The purchases will not dramatically alter the picture. The key problem is still oversupply. The office market is not any better. About 20 new office towers will open in the next 18 months, flooding Bangkok with more space than what developers will be launching in Singapore and Hong Kong combined. In tough economic times, even growing companies cut their office needs, says Thaniya Kevalee of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell.
Some analysts are more optimistic.
Many foreign companies are expanding in Thailand, says Robert Collins of international property consultant Jones Lang Wootton. There are new banking and insurance licenses being issued and the economy is still growing. A buildings in the central business district. The glut in residences and retail spaces, says Collins, will be a serious concern until 1999. But the doomsday scenarios in Thailand are exaggerated, he says.