Phuket Selected as "First Choice" for New Asean Summit

PHUKET is the front-running candidate for the rescheduled Asean Plus Six summit, according to the organisation's Secretary General, Dr Surin Pitsuwan.

Dr Surin said today that he will talk to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva this evening and recommend that the island be the place for the important gathering of regional leaders.

The Governor of Phuket, Wichai Praisa-Ngob, has backed the island and sees the Asean summit as a great boost for the local tourism industry.

Phuket was originally going to hold the summit but island resorts proved to be too popular over the Songkran-Easter break.

By the time officials came to decide, the island's prime resorts had been booked by holidaymakers to levels that meant there was no space for such a large-scale summit.

The rest, as they say, is history: the Asean Plus Six, already postponed after Bangkok's airports were invaded last November, moved to Pattaya, and so did the red shirts.

Last weekend they invaded the Pattaya resort where the summit was due to take place, and the leaders of 16 nations were soon heading for home.

Dr Surin told the media this afternoon that the shooting of yellow shirt leader Sondhi Limthongkul today in Bangkok was also a consideration that pointed towards Phuket as the most secure destination.

Phuketwan has advocated Phuket for the summit because it is an island, with one bridge on and one bridge off, and a checkpoint where buses and other vehicles all need to pass.

There are certainly some other practical considerations.

The island, deprived of adequate government funding for years, has no large conference centre, even though the benefits of such a development are obvious.

Given the lead time of two to three months before the region's leaders can fit another gathering into busy agendas, it should be possible to come up with a solution to the issue of meeting facilities.

One concern last time was spreading the many delegations over many resorts, which would have been the only was the summit could have been held then on Phuket.

In the low season in two or three months time, it should be possible to block-book plenty of accommodation at one or two leading resorts.

The rest is relatively simple.

As the Governor said today, the summit would be a great boost to Phuket in the low season and an opportunity that the island should be grateful to take up if all goes well in the decision-making process from here.

The Prime Minister has had pleasant things to say about Phuket after previous visits, which probably should see the island emerge with the summit.

A decision is expected shortly.

Source: Phuket Wan 22/04/09

"Wild Bear" Buys Kata Penthouse on Phuket

SURVIVAL is definitely the main thought going through the minds of many property people on Phuket these days, but who'd have thought that up would pop Edward ''Bear'' Grylls?

Bear, if you haven't heard of him, is quite well known in the US for his survival program Man vs Wild on the Discovery channel.

In Britain, he also has a following through another show, Born Survivor.

And now the Bear has a new lair, and it's on Phuket.

The people at Kata Rocks say he has just signed up for a Club Penthouse at the Kata Rocks development, on the headland at the south end of the beach, looking out towards Crab Island (Ko Boo).

If Bear does for Kata Rocks what Formula One racing champ Kimi Raikkonen has done for Outrigger Serenity Terraces Resort in Rawai, the Kata Rocks team will be more than pleased.

The marketing benefits of having someone famous buy one of your properties are becoming startlingly obvious.

So be aware, if you happen to be in that neighborhood of Kata, that there's a Bear out there.......

The adventurer and tv personality has, from all accounts, just the kind of eating habits needed to survive the wilder regions of Thailand.

Bugs, live snakes, live frogs and the fluid from an elephant's dung . . . it seems he has come to the right place.

Bear, 34, was a trooper in Britain's SAS special forces when he broke his back in three places in a parachute jump at the age of 21.

"Lying in a hospital bed with the doctors wondering if he was going to walk again, Bear set a goal to climb Mount Everest," says the Kata Rocks media release.

"At the age of 23, Bear became the youngest Briton to climb the mountain and survive."

He has since gone on, so they tell us, to take a Rigid Inflatable Boat from the US across the Arctic to Britain.

He has also taken a jet ski around Britain (on the water, we presume), he has the world record for the highest dinner party held (below a balloon at 25,000 feet) and he has also taken a powered paraglider higher than anyone else over Mt Everest.

"Bear has also written several books and is an accomplished motivational speaker," the Kata Rocks people tell us, and motivation is certainly something the Phuket property business could use right now!.

