In conversation with
In conversation with Mr Chainid Adhyanasakul

FDI Spotlight: Last year marked the 30th anniversary of the founding of Property Perfect. How would you describe the identity, or DNA, of the company?

Mr. Chainid Adhyanasakul: For 31 years we have maintained focus on real estate development for the middle income segment in Bangkok and the vicinity, so that is fundamental to the Property Perfect identity. As well, since acquiring Grand Asset new opportunities in tourism and hospitality are opening up for us, and as we continue to develop in this direction it too will become part of our DNA.

Regarding the Grand Asset take over, what are the benefits you have gained from this? What new developments are you planning at this moment?

Mr. Chainid Adhyanasakul: Grand Asset currently has 4 hotels, and the tourism industry in Thailand continues to grow so there is a lot of opportunity for our hospitality business. Furthermore, we’re making efforts to adapt the hotel business to a ‘mixed-use’ business -combining hotel, serviced apartments and community mall functions within the same complex. This allows us to accommodate a wider variety of customers. With Grand Asset we plan to expand to 3000 keys by 2020, and our target is to rank 3rd in the industry in terms of revenue and profit, after CPN and Minor. Some of our hotels are already joined with Starwood Group and I would like to continue to develop that position, as I can see Starwood are on their way to becoming the biggest hotel business in the world.

You mentioned mixed living. Previous interviewees have described how people want integrated living spaces where they can shop, exercise, socialise and access public transport all in one place. People want to improve their quality of life, particularly the middle class, which is your target market. Can you tell me about the significance of this change in trend and how this has impacted the solutions that you’re creating?

Mr. Chainid Adhyanasakul: Yes, those with middle income, foreigners in particular, prefer to live in well integrated areas. The opportunity for developers like us is to take advantage of Bangkok’s continuously expanding mass transit system. As the mass transit system grows the city will expand with it. Middle income individuals will find living in the outskirts more attractive as the cost to their quality of life is reduced by the stronger transport links within the city centre. The opportunity is there for developers to build condominiums and single detached houses close to these transport links. That’s why most of our projects are in the Greater Bangkok area. I was able to anticipate this shift 20 years ago and bought a lot of land on the outskirts.

 In addition to the opportunities here in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand, the AEC is a great opportunity to bring in new development. Can you tell me about your expansion plans?

Mr. Chainid Adhyanasakul: We basically have two specialisations that will capitalise on the AEC in different ways. The real estate business and our developments around the mass transit system will benefit from the added workforce, while our hospitality and tourism business puts us in the upstream of the increased tourism that AEC will bring. We are also developing properties for Starwood in the key tourism capitals in Thailand like Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai. This means we can simultaneously capitalise on the opportunities brought by the AEC and Starwood’s bright future.

The AEC has an overall population of about 600 million and, not only is the Thai middle class growing, the AEC’s combined middle class is the largest and fastest growing in the world. Considering your strong relationship with Starwood and your partnership with Grand Asset, can you see the potential to create new partnerships for regional expansion in other AEC countries?

Mr. Chainid Adhyanasakul: That’s step 2, that’s long term. We’ll focus on Thailand first, for the next five years. Last year you said that you invested 10 billion baht in your expansion plans. With the birth of the AEC and your aggressive growth in two areas, what is the total investment that you are looking to put into expansion this year?

Mr. Chainid Adhyanasakul: We’re looking at around the same amount, Property Perfect and Grand Asset combined.

His Majesty the King has said that, as role models and leaders, we not only have a responsibility to make a profit but also a responsibility to give back to society and to help develop the nation.

How do you see yourself as a role model? What is your responsibility to help develop the mindset of your teams and communities, to the stakeholders in your projects, and to develop Thailand overall?

Mr. Chainid Adhyanasakul: I talked about quality of life before, ‘happy living’ is in our DNA. We give our customers more green area than other developers and future developments will continue to focus on this. We want to give people bigger gardening areas and a lot of our projects even incorporate large ponds or lakes. It’s all part of making people happier, of enriching their lives.

Part of what we’re doing with these interviews is creating the ‘brand’ of Thailand. What would be your message to international investors to send out a strong message of confidence for Thailand?

Mr. Chainid Adhyanasakul: My message would be to look to the people, the Thai people. We still maintain the important Thai traditions, such as smiling, hospitality, and generosity, but at the same time we’re open to change. We can respond to new ways and new technology. Put that together and you see what makes Thailand such an attractive place.