For business people and expats who want a home away from home in Thailand, Bangkok’s Sukhumvit district is the place to be. This area of the capital, located southeast of the busy downtown area, is full of high quality hotels and condominiums. Recent sales figures show that the area is increasing in popularity and value for those who want a home here.
Sukhumvit represents the modern heart of Bangkok, with high-rise apartments and condominiums, air conditioned shopping areas and restaurants and plenty of entertainment for all ages. Many embassies and consulates are here as well. The main thoroughfare is Sukhumvit Road, which runs northwest to southeast. There new Skytrain runs along Sukhumvit Road, and goes right into downtown Bangkok via the new elevated transit system. The Airport Express Train stops near the north end of the district, providing easy access to the new international airport east of the city.
Some of the luxury residences and developments in Sukhumvit include the Millennium Residences and the Royce Private Residences. The Millennium Residences are a set of four luxury high rise towers that have 1-4 bedroom condos and penthouse suites. They are currently under construction and will be ready for move-in late 2009. The project includes several pools, a walking and jogging track, fitness center and more.
The Royce Private Residences are a pair of high rise towers along Sukhumvit Road that have many luxury amenities and will be some of the nicest accommodations in the city. It is expected to be ready by early 2011. These are just two of the higher end residences along this stretch of the city, and there are many other places for investors to buy, live and rent that are less expensive. These kinds of projects, though, are driving up prices in the area.
According to one agent, ”It’s a new era of land price adjustment. The market price in the past few years jumped from 650,000 baht per square wah due to very limited land plots in the area,” said CBRE managing director Aliwassa Pathnadabutr. A wah is approximately 2 meters in length, or 6.5 feet. She said the Thai luxury property market remained strong as Thailand was a hospitality-based country. The two segments driving the property demand among foreign investors and developers in the next 10 years would be residential and resort markets as Thailand was famous for its tourist destinations.
