13. Thais warm to global auctions
THAI CLIENTS’ participation in international auction sales will show growth potential over the next few years when the local market environment becomes stable, said Julia Hu, Christie’s vice president in charge of regional offices in Asia.
This growth will be in line with Asia in general, which has posted a significant increase in the sales contribution to Christie's global auction business, from only 12 per cent in 2008 to 22 per cent in 2011, and 28 per cent last year, or around US$2 billion (Bt35 billion). In five years, the auction house hopes to drive Asian clients' sales contribution to 30 per cent or above, Hu said.
In contrast, the contribution from Europe to Christie's sales has declined gradually, from 49 per cent in 2008 to 39 per cent in 2011 and 36 per cent last year. Meanwhile, the contribution from North America also declined slightly from 39 per cent in 2008 to about 36 per cent last year, while Asians have become more and more active in global auction markets.
Hu said Thai collectors were able to cope with barriers such as language to engage in international auction events. They are also familiar with the auction process and able to submit bids even for high-priced items. They find information about luxury products and artworks and make their own judgements before participating in the auction process. "Since Christie's set up its representative office in Bangkok about 18 years ago, the business in Thailand has surged by 23 times," she said.
Hu said Christie's expected transactions by its Thai clients to be stable over the next two to three years, and to reach double-digit annual growth once the current market difficulty settles down.
She added that in times of economic difficulty, rich families in Thailand were looking to park their money somewhere. They bid for luxury and art objects either for investment purposes or to pass them on to the next generation.