Property projects mushroom near Suvarnabhumi Airport

BANGKOK: -- Property projects in the vicinity of Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport attracted greater attention now that the airport is close to opening for commercial services on September 28, according to a leading real estate service agency.

Supin Meechucheep, President of Jones Lang LaSalle Co., said on Monday that investment in property development projects had begun to mushroom markedly around the airport as the scheduled opening for commercial use has come nearer.

However, city planning for the surrounding areas of the airport remains ambiguous, which could have a negative impact on the development of the real estate market in the area.

Ms. Supin said many housing projects had sprung up in the vicinity of the airport since property developers projected that its opening would herald construction of a variety of basic infrastructure and services to accommodate the area's development.

Industrial real estate, the property executive said, particularly rental warehousing facilities, had also benefited from the airport's opening because demand for storage facilities had increased significantly.

The rising demand has resulted in a flurry of activity in warehouse rental areas near the airport, with leasing feeds rising considerably from around 100-140 baht per square metre in 2003 to 140-180 baht per square metre currently.

Additionally, she said, office buildings near the airport had benefited as could be noted in the sharply increased monthly rental fees for offices along Srinagarindra, Bangna-Trat and Kingkaew Roads close by the airport from around 150-200 baht per square metre in 2003 to 300-380 baht per square metre at present.

--TNA 2006-07-24

sharply increased monthly rental fees for offices along Srinagarindra, Bangna-Trat and Kingkaew Roads close by the airport

and not just as above....Sri-Nakarin-Tep-erack and Ban-Poo are all on the way to the new Valhalla with reports of lots of new businesses signing up in the area.

K.W has a couple of pieces of land not far from my gaff in The Parek that she bought a few years ago for about 20k and they have been vacant ever since...even the local soi dogs wouldnt touch them but now she has let them they to a wee Thai guy to store his ....floor tiles ...millions of "em.

She has been offered a 1 spot Bt for each parcel but with the new Outer Ring road (ling load)ready to open ..believe November ..and only 10 minutes from the Sanam bin...mai chai...typical Thai/chinese....NO Sell....

so ..if you want a Toyo.....

Thailand becomes Asia's pickup capital

SAMUT PRAKARN, Thailand -- Every 60 seconds, a shiny new pickup truck rolls off the assembly line at Toyota's factory outside of Bangkok, a third of them bound overseas for places like Australia, Europe and the Mideast.

Toyota Motor Corp. has completed yet another, larger plant to make pickups nearby, adding to the 15 auto assembly plants, mostly Japanese, already here.

Thanks to careful government planning and Japanese investment, Thailand has become the world's No. 2 maker of pickups after the United States, making the Asian financial crisis that erupted here nine years ago seem like a distant memory.

Drawn to Thailand by its the low costs, government tax breaks and extensive network of suppliers, Toyota, Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have gone so far as to shift their pickup truck production in Japan to Thailand.

"Thailand is positioned at the center of Toyota's Asian operations," said Ryoichi Sasaki, president of Toyota Motor Thailand Co. from the Samut Prakarn plant.

Toyota's new 27 million square feet plant in Ban Pho, just east of Bangkok,will increase its total production capacity in Thailand to 550,000 vehicles a year, with about 40 percent for export, Sasaki said. That could easily ramp up to 650,000 if demand requires, he added.

"It's selfish to have a sedan," said Thana Phum Seduangchai, a 47-year-old who lives in rural western Thailand whose Toyota Hilux Vigo, the company's best seller here, often carries nearly 20 people at once.

Government planners also have encouraged the creation of an extensive base of nearly 4,000 suppliers. Toyota, for example, gets 90 percent of its parts and materials locally.

By 2010, Thai authorities hope the country will produce 2 million vehicles, three-quarters of them pickups and half for export, part of their goal to become the "Detroit of Asia."

"It is very possible for Thailand to become a passenger car base in addition to pickups in the future," he said. "Hopefully, the domestic excise tax will be reduced."

Auto exports, meanwhile, have grown from practically nothing 10 years ago to 443,000 last year, helped by free trade agreements with Australia and the other nine members of ASEAN... abbridge..by R

The city was already growing out in that direction anyway. Much like the expansion out towards Rangsit. Roadside lots on main roads (even when they were quite patchy in places), you've been looking at 8-15 million a rai for quite some time now (at least 15 years), in my experience at least when many parts of Sukapibal 3 was still a dirt road.