Environmental care and energy saving in Thailand

Architects want simpler assessment approvals for 'friendlier' buildings

Environmental friendliness, energy saving and "green" principles are rapidly becoming major trends in Thailand's property market, involving both property developers and producers of construction materials.

The companies are dancing to a tune played by consumers, who are these days keenly attuned to environmental issues and prefer buildings designed to minimise energy use.

In a significant move, the Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage (ASA) has proposed to the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (Onep) that building projects developed in accordance with environmental and energy-saving principles should face a simpler form of environmental-impact assessment (EIA).

The proposal comes at a time when Onep itself has been considering the EIA procedure and how it can speed up approvals.

A survey by The Nation last week found both property developers and producers of construction materials were eager to meet the green demands of modern home-buyers who want to buy environmentally friendly homes that save energy bills. Home-buyers believe this will save them money in the long term.

The Siam Cement Group (SCG) is one producer of construction materials that has spent more than Bt1 billion on researching and developing green materials for all of kinds of construction, in the belief that doing so not only meets customer demand, but is also environmentally responsible.

One subsidiary, Siam White Cement, has developed white plaster and marble-surface textures for walls and floors that do not need painting. Another, Siam CPAC Block, has developed cool-plus blocks that are claimed to reduce internal heat in a building by seven to 10 per cent, as well as specialised blocks for roof gardens.

SCG Cement marketing director Syamrath Suthanukul said the group had a target of launching an average of ten innovative products per year, most of them green products developed to meet customer demand.

Siam City Cement has also announced a "Green Innovation" policy, under which it will develop new products and production processes to serve the growing demand for environmental friendliness.

Property developers are not only incorporating green principles into their buildings, but they're also providing greater contact with nature on the ground.

Supalai CEO Prateep Tangmatitham said architects had to begin their job by considering prevailing wind directions and the path of the sun from sunrise to sunset. Then, they not only had to select raw materials appropriate to the building's design, but also according to their ability to save energy.

Residential projects also have to incorporate larger green areas, in the form of parks and gardens, to suit modern lifestyles in which customers want to feel closer to nature, he said.

A new concept in energy self-sufficient housing is expected to arrive on the Thai market in the fourth quarter of this year.

LPN Development is planning a residential development whose main concept is care for the environment and energy saving. Managing director Opas Sripayak said his company believed the concept would generate greater long-term benefits for its customers.

"When home-owners live in a green building they will save on their electricity bills and living in a green area will give them a better quality of life," he said.

He said there would be clear environmental benefits if Onep accepted the ASA's proposal, because property developers would be encouraged to design and build green buildings.

Meanwhile, property agency Jones Lang LaSalle has taken the lead in a US project that may pave the way for similar energy sustainability projects around the world.

The agency is programme manager of a "highly collaborative team" that plans to take New York's iconic Empire State Building and reduce its energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 38 per cent.

Once completed, the building is expected to achieve an Energy Star score of 90, placing it in the top 10 per cent of efficiency for class-A buildings - a major feat for a pre-war property. As well, it will seek certification as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building.

The New York project will make the first comprehensive approach to modelling steps for the reduction of energy consumption, in the hope that the process will be followed in buildings around the world.

The programme is aimed at providing an economically sound path for owners of existing buildings to pursue responsible energy management profitably.

Source: The Nation 3 June 2009

Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket Awarded for Staying Green

EIA awards Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket for the 6th time with the EIA Monitoring Award

Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket has received the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Monitoring Award for 2008 in recognition of its consistent effort in management of the environment in and around the property.

EIA Monitoring Awards aim to encourage enterprises to be aware of their responsibility towards environmental impact, to support the enterprises in developing their EIA management and be a role model to others. The award, which has been won by the resort since 2000, was presented last month by Mr. Suwit Kunkitti, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, during a ceremony at the Miracle Grand Convention Hotel, Bangkok.

