“K.W. Development” – Reinventing Phuket’s Hospitality Industry

K.W. Development Co., Ltd. is the name of a company that offers a full range of real estate developments. The K.W. name represents the names of the owners, two of Phuket’s best developers, Mr. Karn Prachumpan – Managing Director of The Beach Group, and Mr. Watchara Jaruariyanon – Managing Director of Vasi Co., Ltd. Together; they have the vision of reinventing Phuket’s hospitality industry by creating “Ready-Made Hotel” projects to offer to both investors and entrepreneurs.

Phuketindex.com recently had an opportunity to speak with Mr. Karn and Mr. Watchara about the origins of their new business venture and their vision of developing real estate projects that once complete will be worth billions of baht.

Who are Mr. Karn & Mr. Watchara?

Mr. Karn Prachumpan was born and raised in Phuket; he’s the owner of a property development company called The Beach Group, a company that has been responsible for developing a number of projects on the West coast of Phuket. So far, The Beach Group has developed approximately 8 commercial and residential projects including hotels and exclusive villas. They are also responsible for developing The Beach Condotel which used a concept of “honesty, quality and time”, a concept Mr Karn believes gives customers trust in their performance. With most of the projects they have developed their primary focus is location. Mr Karn truly believes that if a project is in a prime location then customers will be more interested in it and they can build to the specific needs of the customer.

Mr Karn says that they are sometimes seen as tour operators as they have an in-depth knowledge when it comes to the island’s tourism businesses and they can advise where a good location is for a specific business. People can rely on them as they have over 15 years experience doing business here and do not specialise in one specific area.

Mr. Watchara Jaruariyanon was born in Nakhon Pathom and graduated from the Prince of Songkla University Hatyai Campus in 1989. He started his working life in Bangkok working as a civil engineer and was involved in the building of Central Chidlom, the LPN office and RS Tower Ratchada. After 3 years he moved here to Phuket and joined a company as a hotel design consultant and was again involved in the construction of 3 projects. 16 years ago he opened a company called Vasi Co., Ltd. which has been involved in approximately 40 projects worth in the region of 10,000 million baht. However, Vasi Co., Ltd. is more than just a construction company, it also has a sister company Vasi Land and House Co., Ltd. which deals with land and property purchases and sales. These businesses have been very much involved in the hotel sector and have worked together with the hotels such as Sala Thai, The Nap and The Sea which are all located in Patong.

In addition, Mr Watchara also has a jewellery shop in Central Festival Phuket and he is the owner of the Kajonkietsuksa School in Thalang which opened in 2013 and is located near the Thep Kasattri & Sri Sunthon Heroines Monument. This school also has a nursery called Baan Kajonkiet which is located at the entrance to the Laguna Phuket complex.

Mr Watchara is a member of the Prince of Songkla University alumni committee, on the committee of the Phuket Real Estate Club, and is former president of Phuket Golf Club.

Why did you decide to set up K.W. Development Co., Ltd?

Mr. Karn siad “We decided to setup K.W. Development Co., Ltd as The Beach Group and Vasi Group Co., Ltd. have different strengths and specialize in different areas, but of our specific areas of expertise go together hand in hand.”

Mr. Watchara added “Khun Karn has over 10 years experience working in marketing, and I have vast experience as a design consultant and construction supervisor. Putting these together made setting up a property development company seem quite natural.

What projects is K.W. Development Co., Ltd. working on?

Mr. Karn said “K.W. Development Co., Ltd. is already involved in the development of projects in different locations around the island but predominantly on the west coast. The Beach Point Bangla is located in Patong at a prime area near the beach. This project is very close to 4-5 star hotels such as La Flora, Thara Patong, The Kee and Alpina. This area is one of the hottest to be found at this time.

“This was a large plot of land covering an area of 4.25 rai and this allowed us to develop 2 projects. The first is 2 storey project consisting of a single storey boutique hotel and the upper level can be used as a plaza with restaurants bars and other businesses; this will be the client’s decision. The second is a 200 room 4-star hotel which will sit 30 meters away from the beach; this will be developed to sell.

“Another of our projects is located in Kata; this is called the Two Hotel, a 4-star resort with 150 rooms. Another is a 250 room 3 star budget hotel located 200 meters from the beach, again on a very prime piece of land.

“We have also bought an old hotel in front of Club Med Phuket and this will be turned from a 180 room property to a 220 room property. This will also be developed to sell.”

What would you like to say to prospective customers?

Mr Karn “We are looking in the same direction with the products we create. In the next two years our projects will be the ones to look out for. We are also creating products which we will be managing ourselves. This is very rare in real estate, there are very few companies who develop and manage their own projects.

“When developing you need to understand many aspects such as height restrictions, the location, environment, local laws etc which all vary, however, we can handle all these aspects as we have knowledge in all these areas.

“In addition, if we build a hotel to sell, buyers can buy in the knowledge that we have built legally and that the hotel is fully licensed. We will make buying a hotel very easy for them. Another thing is that we want to develop projects that sit alongside the current tourism trend.”

Mr. Watchara added “We have to admit one thing, Phuket’s real estate industry already boomed several years ago. However we believe that it will not suddenly stop, it will continue to grow.

“We have become part of this business and we are committed that all construction work is of a high standard, we work regardless of profit or loss, and all our work must be legal and well designed. When working we take into account the environment and we try to ensure that where we build we improve nearby public spaces so that they benefit all.

“We would also like to advise people that we also have K.W. Service Company who is currently trying to buy land near Tesco Lotus to set up an office. This company has been set up to oversee whole real estate projects as we have experts in architecture, engineering, finance and marketing within our organization. We are also consultants in the field of real estate investment. If you don’t want to develop a project yourself, or if you need help developing a project here in Phuket we are happy to help.

“Come and get to know our company, we will work everything out together. We will not waste anyone’s time and we do not only focus on profit. We care about the environment and urban development, and we ensure that our designs fit in with their location!”