Why Buy Property in Pattaya
Formerly a quiet and peaceful fishing village, Pattaya began to grow when the American GIs stationed in Vietnam chose it as one of their privileged places to enjoy their permissions. To cope with the growing amount of visitors, restaurants, bungalows and hotels gradually started to emerge and progressively made of Pattaya a world famous tourist destination.
Today, the city officially has a population of just over 350,000 inhabitants, but in reality, its population is estimated at about a million inhabitants, making it one of the most populous cities in the country. Pattaya is also the Kingdom’s second largest tourist destination with more than 12 million tourists visiting it each year
Pattaya is mainly known for its nightlife but by spending a few days there, you will quickly realize that it has numerous other assets that have fully participated in its development. All this also has had a great impact on the real estate sector, whether residential or aiming rental incomes, allowing Pattaya to become one of the spearheads of the country in the real estate sector. Indeed like the country, Pattaya has undeniable assets allowing it to become a place where it is good to invest in real estate, here is why!
Attractive Destination
In recent years, the government has clearly shown its intention to turn Pattaya, renowned for its nightlife and wild nights, into a perfect family destination to accommodate local and international tourists. The restoration of several beaches, actions to limit pollution, more frequent controls and heavier penalties for offenders are already in place to allow Pattaya to unleash its full potential. Add to that, an ideal climate that knows no (or very little) rainy season and a wide variety of landscapes with a modern city center, endless beaches, wild and unspoiled areas, pretty islands in the immediate vicinity (Koh Larn, Koh Samet, etc.), Pattaya is probably the only destination in the Kingdom offering a superb and so diversified living environment, between a dynamic city and a quiet seaside resort.
Pattaya is also a city where you will find high quality infrastructures with an efficient road network allowing a smooth traffic, current and under construction highways allowing an easy and fast connection between Pattaya and the surrounding cities (Bangkok, Chonburi, Si Racha, Rayong, etc. .), a high-speed train project to connect Pattaya to Bangkok in just 30 minutes, a tramway project to improve transportation in the city center, an ever-expanding airport that welcomes more and more flights including international, deep-water ports to increase the transport of goods, and people. Pattaya also hosts several high quality hospitals, the most famous being the Bangkok Hospital.
Pattaya is full of activities for all tastes and ages. In fact, you’ll find everything you need, from the famous Walking Street with its lively bars and night clubs to Na Jomtien and its excellent restaurants with a relaxing atmosphere right on the beach as well as shopping centers such as the brand new Terminal 21, water parks, temples, golf courses, beaches, tropical gardens, boat trips, islands, delicious restaurants, spas, animal parks, kart tracks, etc., the list is endless and to sum it up, you will never get bored!
Economy
In addition to these very important aspects, Pattaya is also not left behind in terms of economy. Indeed, it occupies a central position on the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), an investment plan of more than 1.5 billion THB (47 million USD) aiming to develop the infrastructure in the region (Chachoengsao, Chonburi and Rayong provinces): airports, deep-water ports, high-speed trains, highways, etc. allowing Pattaya to improve its accessibility for the transport of goods and people.
Secondly, the objective of the EEC is to attract major economic players in the area thanks to newly renovated and improved infrastructures, the creation of free trade zones and by offering them other numerous advantages, especially related to taxes and employment. The operation has already attracted several multinationals such as Airbus, which is partnering with Thai Airways to create the largest maintenance center in South East Asia, or the E-commerce giant player, Alibaba which is investing more than 300 million USD to develop several facilities including a logistics center to link China and Thailand, a research and development complex, and a university project.
Tourism
It is also worth recalling the importance of tourism, which occupies a major role in Pattaya. Indeed, every year, the city welcomes more than 10 million international visitors, having made it the 14th most visited city in the world in 2018, in front of heavyweights like Milan, Hong Kong, Barcelona or Bali. The profiles are very varied among them with tourists from all around the world visiting Pattaya for a few days or for several months. This makes it even more interesting when talking about investing in Pattaya real estate market in order to capitalize on this massive influx of visitors whose habits have changed enormously. Indeed, most of them now prefer to rent an apartment rather than to go to the hotel.
Property Market in Pattaya
The property market in Pattaya offers many advantages. The first lies in the pricing compared to other countries and even other destinations in Thailand. Indeed, you can find apartments in a new residence with pool and gym from approximately 60,000 USD.
Another very important point and specific Pattaya’s real estate market is the great diversity of the offer in terms of price, in terms of range, types of property or the different objectives to which they respond. Indeed, it is one of the only destinations in the Kingdom in which you can find cheap apartments, luxury apartments by the sea, houses at competitive prices or beautiful villas worth several million USD.
The highly attractive prices coupled with the strong rental demand and very low expenses (common area fees, taxes, etc.) allow Pattaya to stand out in terms of rental yields, indeed, it is not rare to exceed a 8% annual rental yield.
Pattaya has enjoyed outstanding growth – in the decade from 2009 – 2019, tourism increased from 4M visitors to over 18M visitors, or approximately 350%. With its strategic location as the nearest beachside resort to Bangkok as well as the primary city within Thailand’s EEC, Pattaya City is well-positioned to continue to attract tourists, residents and investors in both the near and short term.
