By Andrew Batt:
Real estate agents in Thailand have reacted with outrage to comments published by a daily newspaper that label them as liars and criminals.
The opinion piece published by The Nation newspaper in print and online, and attributed to “EH from Bangkok”, said: “One of the most prolific crimes across the nation involves both Thais and expatriates who work in the estate agency business. The lies and deceit they use to con people out of money on house and land deals is without doubt something that needs attention at every level within the government.”
Cees Cuijpers, Managing Partner of Town and County Property in Pattaya, told DDproperty.com: “All business professionals in our industry know that what “EH” has written is complete and utter rubbish. If it is really that bad you would have found headlines in every media and not just a single comment. I am surprised The Nation has published this comment.”
Mark Bowling, Senior Sales Manager for Colliers, also condemned the comments. He said: “I am appalled. Whoever decided to publish such sweeping comments should be ashamed to consider every real estate professional in the same light. I agree that there is good and bad in every industry, but to label the entire real estate profession as lying cheats is completely inappropriate.”
Clayton Wade, Managing Director of Premier Homes, understands how some of the negative opinions about agents and developers arise. He said: “There are one or two developers who are simply atrocious. They’re making promises they simply cannot keep and there’s the potential for a lot of people to be damaged.”
Wade added that professionalism in Thailand’s real estate sector is a critical one that needs addressing.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru, said: “To publish a piece which labels all agents as liars is unforgivable, and is verging on being defamatory. As with any industry there are a small minority of unprofessional people, but these are few and far between in the real estate agency industry in Thailand.”
Nationmultimedia Group, publishers of The Nation, failed to respond to a request for comment prior to publication.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@allproperty.com.sg
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