Profiting From Tragedy

[Darknight]

PROFITING FROM TRAGEDY: Foreigners look to scoop up land

Published on Jan 10 , 2005

Investors offer prices up to 75% below last year’s rates for tsunami-hit property

Several foreign investors are negotiating to buy disaster-ravaged land in Phang Nga’s Khao Lak resort town at bargain prices, landowners in Khao Lak said yesterday.

Pichai Nilthongkham, owner of the Amandalay Resort & Spa in Khao Lak, an area severely devastated in the tsunami, said that a week after the disaster, some Bangkok-based real estate agents representing foreign investors made an offer to buy his land at a discounted rate.

“Foreign investors apparently believed that Khao Lak will soon become a popular tourist destination again, and that this was the right time to invest here,” Pichai said.

That belief may have been assisted by the presumption that several local property owners were bankrupted in the disaster and would not be able to recoup their losses, he added.

Pichai said he had been made an offer of Bt2.5 million per rai for his land, which is 75 per cent below last year's rate of Bt10 million.

The posh new resort town of Khao Lak suffered grave damage in the tsunami disaster on December 26.

As many as 50 hotels and resorts were reduced to rubble or severely damaged. The total damage has been estimated at up to Bt10 billion. More than two-thirds of the devastated hotels and resorts in Khao Lak opened only last year.

Nevertheless, Pichai insisted that no local owners had accepted offers for their damaged property, hoping that the government would help underwrite the cost of reconstruction, which is expected to be completed within two years.

Last week, the Phang Nga Tourist Association and individual businesspeople from Khao Lak proposed a plan to the government whereby in exchange for a Bt20-billion reconstruction budget from government coffers, local entrepreneurs would sign a 50-year business concession with the government. The proposal is still under review.

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation

[taxexile]

Thais whose homes have gone fear losing their land to tourism

By Sally Pook in Baan Bang Muang

(Filed: 10/01/2005)

Thai villagers fear the tourism industry could try to exploit the tsunami devastation by buying and developing their land.

With many parts of the country, such as the holiday island of Phuket, already taken over by tourism, pressure has been mounting on less developed areas in the past decade. Now Thais who lost their homes in the disaster are worried that they could also lose their land to unscrupulous developers.

Many villagers displaced by the tsunami do not have documentation proving they own their land, though their families may have lived there for generations. This makes it easy for developers to exploit them.

The Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, a non-governmental organisation, is trying to prevent villagers being forced off their land.

"A lot don't have land certificates or documentation of any kind," Tom Kerr, of the ACHR, said yesterday. "Someone who wants to put up a resort hotel could easily push them out.

"The tsunami presents us with an opportunity to help these people to make their ownership of the land more permanent and secure."

In a refugee camp at Baan Bang Muang, 60 miles north of Phuket, nearly 4,000 Thais from the destroyed fishing village of Namkhem are living in tents. Many fear they may never go back to Namkhem because they do not have land certificates to prove they lived there.

"I am worried there is no chance of getting my land back," said Senasana Temjit, 38, a fisherman's wife with two children. My family survived, but our house was made of wood. Nothing is left.

"It is very depressing here and there is nothing to do. I am scared of going back to the village because our house was near the beach and the water frightens me. But 80 per cent of the villagers want to go back."

Architecture students from Bangkok, working for the Community Organisation Development Institution, are drawing up redevelopment plans. "The plans will be a powerful tool when the villagers start talking to the authorities about rebuilding the village," said Mr Kerr.

"Then they can say, `This is how we want to rebuild our village and, please, now we want it on a more secure and permanent basis'."

from uk telegraph online.

[PvtDick]

It says that lowball offers are being made, but no one is taking them. So what?

[kreon]

plus a lot of these properties were on enroached national parks and may never be allowed to be build on them again!

[Rhys]

TASIC

Family on on A-list Buyers list

[Tornado]

It is happening here in Phuket also. The real estate market is actually very busy.

[taxexile]

but have prices taken a tumble ??

