apartment in Hong Kong was approximately US$12,599 compared to US$11,800 in Singapore and US$2,819 in Thailand. Taking Hong Kong as the example, apartment prices were 4.47 times higher in Hong Kong than Thailand.
Now let’s compare GDP per Capita for the same period. In Hong Kong the GDP per Capita was approximately US$ 26,824 per person, compared to US$30,161 in Singapore and US$2,959 in Thailand. In this case, GDP per person is over 9 times more in Hong Kong than Thailand.
Is Bangkok a more desirable place to live in? This really depends on your own point of view. Some people might give more weighting to cheap Macdonalds, restaurants, taxis and an attraction to the opposite sex. Others might give more weighting to tidy litter free streets, pavements you can walk on, less traffic pollution and no street dogs. This is inconclusive.
We could turn to the surveys. According to the UN Human Development Report of 2006, who based their findings on life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living, this being a standard means of measuring well-being, Hong Kong came in at number 22 (with a total ‘score’ of 0.927), Singapore came in at number 25 (with 0.916), and Thailand came in at number 74 (with 0.784) just in front of Samoa and Saudi Arabia.
Of course, this is taking the population and country as a whole. If we take the two parameters of literacy and education, then there are a number of good quality international schools in Thailand and if you factored into the equation the cost of private schooling and general cost of living in Thailand, you may still find it more cost advantageous to live in Thailand.
In any event, I rarely hear people comparing the price of real estate in Bangkok with that in Manila, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh or Jakarta. Is there really that much difference? Is Bangkok really that much more similar to Hong Kong and Singapore, are we comparing wines of the same vintage or is the price of real estate in Bangkok as it should be?
Neil Simmons is a director of Ideal Homes Real Estate Co. Ltd. He can be reached at (02) 714 3832-3
With fresh daily obstacles complaining clients, troublesome staff and aggravating superiors all applying accumulating daily pressures on our lives, when we get home the only thing on our minds is sitting down, watching TV, and relaxing.
For the vast majority of us, we don’t care about the short term management of the condominiums we live in. The security man is on his post albeit a different guy than yesterday, and the garbage is being cleared every day. Life is too short to worry about these mundane things.
However, this situation can change when you decide to move into a new property and put your existing property on the rental market. What do you do? The most obvious step for most people is, when paying your last month’s water bill in the condominium management office, to inform the building manager that you are placing your unit on the rental market. Politely the building manager takes down your details and informs you that if someone should come along enquiring about renting in the building, he will be sure to let you know.
The question that arises is should a management company be managing, or leasing? Having worked in the fields of both property management and residential leasing in Bangkok I know that the commission earned from renting just 1 condominium unit can equal the profits of managing the whole building for 1 month. It is for this reason that some property management companies have very strict policies on information disclosure.
The residential leasing market in Bangkok is heavily waited towards a combination of the website, corporate contracts, referrals and other media advertising. In short, a small percentage of people, especially in the higher price bracket, will take it upon themselves to wander the streets and enquire in person about the availability of condominium units for rent in a specific building. If you tell your building manager that your unit is now on the market and expect that someone will walk in and ask about it, think again.
The most likely scenario is that a real estate agent will enquire. They will enquire because they have an interested customer in hand (obtained though the website, corporate contracts, referrals and other media advertising as mentioned above). Let’s see how this would happen in the narrative.
Agent: “Hello, is that Fred the building manager of Sukumvit Grade ‘A’ condo. Hi, my name’s Mr. Agent with Mr. Agent real estate company and I have a client looking to rent a two bedroom unit in your building. I don’t suppose you know of any units available for rent?”
Your Building Manager: “You will need to talk to our sales department in the head office”.
This is a 10 foot brick wall which the agent will not attempt to climb. Hence, he/she will do their up most to recommend another condominium to their client.
Of course, some management companies do not follow this policy, even though their head office does have a residential leasing department. Others do. I would love to name names but this is not what this article is about.
Having been directly involved in managing condominiums in Bangkok it is my opinion that if you are being employed to manage the building, you are being paid to provide a service, and as such you should do your up most to service the co-owners of the building.
This technique of monopolizing buildings can be questioned from a moral standpoint, there is a conflict of interest, and it works against you, the co-owner. Ultimately, it is up to the committee of your condominium to set the procedures for your home. Don’t be embarrassed to ask them to check into this.
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