Bangkok property market poised for strong growth

Fuelled by the Thai government's large-scale infrastructure investment plans, a bullish sentiment is permeating throughout the Bangkok property sector. The engine of growth over the next four years will be a US$38.1 billion upgrading of transport infrastructure, including transit systems into the capital. This will be accompanied by work on a satellite city around the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

During 2003, the property sector enjoyed its best turnaround after the 1997 economic crisis. On the trading grounds, construction stocks jumped following Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's victory in the elections. In the commercial space markets, the newly-commissioned Central World Plaza has begun to offer prime office space next to the World Trade Centre. Down the road, the giant Siam Paragon opened at the end of this year.

On the residential front, low interest rates, coupled with Thailand's strong economic fundamentals, have increased the purchasing power of its citizens. Mr. Anant Asavabhokhin, president of the country's largest developer, Land & Houses PLC, told The Bangkok Post last year that the Thaksin administration had been the first government to understand that the property sector was an engine for growth.

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