“Buy real estate in areas where the path exists…and buy more real estate where there is no path, but you can create your own.”

 

-David Waronker

 

I’ve no idea who this chap is, but the quote seems very fitting to this week’s subject of up-and-coming areas for real estate growth along the Eastern Seaboard.

 

I firmly believe there is still a rake of money to be made in real estate in Pattaya/Jomtien, but looking towards the future, as we must, there are certainly some areas for growth in the surrounding areas. There are too many options to mention in just one article, so I’ll start us off today moving South/East from Pattaya…

 

Bangsaray/Najomtien seems like an obvious future growth area, but it needs to be mentioned. Not only does this area offer a much more refined beach life as well as peace and quiet, there are still some great beachfront condos that I truly believe to be well underpriced. Sunshine Beach, Golden Sands Condo, Vipavadee, Krisida and VIP are just a sampling of beachfront condos where you can still buy units at 50 – 60,000 THB per sqm. Compare this to newer buildings in Pattaya/Jomtien well off the beach selling for much more. I know proximity to amenities must be taken into account, but looking forward, I truly believe there is a lot of growth to be had here.

 

Take into account the amount of new arrivals coming into our U-Tapao airport. There was a project postponed in 2011 that is about be recommenced that will see the facilities revamped and upgraded to accommodate more than four times the amount of passengers per hour. Already more and more flights are arriving into U-Tapao from abroad, most notably from Russia, so the expansion will almost certainly encourage more carriers to choose Pattaya as a landing zone rather than Suvarnabhumi.

 

With traffic already reaching critical mass in Pattaya/Jomtien, I can’t help but feel many visitors would rather take a very short jaunt (about 15 minutes) to Bangsaray rather than deal with city centre traffic. This will certainly increase the amount of restaurants, bars, shopping and general amenities in the area, which will in turn make the area more attractive to long term residents and buyers.

 

Reaching a bit farther afield we have Ban Chang. Already a popular area with golfers given its centrality to many area courses, there is still a lot of very desirable beachfront property in the area at very reasonable prices. Ban Chang is only about a 30 minute drive from Pattaya (or Rayong), so it’s not too far afield for people who would like to remain close to all that our fair city has to offer. And, more importantly, it’s only ten minutes from U-Tapao airport. Add to this the great beaches, proximity to several international schools and industrial estates, and you have a great recipe for growth.

 

Land plots in fairly central locations are still available at under 1 million THB per rai and Eastern Star Golf Course still has quite a lot of building plots available which are just a short hop from the centre of Ban Chang. Beachfront townhomes are still available for sale for as little as 4 million THB and there are still some smaller, individual beachfront building plots available for as little as 5 million THB for about half a rai.

 

Mae Phim Beach is just around the corner from Ban Chang. It’s a very long, white-sanded beach about 20km east of Rayong. There are already quite a number of very nice resorts and restaurants scattered about as well as some very affordable condominium projects. High-rise beachfront condos are available for as little as 30,000 THB per sqm and the buildings offer surprisingly good facilities including tennis/squash courts, etc. VIP Condo, Rayong Condochain, Royal Rayong and PMY Beach Resort are some of the ones to check out.

 

Like Ban Chang, Mae Phim Beach is located quite close to Rayong and the Mapthuphut Industrial Estate as well as Klang, which is quite a large town in itself with a lot of industry. It is also very close to Ban Phe, which is where the ferry and speedboats leave to Koh Samet. I highly recommend checking the area out, even if you just go out for the day. Or if you want a nice weekend getaway, some of the resorts are pushing five-star quality for very reasonable prices (for now). Some developers, both Thai and Scandinavian have been building in the area for a while now – expect many more to follow.

 

Ban Phe itself really seems to be built around the tourism associated with Koh Samet just off it’s coast. I have heard of some amazing rental opportunities here (ie. beachfront shophouses for rent for as little as 5,000 THB per month!) but not too much on the sales front. Mae Phim is basically next door, so this really seems to be the residential area of Ban Phe. Besides, anyone who has hung around the town itself I’m sure would agree it wouldn’t be the nicest place to stay. Koh Samet, on the other hand, is a personal favourite of mine. I’ll dive into it’s potential next month.