Taking a turn reading Business Report Thailand, and article which highlighted the country's increasingly apparent lack of forward planning captured my attention.
Leading economic guru Dr. Sethaput Suthiwart-Narueput was quoted that in actual terms of both government sponsored and private sector investment today was sill less the 3/4th of what is was prior to the 1997 Asian contagion.
He adds that Thailand is the only country is Asia to experience this negative impact.
At a time when the current government is fighting fires to make good on election promises and aid the post flood recovery from late last year, the Board of Investment (BoI) policy has remained stagnant in terms of large scale reforms or initiatives.
For the moment, nearby Mynamar remains a hot topic and for Thailand a question mark remains over what is the long-term way back home.
Phuket's latest vacation ownership entry is the new Anantara Vacation Club which will open by the end of 2012.
Located across from the JW Marriott in Mai Khao, the property has an assortment of one, two and three bedroom suites along with 30 one and two-bedroom pool villa units.
This is a purpose built facility and is the cornerstone of the rapidly expanding Anantara move into the sector.
Existing Club Owners in the Anantara Phuket and Anantara Koh Samui will be able to utilize the new property.
A global exchange program has been set up with leading provider RCI.
Bill Heinecke's Minor Hotel Group looks set to expand the vacation club concept further afield from Thailand.
This comes at a time when ACCOR and the Absolute Group are becoming active in the Bali market.
For those who remember, Minor had been part of a joint venture which developed the MVCI (Marriott Vacation Club International) in Mai Khao.
The group later parted ways on the vacation club component only and retained ownership control of the upscale JW Marriott resort.
As the Philippines continues a strong surge in its property market, hotel branded properties managed by international chains have shown strong demand.
Certainly the leader of the pack has been the combination Raffles Fairmont project in the central business district of Makati.
Now comes a Grand Hyatt in Bonifacio Global City and down south in Cebu the Marco Polo.
It's not only hotel brands enjoying success but celebrity endorsements from Donald Trump and Paris Hilton have hit the buyer stream running.
Like it or not, the connection between hotel and celebrity brands and property is continuing to lure would be investors.
Real estate developers targeting the Hong Kong market, take note as the SMART Property Expo will journey to Hong Kong on June 2nd and 3rd.
A recent SMART event in Singapore attracted record crowds. This year's show will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
For information <link>http://www.smartexpos.com*CLICK</link>
Reading a news piece in the Phuket Gazette about the Patong Municipal Council's decision to study opening up a new southern access road to the headland area would appear to create a value add for property development in the area.
Currently access to the Tri Trang, Emerald Bay, Freedom and Paradise beaches is only possible from the oceanfront beach road going through Patong. A number of new hotel and upscale residential offerings are located in the headland area including Hong Kong's New World Development who are building a luxury mixed use project, Amari Residences, Centara Grand Moringa, Bluepoint and the Absolute Twin Sands Resort.
Bangkok's Gaysorn Group also have the Cape Paradise luxury villa estate in the area which has been on hold since the Global Financial Crisis.
While the government has been quoted as saying the new road would lessen traffic in the congested main Patong area, it's a bit illogical given a recent decision to reserve the traffic flow on the beach road which had run from south to north and now will go north to south. Those wishing to access the headland would either have to travel the beach road anyway and the quickest way would be to use the existing road. Optionally a winding trip via the back or third road would eventually get you to the new access if it pushes through.
So is the move meant to alleviate traffic or unlock more land opportunities remains the question? Arguably construction vehicles and loaded trucks would benefit from a new road.
Meanwhile the traffic loggerhead in Patong remains a critical issue for development, especially if the headland area is going to position itself as the upscale neighborhood of the area. A tunnel is badly needed and the island's infrastructure continues to lag private sector investment.
The Thai baht has bounced back from last years depreciation and flood worries to hit an exchange rate of THB30.93 to the US dollar.
Favorable appreciation of the Thai currency is bad news for upscale property developers who look at attract overseas investors.
Last year one of the island's largest developers Laguna Phuket took strategic decision to peg real estate unit prices to the US dollar. This has proved to be a successful tactic in stimulating a substantial uplift in residential sales during the first four months of the year.
Interesting feedback from Laguna is that these sales have occurred on primary residences and not hotel branded properties. Of interest is the Russian market, which prefers private homes versus lifestyle investment type offerings.
Expect more economic gyrations in the region as oil prices continue to skyrocket, though regional economies have for the most part continued to experience uplift.
In what is often increasingly referred to as the budding Hamptons of Greater Phuket, the Sava Natai has sold out their reminding luxury villa inventory.
The Sava completed sales of the final three villas in the project over the months of February and March of this year.
With 7 villas in the entire development, which consist of 5 large six-bedroom oceanfront units and two smaller four-bedroom properties.
Led by the developer Avila Capital the project team included noted designer Adrian McCarroll of Original Vision, project management by Blue Acre, World Construction, AVC Audio Visual Creations and management consultant Abode Development.
Natai Beach which is just over the Sarasin Bridge in Phang Nga continues to see some of the region's most expensive luxury villas.
The landmark transaction for Eric Levine's Villa Beyond created sensational headlines, which is just up the beach from the Sava.
That given the long spacious beaches of Southern Phang Nga look to be dominated by villa versus hotels over the near future.
A zoning restriction was enacted in 2010 which severely hit hotel projects over 79 units. Two landmark hospitality led projects for the area were the The Similan Beach – A Ritz-Carlton Reserve ( formerly the Raffles) which has been shelved and the land is up for sale. And Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li's redevelopment of the 1,000 rai Thai Muang project which has slowed over the past year.
Both of these projects are further north than Natai, with the former in Bo Dan and later in Thai Muang.
As of now at least Natai's beaches remain pristine, uncrowded and are a reminder of how those in Phuket once were.
We've been receiving a number of messages from readers asking about the large construction project at the Northern end of Bangtao overlooking Layan Beach.
No it's not a hotel as many have speculated, but the infrastructure is going in for an ultra villa project by a company affiliated to Japanese construction and development giant Kajima Overseas.
Villas have not yet been started so it's doubtful the project will hit the market till early next year but expect big price tags for the panoramic views over Bangtao.
Good news for the luxury starved upscale market which has seen only a few recent project launches over the past few years.
The site still hold a considerable land bank in the area, purported to be in the region of 700 rai so plenty of room for other types of development on the diverse property holding.
Forget in-hotel amenities like coffee makers, iPad docking stations, or even gyms, the number one most wanted item is the availability of Wi-Fi.
Checking out a new hotels.com survey and story in USA Today more than a third of those questioned said they wanted free Wi-Fi in hotels they stayed in.
With the proliferation of mobile devices like tablets, smart phone and every other means of electronic gizmo's travelers no longer want their MTV, they want their W-Fi.
Forget sleeping, TV or those turndown chocolates of days past, now travel is about being connected 24/7.
