On September 22nd, at Bangkok’s 5 Star Plaza Athenee Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom, the Thailand Property Awards rewarded the Kingdom’s finest Real Estate.
The 11th annual awards event saw record attendance with over 600 of Thailand’s Real Estate elite joining to see who would walk away with the trophy’s and who would be highly commended.
There were 33 Award categories and at the end of the evening no one could doubt that the night belonged to MQDC, Magnolia Quality Development Corporation, which collected a total of eight awards, including the year’s highest honour, Best Developer.
The Thailand Property Awards, organised by PropertyGuru, Asia’s leading online property group, are the Kingdom’s biggest and longest-running annual real estate event and featured this year’s VIP guest and speaker, Khun Suwat Liptapanlop, former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand.
Top winner MQDC’s mega-developments along the Chao Phraya River won several trophy’s, including Best Ultra Luxury Condo Development (Bangkok) for The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, and Best Luxury Condo Development (Bangkok) for Magnolias Waterfront Residences at ICONSIAM. The former also received the Best Condo Development (Thailand) award.
According to the judging panel presided by Dr Manop Bongsadadt, renowned professor of architecture at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, “MQDC’s riverfront ventures will forever change waterfront living in the capital.”
A few more accolades went to other Chao Phraya River-based projects, proving once again that the super prime location is among the top draws for Bangkok’s luxury real estate segment. Menam Residences received the Best High-Rise High End Condo Development (Bangkok) trophy, while Avani Riverside Bangkok Hotel by multiple nominee Minor Hotels made a clean sweep with four gongs, including three awards for design and one for Best Hotel Development – a category which had no other contenders.
PACE Development’s MahaSamutr development in Hua Hin also had a big night at the awards. Featuring Asia’s largest man-made crystal clear lagoon, MahaSamutr took home three awards, Best Residential Architectural Design, Best Luxury Villa Development (Hua Hin) and Best Villa Development (Thailand). According to head Hua Hin judge, Russ Downing, “MahaSamutr has brought a level of luxury living to Hua Hin unlike the city has ever seen before.”
Hua Hin’s other top award went to La Bua by Nordic homes, winning Best Residential Development Hua Hin. Highly commended awards went to Smart House Valley Development by Suppagarn Real Estate Service Co Ltd and Falcon Hill by Falcon Hill Development Limited.
Suphin Mechuchep, managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle (Thailand) and chairperson of the judging panel, said that the 2016 Winners – whether land-based or located near a body of water – received the Judges’ approval because they understood what the market expects from quality real estate. “These award-winning developments help raise the bar and set an example of standards for future developments to follow,” she said.
The second decade of the Thailand Property Awards introduced eight new categories, reflecting the resilience and continued growth of the Thai real estate market. Among the new awards was a Special Recognition in Sustainable Development, which was presented to Best Developer winner MQDC.
MQDC also earned the Best Green Development accolade for the Whizdom Avenue Ratchada – Ladprao high-end project, a two-time winner this year.
Official supervisor BDO, one of the world’s largest accountancy and auditing firms, supervised the Thailand Property Awards 2016’s entire nomination and judging process to ensure fairness, transparency and credibility. The BDO team was led by co-managing partner Paul Ashburn.
There is only one award decided by the organizer and that is “Real Estate Personality of the Year.” This year that title went to Dr Suriya Poolvoralaks, managing director of Best Ultra Luxury Condo Development (Bangkok) finalist Major Development, who was chosen by the editors of Property Report for leading one of the country’s top names in the luxury segment.
“Vision without action is just a dream. I dedicate this prestigious Real Estate Personality award to all the young men and women at Major Development who have contributed their efforts to the MJD brand and for making our collective vision come true,” said Poolvoralaks.
Thailand’s top winners are now eligible to compete in the 6th South East Asia Property Awards 2016 grand finals to be held in Singapore on 24 November for the Best of the Best honours in South East Asia. They will be facing national winners from Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, China and Cambodia
“Congratulations to all the Winners and Highly Commended companies at the industry’s biggest annual event, the Thailand Property Awards, which now celebrates its second decade, making it the longest-running and most recognised international real estate awards programme in the country,” said Terry Blackburn, founder and managing director of the Asia Property Awards.
“As always we are delighted to reward the finest boutique and up-and-coming developers in Thailand along with the Kingdom’s biggest and established developers for the 11th consecutive year,” he added. “Their efforts to elevate the standards of the Thai property industry have been recognised and are admired around the ASEAN region.”
Earlier in the day, Property Report hosted the high-level real estate networking conference Property Report Congress Thailand 2016, which debuted in Bangkok right before the annual Gala Dinner featuring local and international experts such as JLL’s Mechuchep, iconic designer Thomas Lesser of LESSER Architecture, and Thailand Property Awards returning judge Clayton Wade, managing director of Premier Homes, who served as the conference chairman.