Guest Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 "First, CB Richard Ellis (real estate brokerage) reports that there is an excess of serviced apartments in the Sukhumvit area and the rental market is getting very soft. When ex pats first arrive (I am talking about high income package ex pats), they almost always live in serviced apartments. Although condos are hot and condo buildings are going up, I can?t think of any new high end serviced apartments on Sukhumvit. If these type of expats are coming, where are they staying?" Very rarely would they go into service apartments but almost always they go into single compound homes according to the good folks at a very well known and respected relocation firm. By the way, these homes go for 150,000 Baht to 250,000+ Baht per month rental. This firm has been non stop doing orientation meetings and is having a hard time keeping up with the work load. Chevron, Coca-Cola, Unocal, Lehman Brothers, Toyota and Colgate-Palmolive, Proctor Gamble to mention a few who are bringing in expats. Kimberly Clark also is bringing in expats but mostly from Hong Kong and Singapore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 As for the fashion show(s) this past week, read this: Reuters article I've been here since the days before Prem. I just don't get excited by anything until it actually happens, and even then, there's always a way around it. Don't even mind Thaksin so much. Still an improvement from the '70's and before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 Showtime is correct. Just because things are changing, if they are changing, does not mean that there are not a lot of new oppurtunities that are going to be out there as a result of these changes. A lot of uncertainty about how, when and if. But, the certain fact is that Thailand is changing. The economy is growing, there is less housing vacancy in the farang area and real estate values are skyrocketing. As I look out my window I see 5 very active construction projects withing 600 meters of my window. Two high rises, two mansions and one Hotel. This morning, at 7AM on a clear cool morning, I had to close my windows and doors while I was reading my Newspapers to clear the sound of Backhoes and hammers. Maybe it's all going to fall apart in the future but right now, I've never had so many really solid good oppurtunities on my platter at one time. I am passing on things that would have made me drool with anticipation in the past. Not enough time, not enough staff, not enough entrepeneurial energy and not enough capital to take advantage of everything. Showtime is right on target. I'm not sure I like many of the changes. And I am not making light of the plight of many of my friends whose ambitions may be seriously sidelined by these changes. But, the times they are a changin' and we must adapt. You can piss and moan about the good old days or you can get excited about the myriad new oppurtunities developing. Who moved my Cheese? It will never be the same and we will never go back to the "Good old days" but that was inevitable, wasn't it? Has anything anywhere ever stayed the same for long? Saigon, Rio, Phnom Penh, Manilla? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Showtime is correct. Why? I wish he was, but so far I haven't seen anything persuasive, let alone plausible, to suggest this is true. Things are changing and to use a trite and silly phrase, the cheese has moved, but so what? How can bars, restaurant and pubs in NEP and elsewhere in the lower Sois of Sukhumvit survive if they are only allowed to operate 3 hours a night? I am looking for something to tell me that you and Showtime are right, but, with all due respect, all I see are alot of cliches about moving dairy products. I don't see anything that explains how a bar can survive operating 3 hours a night. At least part what you are claiming about the Bangkok economy is demonstrably unture - "there is less housing vacancy in the farang area" - and all of the rest is opinion with which Iwould disagree. I am not going to debate the economics here, but instead focus on what is beyond legitimate dispute: the market for ex-pat housing is very soft and getting softer. No one disputes this. I've never had so many really solid good oppurtunities on my platter at one time. I am passing on things that would have made me drool with anticipation in the past. Not enough time, not enough staff, not enough entrepeneurial energy and not enough capital to take advantage of everything. Showtime is right on target. Can you provide some examples? I am willing and want to be convinced, but I need more than bluster. Please explain to me how the bars and pubs in the lower Sois of Sukhumvit will survive on 3 hours a night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Very rarely would they go into service apartments but almost always they go into single compound homes according to the good folks at a very well known and respected relocation firm. Uh...can you name this relocation firm. Most of the ex-pats I know here, and I have been working here for 10 years now, move into high end serviced apartments. But assuming you are right about ex-pats moving into homes rather than apartments, the picture is not any better. The rental market for homes - at least the type of homes that expat would want to rent - in the Sukhumvit ears again is soft. Chevron, Coca-Cola, Unocal, Lehman Brothers, Toyota and Colgate-Palmolive, Proctor Gamble to mention a few who are bringing in expats. Kimberly Clark also is bringing in expats but mostly from Hong Kong and Singapore. I don't know your source and I cannot respond to all of the companies, but you are wrong about Coca-Cola, Unocal and Kimberly Clark. Unocal's Country Manager, Randy Howard, is in on the Board of Governors for AMCHAM (go to the AMCHAM website if you want to verify what I am saying about who is who - AMCHAM Website ), and he said that he had to let staff go. As for the other companies you mention, I have no information. I don't meant to be overy pessimestic, but when I see information that I personally know for a fact to be wrong, well, I am going to comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Sukhumvit will just be" up-town" In fact, no matter what happens, Sukhumvit will turn more upscale with the 5 star hotels coming in and the new furureistic design Nana Square Shopping Mall. Today they are doing a big Fashion Show on Sukhumvit and redirecting traffic. I am not sure I buy into the fashion show model of development (it seems like more TRT sleight of hand to me), but even if I did, it still doesn't seem to work. From the website reference below by the Big Kahuna:But designers involved in the show doubted Thailand would get very far because of the small public interest in fashion in a country where spending power lags far behind the likes of Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. Some were also critical of Thursday's show. "It's going to be difficult," said a U.S.-based Thai designer who has dressed Sarah Jessica Parker, star of television's "Sex and the City". "After this, I don't want to launch my brand here," he said, complaining that the show was poorly organised. "SO OUT" Another designer said the beautiful river scene was wasted on "clothes that were so out". "It was just a competition of extravagance. It was like a drag queen show," said one designer. "I was so embarrassed, I wanted to run. The international press probably thought Thailand doesn't get what fashion is." Well if that fashion was any indication, the Sukhumvit area will be just fine - we have nothing to worry about. :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christo23 Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 I´m also not so sure wether Bangkok needs additional Luxury Hotels, there´s not exactly a lack of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibblies Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 I second that 'provide the evidence'. All this 'demand' and 'Thailand is changing' stuff reminds me of the dot com 'new paradigm' claims circa 1999/2000. I.e. just a wave of short term chancing chasing Mr T's buy now pay later idea... I get the impression there's a world of vacant space still left from the old boom... What about the building next to the Ploenjit Centre on Soi 2? That's been going up for years? How about the rather arty building on the corner of Asok? Has anyone ever been in it? etc etc... And how's this boom going to be sustained by foreigners when the smart ones (the ones with money) know the justice system is still worth diddly-squat? Lessons learnt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 ---------- But designers involved in the show doubted Thailand would get very far because of the small public interest in fashion in a country where spending power lags far behind the likes of Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong ----------- Interesting quote. Thai spending power is definitely lower than that of Japan, but I'll contest the comparison with Singapore and Hong Kong. Certainly enough Thais with high spending power to exceed the number of residents in those two cities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 17, 2004 Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 Doubt if a place like Coloseum, or German Beer Tawan Daeng for that matter will be affected much. Tawan Daeng gets busy from 7 PM onwards and should do just fine. The pubs on Thonglor will enter difficult times for sure if allowed to open only a few hours. Will be interesting to see how that develops. But the bars around lower Sukhumvit (incl NanaPlaza) and the small sois, are a bit of an eyesore. Not many Thais that I know will weep if these places go out of business. Most cities aorund the world have entertainment zones. Very few western cities will have raunchy places, disco's etc. just around the corner form residential areas, school etc. The only thing you see in the west is the local pub. In Bangkok nitetime entertainment was allowed to florish everywhere. Many residents complain of loud music and noisy crowds in their neighboorhood because of this. What is interesting though is that Bangkok will have only 3 zones (or actually only two, as RCA and Rachadapisek will soon just flow into each other). Will all party goers from Thonburi, Bangna, RamaIII and other remote areas flock to Rachada after march 1st. Surely going to create some traffic jams in that area. The government IMO needs to set more zones. another thing that worries me, if the new law will lead to many lay-offs, is an increase in street crime. We already see this at the moment, just look at Thai news reports. Don't think that the early closing hours will have much effect on tourism, but an increase in petty crimes surely will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.