Q2 2012 | Retail
thailand
Bangkok Retail Market REPORT
Bangkok Retail Market Executive Summary
market indicators Q1 2012 / Q2 2012 new Supply RENTALS Occupancy
Thailand is turning in to a shopping paradise for foreign tourists.
year, and there is a steady rise in the amount of retail space coming on to the market.
Retail developers are continuing to build and renovate high-end shopping centres in Bangkok, and are increasingly focusing on other cities as well, especially those near Thailand’s borders that already see many foreigners coming to do their shopping here.
Community malls, which serve local neighbourhoods in the city and suburbs, as well as attracting well-heeled shoppers from further afield, continue to show the highest rate of growth, and will overtake hypermarkets to become the second biggest type of retail business by the end of this year.
Many Laotians, for example, cross the Friendship Bridge from Vientiane to Thailand to shop in malls at weekends, and the number of people seeing Thailand as a shopping destination is set to increase once the ASEAN Economic Community is formed in 2015. Occupancy and rental rates for retail businesses have shown little change since the start of this
Renovations of older malls, especially those over ten years old, are planned or underway in many areas and have in some cases been completed. The intense competition for retail business in Bangkok is forcing developers to come up with unique and attractive designs for their malls in order to bring in shoppers and generate buzz on social media networks.
Historical Supply Historical Supply, as of Q2 2012
Source: Colliers International Thailand Research Note: F = Forecast
Approximately 60,750 sq m of space was completed in Q2 2012, with around 20,000 sq m located in the City area and more than
www.colliers.co.th
30,000 sq m in the Suburban Bangkok area. More than 298,000 sq m is scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2012.