Thailand’s hotel investment opportunities and real estate in general have been in the spotlight for the past year, and prospects remain promising.

Thailand's hotel investment opportunitiesand real estate in general have been in the spotlight for the past year, and prospects remain promising.

According to the Bank of Thailand's figures via the Bangkok Post, foreign direct investment in the real estate sector, including hotels, fell 40.6 percent year over during the first quarter of 2015 to US$169.8 million. Full-year FDI in real estate fell to $1.34 billion in 2014 from $1.55 billion in 2013.

According the Post, several underlying domestic trends are supporting property markets in Southeast Asia. In Thailand, main factors include urbanization, a young and literate population, rising middle-income earners, improving competitiveness and the country's role as a low-cost alternative to China.

When it comes to hotels, investors are interested in acquiring properties in Thailand for a variety of reasons, including lower capital values than in more developed markets such as Singapore or Hong Kong; relatively higher yield returns; and the long-term prospects of Thailand's tourism industry.

Bangkok remains Thailand's most popular hotel investment destination due to its position as one of the most visited cities in the world.

Property consulting company Jones Lang LaSalle reported that the average room rate at hotels in Thailand last year was US$92, down 23 percent from 2013, according to The Nation. However, the rate picked up to US$139 in the first quarter this year, after a military coup cleared Bangkok of political chaos and later lifted martial law. Room rates at hotels in Thailand are expected to increase 0.7 percent this year.

A number of projects and transactions have been announced just in the first five months of 2015. Here is a sample of some of the announcements:

Outrigger Resorts acquired the AKARYN Koh Samui Resort and Spa in Thailand, which has been rebranded as the Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort. The deal closed on May 29 for an undisclosed sum. The resort remains fully open for business as an Outrigger Resort.

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts announced an extensive growth program in Thailand and across Asia at the Asia Pacific Hotel Investment Conference 2015 held in Bangkok. The Swiss group will open seven hotels and resorts in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Vietnam over the next three years, with an additional 10 projects under negotiation. The Mövenpick Hotel Sukhumvit 15 Bangkok (pictured) opened most recently in a downtown location and will be followed in the first quarter of next year by the 264-room Mövenpick Siam Hotel Pattaya.

Amara, an upscale Singaporean hotel brand, has expanded to the Thai market with the new Amara Bangkok, which will be under the hospitality arm of Amara Holdings Limited, Amara Hotels & Resorts. The property is located in Surawong.

InterContinental Hotels Group signed a management agreement with one of Pattaya, Thailand's leading hotel developers, Nova Park, to develop a 240-room Holiday Inn Express hotel in the city. Slated to open by 2017, the new Holiday Inn Express Pattaya Central will be located near the city's beachfront and along Soi Buakao.

In Thailand, foreigners are not allowed to own land other than through leasehold interests or joint ventures in which they do not have the majority share.

According to JLL via the Bangkok Post, from the start of 2012 through the first quarter of 2015, 58 percent of the buyers of hotel properties in Thailand have been Thai investors and 40 percent have been international investors.

On the buyer side, developers and property companies accounted for almost 60 percent of the total value of transactions recorded. Owner-operators represented more than 15 percent, followed by corporations (around 12 percent). The combined value for investment funds and wealthy individuals or families was 10 percent.