Page 28 - Masala Lite Issue 190 October 2026

28 REAL TALK What Tourist

Numbers Do

to Real Estate

The Real Estate Consigliere, Vimol Kogar, Vimol Kogar
with Dr. Ian Tan (PhD), hopes to educate, I am available at +66 (0) 81-616-5987
If you need my assistance,
entertain, and illuminate.

ndia has two major gateways in Delhi and Mumbai studies done at Shinawatra University estimated that out of locations like:
among its 36 international airports, but only attracts STRs pushed long-term rents up by roughly eight percent • Sukhumvit Soi 1 to 16
around 9 million foreign tourist arrivals each year. and transaction purchase prices up by 15 to 18 percent.
Meanwhile, Thailand attracts over 20 million foreign • Sathorn Soi 1 to 16

Artificial Scarcity & Displacement • Silom Soi 1 to 16
tourists annually.
Properties were frequently pulled out of the traditional These sois could become a benchmark for understanding
*This information has been collected from India’s Ministry
of Tourism Website and Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism & residential pool and reallocated to the much more how tourism will shape Bangkok in the years ahead,
Sports Website as of 25 September 2026. lucrative tourist market. This created severe inventory with 50 percent or more of tourists potentially passing
shortages, forcing local residents, young professionals, through them. Without careful planning, they could
That means Thailand draws twice as many tourists and families out of older communities in lower Sukhumvit become more difficult to live in.

as India, even though India’s population is 1.4 billion and upper Sukhumvit into Bang Na Trat Road with newer
and Thailand is sitting at around 71 million. Tourism communities in Punnawithi and On Nut. When considering your own soi, it is worth looking
numbers in Thailand are pretty unbelievable when you beyond the present and thinking about what it could
look at it that way. Erosion of Community Fabric look like in 2040 or even 2060. Housing decisions should
take into account not only what works today, but also
How does this affect real estate in the inner cities? The Permanent neighbors were replaced by a transient the long-term trajectory of the neighbourhood.

effect is a conversion of homes to hotels. In a country population of tourists. Residents frequently complained

like Thailand where city planning remains relatively about noise pollution from construction, disruptive I hope these insights can help inform your home-buying
fragmented, you can easily have an eight-storey hotel behavior, and a shift in neighborhood commerce—where decisions over the next few years. Ultimately, I believe we
in the plot near your house. everyday stores (like daily needs and hardware shops) each need to consider our individual needs and priorities

were displaced by coffee shops, tailors, and businesses carefully before deciding where to move.
Distortion of the Housing Market catering exclusively to visitors.
Meanwhile, I will leave you with some interesting figures:

Economic and urban studies on Bangkok have shown Once we accept that our nation yields tourists by the
a direct correlation between high Short-Term Rental millions per year with numbers only expected to grow, Suvarnabhumi Airport welcomes approximately 70,000
(STR) density and skyrocketing housing costs. In heavily land in the Central Business District (CBD) will keep international arriving passengers each day, compared
impacted neighborhoods (the top decile of STR activity), rising and 90 percent of long-term residents will move with an estimated 8,700 foreign tourist arrivals at Delhi’s
Indira Gandhi International Airport.

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