Thailand Tourism

Real estate gurus’ have confirmed that prices for Phuket real estate costing more than 2 million baht will continue to rise despite the worldwide economic downturn trend. Associate Professor Manop Phongtat, the Director of the International Real Estate Association of Thailand said that the real estate business has a bright future in Phuket.

Although the consumer and investment sectors are still comparatively weak compared to previous years, Professor Manop sees the regrowth of tourism and strength of Thai exports as positive signs for Phuket real estate.

He said, “For Phuket, the condo business is going in a good direction and I believe investors will turn to this sector more in the future. As the value of land in Phuket is very high, housing estate investment will quickly become too expensive. Condominiums that are near to town or a business area of 2 million baht, will also go up as people are preferring to stay in condos that are convenient and near to their offices.”

Dr Pimonwan Mahujchariyawong, Assistant Managing Director of Kasikorn Research Center, recently performed an analysis of the Thai economy and found that the steady regrowth of the world economy has resulted in Thailand being able to export more products, including rice, rubber and precious stones. Thailand is the world’s largest exporter of canned pineapple and canned tuna.

Although this year Thai exports are still running at a deficit, experts predict that it will quickly recover and many believe that tourism will be one of the contributing factors.

“Phuket tourism will recover faster than other places, as Phuket is one of only a few global destinations where more flights are being introduced. Many tourists are from Europe and therefore are still spending large amounts because they know that what they spend in Phuket  or Thailand will be significantly less than they if they were to holiday in Europe.” Dr Pimonwan said.

The latest report from TAT Thailand said that tourism in Thailand has already recovered by 30-40 %.