Winners of the Thailand Property Awards 2006 announced

Winners of the inaugural Thailand Property Awards were announced last Wednesday at a lavish gala dinner held at JW Marriott on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok. The awards ceremony and gala dinner was attended by over 200 distinguished guests from a variety of sectors in the real estate industry including developers, agents, architects, interior designers and real estate associations and organisations. The event was deemed a great success.

The nine award categories included Best Agent, Best Architect, Best Condo Development, Best Developer, Best Interior Designer, Best Real Estate Website, Best Villa Development, Green Development and Real Estate Personality of the Year.

Professor Manop Bongsatad, Chairman of the panel of independent judges, in his speech said;

“Our main criterion was that we would make a judgment based solely on the application received and not assume prior knowledge of the candidate business. We feel that this was the only fair way to make a judgment, as it would not have been feasible to make site visits to all the businesses concerned. In all cases though, we are confident that all the winners represent a level of excellence and high achievement in their respective fields and are worthy recipients of their awards.”

The first year proved the need for a professional awards system for the industry, and was well-received by all in the industry. In order to ensure fair judging, a panel of independent judges was created and each award had its own set of criteria for judging (see at the end).

Following an extravagant dinner, the award winners were announced:

·         Best Agent – Samui Villas and Homes (sponsored by Raimon Land).

·         Best Architect – Original Vision Ltd for Samsara (sponsored by Gaggenau).

·         Best Condo Development – TCC Capital Land for Athenee Residence.

·         Best Developer – TCC Capital Land Limited (sponsored by Indigo Real Estate).

·         Best Interior Designer – Laguna Resorts & Hotels PLC.

·         Best Real Estate Website – Northpoint (www.northpointpattaya.com) from Raimon Land PLC.

·         Best Villa Development – Phuket Prime Property Ltd for Baan Yamu and Dhevatara Properties Co. Ltd for Dhevatara Cove.

·         Green Development – Laguna Resorts & Hotels PLC.

The Real Estate Personality of the Year was selected by Ensign Media, the publishers of Property Report magazine and organisers of the Thailand Property Awards. Editor, Karla Cripps, presented the award to Mr Nigel Cornick, CEO Raimon Land PLC, and commented;

“Being successful in an industry as uncertain and competitive as real estate requires an individual with a unique combination of abilities. They must be able to handle the daily pressures of staying afloat in a climate vulnerable to an endless number of factors with flair, which means they need to possess extensive experience and knowledge of local industry practices and the market. We feel this year’s inaugural winner of the Real Estate Personality of the Year Award embodies all these qualities, and is certainly no stranger to the public eye.”

The winners reflect the high quality of real estate development throughout the country, with a mix from Bangkok, Phuket, Samui and Pattaya. One of the most popular award categories, Best Villa Development, saw a tie between Dhevatara Cove in Samui, and Baan Yamu in Phuket. Other notable winners were TCC Capital Land, taking two awards (Best Developer and Best Condo Development) and Laguna Resorts & Hotels PLC who also took two awards (Green Development and Best Interior Designer).

The most popular award, Best Real Estate Website, was claimed by Raimon Land for their Northpoint project in Pattaya (www.northpointpattaya.com), while CEO Nigel Cornick was awarded Real Estate Personality of the Year.

To finish the night, an auction was held to raise money for the Children of the Forest charity (www.childrenoftheforest.com). A variety of gifts were auctioned including two nights at The Nam Hai in Vietnam, two nights in a Banyan Tree Pool Villa in Phuket and a luxury day cruise in Krabi provided by Maan Tawan Cruises. The auction proved popular, and along with some very generous donations from attendees, raised 500,000THB.

In conclusion, Duncan Worthington, Managing Director of Ensign Media, organisers of the awards, added;

“We are pleased to see so many in the industry taking part in the awards and the gala dinner. We are looking forward to next year and hope to welcome even more applicants. We are also considering adding more award categories in 2007.”