Dubai: A Dubai-based company will develop a Thai-style resort on the "Thailand" island of The World.

The estimated cost of development, including the price of land, will be Dh400 million, said Imtiaz Khoda, one of the four shareholders in the project and director of real estate firm Profile.

"It is essentially a residential resort based on Thai architecture. The main tourist element will be a spa that will be run by an outside operator. We are looking at the spa business if it can attract people to the resort for one or two weeks," Khoda told Gulf News.

The resort will have nine beach villas, 10 water villas, 56 studio suites, and 56 one-bedroom loft units.

Owners not using their units will have the option of giving them to the management company, which will offer them to tourists for rent.

Construction work is expected to start after The World's developer Nakheel hands over the island to Profile in mid-2008. Khoda expects the resort to be ready for opening in mid-2010.

The total land area of the 'Thailand' island is 273,000 square feet.

Profile will unveil details of the project at an event in London next month.

"We expect between 60 to 70 per cent of our buyers to come from Britain and other European countries. The rest are expected to be from the Gulf, India and other neighbouring countries," Khoda said.

He said he expects strong European buyer response as the company has had marketing experience in the region. Profile has secured Dh3 billion worth of deals in Nakheel properties.

A Nakheel source said the resort being built by Profile is among five large projects currently planned on The World, a cluster of 303 man-made islands in shaped like a map of the world.

The biggest of these developments is Oqyana, a mixed-use waterfront project launched by Kuwait-based Efad Holding. Oqyana is being developed on 19 islands.