Five booming businesses driving Phuket’s land prices sky high
Developer Sansiri plans to invest 25 billion baht in 27 new projects in the next five years
Phuket, the island resort province in the Andaman Sea, in the South of Thailand, is enjoying a booming economy and increasing land prices, thanks to the growth of supporting businesses, leading property developer Sansiri Plc said on Friday.
Driven mainly by tourism, Phuket’s economy is estimated to be worth around 500 billion baht, making it the second biggest economy following Bangkok, Sansiri chief executive Uthai Uthaisangsuk said.
The growing economy has increased demand for land on the island, driving the price up this year by 30-40%, he said. Land in rarer zones, such as beachside, are now sold at nearly 100 million baht per rai (1,600 square metres), he revealed.
Uthai said five businesses in Phuket had contributed to this trend: restaurants, residential property projects, international schools, hospitals and health-related centres, and marina businesses.
“These businesses have been booming since the end of the Covid-19 outbreak, attracting both tourists and investors to Phuket, which has become the perfect location for a second home for affluent individuals and businesspeople,” he said.
Uthai said the trend was also supported by the government’s policy of pushing Thailand to become a regional and global hub in logistics, tourism, aviation and healthcare with the development of infrastructure such as seaplane and cruise terminals, Andaman Airport, and the expansion of Phuket Airport.
The CEO said Sansiri expected sales of projects in Phuket to reach 2 billion baht in 2024 and to double to 4 billion baht in 2025, making Phuket the second most profitable province after Bangkok.
Sansiri has budgeted 25 billion baht to invest in 27 new projects in the next five years: 11 condominium projects worth 14 billion baht, while the rest are horizontal properties worth 11 billion baht.
“We expected to launch 2-3 new condo projects and 4-5 horizontal projects per year, priced at 8-9 million baht per unit. For luxury buildings like pool villas, the prices could go up to 50 million baht per unit,” he said.
After 13 years of operating in Phuket, Sansiri now has a total of 27 property projects with a total of 8,300 units worth over 26 billion baht.
