A CONCEPT OF AUSTRALIA RETIREMENT VILLAGE AND A NEW APPROACH FOR REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY IN THAILAND

Abstract

Thailand’s real estate industry has been growing steadily and has been highly competitive
while the options for projects have been limited. There has been stiff competition among
the property developers in the same Industry. It is, therefore, necessary for the real estate
industry in Thailand to expand its options in order to penetrate a greater prospective
customer market. This has been of great interest especially the housing market for expats
residing in Thailand, because it is considered a highly profitable market, that is to say;
there are a lot of foreigners staying in Thailand after the age of retirement. One of the
marked businesses for the real estate business in Thailand is the retirement village. In fact,
the retirement village as it is presently understood includes various levels. Among them,
a level for elderly people who are still healthy and do not require much care is called
“Retirement Village”, which is generally found like other communities, but its prospective
clients includes only the elderly and not a home for older people with the need for intensive
medical care. Aged care has been an interest of study in Thailand, where the proportion
of elderly population has increased and Thai societal structure focuses on family care for
seniors. However, many families are not ready to elicit the services of aged care. One of
the solutions is to provide a home for the elderly where constant nursing care is provided.
In spite of numerous aged care facilities for the elderly in Thailand, most of them have
been established in the form of a foster home, thereby they have been received a negative
image for a long time. An alternative for Thailand is the retirement village that incorporates
a beneficial image of age care that is more likely to be popular in the future. Australia is
ideal as a case study and the research of protocols for the business of Thailand’s retirement
village, because Australia is a country that has operated retirement villages for an extended
time. Presently the business of a village for retirement may not be able to penetrate the
domestic market; however, foreign customers retiring in Thailand are likely to be a potential
market. A business relating to retirement villages can be expected to promote the real
estate industry, to penetrate foreign markets, and to generate revenue for Thailand. An
interesting focus of research is Australian ageing population as a model to identify
the characteristics of retirement villages that meets the needs of the foreign customers.
This paper is to offer one important aspect of a large-scale study that investigates the
retirement village in Thailand for foreigners; a dimension that the real estate entrepreneurs,
researchers and other interested parties can apply to develop a business model for retirement
villages desired by foreigners as well as a future model for the domestic market.