Richard Yue, chief executive and chief investment officer of Arch Capital Management, the Hong Kong partner in the joint venture, said the project will have 13 villas priced from US$10 million or 350 million baht.

Phuket-based property firm Kamala Beach Resort & Hotel Management Co, a joint venture with investors from Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore, is building the most expensive villa project in Thailand.

Valued at 700 million baht, the Phuket development will be launched next month.

Richard Yue, chief executive and chief investment officer of Arch Capital Management, the Hong Kong partner in the joint venture, said the project will have 13 villas priced from US$10 million or 350 million baht.

This villa is priced 700 million baht with a total usable space of 4,500 square metre, located on a 6.5-rai hillside plot and being completed next month. 

With total sales value of 4 billion baht, the villas will be located on a 75-rai hillside plot and be completed in January 2017. The site is a part of MontAzure -- a mixed-use, high-end development project worth up to 18 billion baht on a 450-rai plot on Kamala Beach in the west of Phuket acquired from BTS Group Holdings nearly four years ago.

The most expensive villa on the plot will have a selling price nearly double those of two new villas developer Charn Issara Plc plans to launch next year. Both will be valued at about 380 million baht each.

"Thai property has good value," Mr Yue said. "In Hong Kong where I live, the most expensive house sold recently is priced US$40 million for a 450-square-metre unit."

The most expensive villa at MontAzure is situated on a 6.5-rai plot with a total usable area of 4,500 sq m, while the smallest unit will sit on a three to four-rai plot.

The project will also comprise beachfront 75-condo Twinpalms Residences worth 2.2 billion baht. Units are priced between 8 million and 93 million baht, or 145,000-250,000 baht per sq m, with 41 units already sold.

There will also be an InterContinental Hotel with over 200 rooms, an investment of Proud Real Estate, a property firm owned by the Liptapanlop family. Cafe del Mar, one of the most famous clubs in Ibiza, Spain will also make its first footprint in Thailand at the project.

The joint venture is looking to conclude a deal with a partner for a lifestyle mall within the project, which will also feature Bangkok Hospital to provide medical care.

The group will develop a retirement village to be funded by Audley, a luxury retirement operator in Britain, and Nye Estate, a luxury high-end property development subsidiary of Narai Property, the Thai partner of the joint venture.

Arch Capital Management is a private fund based in Hong Kong with about 50 investors from the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has invested $1.4 billion.

Arch is negotiating with SET-listed developer Supalai Plc to buy Petron Megaplaza, a 45-storey A-grade office tower in Makati City in the Philippines, for 1.61 billion pesos (1.15 billion baht). Supalai acquired the 18-year-old building in 2013.

"For us, the Philippines, China and Thailand are the most attractive countries for investment due to urbanisation and demographics," Mr Yue said. "The populations are dominated by a growing number of middle-aged people who have strong consumption and spending."

China and Thailand have good infrastructure with many mass transit lines, and the Philippines has a development plan in the works.