The Thai economy is beginning to gather momentum, with a new proactive government at the reins. After years of set-backs with global recessions, military coups, a tsunami, and the red shirt saga, Thailand is hungrier than ever for economic expansion.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has just announced its latest marketing campaign entitled, ?The Miracle Years of Amazing Thailand?, which plans to double tourist arrivals and expenditure by 2014. TAT projects total arrivals climbing to more than 19 million next year, up from the forecast of 17 million this year. The government wants to see 30 million arrivals per year by 2014 while income from domestic and international markets would reach 2 trillion baht per annum.

The marketing campaign has been allocated a staggering 500 million baht budget over the next 2 years. This includes 210 million to be spent on target markets outside the country. Some of the events that have been lined up to attract foreign tourists include the Formula 1 motor racing, the football league in the UK, and the Australian Open.
The recently elected Yingluck Shiawatra has made it clear that her priorities are to introduce a series of economic stimulus and she has already implemented a 40 percent rise in the minimum wage to 300 baht per day. She has also promised to compensate employers by cutting the corporate tax rate to 23 percent next year and 20 percent a year later, from the current 30 percent; a huge economic stimulus!
Phuket has long been earmarked as a major growth area of Thailand, which will benefit those property investors already in the game. The Phuket Exhibition and Convention Centre being built in Mai Khao with an approved budget of 2.6 billion baht will cause tourist arrivals to sky rocket and the 60,000 hotel rooms will represent a huge under-supply. Hotel chains and institutional investors are recognizing this and we have seen a huge upswing in hotel and land transactions this year.
There are still some great deals to be had in Phuket - there is probably a window of approx 6 months before prices start to move off the back of this high season. Now is a great time to get into the market, though investors should be very selective when it comes to location and developments.

For more information, visit www.realestate-in-phuket.com