Thai Shopping Malls
The big shopping malls are popping up like mushrooms Thailand from the ground. The Terminal 21 department store recently opened on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok and a Japanese-oriented department store near the Ekamai bus station.
And what about Central Plaza, Central World, MBK, Emporium, Gaysorn or the imposing Siam Paragon? It seems as if gold is being made in all those department stores.
Invest in a department store
ECC Investment Management BV from Eindhoven already sees the profit and sells bonds in Thai shopping malls, but without AFM supervision. The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets supervises savings, investments, insurance and loans. She ensures that the law and rules are complied with and that they are clear and fair information is provided. At the moment you can register with ECC for bonds A of five thousand euros, with a minimum of two bonds, or type B of fifty thousand euros. It concerns bonds in Promenada The River, a four-storey mall on the west bank of the Chao Praya River in Bangkok.
Performance
The promised return: 7 percent annual interest plus a share of the sales profit.
Expected gross yield 12,32 percent per year for A, 13,38 percent for B. ECC director Tjeerd Kwant has been living in Bangkok with his family for three and a half years now and firmly believes in the Thai economy. Some thirty investors who faithfully follow him in every project also believe in this. You are not bound to this one project, because in Chiangmai you can also participate in an even larger shopping project.
What do you think? A handy businessman, an interesting investment or perhaps whistling for your money in the future? “Throw away unread” those ECC prospects, advised financial planner Kapé Breukelaar of Fiscalert magazine. An “unclear offer” without AFM supervision. Should you do it, Effect, the body of the Association of Securities Owners (VEB), also wonders. “Only if you believe in the local knowledge and the gut feeling of ECC director Tjeerd Kwant and the thirty or so investors who follow him faithfully in every project” is the entertaining final conclusion of the magazine.
Thoughts
Again and again I am amazed at all those beautiful department stores that you find in Bangkok in particular. The Thai economy may show good annual growth, but how many percent of the Thai population actually has something to spend, I wonder. Draw a parallel with China, the same cloth a suit. The country has been booming for many years, but even there the average resident has little or nothing to spend. Walking through all those beautiful department stores of Bangkok you will hardly find buyers in the various shops. What those shops are supposed to consist of remains a mystery.
The fact that the major global brands want to be represented in a metropolis like Bangkok can be an argument. They write off the loss on the advertising budget. If you are considering entrusting your money to ECC, you must have a very good gut feeling. At least I know what I'm going to do and I don't have to think about it for a moment, nor consult my gut feeling.
Dear Joseph, A small correction: Terminal 21 did not open very recently, but has certainly been in operation for over a year. I walked past it many times last year.
Dick, time passes quickly, but less quickly than you might think. To be exact: Terminal 21 opened its doors on October 11, 2011.
Be sure to read the story of Harold Rolloos from February last and watch Harry Mens' interview with die Tjeert Kwant. He talks a lot with nice words, but in fact says nothing special.
I do agree with Joseph and certainly don't put my money (if I had it, ha ha) in these kinds of risky projects.
Totally agree. There is currently a huge real estate craze in many countries in Asia; there is talk of a real real estate bubble. Tens of millions of apartments are empty in China alone. Shopping malls are also popping up like mushrooms in Thailand. Every self-respecting city nowadays has several shopping malls. The question is how long this will continue.
As soon as returns of 10% plus are sprinkled on this kind of one-sided investments, some caution is advised. If they really were such good investments, all pension funds in the Netherlands would be eager to participate. We have already had a few of those “easy invest” companies in the Netherlands and have seen how that turned out. Just buy government bonds from Spain; 7,5% yield over 10 years, guaranteed by the ECB and Deutschland.
Indeed, in Udon Thani, the older Cetral Plaza has been converted into a beautiful shopping mall. But where is the hustle and bustle?
Mainly on weekends, the many restaurants on the fifth floor are well stocked.
The small restaurants on the ground floor are always well stocked, as the prices of the dishes are cheap.
But now the other luxuries?
Lots of staff, but few customers.
What did he say again
Chinese?”I wish you a lot of staff”
There must be huge wealthy investors behind these very luxurious shops who can bear the losses for years…
In Bangkok it is something else, because the 300 richest families in Thailand live there and then the middle class can also afford something.
The other customers are just like the Turkish businessmen said: "Look and don't buy"
With the gloomy economic outlook in the world, I therefore view profits in these types of companies as bleak.