Siam Motors invests in 4th Pattaya golf course
Prelude to property developments in 2019
Siam Motors Group, owned by the Phornprapha family, is investing 2.1 billion baht to develop a new 18-hole golf course adjacent to three others in Pattaya before jumping into the condo business next year.
President Phornthep Phornprapha said this investment is the largest since 2012, when the group spent 2 billion baht to develop a third golf course, Siam Country Club Pattaya Waterside, which has 18 holes.
“We have seen leaps in many sectors like tourism, industrial estates, malls and property in Pattaya since 2004,” he said.
“Opportunity will be tremendous as the government is spending on new infrastructure projects and the Eastern Economic Corridor.”
In the auto parts business, the group’s biggest investment is the establishment of a new factory worth 1 billion baht, with machine purchases requiring a budget of 700-800 million baht, he said.
The new golf course will be located on a 660-rai plot in Siam Country Club Pattaya, where Mr Phornthep’s father, group founder Thavorn Phornprapha bought a total of 6,000 rai in 1969 to develop the group’s first golf course, which opened in 1971.
The fourth golf course, Siam Country Club New Course, started construction late last year and is scheduled to open in September 2019.
Construction cost is around 700 million baht, with 1.3 billion baht for land.
The group aims to have 36,000-40,000 golfers in the first year of operations, with a break-even period within seven years.
The total number of golfers in the four golf courses are expected to grow by 35% to 200,000 per year by 2020.
The three golf courses under Siam Country Club Pattaya comprise the Old Course, with 18 holes; Plantation, with 27 holes, opened in 2008; and Waterside, launched in 2012. Some 75% of players are foreign, mainly Japanese.
“The group, Mahidol University and Bangkok Bank are discussing a joint venture to develop music therapy facilities on this plot. The plan will be finalised next year,” said Mr Phornthep.
To support tourism for golf courses, the group will develop a golf lodge with a fivestar hotel with 70 rooms at the Old Course next year.
The 6,000-rai plot will have around 1,000 rai remaining for future development after the New Course is completed. Total investment in the four golf courses is around 8 billion baht so far, he added.
Mr Phornthep said the group reduced the number of Nissan showrooms in Bangkok from 13 to six recently with Nong Khaem the latest closure, as the cost of the showroom’s operations are not being met.
“We are working with a Japanese partner to design a property project to develop next year. The design will be completed by the end of this year,” he said.
The condo development in the central business district is a new investment for the group.
“We have a good relationship with Nissan and share the same policies,” said Mr Phornthep.