Malice In Wonderland - Hotel Transactions Loom

Posted: 17 May 2010 | 6:00 am

s Thailand sees images of political violence beamed around the world by TV, internet and virtually every media outlet there is; in Phuket the picture remains surrealistic. No guns, no army, no red shirts and no violence of any kind has been reported. It's sunny, peaceful and one almost has to check the nearest GPS to see what country we are in.

Needless to say the knock on effects to the islands hotel, tourism and property business are mounting as foreign travel warnings have been blankly issued for all of the country. Despite May being the lowest month of the year in occupancy the concern from Phuket hoteliers is the lack of booking pace and forward outlook for the next 3-6 months. As the world awaits word of what the outcome will be in Bangkok so does Phuket. There will be damage but it remains too early to see at what level or for how long it will persist.

Coming up this week looks to be an announcement from the Lehman liquidators on Koh Samui's Baan Taling Ngam where by all accounts speculation has been that a final transaction will take place in excess of THB 800 million which is a significant premium on what the market has considered the value.

At the same time a high profile hotel asset looks to be going out to tender in Phuket in the very near future and there are rumblings of another few deals which may signal an reinvigorated transaction market.

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