Former permanent secretary of finance Somchainuek Engtrakul's heirs have used 330 rai in Pathum Thani to build an entertainment and sports facility, with an investment of about 700 million baht.
Sineenart Engtrakul, chief executive of SE Biz Group, said about 600 million baht was allotted over 2018-20 to build ESC studios and facilities in four phases on 150 rai, next door to the company's existing White House housing project in Pathum Thani.
All facilities are expected to be completed within next year. The studios are meant to support growing demand for drama and high production value movies, both in the domestic market and Asean, said Ms Sineenart.
The first phase of ESC studio on 133 rai is already completed, with advance bookings of about 60-70% for the next three months. The rental fee for each studio is set at 20,000-50,000 baht per day.
The company expects to gain revenue of 50 million baht a year after all studio facilities become fully operational next year.
SE Biz Group is also planning to build sports complexes on 180 rai. About 80 rai will be used for water-ski lake that is scheduled to be completed in May.
The group also plans to build other facilities including a 20-room hotel, a 1,000-square-metre auditorium, a fitness centre, futsal and 50 driving lanes on 100 rai.
All sport facilities are scheduled to open for service in June this year.
The company provides various kind of businesses including logistics, healthcare, tourism, food, service, financial, media and property with annual revenue of 700-800 million baht last year. Of the total, about 300 million baht came from logistic business, 200 million from beauty and healthcare business and the remaining 300 million baht from other segments.
Mr Somchainuek, chairman of the group's advisory board, said the company has many plots across the country, totalling over 1,000 rai.
He said the company has tried to make the best use of the land over the past few years, setting up Phudara resort, housing 50 rooms in Loei province, and 100 luxury rooms with Le Monte Hotel Khao Yai.
The Khao Yai project is expected to fare better once new transport facilities are completed.
"We are a bit concerned about the new land and buildings tax," he said. "We will try to use more vacant plots after the tax code is in place."
Mr Somchainuek said the company formed a joint venture with Caret Group, one of the Korean's biggest game online producers, to establish Combo Gaming Entertainment.
The joint venture firm is scheduled to launch Rebirth M, an online gaming platform in the Thai market on March 9.
The company spent about 60 million baht for this new venture.
With the growing demand online gaming, the company expects to break even by the third quarter of this year and gain sales of 170 million baht this year.
In addition, SE Biz Group plans to put more focus on expanding skincare products to the US and China market this year and expand logistic services.
The group's logistic firm FG Express will provide delivery services to end-users in addition to rent warehouses for imported products to companies, including King Power, Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc, Itoen, TNT and Tops, he said.
The company expects revenue to double to 1.5 billion baht this year.
