Chon Buri-based residential developer Arinsiri Land Plc looks set to raise funds on the Market of Alternative Investment (MAI) to compete with large developers from Bangkok.

Managing director Suchart Chomklin said land prices in Chon Buri, particularly in the Muang district where residential demand is real, have risen by over 25% per year on average since 2008.

On Sukhumvit Road in San Suk sub-district, prices rose from 5 million baht per rai in 2012 to 12 million. Land prices on Khao Lam Road, a new road built from 2006-08, jumped from 700,000 baht per rai in 2006 to 20 million this year.

Mr Suchart says the Chon Buri residential market has real demand.

"We could take our time to build on our own and wait for our performance to qualify for the SET, which would take a few years, but the increases in land prices here do not allow us to wait," he said.

As large developers based in Bangkok entered the province since 2012, a year after disastrous countrywide flooding, local developers needed to revise their strategy. Without a land bank, they could not compete with large firms, said Mr Suchart.

As capital is a key factor for local developers to cope with competition from Bangkok-based rivals, Arinsiri chose the MAI to raise funds. It aims to have growth in revenue of five times to 2.5 billion baht in 2021 from 480 million baht targeted for this year.

The company has land bank plots sufficient for residential development during the next three years. Money raised from an IPO will be used for construction and new land plots for new projects being launched from 2021 onward.

Each year the developer spends 500 million baht to buy a few plots sized around 30 rai each. After fundraising, Arinsiri expects to spend 1 billion baht for land acquisition annually.

In 2019, Arinsiri plans to launch four new projects worth a combined 1.5 billion baht. They include two condo projects: Arinsiri Campus with 210 units worth 300 million baht near Burapha University and Arinsiri Beach Condo, worth 400 million near a beach.

The other two will be Arinsiri Mountain, worth 546 million baht on a 32-rai plot in Muang district, with 300 townhouses priced 1.6 million baht a unit, and a new phase worth 500 million baht at Arinsiri Sport Village, a large-scale single house and duplex project.

He said single houses, duplexes and townhouses priced 1.8-4.2 million baht per unit have real demand in Chon Buri's Muang district, while condos are preferred for students and those working in industrial estates and the tourism sector.

"The population in Chon Buri, both registered and hidden, will increase in the near future, driven by expansion of the industrial sector and the upcoming Eastern Economic Corridor," said Mr Suchart.

Next year the company plans to diversify to Rayong with a single-house project worth 540 million baht in Hat Phayun, Ban Chang district, to tap demand from those working at U-tapao airport.

The project launches in the fourth quarter, with a sales value of 538 million baht on a 31-rai plot.

The U-tapao project will comprise 148 single detached houses priced 3.3 million baht each.

Mr Suchart, 49, entered the property development business 14 years ago with the 99 Karat Group, offering 10 shophouses in Nong Mon Market.

During 2004-14, the group developed a total of 16 residential projects, mainly townhouses, worth a combined 4 billion baht in Chon Buri's Muang district before founding Arinsiri Land in 2014 with registered capital of 10 million baht.