Introduction
KASA real estate development company was founded in 2012 by Mr. John Dupiech with a mission to provide bespoke private pool villa estates that are accessible, yet luxurious in the most coveted residences in Thailand.
Mr. Dupiech has steered KASA on a ride through stormy waters on its turbulent journey to get to where it is today. KASA’s success has been forged through the sweat and tears of this daring young French entrepreneur with a gauntlet of steep learning curves, costly deals with questionable business affiliations and an equal measure of trial and error. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and this is a story about the resolve of KASA’s founder, how he’s been tested, and the character of the company which has emerged unscathed on the other side.
Mr. John Dupiech came to Thailand from France in 2012 at an ambitious age of 22. He had to transit through Thailand on his way to study finance at a university in New Zealand and that’s when he stumbled upon a glaring opportunity on the southern island of Koh Samui. Having a keen eye for business, he noticed there was a lot of land in Koh Samui being sold at a price far below what could be fetched in the foreign market, a perfect match of high quality real estate directed towards international clientele.
The opportunity to invest in promising real-estate presented itself by purchasing a large plot of land and then subsequently subdividing them and selling them out at a profit. True to form, the company got off to a rocky start, and just as things began to look promising, John’s partner mismanaged the entity’s funds and their venture was immediately thrown into jeopardy.
Views on Thailand
After his first couple of years in Thailand, Mr. Dupiech had come to realise a few things about Thailand that would inevitably affect his future in the kingdom. Mr. Dupiech’s story — KASA’s story — is more than a tale of a man and a company fighting to adapt, it is also in many respects a story of Thailand and its inhabitants, it’s multifaceted societies and this place he has adopted as his new home. The context in which John found himself was one that could be easily misunderstood by those who’ve never experienced a culture shock of this great magnitude and that deserves a great amount of attention.
He had landed in a country more foreign to him than most and not only that, he’d landed on the remote island of Samui — a downright unfamiliar, yet full of potential environment. John later moved to Bangkok and has since had the opportunity to reflect on what he has identified about Thai culture, both in Samui and Bangkok, as well as how it differs from his European upbringing.
The West’s image of Thailand is probably far from accurate. Many people bundle Thailand in with the likes of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines or Myanmar, but the truth of the matter is that Thailand is leagues ahead in many aspects. Whereas these ASEAN economies are far more impoverished, Thailand is still viewed as underdeveloped even though it is light years ahead, even more so than some European countries.
Influences from outside of Thailand have had this strange effect on the country where certain facets of society are uniquely hybrid and very well-developed while others haven’t changed over decades. The country is lauded for how it has survived through it all.
Throughout all this, John and William have managed to foster strong friendships with the locals, some of whom have emerged to be lifelong partners in the industry.
Construction on Koh Samui
Driven by a strong sense of community, investing in Koh Samui is an investment in its people, who care deeply about the preservation and sustainability of this pristine island. The southern temperamental nature is not one to be tampered with, however, as it can take some time getting to know the values and norms which are necessary in avoiding any kind of friction with the locals. Manpower was scarce on the island and getting materials from the mainland onto Koh Samui was even harder. On the island everything was extremely slow paced. Slow life, as the locals say.
KASA’s first attempt at finding a good construction company crashed and burned. While John was meeting vested clients on site to show them the progress of their villas every week, only 30 to 50 percent of the agreed upon labour were showing up for work – most of the time late. This is very much the norm when it comes to working in Thailand.
KASA signed with no less than 6 construction companies throughout the year, all of which repeated the same pattern: customers would complain to KASA, because construction wasn’t moving; KASA would then pursue on the complaints with the construction company; and the construction company would come back to KASA saying they needed more money to complete the current stage of construction. Being stuck between a rock and a hard place, KASA paid off its debts in the hope that they would at least break even upon completion. And so, John and his company were strung along, every time, without fail, until they found themselves in debt to the tune of about 30 million baht.
Once construction started on Ozen Residences, KASA insisted on paying the construction company wages on a per square meter basis for the labour and would supply their own materials – in an attempt to tighten their control over the project and limit the risk.
Ozen Residences was configured on a slope, and that’s why the developers were tasked with cutting into the hillside to form terraces on which to construct their villas — easily imaged as forming steps out of an uphill gradient. Naturally, there was an easier way of doing things and the right way about going through with this and that required a lot of manpower and expertise. Once again the labour on the part of the subcontractor fell short.
The technical difficulties KASA faced was the necessity of building three retaining walls for each villa before preparing the respective foundations. This was in order to prevent erosion on to and around the foundations. But in order to erect the retaining walls they needed a foundation. Thus all they could do was lay the footings for the foundation and build the necessary retaining walls shortly afterwards — in the hope that the soil stayed put in the interim. Unfortunately this was too much to ask for and it started raining on their parade. KASA’s promising start slowly began to wash away in front of John’s eyes as Samui experienced some of its heaviest rainfall in decades.
In 2017, with the launch of Ozen Chaweng noi, Naori and Naori Hills the issues pertaining to acquiring the right construction subcontractors were still largely evident and KASA finally decided to hire their own team of 200 workers to complete the projects. This presented a whole set of problems, having to approve materials and the necessary paperwork all over again.
Reliable, skilled construction workers don’t come by easily on Samui and so KASA had to bring in labourers from Myanmar to aid with the construction. More trouble followed as only 50 workers were allowed in from Myanmar and were only permitted to stay and work for 3 months at a time. The managers inside the company were also caught funneling in funds out of the company account and by March of 2019 an investigation was made into the company and the company underwent a major restructuring process. All the staff on grounds were fired and a new team was brought in to handle the crisis.
KASA continues to build on Koh Samui adhering to the laws and regulations of the island
Current Situation
Just as things were falling into place, the Covid-19 virus set in. Work on all the projects came to a complete halt. While the team of labourers continued to be compensated throughout these troubled times, some were lured away by hefty donations and once again KASA was shaken to its core.
As of now, November 2020 KASA has resumed operations by beginning construction on Koh Samui once again. Armed with the wisdom and experience gained from prior mistakes, KASA and its team of 160 workers, are determined with resolve and grit to soldier through against all odds, to fulfill its obligations to all our clients.
KASA makes a promise to deliver a truly treasured prime real estate on Samui island to our elite clientele. Owning a property with KASA on Samui island is a prized asset that only a select few have the privilege to.
In the meantime, KASA will not sell anymore real estate on Samui and will focus our efforts on new developments in Phuket and Bangkok, where we have partnered with local construction companies to ensure that everything is smooth sailing.