Land in Siam Square still the most expensive in Thailand
The price of land in the Siam Square area of Bangkok is still the highest in Thailand at 3.5 million baht per square wah (4 square metres), influencing land prices in three areas, namely Phloen Chit, Chidlom and Nana, to rise to 3.3 million baht per square wah.
The rise in land price despite the impact of Covid-19 on the economy was attributed to the move by Property Management of Chulalongkorn University (PMCU) to develop the Siam Square area constantly, said Dr Sopon Pornchokchai, president of the Thai property research centre, Agency for Real Estate Affairs.
He said the PMCU recently renovated Siam Square's 63 rai (100,800 square metres) of land into a modern commercial area, as well as the opening of mixed-use area SiamScape to become a new landmark in the centre of Bangkok.
"In addition, Scala Cinema on 7 rai of land was demolished to build a small shopping centre run by Central Pattana," he said, adding that these factors had caused the land price at Pathumwan intersection to rise further, as it is an area where leading shopping centres are located.
He expected land prices in Phloen Chit and Chidlom to rise to 3.5 million per square wah, similar to Siam Square, this year.
He also pointed out that land price in the Siam Square area has risen sharply from 400,000 baht per square wah in 1994.
Sopon added that land price in the Ekamai area was 1.79 million baht per square wah, higher than the Kluai Nam Thai area's 800,000 baht per square wah, thanks to the BTS Skytrain system in the area.
He said land price at the Asoke intersection was 2.9 million baht per square wah, as Terminal 21 shopping centre, many large luxury hotels, the BTS and MRT trains systems are located there. He added that the land price in the middle of Sukhumvit Soi 21 was 2.53 million baht per square wah.
Land price in the area near BTS Phromphong station was 2.6 million baht per square wah, due to The Mall Group's move to develop Emsphere, a mixed-use area consisting of Emporium and Emquartier department stores.
"The land price in the centre of Bangkok is likely to increase further in line with developments as we believe that every square centimetre of land will be used," he said.
He also questioned the government's move to evaluate land price in the Siam Square area at only 1 million baht per square wah and wondered whether the government didn't want millionaires to pay high land tax.