Short-stay leisure market opens up for Bangkok’s Thonglor

The serviced residence scene in Bangkok’s trendy Thonglor neighbourhood is transforming along with a marked shift away from the traditional Japanese long-stay segment, according to C9 Hotelworks.

The demand for serviced apartments in Thonglor is being driven by expatriates, the majority of whom are Asian.

Today, Thonglor continues to be the preferred location for the expatriate community in the Thai capital. However, where Japanese residents once accounted for 90% of the serviced residence market, today the number has reduced to 65%, C9’s market research shows.

In 2017, the number of Japanese expatriates grew marginally at 0.3%, in contrast to the 8% increase in Indian expatriates.

As well, the proportion of long-stay business “dropped dramatically” to 38%, while the short-stay ratio now dominates at 62%.

“Many serviced apartments, therefore, have adjusted their business model and designs to short/leisure-stay and transient focused guests versus the traditional Japanese long-stay business client,”said Bill Barnett, managing director, C9 Hotelworks.

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