“Environmental management has long been a key policy for the resort and that all departments of the hotel ensure this is one of their main concerns since our hotel was opened in 1987. All our staff are required to be friendly with the environment, and we aim to ensure that this is taken forward to our guests through our various campaigns and programmes,” said Mr. Peter Komposch, General Manager of Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket

In 1992 Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket received the prestigious International Hotel Association Environmental Award. Over the years there have been many campaigns implemented by the hotel to raise awareness of environmental concerns for both staff and guests, such as the Love Tree Planting Ceremony conducted after wedding ceremonies, nature bike tours, and the Water Day slogan contest.

Additionally, Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket has required the Green Leaf certification from the Green Leaf Foundation since 1998. The certification is presented to the resort to certify that it has contributed to the betterment of Thailand’s environment through the improvement of the hotel’s performance and efficiency.

The resort has also won other notable environment related awards, including the Tourism for Tomorrow Award from British Airways in 1996, the Environmental Champion award from TUI Deutschland in 2004 and the Excellence Award from TAT Tourism Award in 2008.

Source: www.etravelblackboardasia.com 1 June 2009

Bangkok - Home prices at city's heart

Prices here deemed 'a challenge to investors' by agency

The average price being paid for a condominium unit in the Central Lumpini area is now Bt112,765 per square metre, ranking higher than other popular locations in central Bangkok, according to real-estate firm CB Richard Ellis Thailand.

This is followed by units in the Sukhumvit area, which are presently averaging Bt100,549 per square metre, and those near Silom and Sathorn roads, which are selling for an average of Bt95,311 per square metre.

These are still substantially below the record of Bt370,000 per square metre set in the second quarter of last year by The Sukhothai Residences on Sathorn Road. The price was reached when the developer had sold 70 per cent of the presales target, so sales were temporarily closed in June 2008.

CB Richard Ellis (Thailand), the project's property agency, said sales would reopen nearer to the project's completion.

Q Langsuan on Rajdamri/Rama IV is currently the city's most expensive residential project, recording prices between Bt180,000 and Bt280,000 per square metre. About 30 per cent of the project, which has a market value of Bt3.4 billion, has now been sold, said Risinee Sarikaputra, research and advisory director at Colliers International Thailand.

Although Q Langsuan has recorded higher prices than other residential projects in Bangkok's central business district, they are still considerably lower than prices for residences in other central business locations in Asia, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, Risinee said.

According to a survey by Colliers International Thailand, the highest price being paid for a luxury residence in Hong Kong is 31,819 Hong Kong dollars (Bt140,000) per square foot (or Bt1.51 million per square metre) for the Gough Hill Residences, located in The Peak area. This price has fallen 8 per cent from last year.

The average price for residences in Hong Kong's central business district is about $16,103 per square foot (or Bt767,000 per square metre). This price has fallen about 30 per cent since the final quarter of 2008, following the onset of economic recession in Hong Kong. It is still more than six times higher than the average prices in the most popular parts of Bangkok's central business district.

The highest-priced luxury residences in Singapore are likely to be found at the Mercury project on Shanghai Road, where the current best offer is US$1,250 (Bt42,600) per square foot (or Bt461,000 per square metre). This price has dropped 13.8 per cent from last year's fourth quarter, when the global economic recession reached Singapore.

It is still four times higher than that for residences in Bangkok's central business district.

Demand for luxury residences in Bangkok has fallen significantly since the second half of last year, when the global economic downturn saw foreign buyers withdrawing their investments from the Thailand market, Risinee said.

However, when Bangkok's luxury residences are compared with those in Singapore and Hong Kong, those on offer in Bangkok represent an attractive challenge to investors looking for long-term arrangements, she said.

Last week, Israel's largest real-estate developer, Industrial Buildings, a subsidiary of the Fishman Group, announced a joint venture with local company Pace Development for the Bt18-billion Maha Nakhon project.

Fishman Group managing director Anat Menipaz-Fishman said her company had decided to enter Thailand's property market, because prices here were four times cheaper than those in Singapore and six times lower than those in Hong Kong.

The Maha Nakhon project will comprise luxury condominiums, hotels and retail space on a land plot of about 9 rai held on long lease on Narathiwat Road, near Chong Nonsi Skytrain Station.

Source: The Nation 2 June 2009

Israel's Fishman Group invests in Thai property project

Bangkok - Shrugging off political instability and recession, Israel's Fishman Group has chosen Thailand for its first major property investment in Asia, a 18-billion-baht (500-million-dollar) luxury property development in Bangkok, media reports said Thursday.

'We want to enter Asia and chose to do so in Thailand because we believe the country has good potential for long-term investment despite its politcal problems,' Anat Menipaz-Fishman, managing director of the Fishman Group, said.

'And it is cheaper than other Asian countries,' she added, in an interview with The Nation newspaper.

Fishman, through its publicly listed Industrial Building Corp, on Wednesday announced a joint venture with Thailand's Pace Development group to invest 18 billion baht in a luxury 'mixed-use' property project in Bangkok.

The project, on which construction is scheduled to begin in the third quarter 2009 and is expected to be completed in 2013, will include 200 Ritz-Carlton Residences, The Edition Bangkok boutique hotel and a 'luxury lifestyle' retail centre.

The investment comes at a time when the Thai economy has been suffering from more than a year of unprecedented political instability, caused by anti-government street protests, and has entered recession.

Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) declined 7.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, after dipping 4.2 per cent in the last quarter of 2008.

Source: Business news 28 May 2009

Land purchase through Thai spouse forbidden: Land Dept

PHUKET CITY: The director general of the Land Department has reiterated that foreigners using Thai nominees to buy land anywhere in the country will have their land title deeds revoked if caught – even if the nominee in question is a lawfully wedded spouse.

Land Department Director Anuwat Meteewiboonwut made the comments during a recent stop in Phuket as part of a nationwide inspection tour of 30 provinces.

The tour is aimed at improving public services by land officials in three areas: dress, conduct when dealing with the public and working harder to eliminate a backlog of work.

Many members of the public have complained that it takes up to a year to complete a transaction that should only take one day, he said.

Mr Anuwat, a former governor of both Phang Nga and Samut Prakan provinces, said he was satisfied on the first two points, but rated the general level of success among land officials nationwide at speeding up their work rate at “only 30%”.

The next round of inspection tours will come in July, after which time personnel changes will be considered if service does not improve, he said.

“We have to keep pressure on them, otherwise the work will not get done,” he said.

As for foreigners seeking to buy homes in Phuket, they can do so through the Condominium Act, which allows foreign ownership of up to 49% of any project, he said.

Foreigners cannot use a Thai spouse as a nominee to buy property in Thailand, however.

“If the Thai spouse has enough money to buy the house that is fine, but if the Thai has no money and uses money given to him or her by a foreigner to acquire property, that is against the law. If we check and find out later that a Thai person has been using money from a foreigner to buy land anywhere in Thailand, we will revoke title deeds,” he said.

Mr Anuwat said the provisions of [Ministry of Interior] ministerial order 43 makes it difficult to issue land documents quickly, as it requires action from a number of different agencies. Desire for land on the island has also led to encroachment problems here, he said.

As a key market for property companies, Phuket is a constant source of problems and complaints to the director general’s office, he admitted.

“We will try to resolve these problems and develop our personnel continuously in order to provide high quality services. Fortunately the governor of Phuket used to work in the Land Department, so he understands the procedures and can help co-ordinate all the agencies involved,” he said.

Mr Anuwat was speaking of Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop, who served as Land Office director in Nakhon Pathom in 1997 and as deputy director of the Land Department nationwide in 2003.

Source: Phuket Gazette 27 May 2009

Revenue from Phuket real estate deals plummets

PHUKET CITY: In an indication that the Phuket real estate market is not quite as robust as some like to suggest, statistics released by the Phuket Provincial Land Office reveal that income on land and property sales transactions was down over 70% year-on-year over the first four months of 2009.

There were a total of 1,945 transactions involving land title deeds for the period from January to April.

The total value of land transactions for the period was Bt883.24 billion baht, with the vast majority (Bt881.52bn) for land with pre-existing structures.

Income from transactions from January to April 2008 totaled Bt333.5 million baht.

Income for the same period this year was just Bt97.8m, down almost 71%.

Source: Phuket Gazzette 26 May 2009

The largest reduction was in business tax collection, which is normally paid for by the seller at a cost of 3.3% of appraised value. This figure fell from Bt132.0m to Bt18.2m year-on-year.

There was a similar downward trend in income from transfer fees, normally paid for by the buyer at 2% of registered value. These plummeted from Bt104.3m to Bt13.6m year-on-year.

Withholding tax, paid for by the seller at 1% of appraised value, fell from Bt85.7m to Bt58.6m year-on-year.

Stamp duty, paid for by the seller at 0.5% of registered value, fell from Bt11.6m to Bt7.5m.

Property analyst Bill Barnett of thephuketinsider.com told the Gazette that the figures reflect a "wait and see" attitude on the part of Thai investors, many of whom speculate by buying several units at a time without the intention of living in them.

Describing the figures as somewhat volatile, he cautioned that they are not a reliable yardstick for trends in the upscale villa market, where many sales are to foreigners on a leasehold basis or though offshore accounts, and thus not included in the Land Department figures.

Gloomy outlook for Phuket tourism industry

The Phuket Tourism Association has forecast that hotels in the province would see occupancy rates as low as 25-30 per cent, compared to 60 per cent in the low season last year, citing a number of negative factors.

Phurit Maswongsa, the association's vice president for marketing, said the spread of the type-A(H1N1)flu virus was one of the main problems hitting the industry.

"Phuket is already in the low [holiday] season, but occupancy rates will fall by about 30 per cent to remain at between 30-35 per cent," Phurit said.

He added revenues for operators in Phuket would be down 50 per cent compared to last year.

Only tourists from Australia, the Middle East and India are likely to be visiting the island.

He said promotional offers were not enough to tempt tourists back to Thailand as they were trying to avoid the possibility of catching the flu and were also concerned about political instability.

Moreover, occupancy rates in the high season are expected to be down 20 per cent, to between 50-60 per cent.

Laguna Resorts and Hotels forecasts the average occupancy rate at its Laguna Phuket property would be down 20-25 per cent in the second and third quarters of this year.

The average occupancy rate at the region's largest resort complex fell 27 per cent in the first quarter, to 65 per cent because people cancelled bookings to Phuket following the closure of Bangkok airport in November.

Thailand's political instability and the global economic crisis are key factors for the downturn and this has been exacerbated by the spread of the flu virus.

Debbie Dionysius, Laguna's assistant vice president for destination marketing, said it had offered 100,000 free rooms earlier this year so occupancy rates were pretty high in January to March. However, revenue was down.

Dionysius expected to see an improvement by the fourth quarter year as tourists should hopefully be returning to Thailand.

"We have seen some positive signs such as the economy picking up," she said.

Dusit Thani Laguna recorded the best performance in terms of revenue in 2007-2008 while Banyan Tree has recorded the highest occupancy rate over the last two years.

The hotel operator is trying to attract more tourists to the island by adding more activities and implementing new marketing strategies.

An upcoming event is the fourth Laguna Phuket International Marathon, which is scheduled for June 14. The event is expected to draw 4,000 runners from overseas and Thais. The event is also hoped to generate revenues of around Bt30 million for the province.

According to Dionysius, Laguna Phuket is working with international schools in Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore to organise activities and camping trips. The scheme will run from June to September.

Moreover, the group will try to attract more customers from China where it has Banyan Tree offices in Beijing and Shanghai. Laguna expects visitors from China to increase from 5 per cent this year to 15-20 per cent over the next few years.

Source: The Nation 21 May 2009