TIMESHARE REVIVING IN THAILAND

Source: Charoen Kittikanya/ Bangkok Post

April 15, 1999
An earlier timeshare scandal in Thailand turned consumers off, but new companies with reputable international networks are winning back tourists-- as well as property owners eager to pare down unsold stocks.

The time-share company, the Blissher group, sold units to thousands of clients and collected more than 780 million baht in membership fees, but failed to deliver the holidays it promised. Several Blissher executives were arrested and the case is still before the court.

Time-share was first introduced to Thailand in 1983, but as most Thais were unfamiliar with the concept, growth was limited. The industry stalled when it received extensive negative publicity following the Blissher case. But now, as the country struggles through the economic crisis, and thousands of housing projects are unsold, the concept is making a comeback, says Vittayen Muttamara, managing director of Multiple Travel Club (MTC).

MTC manages five resorts in Phuket, Prachuab Khiri Khan, Pattaya, Kanchanaburi and Chiang Mai catering for 3,000 members, up from 1,500 in 1997 and a mere 100 the year before. Part of the RCI exchange network, it is recording around 200 new clients a month.

According to an RCI survey, there are ample time-share opportunities in Asia, given its population. In Thailand, one person of every 20,000 owns a time-share, compared with 26 in Singapore, 12 in Malaysia, 126 in the United States, 98 in the United Kingdom and 90 in Canada. According to RCI Asia-Pacific Pte, the number of people using time-share for vacations in Thailand jumped by between 10% and 15% last year from 1997. Last December, the increase was 40% over the same month a year earlier.

Encouraged by the untapped potential, MTC teamed up with 13 local time-share operators last December to establish the Thailand Vacation Ownership Association (TVOA), as a self-regulatory body to oversee and expand the market base and promote consumer protection in Thailand. MTC has hired England-based Hutchinson & Co. Trust Co. to become its trustee and insure the buyers' membership rights. Hutchinson is the trustee for more than 200 time-share resorts worldwide.

The system protects both resort owners and those who purchase time-share memberships. If the resort company collapses, holders of time-share units will not be forced to sell out. If trustee companies are liquidated, clients will be protected and their time-sharing businesses will remain afloat. The contracts will be taken care of by other trustees under the English trust law.

Hutchinson has been in the time-sharing business since 1985, and has been a trustee since 1992. The resorts for which it acts have the potential to provide 500,000 families with time-share holidays, with potential gross sales of $4 billion.