Published on July 25, 2005

After a short burst of buying, a spate of unfavourable factors, poor publicworks and speculation are spoiling the market

Can the emergency decree benefit anyone? The property sector could certainly do with some help.

Real estate values could improve dramatically if more forceful measures were finally adopted to resolve decades-old property abuse and unruly urban management.

Residential woes in several key areas, including Bangkok, could certainly do with a bit of a crackdown to ensure messy public works and land speculation are checked.

The building sector employs hundreds of thousands and is a key engine of growth. Allowing a replay of the 1997 financial and real estate crash would certainly be irresponsible.

After a three-year burst of buying, many projects now are stalling amid dwindling confidence among investors.

Indeed, authorities and the pro-business government should seize the day and not let this window of opportunity pass them by. Swift measures that can cut red tape, can quickly reshape Thailand as a dynamic, efficient regional centre and revive buyers’ interest again.

Rescue efforts are not needed in just the troubled South. They are needed in major urban centres that have fallen victim to unscrupulous building contractors or incompetent state officials, or worse, dirty politicians.

A Pattaya newspaper recently declared that poorly planned construction work in South Pattaya has caused chaotic traffic jams. The fact of the matter is that Pattaya has been constantly suffering for decades under messy utility and road works.

The chaos is endless as subcontractors are allowed to freely foul things up by digging holes along roads they never bury for months. The result can put off anyone from investing in the resort town.

At many places, contractors don’t bother to cover up holes after work has been long suspended. Such bottleneck areas wreak havoc by gobbling billions of baht a month in wasted fuel costs, not to mention the loss in working hours.

In China, where cases of corruption are found, such culprits face a firing squad.

Such punishment may appear too severe for some, but at a critical time when so much is at stake, less crude punishment could be adopted.

While it is true that the emergency decree carries many unpleasant conditions, there are times when such rules bring an end to the chaos plaguing the market.

Nobody can argue about the poor state of public works in Pattaya, while some sections of Bangkok, such as Bangna-Trad, is horrendously handled.

But because of the “mai-pen rai” (never-mind) culture, crooks are allowed to get away with their bad behaviour while the tax-paying public reels from the chaotic infrastructure work. The combined revenues from Bangkok, Pattaya, Chon Buri and other key industrial towns, where road-works are crucial to investors, the workforce and financial sector, makes it vital that government pay as much attention to the welfare of such areas.

The water shortage in the Eastern Seaboard is another sore point to tackle.

The recent property bubble in Pattaya also requires attention. Buyers need to be clear if all the new projects are to meet legal regulatory standards. For instance, a building code in 1992 specified the restriction of tall buildings at certain beachfronts.

In Bangkok, tall condominiums were also restricted at a number of points along the Chao Phya River. But in the recent speculative fervour, caution appears to be thrown to the wind.

A good emergency action is conducted on the side of the weak over the strong, to protect those who are unable to defend themselves. The real estate sector is full of unsophisticated homebuyers who lack market knowledge and are at the mercy of antiquated laws that often fail to protect them from bad investments.

A number of foreign buyers are also concerned about how much they are protected when buying property. While the legal paperwork can be handled by lawyers, the part that governs sound urban management cannot. In a perfect world, there is no need for decrees.

But the plethora of abuses in the property market has been allowed to fester for so long. Perhaps it is time to take stern action.

Itthi C Tan

The Nation

Post your comment to this story here