Business News

Thailand business news, market trends, foreign investment, and economic updates—stay informed on stock market movements, entrepreneurship, and key developments shaping the economy. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for business news in Thailand.

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    Top 10 reasons for expats to get a comprehensive health insurance in Thailand

    Moving to Thailand offers a prospect full of excitement and adventure, but in the same vein, if any injuries were to occur (and god forbid it does), the local healthcare system can be confusing at first glance for many expats...

  • Air bookings to Thailand plunge after coup, data shows | Thaiger

    Air bookings to Thailand plunge after coup, data shows

    PHUKET: Airline bookings to Thailand have collapsed, a travel association said on Sunday, after the military took over the government on May 22, hitting the tourism sector that accounts for 10 per cent of the economy. The coup followed months of protests that weakened the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, forced ministries to close for weeks on end, hurt…

  • Lion Air roars into Southern Thailand | Thaiger

    Lion Air roars into Southern Thailand

    PHUKET: Regional low-cost carrier Lion Air has launched services to several new destinations in Thailand, with its Thai subsidiary Thai Lion Air, aiming to establish Hat Yai Airport (HDY) as a second hub in Thailand. Executive Managing Director of Thai Lion Air, Andi Burhan, said that the carrier’s decision to use a 72-seat ATR 72-600 prop plane, the first ATR…

  • Economic outlook positive despite coup | Thaiger

    Economic outlook positive despite coup

    PHUKET: Business and economic leaders have expressed confidence in the economy despite the uncertainty surrounding the direction the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will take in the coming weeks and months. The heads of several leading property development companies, including Italian-Thai Development Plc, Sansiri Plc and Land and House Plc, all of which have large projects underway or…

  • Video Report: A place to call their own | Thaiger

    Video Report: A place to call their own

    PHUKET: St James Properties has entered the foray to secure its role in Patong’s burgeoning family tourism market with the recent opening of The Kids Club, located off Soi Bangla, touted as the biggest indoor playground in Phuket. Located at the Patong Promenade shopping mall, The Kids Club is presented as a premium children’s venue, which is now fully operational…

  • Rawai roasters tout Thai coffee beans | Thaiger

    Rawai roasters tout Thai coffee beans

    PHUKET: With the fast approaching Asean Economic Community (AEC) integration, Thailand’s coffee producers will be facing stiff competition from neighboring coffee behemoths Indonesia and Vietnam. Coffee industry experts have long been calling on coffee producers in the kingdom to bring specialty coffee products to market and move away from supplying bulk beans to instant coffee manufacturers. The high-quality beans are…

  • Thailand’s Southern beaches remain the country’s most popular destinations | Thaiger

    Thailand’s Southern beaches remain the country’s most popular destinations

    PHUKET: Thailand’s Southern beach resort regions remain some of the most popular holiday destinations for international tourists, with hotels in the area reporting occupancy rates of up to 78% during the first quarter of this year. According to figures from the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) eight domestic offices and two coordination centers in Southern Thailand – Krabi, Phang Nga,…

  • How to choose an offshore broker | Thaiger

    How to choose an offshore broker

    PHUKET: As an expatriate, there are a number of important aspects to consider before choosing an offshore broker or a custodian to hold your investment assets. At the same time, you will need to keep in mind that not every offshore broker will be able to offer a perfect solution for all of your needs – especially if your financial…

  • Business as usual for bars, despite bans | Thaiger

    Business as usual for bars, despite bans

    PHUKET: Despite a handful of unexpected alcohol bans due to elections brought about by the ongoing, nationwide political protests, business seems to be barreling forward as usual in Phuket’s premier party town. The Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Anoma Wongyai, told the Gazette, “I think because the alcohol bans were short-lived, only one or two days long, they…

  • Leaders from paradise isles to meet in Phuket ahead of ITOP forum | Thaiger

    Leaders from paradise isles to meet in Phuket ahead of ITOP forum

    PHUKET: Island leaders from around the world will arrive in Phuket at the end of the month in order to prepare for their 18th annual forum, to take place at the Laguna Phuket resort complex in August. The group, called the Inter-Island Tourism Policy Forum (ITOP), formed in 1997 after officials of Jeju, Bali, Hainan and Okinawa agreed that leaders…

  • What if Phuket’s roads took you? | Thaiger

    What if Phuket’s roads took you?

