My review of Culture Chula by Ananda Developments

The Thai property market is gradually picking up. While the pace of recovery is healthy, it was hampered by the fact that the Chinese had not returned in full force to Thailand as tourists and property investors. A lot has happened since the pandemic. The Bangsue Grand Station has been completed and is now operational. This is essential to China’s One Belt One Road initiative. Bangkok is slated to be a central interchange that links Kunming, China to the rest of South East Asia. Thailand has a new government. One that is pro-business. The Prime Minister was the former CEO of one of Thailand’s largest property developers. However, not all is rosy in Thailand. The court ruling revoking the construction permit for the already completed Ashton Asoke is a huge issue for property owners or people already living in the development. The property market in China is also undergoing a major correction as the Chinese come to grips with the fact that property investment is not as rosy as it was made out to be.

Recent demand has however still been strong. We are not back to pre-pandemic levels of demand yet and I do not expect that to happen anytime soon as governments around the world try to unwind all the excessive stimulus that happened during the pandemic. However, property is still something that people need as an asset to utilise as well as to add to their investment portfolio. If you are looking to purchase a property, do look for developments from a sizable local Thai developers in very prime locations. If there is one thing you cannot change about Bangkok, it is where the good locations are. Years have gone by and the main shopping belt and business district has always remained the same. Think about all the times you travel there as a tourist. There is usually something new at the usual popular place.

Details about the development

Culture Chula is a freehold condominium by one of Thailand’s larger developers, Ananda Development Public Co. The development consists of 1 residential building of 32 stories with a total of 612 units. The size of the plot of land that this development sits on is approximately 2 rais or about 3200 square meters (1 rai is 1600 square meters).

Where is this development located?

The location map of Culture Chula (according to Google Maps)

Culture Chula to MRT Samyan

Culture Chula to BTS Sala Daeng

Culture Chula is located about 350 meters from MRT Samyan and 400 meters from BTS Saladeang. It is located very close to Chulalongkorn University, walking distance to Lumpini Park and Samyan Mitrtown. Samyan Mitrtown is a popular shopping mall with university students in Chulalongkorn University. There is also an office tower which is linked to the shopping mall.

This area is within the Sathorn Financial District where you can find head offices of large Thai companies as well as multinational companies from around the world.

MRT Sam Yan is one MRT Station from the Sala Daeng-Silom interchange. From this interchange, BTS Siam is two stops away. BTS Siam is where the popular tourist shopping mall Siam Paragon is located. If you are coming from the Asok BTS – MRT Sukhumvit interchange where Terminal 21 is located, MRT Sam Yan is 5 stops away.

My thoughts about the development (selling points and investment potential)

Location is a clear winner. Innovation in the luxury condominium space is very rare in the current mature sphere. Hence I see very little that one particular development can offer that other developments in the same category cannot offer. The facilities are generally similar and after dealing with Bangkok properties for about a decade, I believe that if you purchase a condominium from one of the larger developers in Thailand, you would rarely get a development with subpar facilities and finishing. Therefore, it is imperative that location has to be a key consideration when it comes to investing in a property in Bangkok. Location can be classified in two ways. The first is the location of a development in relation to the whole of Bangkok. The second is the location of that same development in relation to the particular localised area. In this case, the location of Culture Chula in relation to the whole of Bangkok is extremely ideal as it is located within the Sathorn Financial District. Hence Culture Chula scores very highly on the first category. We next move to the second location classification where we look at the location of Culture Chula in relation to the location of other developments in the Sathorn Financial District. For this second location classification, Culture Chula is located at the edge of the Sathorn Financial district rather than the heart of it. This then means that even though the pool of tenants that Culture Chula will attract is significantly higher than if you were to compare to a condominium in a location like say Bang Na, Culture Chula may not be able to assess the full pool of tenants that the Sathorn Financial district has to offer as the tenants working on the other far end of the Sathorn Financial District may not consider a development that is maybe 4 to 5 train stations away from their workplace.

These pictorial depictions illustrate my words.

Location Classification 1: Sathorn Financial District in relation to the whole of Bangkok

Location classification 2: Culture Chula in relation to the whole of Sathorn Financial District

What comes next is pricing. If a development is not located right in the heart of the Sathorn Financial District, it should not be commanding that sort of pricing. It is here that I personally feel the pricing which Ananda has set at the launch of about THB240,000 per square meter to about THB258,000 per square meter is reasonable. This sets investors back just under THB9 million for a one-bedroom apartment on a very decent level and facing. This gives a gross rental yield of about 4% assuming rents are conservatively hovering about THB30,000 per month.

Culture Chula

Culture Chula by Ananda

Pricing 4/5

I think the pricing is just about right and I am basing my calculation on a conservative estimate of rents staying at current depressed levels. Ananda is a developer that consistently produces high-quality condominiums. So at this price, you are getting decent quality fittings. There is no need to do any renovation to get the property ready for rent or for your own stay.

Location 4.5/5

Something in this area does not come along very often. If you are familiar with the Sathorn area in Bangkok you will know that there is very little available land for developers to develop on. Hence when something comes along, it is rare. Usually, the developer will have to buy the land from a previous owner, demolish the existing structure and replace it with a new development. I have done a thorough enough analysis of the location fo Culture Chula earlier to substantiate me giving a 4.5 but not a perfect 5.

Quality 4/5

Ananda rarely disappoints. However, I do not like the colour scheme of the development. But that is just a personal preference. I can understand the theme of the development in that it should blend in with the rest of the area. This area being close to Chulalongkorn University and hence the name Culture Chula.

Quality 4/5

This rating is the same for all 3 developments.

Yours Sincerely,

Daryl Lum

p.s.Disclaimer: I am a licensed real estate salesperson in Singapore at the point of writing this review. I also own and run a real estate company that specialises in dealing with Bangkok properties. Ananda Developments is a developer whose developments are being marketed by my real estate company. I also maintain a web portal InvestBangkokProperty.com where we list the various new project launches in Bangkok. The purpose of this review is to provide my thoughts and insights for buyers looking to invest in these developments.

My other Bangkok Property Reviews:

My review of Noble Ploenchit and 98 Wireless

My review of XT Phayathai, XT Huai Khwang and XT Ekkamai