The company is holding "Sansiri … Living in Style 2006", which started yesterday and ends tomorrow at the Siam Paragon shopping complex.

Its projects consist of Sansiri Condo, Plus Condo, and a plethora of single-family homes, and town houses. The projects are located in Bangkok, its outskirts, and Hua Hin in Prachuap Kiri Khan province.

The event at Siam Paragon is costing the company Bt30 million, but that does not include all of the extras it is throwing in for people who commit to buying its homes and condos, according to Sansiri's senior executive vice president, Wanchak Buranasiri.

During the event the company is giving away cars to every person who buys a home in Narasiri Sathorn-Wongwaen, The Emperor Narasiri's Collection, Bann Sansiri Sukhumvit, and Bann SiriThirtyOne. The cars range from Toyota Vios, Yaris, Lexus, and Alphard to Mercedes-Benz A170 and BMW 525i.

It will also give away Bt100,000 to Bt1 million in gift vouchers, Compaq Presario notebook computers, Philips plasma televisions, Rolex watches, and one-year Sporty City memberships. Wanchak said this was the first time the company was giving away such substantial gifts to every home-buyer. In the past it had given them away randomly through lucky draws and other games of chance.

He said that company had not changed its marketing strategy to account for a slowdown in home purchases during the first two months of the year caused by political uncertainties.

In fact Sansiri sold Bt3.4 billion worth of homes and condos in January and February, twice as much as in the same period last year. The company attributed the sales jump to the "fame" of the Sansiri brand and more new projects compared to last year.

Another factor is its larger market base this year with homes and condos priced at Bt1 million.

Wanchak said the political situation would probably affect buying temporarily but that it would return to normal even if major changes occur. The company is more concerned with what its competitors are doing in terms of new projects and campaigns.

At this moment, Sansiri has plenty of land on which to build new projects over the next 18 months. But it lacks land for building new condos.

The company is searching for locations for new condo projects and has allocated Bt700 million to Bt800 million to buy land.

Last year, Sansiri posted a net profit equal to 8 per cent of sales, a feat the company expects to surpass this year.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation