Tag Archives: samui

Mayor sees the best year for Koh Samui

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Koh Samui Mayor Ramnate Jaikwang is confident 2011 and the next years will be better for everyone on the island.
In an exclusive interview with Samui Express in his Office in Nathon recently, Ramnate said then that the problems of the community face facing the island last year and the economy made little progress, most of the factors that have contributed to these external political problems such as in the country and the global recession.

With the stable political climate in Thailand and most of the country begins to recover from their economic woes, the Mayor is Koh Samui, moving forward from this year.

“Last year was not one very good in Samui as is the same case almost everywhere, but this year I see things improve and good change happen,” Ramnate said Samui Express.

According to him, tourism as the main employee income on the island undergoes some success, as visitors were reluctant to come up with the political problems in the capital and nearby areas and the economic and financial challenges to other nations.

He also said that the island has experienced too much rain and floods last year, which caused the tourism companies to the loss of income.
But he said the local Government sees these problems do not so much the case this year and with the municipality of pursuing development projects that it has started, the prospects are good for Samui from 2011.

He wants to see a “clean, green and secure Samui” and to achieve this goal, are completed and ongoing projects that aim to improve the infrastructure of the island for tourists and investments, encourage more people local to protect and preserve the environment and make the Samui gradual and safe for all.

Ramnate cited completed roads and many more in progress, improvement of the drainage system to prevent or reduce flooding, encouraging the 39 villages on the island to participate actively in the separation of waste and recycling program, such as 26 schools and a number of hotels now part of the project.

He explained that the lack of power feared has been addressed by building the transmission lines of minimum power with the effect of the tourist image of the island.

These power cables to connect the first station of the island to the new in Maenam.

The lack of water supply is being assisted by sourcing the other water supply and implementation of a project already funded to allow some villages have their own water supply so that. water supplied by the authority of the water can be used by businesses.

He said the drilling project, then that currently postponed after that Cree protest, initiated by the residents launched last year, still a contract and can soon begin again exploration.

“We, as most of the people on the island prefer the oil drilling and exploration to another location, but if it is not possible, we would like the Government to rethink the situation and may hold public hearings, before pushing through the project,” said Ramnate.

The Mayor also discussed the plan of the municipality to achieve a special status similar to Bangkok and Pattaya and said efforts will focus to achieve this objective in the near future.

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Local developer raises serviced apartment living to higher level

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BOONJUMNONG Modern Apartment is a new icon in modern living launched by a Koh Samui local who wants to further test the waters in the island’s high-end property market. “Boonjumnong” is derived from the name of the owner Mr. Jumnong and the prefix boon, meaning “merit” or “blessing in Thai.

Khun Threerayuth, the nephew of the owner, said that the inspiration to engage in the property business in the highly competitive market of Koh Samui arises from a desire to show that Samui locals like them can succeed in doing projects that provide the most modern accommodation.

According to Threerayuth the development of the project was more focused on the amenities as the total cost had been cut down by half since the developer, being a local landowner, didn’t have to allot money for land acquisition.

Boonjumnong Modern Apartment is also advantaged by a convenient location on the ring road in Chaweng, close to the Tesco Lotus superstore and other conveniences. “One thing that sets us apart from many of our competitors is our location. We have a good location which is perfect for living—close to supermarkets and cinemas, and easy to find and not too far from the beach,” Threerayuth said.

Threerayuth said Boonjumnong is a modern serviced apartment with all kinds of facilities one looks for in everyday living. He said the serviced-apartment business that caters to the high-end niche is quite new on Koh Samui. The apartment, he continued, offers a new option for those looking for short- or long-term accommodation. Its modern amenities include a swimming pool, Wifi Internet, laundry service, minimart, fitness gym, restaurant, big parking space and CCTV.

Customers can choose to stay on a daily, monthly or yearly basis. Office space is also available for rent. There are a total of 72 rooms broken down as follows: 24 one-bedroom units, 48 studio-type units and 18 office units.

