Saha Group chief aims high after ‘English-style property’ in Khao Yai

“I have had an interest in the property sector for a long time, but in the case of Khao Yai I was allocated a piece of land by a friend of mine, who shared a few plots with his friends, knowing that I wanted to build a meditation centre.
“My wife Tipaporn was assigned the task of building this meditation centre, but instead she preferred to build a hotel. And that is why we have a hotel called Kensington, which is in English-style. The reason we chose English style is because both me and my wife went for higher studies to England over 50 years ago. 
“During the construction of the hotel, Tipaporn saw a way to improve access to the hotel by buying land that connects the hotel to the main road. After buying the land, the idea arose to create an English Garden Village,” said Boonkiet, who is chairman of ICC International Plc, a manufacturing and trading arm of Saha Group for fashion apparels and cosmetics.
“Khao Yai should be increasingly attractive to people due to the fact that there will be a new motorway connecting Bangkok to Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima). 
The project is underway, and there is also a project to build a high-speed train link from Bangkok to Nong Khai,” he said.

“I’m interested in real estate investment because I own land in Khao Yai that is in prime location and within the vicinity of the seventh best ozone level in the world,” added Boonkiet.
“Land prices in this area are increasing even as we speak,” said Boonkiet.
The Kensington Place Khao Yai project has been developed by TorFun Property Co Ltd, a company owned by Boonkiet. 
The project was initiated in 2014 and to date has invested over Bt600 million in infrastructure development. Current sales of property units at Kensington Place Khao Yai have met expectations and are in line with the targets forecast by the developer. 
Boonkiet said the target market for this project is family groups aged 50 and above of whom over 50 per cent have already achieved financial stability.
Asked if was eyeing other real estate locations for investment, Boonkiet said he would consider options once Kensington Garden Village takes off well.
Asked to predict the prospects for the Thai economy after the next general election, Boonkiet said: “I think the economy should reactivate. All economies need to have changes good or bad. The challenge is to be able to sustain whatever the situation may be.”