Chanachai Leenabanchong, chairman of the construction firm Gold Plan Development (GPD), has enjoyed a close relationship with Payap Shinawatra, younger brother of the ousted prime minister.

He holds shares in several SET-listed firms, some of the stakes held together with Payap.

They have had holdings in Traffic Corner Holdings - shares of which they have now sold - Agripure Holdings, Adkinson Securities, Thai Heat Exchange and Picnic Corp.

Chanachai and Payap planned to take over Adkinson last year, but the deal fell through.

The business giant said he still invested in the SET, but he is increasingly buying into the property sector.

He predicted that property prices would grow, especially near the new Suvarnabhumi Airport, so his family decided to diversify from construction and tour operating into property development.

"We bought land in eastern Bangkok, especially Srinakarin Road, and in Pattaya in the last year because of the new airport," he said.

The family set up a joint-venture firm, Panasiri Property, which has registered capital of Bt150 million. Half of the firm is held by GPD, a construction firm which is owned by Chanachai, and the rest by the Federal Group tour operator, owned by his uncle Thanin Leenabanchong.

GPD now has plans to spend up to Bt3 billion a year on private-sector projects to build condominiums, factories and office blocks.

He said the investment only came from his family, and Payap has no stake in the firm.

Chanachai, who is also director of Panasiri Property, said the company's first project would be a 10-rai, low-rise condominium development on Srinakarin Road, called Prima Srinakharin and costing Bt1.6 billion.

The company bought the land from Bangkok Asset Management for Bt250 million last year.

Prima Srinakharin is open for booking and expects to sell out early next year. Construction will start before the end of the year and is due for completion by 2008. The project has bookings for 30 per cent of the 494 homes.

Next the company will invest Bt4 billion in an apartment development and four-star hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 101, and spend a similar amount on a project in Pattaya.

"We started to collect land for the three projects last year with a budget of Bt1 billion," Chanachai said.

Two-thirds of the investment for the construction projects will be borrowed from banks while the company's financial plan will keep its debt-to-equity ratio at only 2:1, Chanachai added.

If the schemes are a success, Chanachai plans to apply for a SET listing for Panasiri Property in the next few years.

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation