Financial crisis leads to lower office demand

 Yupa Sathienpabayut, head of Markets at Jones Lang LaSalle, said "Impact of the global economic meltdown has become more evident since the global financial crisis erupted in October. Though some economists expected Thailand to feel the impact in early 2009, the turmoil in the Thai stock market over the past weeks shows that the Thai economy has already been affected."

 Whilst new demand from business expansion has contracted, demand for office space from new business setups has dried up. Over the third quarter of 2009, Jones Lang LaSalle was involved in office leasing transactions totalling over 10,000 sqm of space across Bangkok. Most of the transactions were lease renewals and relocations.

 "Though demand is slowing, good news is we have not seen any multinational corporations shut down operations in Thailand. But most of these companies are looking for ways to minimise occupancy costs through renegotiation of lease terms with landlords, relocation to a more affordable building or downsizing," said Yupa.