Ambitious Sansiri looks to China for momentum

Sansiri also expects venue from Chinese buyers to be valued at Bt4.5 billion next year.
Srethha Thavisin, company president, said that China is a high-potential growth market for the firm, which has cooperated with Luen Thai as a strategic partner in its three Chinese offices.
The firm already has offices in Singapore and Beijing, which it set up on its own last year.
“We want to bolster our business in China with the aim of promoting Thailand property to China buyers,” he said, adding that Thailand is attractive tourism destination for Chinese.
“The country is also growing its infrastructure, with a [planned] high-speed railway system and the Bangkok mass transit systems. There is also good weather,” he said.
Srethha said the firm would open an office in Hong Kong next month and another one in mainland China next year. 
At the end of this month, the company will conduct a real-estate road show in London in order to encourage luxury and premium customers to buy Thai real estate. It also has plans to set up offices in Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Europe. 
He said positive factors increasing foreign customer interest in Thai property included the more stable political situation since the government announced the election day, and the expansion of the economy, including the tourism sector. Other factors were the airport expansion project, infrastructure related to China’s One Belt One Road project and the low interest rate. 
He noted that the price range of real estate units popular among foreign buyers was between Bt5 million and Bt10 million, but the firm has units with starting prices of Bt3 million.
Sansiri has real-estate projects located in Chiang Mai, Phuket and Pattaya, which are tourism destinations popular with Chinese customers. Meanwhile, Sukumvit and Thong Lor are the most popular locations for Japanese buyers. 
“We are looking to expand our business into the Chinese market, especially in the north of China where the weather is very cool in the winter. Our resorts and condominiums located in various areas such as Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Phuket offer a strong reason for them to buy [thanks to the warmer weather], and they will be key driving forces in the coming year.
“We have four offices in China and will open one more new office in China next year. We also offer back-end services and after-sales services for customers after they have purchased, and we do a more complete deal to handle all our customers’ needs.
“China is the biggest target market, with customers who will buy real estate across the kingdom. Thailand is very warn and welcoming nation. Thais don’t mind if foreign buyers buy real estate in this country,” he said.
The firm has about 25 Chinese staff members in various areas such as the sales and marketing teams in order to take care of Chinese customers. It also has multi-lingual staff to support foreign customers, such as Japanese and Koreans. 
He said that the firm was in negotiations with healthcare businesses so it could set up real-estate projects designed for retirees and other seniors in the near future.

Living solutions
At present, Sansiri has about Bt6 billion in annual revenue from foreign buyers, mostly from mainland Chinese purchasers who have spent Bt2.3 billion, followed by Hong Kong customers with spending of about Bt2 billion. Around 95 per cent of company revenue comes from condominium sales.
By the end of this year, the firm expects to generate revenue from foreign customers of about Bt9 billion – or around 25 per cent of total revenue. The plan is to gain Bt3.5 billion from mainland Chinese customers and Bt3 billion from Hong Kong customer. It also expects to add revenue gained from customers from Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea and Europe.
The firm expects total revenue from overseas customers next year to reach about Bt12 billion. This would include Bt4.5 million from mainland Chinese customers and Bt4 billion from Hong Kong buyers.
Other major international revenue is expected to come from investors in Japan, Singapore, Korea and Taiwan.
Srethha said that the firm started to reach out to international customers four years ago. It in the next three to five years it expects revenue from international buyers to amount to about 30 per cent of its total revenue, or around Bt50 billion. 
“We want to provide complete living solutions to support customers and focus on middle and high-end customers,” he said.
“Next year, the firm will target foreign investors much more than this year to support our expansion plans.” 
At present, Sansiri has three strategic partners: BTS Group, Tokyu Corporation and Luen Thai. The partnership with the BTS Group includes the development of 25 real-estate projects between 2016 and 2020, with an investment of around Bt100 billion.
The firm will also join hands with AIS to provide Internet services to support its home automation and home services strategies.