At the Sky Inn, the 9th Floor restaurant with its impressive refurbishment attracts tourists and locals alike, and the regional Coyote bar and restaurant at the front of Ban Thai is adding to the List of chains with outlets in Bangkok that now see Phuket as "must have" location.
The rate of property development in Patong has lapsed during the past five years, meaning there is a good amount of catch-up required. After years being dominated by lower-end products, Patong now has a few notable projects raising the bar, such as BYD Lob and L,'On:hidee's ocean-view villas.
Many industry watchers are waiting to see if, and at what level, a mixed-use residential or villa component will be offered at the Park Hyatt project
Ultimately, given the limited amount of developable land, it appears that Patong's future depends on either bringing dowon older structures, developing more dense projects or renovating existing products.From a long-term perspective, and given the number of high-rise buildings already in the ' area, perhaps one option might be to zone certain areas of Patong to allow for new high-rise developments, taking a similar road of development of the more sophisticated destinations, such as' Waikiki.
Once there is no more undeveloped land, either redevelopment needs to be done or else there will be a geographical shift. to areas such as Mai Khao.With Patong virtually bursting at the seams, Kalim looks poised to be a major area of activity over the next few years. Bart Duykers of Villa Santi recently said that both the boutique resort and its signature outlet, Gaya , with enviable sunset views of the bay, will.open by this corning high season.
The multi-million-dollar Dijinnah Santi project is under construction and sales are moving, showing there is a market in that location for a 60- to 100-million- baht property. To be sited on the hills opposite is the Miora Resort, planned to be an all-suite, internationally managed hotel, as well as an upmarket dining/bar complex next to Baan Chai Lei.
Patong will remain a source of conversation for a long time, be it good or bad. From a tourism and property perspective, the current trend towards upgrading and branding of products, new developments and the scale of international investment is positive. ownstream, zoning and regulating growth are going to be paramount to reinventing the destination.
