AEH vice president Aroon Eamsureya said his company would use an 8.4-hectare block of land at Jomtien Beach it bought two years ago for Bt200 million. It will invest a further Bt700 million to develop the project this year and next.

Half of the cost will be borrowed from a bank, and the rest will come from the company's cash flow.

"We planned to develop a residential project two years ago but delayed our decision to wait for the new international airport and maybe to change the project's concept to meet demand," he said.

In the two or three years before completion of the airport, demand for detached housing in Pattaya grew strongly. Land prices there have doubled, and Aroon said they were expected to increase again this year.

The company decided to develop detached housing rather than a condominium and will offer units priced from Bt14 million to Bt120 million. Market demand in the area suggests a greater need for detached housing than for condominiums.

Aroon said CB Richard Ellis had been assigned as the sales agent and manager of Baan Talay Pattaya.

Ten of the project's 68 units have already been sold, and the company expects 70 per cent of its customers will be locals and 30 per cent foreigners.

He said AEH's first project, Baan Nuen Num, also in Chon Buri province, generated sales of Bt500 million to the end of 2004.

This experience has led the company to believe its new project will sell successfully by the end of next year.

It expects sales of Bt400 million from Baan Talay Pattaya this year and of Bt1 billion next year.

AEH was established with registered capital of Bt150 million six years ago.

Its owners, the Eamsureya family, also operate the Shanghai Xiao Long Pao Chinese Restaurant.

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation