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Thailand’s tricky consignment law leaves Hongkonger with US$120,000 hole in his pocket after Phuket developer goes under during Covid-19
- Hong Kong-based Reda Abouhanine paid US$120,000 upfront for a unit that cost US$150,000, and hoped to make a return on it in two years
- Award-winning Phuket developer Blue Horizons went under in mid-2020, leaving more than 300 buyers from around the world without their money or seaside homes
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Attracted by Phuket’s serene waters and its potential as a tourist destination, Hong Kong-based Swiss national Reda Abouhanine bought a unit in 2017 at an off-plan development a stone’s throw away from sandy beaches in the west of the famed island in Thailand.
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Abouhanine did his due diligence and concluded the developer looked professional – it even provided a live stream for investors to monitor the progress in construction. He paid an upfront sum of US$120,000 for a unit that cost US$150,000, an investment he hoped to make a return on in two years.
But construction came to a standstill in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. And never resumed.
The award-winning Phuket-based developer, Blue Horizons Developers, liquidated in mid-2020, leaving more than 300 investors from around the world without their money, or the promised seaside resort homes.
Because of Thailand’s consignment land sale law, which makes it easy for landowners to lose their land, Abouhanine has lost all hopes of recouping his money, or seeing the construction come to completion, after Blue Horizons lost the land to another Thai company.
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