......At a time when others are shutting up shop Colliers International have decided to open for business.
We ask managing director Patima Jeerapaet (seen right): Why now?

To the interested observer it might seem that the decision of Colliers International to open an office in Pattaya last November was going against conventional wisdom, writes John Davids.
Given worldwide financial – and real estate – problems wasn’t it the time to sit tight and ride out the storm, not choose to expand? I asked.
I pointed to the fact that in the two months following their unofficial opening two brokers based within 100 yards of their offices on Thappraya Road – CB Richard Ellis and Location, Location, Location – had closed their shops.
“Colliers have never been a ‘me, too’ company,” said managing director Patima Jeerapat, “we’ve carried out our own research into residential trends and the findings highlighted Pattaya as a good place to be.
“We may suffer for a few months – an investment period, if you like – but, everything, including property, has a cycle and, longer term, we see a huge opportunity here in Pattaya.”
Colliers looked at other places on the Thai map such as Phuket and Samui “and we may chose to open more offices in future,” said Khun Patima. But Pattaya topped their list, which is reassuring news for anyone involved in real estate in the city.
Of course, proximity to Bangkok where Colliers have their Thai HQ was a factor in the decision-making process. “This will allow us to support the Pattaya operation and control the quality of our services,” said Khun Patima.
Colliers International are a global partnership of real estate companies with 300 offices in more than 60 countries. The company began life in Australia and their world HQ is now in Canada.
The Thai part of their operation was established in 1988 through a partnership between Colliers and Pasupat Realty, a well-established Thai firm of more than 20 years’ trading.
To call Colliers a ‘real estate’ partnership might imply they are just in the business of selling properties, but that doesn’t tell the full story by quite some distance. Indeed, agency work is only about 35 per cent of their business. “Consultancy accounts for about 40 per cent of what we do and 25 per cent is in property and facilities management,” said Khun Patima.
So, not being dependent on property sales gives some clue to why Colliers view the Pattaya office with confidence. Consultancy comes to the fore in times such as we are experiencing. “We believe that in downtimes the need for a professional consultancy service is heightened,” said Khun Patima. It is entirely appropriate that the company’s advertising strapline is: “Our knowledge is your property”.
Khun Patima continued: “We can help developers with good advice at a time when panic may be about to set in. We might advise that a hi-rise plan be changed to incorporate some retail.
“For example, later today we will make a presentation at which we will suggest a change in concept to one developer – perhaps making it half hotel and half residential.”
Naturally, being involved in consultancy can “lead to providing traditional real estate services later on”.
Colliers is also one of the world leaders in providing outsourcing services and is ranked 18th in the Fortune 500 list of service providers.
“This is a key strength,” said Khun Patima. “The group has big corporate clients such as Shell, GE (General Electric) and 3m. In Thailand we have the regional contract for facilities management for Deutsche Bank.”
I asked Khun Patima to expand on: Why Pattaya?
“Pattaya is a great place for leisure that has developed rapidly over the past 10-15 years. The condo market, especially, has seen a boom recently.
“We see the local government putting in a lot of effort to be the best in leisure.
“The infrastructure is better than in many other places. Everything is here – first class hospitals, an international school and good shops.
“There are a lot of attractions like the Bira racing circuit, with more planned. There are more than 30 courses so it’s a golfers’ paradise.
“I believe the Skytrain will happen! It will come to Pattaya but when is the question.
“As a company, we’re looking 5-10 years down the line and we think things will totally change.”
Short-term Pattaya – and Thailand overall – faces the challenge of attracting tourists back in the wake of the closure at the airport.
“I know that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is well aware of this problem and are not standing still.”
Khun Patima pointed to large numbers of tourists continuing to visit from Scandinavia.
“The Swedish Government held back from issuing a travel warning when other countries were putting them on their web sites. Scandinavian people don’t care about the problems. They will always come. The Russians will return, too. Although it may take a few months.”
Any short-term plans? “Very soon we will be looking to launch an auction service here,” said Khun Patima.
“We have carried out NPA (Non-Performing Asset) sales in Bangkok although the properties were nationwide. We have done this five times and each time approximately Bt5bn was realised.”
Khun Patima concluded: “Being strategic partners is our concept. We do not propose sole agency deals. We believe in networking and don’t worry about the size of the companies we work with.”
Although it opened in late November the official launch party for the office is still to be held – probably in th next month or so – when developers, clients, the media and Colliers own Bangkok team will be in attendance. Ω Ω