All this along with his TV work means that he has been in demand on the chat shows in both the US and Britain and has appeared on Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman and Jonathan Ross amongst others.

This month he is on the front cover of Men's Journal in the States and he has been voted seventh coolest guy in the Britain.

Apparently when he is not out in the wild, drinking elephant fluids, Bear likes to enjoy the finer things in life with his family.

Which brings us to the Club Penthouse in Kata Rocks on Phuket.

Mr Bear said: "I guess in part that I make a living by eating some pretty disgusting things to show how to stay alive if you are in a survival scenario".

"But when I want to just chill out with family and friends, then I try and pick places that are discreet but spectacular".

"Kata Rocks is both of those in abundance. A very special hideaway."

Kata Rocks, designed by Hong Kong-based architects Original Vision, is on the headland between Kata beach and Kata Noi beach, two of the best on the island.

The development will also include an oceanfront clubhouse with bistro and sunset bar along with a luxury spa, fitness centre and function rooms.

The Kata Rocks people say sales have been "extremely strong" despite prevailing market conditions, with almost half sold off plan in the first few months of 2009.

Construction is due to begin in June 2009 and the project should be completed by the end of 2010.

Source: Phuket Wan 22/04/09

Thailand Property Sales Could Fall 10%

Political chaos and low interest among foreigners takes a toll:

The Thai property market will see sales decline by more than 10 per cent this year as the political uncertainty takes its toll on the already battered economy, property experts said.

Thai Condominium Association president Atip Bichanond said the dire outlook for the country's 2009 GDP, which the government now forecasts will contract by between 5 and 6 per cent - compared to a projected decline of 3 per cent before the latest flare-up in the political conflict - would have a negative impact on the property market.

"We believe the property market in Bangkok and its suburbs will decline by more than 10 per cent this year compared with last year. Home-buyers are concerned about future earnings, with the country's GDP expected to decline by more than 6 per cent," he said.

Atip added that the condominium market will be worse-hit than the low-rise residence market, which includes detached houses, double houses and townhouses, because demand among foreign buyers - the main target market for condominium projects - has dropped significantly due to both the global recession and the local political turmoil.

"We suggest property developers revise their business plans and exercise caution when selecting locations for their residential projects, and that they carefully manage their cash. This will help them survive the crisis," he said.

The association had earlier estimated the property market would stay flat or grow by 5 per cent this year in the wake of the government's decision to extend property-tax incentives.

Meanwhile, international property agency Knight Frank Charter (Thailand) has postponed its home show, Taste of Living, originally scheduled for April 22 to May 3 on Siam Paragon's M Floor, until October. The company's managing director, Phanom Kanjanathiemthao, said the show had been delayed because of concerns that the political turmoil would dampen demand among home-buyers.

"Based on my experience, home-buyers will likely delay decisions on whether to buy until two or three months after the easing of the political crisis. Siam Paragon was booked solid in two to three months time, so we had to postpone the expo till October," he said.

Real Estate Information Centre (REIC) director-general Samma Kitsin acknowledged that political strife this Songkran had hurt the property market, which he said would decline by as much as 10 per cent this year, compared to the centre's earlier prediction that the market would be flat or even grow by nearly 5 per cent.

The property market faced the twin burdens of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis and the domestic political problems, he said.

Since the emergence of the sub-prime crisis, property firms developing residential projects for foreign buyers had seen demand for residences in Thailand among foreigners drop more than 50 per cent, he said.

The domestic property market took a big hit from the Songkran political chaos. The residential market in Bangkok and its suburbs is expected to decline by more than 10 per cent from 82,000 units last year to between 72,000 and 73,000 units this year, he said.

Thai Real Estate Association president Somchao Tanterdtham said property developers would need to slash their investment budgets. Those planning to launch new residential projects will have to think carefully about the locations, and research their target clientele carefully, he said.

Demand for residences priced below Bt1.5 million per unit will take the biggest hit from the economic slump, while demand for projects priced between Bt2 million and Bt5 million may hold steady, depending on location and other details of the particular project, he said.

Source: The Nation 20th April 2009