Phuket Land Newsletter - February 2008

In this issue:

Contact Us

247/2 Phrabaramee Road
Kalim beachfront,
Patong.
Phuket 883150
Tel: +66 76 290 509

Contact the newsletter editor:
newsletter@phuketland.com

Upcoming Events In Phuket

Sunday June 14th Laguna Phuket International Marathon

PHUKET: The Laguna Phuket International Marathon, presented by Nike, is Southeast Asia's leading destination marathon. The family-friendly event offers a Marathon, Half Marathon, 10.5 K Run, a 5K Community Walk, and a 2K Kids Run.

This years event will raise money for the Baan Klongsai School in Phang Nga province, a rural school in need of financial assistance.

Online registration is open on the event website http://www.phuketmarathon.com until 6 June. Registrations will also be accepted at the two-day Marathon Expo in the big marquee at the Laguna Beach Resort Y-Junction. Every participant will receive a Nike singlet.

Tuesday July 7th Asarnha Bucha Day - Public Holiday

This full-moon day of the eighth lunar month commemorates the Buddha's first sermon to his first five disciples after attaining Enlightenment more than 2,500 years ago. Evening candlelit processions are staged in all Thai Buddhist temples.
Wednesday 8th July Khao Pansa Buddist Lent Day - Public Holiday

Occurs one day after the full-moon day of the eighth lunar month (Asarnha Bucha). Khao Pansa marks the beginning of the annual three-month Rains Retreat during which Buddhist monks customarily stay at a particular temple to study and meditate. The monks are not allowed to stay overnight at any other location during this period.A candle festival is held annually on this day. Sculpted beeswax candles, generally depicting mythological creatures, are carried in a ceremonial parade in each province before being presented to local temples.

Exchange Rates

In terms of exchange rates, the USD, Euro and British pound have continued to be more or less stable over the last month. From TT mid rates rates a month ago of 34.8 for the USD, 45 .8. for the Euro and 51.2 for UK Sterling, the corresponding mid February levels are 35.17 USD, 44.95 Euro and 50.1 GBP.

Siam Commercial Bank

As an important addition to our normal look at currency movements, please be aware that despite removing the withholding requirements on inward remittances over 20,000 us$ there are still strict reporting requirements for inward fund transfers so we continue to advise ....

#For values in excess of the equivalent of US$ 20,000 please check carefully with the sending bank and the recipient and state the purpose and source of the funds when remitting them to avoid the potential of a 30% withholding by the Thai authorities.

#Overseas banks still appear to be charging a premium on exchange rates when sending Baht into Thailand. As a matter of course, it is prudent to send in funds in foreign currency for exchange into Thai Baht once in Thailand.

#If in doubt ask your bank and the recipient of the funds.

#A major feature of interest is that on shore conversion rates in Thailand for the Dollar are significantly better than offshore rates, by as much as three baht to one US dollar. Thus if your funds are in USD, it is advantageous to bring them on shore in dollars before converting to Thai baht. Of course this also gives buyers the exchange control form they need to repatriate funds.

Editor’s Corner

Welcome to the June edition of Phuket Land's newsletter.

As the high season comes to an end, developers, private sellers and agents are taking stock of a particularly quiet period of sales. Buyers who have entered the market however are probably feeling quite happy as there have been and continue to be a considerable number of good deals to be had. Unlike only a year or so ago, where prices for both new and resale properties were strong, buyers can now find property offered at a significant discount if they look around. Not all developments however have had such a hard time. It is encouraging to see that the better projects on the Island, which are either finished or substantially near to completion have bucked the trend and witnessed sales. Serenity Terraces, Tawan group, The Village on Koh Maprao have all bucked the slower sales trends seen elsewhere. These developments are characterised by good location , high quality finishing that is evident to clients who view, yet are still able to further incentivise buyers with additional discounts, furniture packages etc. Pricing is however not the be all and end all as savvy buyers want to know that the fundamentals of the estate are in place and their long term ownership, lifestyle and investment security is sound. This is why we see many undercapitalised developments still struggling to sell despite much larger discounting strategies. Please enquire with us for the islands best current deals.

Our new listings this month reflect a number of attractively priced properties which reflect the current market realities

Project Updates

Layan Gardens

Layan Gardens La Colline - Luxury seaview villas above Bang Tao Bay

In a time of some uncertainty about project schedules, it is encouraging to see that certain projects are committed to forging ahead to full completion. La Colline with panoramic views over Bang Tao Beach is one such project, with the developer committed to building out the entire 23 villa development over the next three years. The site is set above the northern end of Bang Tao beach with easy access to the unspoilt sands of Layan , Naithon and the airport which is 20 minutes drive. The designs for the 3 bedroom villas are a contemporary Layan Gardens Asian style by One of Thailand's premier architects, A49. Progress has been suitably fast for such a well funded project which saw almost half the villas sold before ground was broken, such was the interest in the combination of site, architect and price. If a buyer is interested in a new designer villa home but wants to avoid risk that the estate is not completed in a timely fashion, La Colline is right at the top of the current competition

Living,Dining & Kitchen

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Master Bathroom

New or Updated Property Listings

The following new listings have been added to our database and have recently been uploaded to our web site, to view the listing simply click on the reference number.

Houses

5 Bedroom, 450 Sq.m. House with 6,888 Sq.m. land in Ao Po 0 Km. to the sea, 125,000,000 THB # aoho3903

4 Bedroom, 440 Sq.m. House with 804 Sq.m. land in Bang Tao 5 Km. to the sea, 21,500,000 THB # baho3909

3 Bedroom, 474 Sq.m. House with 1,162 Sq.m. land in Chalong 3 Km. to the sea, 35,000,000 THB # chho3901

3 Bedroom, 511 Sq.m. House with 931 Sq.m. land in Chalong 3 Km. to the sea, 45,000,000 THB # chho3902

2 Bedroom, 251 Sq.m. House with 562 Sq.m. land in Nai Harn 2 Km. to the sea, 8,490,000 THB # naho3907

4 Bedroom, 570 Sq.m. House with 740 Sq.m. land in Nai Harn 2 Km. to the sea, 28,000,000 THB # naho3900

3 Bedroom, 355 Sq.m. House with 700 Sq.m. land in Patong 0.5 Km. to the sea, 54,500,000 THB # paho3899

2 Bedroom, 170 Sq.m. House with 400 Sq.m. land in Thalang 0.3 Km. to the sea, 7,900,000 THB # thho3906

Apartments

1 Bedroom, 90 Sq.m. Apartment with 0 Sq.m. land in Kamala 0.05 Km. to the sea, 12,000,000 THB # kaap3908

1 Bedroom, 65 Sq.m. Apartment with 0 Sq.m. land in Rawai 0.5 Km. to the sea, 3,960,000 THB # raap3905

Plots

Land Plot with 1,900 Sq.m. land in Ao Po 0 Km. to the sea, 30,000,000 THB # aopl3904

NOTES_ You are receiving this newsletter because you have either registered with Phuket Land’s “LandSearch” property listing service or have sent us a property information request from our Web site.

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Legal Stuff:

This document is provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in this document represents the current view of Phuket LandSearch Ltd. on the issues discussed as of the date of publication.

Phuket Land Newsletter June 2009 Volume 13 Issue Nº 2