Amidst bombs and gunfires, property is booming in Pattani

When the 6-billion baht worth of property project named Pattani Jaya or Pattani new town was recently launched, one common big question was then raised with the developer of the project:  "Are they not scared with bombs?"

          There was no clear answer to that question from the developer regarding the mega project which is located on a huge land plot covering 1,500 rai along Highway No 42 in Tambon Bana of Muang district of Pattani.  The "new town" project boasts a modern housing estate, a university, an international school, a shopping mall, a hospital and a fresh market.

          But given the property boom in Pattani since the past few years and the launch of the 500-million baht worth of Pattani Place property project three years ago, one could sense the developer’s answer that they were not discouraged by the seemingly endless violence which has gripped the restive deep South for more than eight years.

          Pattani Place sounds like a high-end condominium in Bangkok.  In fact, it is a building complex which houses a shopping mall, a tutoring centre, a condominium and office buiidligs.

          Located on Charoenpradit Road better known as Mor Or Road, the project which began three years ago is almost 100 percent completed after the developer has received financial injection from the Islamic Bank of Thailand.

          Mr Ibraheng Jeh-ali, an executive of Pattani Place, said that construction of the shopping mall, named Wau Bulan Mall, was 70 percent completed and the condominium was 90 percent completed thanks to the new funding.  Space in the shopping mall has been almost fully booked and the mall itself will be partially open at the end of next month and become fully operational next April.

          As for the tutoring centre, Mr Ibraheng said that the centre would be the biggest of its kind in the South and it was intended to serve students in five southern provinces so that they do not need to travel to Hat Yai or Bangkok for tutoring.

          Despite the insurgency problem, he noted that the people in the three southernmost provinces have substantial purchasing power and the economy itself is not much affected by the unrest problem.

          Thanks to Pattani Place project, the price of land along Charoenpradit Road has reportedly jumped threefold.

          Besides Pattani Place, the developer, DRS Development Company, has recently launched a new real estate project named Pattani Park on a 6.5 rai plot of land next to Big C department store.  The project consists of 33 units of town home and a condominium.

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Caption : Wau Bulan Mall is under construction in central of Pattani