Top Thailand Property News Of The Week - 19 April 2021

The top residential and commercial real estate news of the week - 19 April 2021

CBRE’s weekly property news snapshot features the latest residential and commercial real estate stories in Thailand and elsewhere that you cannot afford to miss - be it regarding residential, industrial, retail, office, hotel, land, or investment property.

SHR ready to sell off hotels in UKx
Bangkok Post
S Hotels and Resorts Plc (SHR), the hospitality arm of Singha Estate, has announced it will sell off a number of its underperforming hotels in the United Kingdom including the Mercure Newbury Elcot Park Hotel.

Making Bangkok Greener
CBRE Thailand
The tangling and looping electrical wires, not-so-smooth footpaths even in CBD areas or the lack of easily accessible green space are some of the things Bangkokians almost see as a norm in our lives.

Uber, Just Eat Takeaway CEOs Spar on Twitter Over Tax and Shares
Bloomberg
Uber Technologies Inc.’s plans to expand its food delivery service to Germany in the coming weeks kicked off a spat between the company’s chief executive officer and the head of German market leader Just Eat Takeaway.com NV.

Pandemic has major impact on shopping
Bangkok Post
Ipsos market research polled 3,000 people in six Southeast Asian nations and found Thais ranked second, with household spending decreasing 80%, following Indonesia which had the largest drop at 82%.

New IEAT boss vows to finish Smart Park
Bangkok Post
The newly appointed governor of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), Veeris Ammarapala, vows to make significant progress in the Smart Park development project as he officially took on IEAT's top job yesterday.

Hotels mull closing down for low season
Bangkok Post
The resurgence of Covid-19 is forcing hoteliers to consider temporarily closing down given the low income and poor demand from tourists. Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, the president of the Thai Hotels Association (THA), said non-chain hotels without adequate cash flow are choosing to cease operations from April to October or until tourism demand resumes instead of waiting out another slump.

Europe Proposes Strict Rules for Artificial Intelligence
The New York Times
The regulations would have far-reaching implications for tech firms like Amazon, Google, Facebook and Microsoft, which have poured resources into developing the technology.

Housing developers tighten noose amid uncertainty
Bangkok Post
As the pandemic has unsettled the market, housing developers in greater Bangkok have implemented more stringent cost-saving measures while continuing plans for new project launches, according to the Real Estate Information Center (REIC).

Bangkok expat rental market sinks
Bangkok Post
Bangkok has fallen 19 places to the 49th most expensive location worldwide for international executive-standard accommodation, according to ECA International, a provider of information and software for the assignment of employees around the world.

Land sales down in FY21
Bangkok Post
The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) has seen land sales and leases decrease by 66.1% in the first six months of fiscal 2021, attributed to the impact of Covid-19, though investment value is still on the rise. From October 2020 to March 2021, investment value increased to 106 billion baht, a 288% increase year-on-year.