- Thai economy seeing steady growth
- Strengthening infrastructure
Apart from being touted as one of the most popular holiday destinations for tourists the world over - due to an eclectic, vibrant as well as highly hospitable culture - Thailand has also experienced exponential growth in its property market. The last several years has seen the country emerge as a valuable area for locals and foreigners alike to invest in. We take a look at a few of the reasons behind the country’s property appreciation in recent years:
Growth in Thai economy
Economic growth in Thailand has been gaining momentum steadily, with global growth and a recovery from severe drought buoying an expansion of GDP by 3.3 percent in the first quarter and 3.7 percent in the second quarter of this year. These figures have exceeded market expectations, with economic predictions for the year 2017 now projected to reach around 3.5 percent, according to a new World Bank report. The countries investments across education, services liberalisation, and public infrastructure management, as well as the National Masterplan for the Digital Economy has led analysts to project that this growth will continue, with 2018 to see around 3.6 percent growth.
Another pillar of Thailand’s economy has always been its tourism industry that is showing no signs of slowing down. The second-largest economy (in terms of GDP) in Southeast Asia had almost 33 million international visitors in 2016, an 8.91% increase over the previous year, with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) projecting 2017 figures to exceed 35 million. There has also been a shift in the way the country pushes tourism. It now focuses heavily on the country’s unique local experiences, which enhances the quality of life for locals.
Conducive infrastructure
In almost all cases, property appreciation comes hand-in-hand with the pace at which the area’s infrastructure develops. The Thais have been working towards this, in recent years attracting several multi-national corporations to their shores to trade out of. Bangkok, for example, has developed a world-class metro rail network that has created a solution for the normally congested roads.
The Thai government has also initiated various tender procedures for foreign bidders to build on the nation’s infrastructure in the form of an inter-city rail network system, enhancements to the highway network to link with the key areas in the country, a public transportation network (Bangkok) development plan as well as air transport and maritime development. All this will only strengthen the appeal of the country from both a residential as well as investor viewpoint.
With relatively inexpensive cost of living, a favourable tax structure and high standards of medical services as well as the reasons listed above, Thailand should prove to be one of if not the emerging country in Asia that will garner more and more attention from investment communities globally.