After staying rather subdued for much of this year in Bangkok, developer Songkran Issara is finally making his move to push ahead with his company's biggest project since being listed on the stock exchange six years ago.

The Issara Ladprao is a massive 51-storey residential condominium in Lat Phrao Soi 12 containing more than 550 units. If all units were sold, Songkran expects to obtain Bt2 billion in revenues.

The public company recently paid its first dividend recently, 10 satang a share.

Most of the units are studio and one-bedroom types, with sizes starting from 36 square metres; those are selling for Bt2.3 million.

Its two-bedroom units have a built-up area of 52 square metres, and these will sell for about Bt3 million each.

Songkran says the project will take about three years to complete. He plans to make it "the best in the middle-range segment".

Such prices - Bt2.3 million for a studio unit in Lat Phrao - are probably the highest a developer has yet commanded for projects in this part of town.

And the prices contain few extras. Unlike other projects that throw in everything from built-in furniture to television sets and toasters, Songkran says the project will provide just the air-conditioners and pantries.

Buyers will have to provide their own built-ins and other fittings. The floor space ranges from Bt67,000 to Bt80,000 a square metre - quite unheard of until now in this lower middle-income suburb.

The prices are realistic and carry value, says Songkran, a veteran builder. "Buyers are getting quality materials."

The many facilities, such as a grand lobby and an infinity pool, make the estate "an oasis" in this busy part of Bangkok. "It has no equal in this area."

To soften the harsh impact of its stony, towering monolith, Songkran says the entrance of the estate will be dressed up with gardens and trees, to give the impression of entering a park.

Memories of surviving the 1997 financial crash, which wiped out 70 per cent of local developers, remain fresh in Songkran's mind. The company is now careful about launching projects. "We make sure the costing is right. We're also concerned they meet environmental-protection regulations."

He ad-mitted he was greatly surprised when another big project - Siri, in Sukhumvit Soi 42 - was able to find buyers despite a daily barrage of politically negative news.

Siri was selling at Bt80,000-plus a square metre. The project by Sansiri saw healthy bookings when it was launched last month amid a barrage of media publicity.

Encouraged by this strong showing, Songkran has raced to complete an on-site sales office, with show units to entice buyers.

The office opens next Friday and contains two mock-up units: a studio and a one-bedroom unit.

The first four floors of the building will be set aside as a carpark, with common facilities located on the fifth floor.

Half of the swimming-pool area will be covered, while the other half will be in the sunlight.

A library and fitness room will also be located on this floor.

For more extravagant buyers, Songkran has designed a penthouse covering 400 square metres. "That will sell for about Bt40 million."

Three duplex units, each covering 200 square metres, will also be offered.

One of the big advantages of the location is the proximity of the subway, says Songkran.

Another plus is that the site is far from the chronic traffic congestion that plagues the Lat Phrao area from Ratchada-phisek to Bang Kapi.

Although the traffic flow here is heavy, it is not quite as impossible as the nasty backlogs nearer Ramkhamhaeng.

For residents who dislike tourist spots, this project is ideal. Lat Phrao remains one of the more localised zones, with foreigners seldom seen. This saves it from being lavished with the daily build-up of litter, garbage, noise, unruly vendors and unsavoury establishments that have severely damaged the once pristine Sukhumvit stretch.

Itthi C Tan

The Nation