Property fair a victim of turmoil

Phanom: Foreigners have many questions

Worsening market sentiment in the aftermath of the Songkran political riots has caused the postponement to October of a property fair scheduled for next week by Knight Frank Chartered (Thailand).

The political turbulence during the past week “had a negative impact on purchasing decision of potential property buyers”, said managing director Phanom Kanjanathiemthao. “It seems it will not be over that easily. Worse situations have happened again and again.”

After talking with prospective participants, the company decided to postpone the fair from April 22 to June or July, but Siam Paragon has no available slots during the period so the fair will be held in October instead.

“It’s quite risky if we hold the fair on the original schedule,” said Mr Phanom. “Sales might not reach the target and spending for the event might not be worth it. We will have only one fair in October, instead of the two planned this year,”

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He said Knight Frank had received many questions from foreign customers asking about the local political situation and trend but could not give clear answers.

“The recent political turbulence reached the level of riot. Watching international media, foreigners saw violence in our country,” he said.

“The overall situation tended to be more negative so their investment sentiment toward Thailand might not be of a country that is safe and secure anymore.

“However, we should wait to see whether things will become more violent.”

Many investors might now look to China, Vietnam and India instead so Thailand would lose opportunities, he added.

“Reviving confidence is considerably more difficult than an economic recovery,” he added. The overall situation had turned to a positive direction in March but a month later it turned upside down.

“April will be worse. Normally, the month is a good one for property sales for many projects under our management, most of which are in tourist destinations,” he said. “If the political situation becomes stable, market sentiment should pick up by the end of the year as the world economy should show a positive trend and clearer perspective.”

[relatedposts]Knight Frank had planned to hold The Taste of Living fair from April 22 to May 3 at Siam Paragon to market seven projects worth a combined 10 billion baht, with a sales target of 900 million baht.

In a related development, Pace Development Co has postponed the launch planned for next week of its new Bangkok mixed-use project. The site is to have residential units under The Ritz Carlton Residence, a hotel under The Bangkok Edition, and retail space.

Meanwhile, Siam Paragon will maintain its schedule to host a fair featuring residential units from many condominium developers from May 14-23.