Thailand Property Report - May 06.
Excerpt from an interview with Robert Collins, Managing Director,
Agency and Investment Services, Savills (Thailand) Limited
Where do you think is the best place to buy purely from an investment
perspective?
Each market has its gems. Krabi is the emerging market, arguably
with the nicest environment, the best natural surroundings, a
fantastic airport, very good infrastructure and it provides an
idyllic destination for a quiet holiday home in Thailand. Values
have only just started and the level of development is negligible.
If you are touring around Krabi, you won’t see any agent
signboards. It’s clearly the next market that is about to
hit the big time.
Samui has quite a large number of interesting projects dotted
around, which will continue to see strong capital growth and perform
very well on resale. Pattaya in particular has a few very good
investment grade properties coming online, that will not only
rise in value quite quickly from the launch, but will also achieve
strong rentals as soon as they are completed. Each of the markets
has its own plus points, but there is definitely clear evidence
that each market also has projects that don’t work and don’t
perform well. So it’s important for buyers to really do
their due diligence and take the time to tour the markets and
understand what they are looking at, because there are developments
that have not got good title, or construction permits aren’t
clear enough and people really do need to do their homework.
Could Krabi develop to be a superior property investment location
to Phuket?
At this point in time Krabi could go two ways. If the local administration
maintains the control they have now and does not allow the hawkers
and umbrellas to control the beaches, it could put Krabi in an
amazing position. The road network is seemingly brand new and
if they can maintain that control and attention to detail then
Krabi could become the leading destination for high-end holiday
makers and investors looking for an environment where you genuinely
have nice beaches, fantastic views, good facilities and, right
now, a low starting point. The potential for capital growth is
enormous; it’s shades of where Phuket was 20 years ago.
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