The daily rate for the studio room ranges from Bt1,000 to Bt1,500  and the one- bedroom unit from Bt1,500 to Bt2,000, depending on the sea- son. Monthly rate for studio is Bt10,500–Bt18,000, and Bt25,000 for the one bed-room unit.

With earth tone as the color motif, all rooms are fully furnished with built-in furniture sets. In-room facilities include flat-screen TV, air conditioner, refrigerator, water heater, sofa bed, and beddings. The target customers are both Thais and foreigners as the room rates are relatively cheap, considering the many conveniences the apartment provides.

“We would like to think that we are breaking the ground for a higher level of serviced-apartment living on Koh Samui. There are many accommodations on Koh Samui of the resort, hotel, bungalow and regular-apartment types, but there is only a small number of serviced apartments here,” Threerayuth said.

Despite the political turmoil the country is experiencing, Threerayuth said they plan to expand their property business to serve the growing market. He believes that the property sector will be able to ride out the current political storm since Thailand, particularly Samui, remains attractive to foreigners looking to invest in second or third homes outside of their home countries and future projects, Threerayuth said they can guarantee to provide customers convenient, comfortable, clean and safe living.

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Samui, Phangan land prices overvalued?

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THE Chamber of Commerce of Suratthani has issued an urgent letter to the Finance Ministry to protest what it thinks are the overly high prices of lands fixed for Koh Samui and Koh Phangan by the Treasury Department. The prices represent an average increase of 200 percent. It said the land valuations were higher than the actual market prices. Theerakit Wangmutitakul, the Chamber president, told Finance Ministry caretaker Korn Jatikavanit that the new land prices set by the Treasury Department for 2008-11 did not reflect the real prices in the market and that they could be detrimental instead of helpful to the two islands’ economies.

Mr. Theerakit said property investors would be discouraged to put their money in Samui and Phangan because the new land prices are too high, and might instead move to other destinations.

The Chamber’s letter complaint was sent after landowners affected by the new land prices expressed their apprehension to the Chamber. Theerakit urged the Treasury Department to reconsider the new land prices it has set for the two islands.

“On behalf of the private sector, we would like to ask the concerned agencies and officials to consider the land prices which have recently been adjusted; the prices do not reflect the actual market and economic situation on Koh Samui. The exaggerated increase can result in the suspension of the economic growth and block potential investors and land purchasers from choosing Samui and Phangan as their investment destinations,” Theerakit said.

Theerakit said that they proposed more realistic land price adjustments for consideration by the Treasury Department “so that we can have the real prices that are not so high like what the Treasury Department has set.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Choomphol Kajana, a member of the Democrat Party from Suratthani, said he has also received a letter from those who are affected by the “inflated” land price valuations and that he was ready to coordinate with the Finance Ministry to solve the problem.

A source from the Treasury Department has admitted that the land prices on Koh Samui and Koh Phangan it set were in fact higher than their real prices and that when the prices were fixed, the department factored in the highly competitive market, wherein prices move up continually. The source added that the Treasury Department was in the process of readjusting the new prices to reflect the reality in some areas. But the Treasury Department said that land prices on Koh Samui and Koh Phangan could not be brought down because they are major tourist destinations where land prices are boosted up all the time. It claimed that in some areas, the real land prices are higher than what the Treasury Department has evaluated. For example, from Chaweng beach to Laem Son within 60 meters from the sea, the land price in 2004-07 was Bt 2,500-Bt10,000 per 4 square meters, but the land price in 2008-11 is Bt 6,250-Bt50,000, or an increase of 150-400 percent.

The old price of land in Lamai beach within the range of 40 meters from the sea was Bt5,000-Bt 7,500 per 4 square meters, but now it is Bt35,000, or a 366.66-600 percent increase.

In Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan the old price of land within 40 meters from the beach was Bt750 per 4 square meters, but the price now is Bt8,000, an increase of 966 percent.

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