[mffun]

PROFITING FROM TRAGEDY: Foreigners look to scoop up land

Published on Jan 10 , 2005

Investors offer prices up to 75% below last year’s rates for tsunami-hit property

Several foreign investors are negotiating to buy disaster-ravaged land in Phang Nga’s Khao Lak resort town at bargain prices, landowners in Khao Lak said yesterday.

This is the Beginning for setting up the concerned areas.

This can stop only One, but this needs a state of emergency. (???)

This does not exist???

[Tornado]

but have prices taken a tumble ??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Prices have definately not tumbled or even moved in my experience, but investors are definately here in force and trying to negotiate. I have noticed some brokers/sellers using terms like "shock sale", "urgent sale" etc to make the investors think that they are getting a great price. Phuket beach land for the most part will stay as it was price wise, but I think there will be some bargains around.

My business is very busy at the moment and all of the clients who were buying before the Tsunami are still proceeding. Real estate will not be affected here, I think, as we are not catering to the holiday maker, but rather the Singapore or Hong Kong expat.

Time will tell, but things look pretty normal at the moment.

[Erwin1011]

This was going on quite quickly after the event and mind you, not by foreigners. They may have been representatives of foreigners, but I doubt it. My friend has relatives in that aerea. he went down to help and told us that people were offered to buy off their property. These individuals had print outs with them. They claimed to be checking on missing persons, preparing for assistance etc. But always the offer to buy came on the table.

[aaaaaa]

very nice and smart!

my wife translated for me from TV news that many hotels aslo has encreased room rates - and practically all such hotels are owned by foreigners and that Thai people are upset by this, if not outraged. that it is against Thai culture to do such a thing - trying to profit by taking advantage of such disaster situation, while Thai people are concerned about tourists return to those areas to make it possible to recover local economy in affacted areas....

[britmaveric]

This was going on quite quickly after the event and mind you, not by foreigners. They may have been representatives of foreigners, but I doubt it. My friend has relatives in that aerea. he went down to help and told us that people were offered to buy off their property. These individuals had print outs with them. They claimed to be checking on missing persons, preparing for assistance etc. But always the offer to buy came on the table.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bloody Vultures! I'm sure the lawsuits will be coming next.

Edited January 11, 2005 by britmaveric

[damnaam]

This was going on quite quickly after the event and mind you, not by foreigners. They may have been representatives of foreigners, but I doubt it. My friend has relatives in that aerea. he went down to help and told us that people were offered to buy off their property. These individuals had print outs with them. They claimed to be checking on missing persons, preparing for assistance etc. But always the offer to buy came on the table.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bloody Vultures! I'm sure the lawsuits will be coming next.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's almost a second wave of looting...

[PvtDick]

No one can force anyone to part with their property. If the seller needs money, I am sure that he will be grateful for someone offering to make the purchase. Whether the price agreed upon is the same, more, or less than what it would have been a month ago, is strictly a market force.

[The_Moog]

The Nation's story is just routine farang-bashing.

Moneyed Chinese-Thai investors will be more evident, though not buying via estate agencies that cater to wealthy foreigners. They'll just quietly have words with village headmen, landowners etc.

Will Chinese-Thais pay current prices? I'd wager not. They'll insist on bargains to close the deal.

[kat]

Has anyone been able to ferret out more details about the Nation story? From day one its lack of specificity just didn't sit right. Exactly who are these wealthy foreigners? The seemingly willful lack of information does seem to amount to bashing, because there is no way to analyse their information.

[aaaaaa]

sorry if this might be a bit out of topic - not about buying land in Phuket or other affected areas.... but I think it is relevent in the sense that as I feel it is also an example of scavenging on the tragedy...

I came accross this on eBay auction (item # 7301599955) :

Actual Phuket Thailand robe - Purchased two weeks before Tsunami disaster.

I don't know - may be there are some people who sincerely believe this guy and even willing to bid on this thing - but for me this seems shameless bluff and very disgusting !