    PHUKET: Over the last decade the number of well-known, and often very well-liked, expats who have perished on Phuket’s deadly roads seems to have increased at an alarming rate. Indeed, the most recent case has given me cause to revisit a topic nobody likes to speak about, yet the failure to address it could lead to some rather horrible consequences…

  • Hong Kong couples wooed to wed in Phuket | Thaiger

    Hong Kong couples wooed to wed in Phuket

    PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Hong Kong office will launch a pilot campaign to lure couples in Hong Kong to legally marry in Phuket. The pilot project alone is expected to generate 124 million baht for the Phuket economy. To introduce the concept, TAT Hong Kong office director Titiporn Manenate took a delegation of leading wedding planners from…

  • Thailand OTOP fair in Patong to breach B1bn barrier | Thaiger

    Thailand OTOP fair in Patong to breach B1bn barrier

    PHUKET: The Thailand One Tambon One Product (OTOP) Fair to conclude tomorrow is expected to boost Phuket’s income from OTOP events beyond the billion-baht mark for the year. The Patong event is expected to bring the island’s income from OTOP events for Fiscal 2014 to 1.08 billion baht for the local economy, a 22% increase on sales realized last year,…

  • Jagota sponsors three new international music and theater events in Phuket [video] | Thaiger

    Jagota sponsors three new international music and theater events in Phuket [video]

    PHUKET: Phuket’s burgeoning events scene received a boost this week with the announcement that leading food supplier Jagota Brothers has signed an agreement with Events International [EI], organizer and promoter of the Phuket Gazette’s series of “Headline Events”, to sponsor three upcoming musical and theatrical performances on the island. The agreement will see Jagota as the title sponsor for these…

  • Phuket Business Development Office holds Foreign Business Act seminar in English for the first time | Thaiger

    Phuket Business Development Office holds Foreign Business Act seminar in English for the first time

    PHUKET: The Phuket Business Development Office (BDO) has announced that it will be hosting a seminar aimed at educating foreign business operators about the provisions of Thailand’s Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542. Topics addressed during the seminar will include whether it is necessary to set up a company to do business in the Kingdom, avoiding red tape and issues surrounding…

  • Package tour purchasers beware, says TAT | Thaiger

    Package tour purchasers beware, says TAT

    PHUKET: Fifty tourists recently found themselves abandoned by a resort, without rooms to check in to, after buying low-price tour packages, prompting the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Krabi to issue a warning to tour buyers. “Several tourists booked and paid for Krabi tour packages at a travel fair in Bangkok, and even received booking confirmations. But when they arrived…

  • SilkAir celebrates 25 years in Phuket’s skies | Thaiger

    SilkAir celebrates 25 years in Phuket’s skies

    PHUKET: Full-service regional carrier SilkAir, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, celebrated its silver anniversary in Phuket on Saturday, as its chief executive highlighted the company’s growth goals. Phuket was one of the five original destinations for the regional airline when it was re-branded from Tradewinds the Airline to SilkAir on April, 1, 1992. The number of destinations served by the…

  • Video Report: Canal works to boost Phuket marina access | Thaiger

    Video Report: Canal works to boost Phuket marina access

    Gulu Lalvani dubbed provincial governor Maitri Inthusut an “action man” while describing his delight that – after ten years of delays – work has finally begun on dredging the channel that leads to Royal Phuket Marina and the Boat Lagoon. Video: PGTV PHUKET: The 12-million-baht project to dredge the Koh Kaew Canal and deepen the existing approach channel from Phang…

  • Phuket Business: Seminar on economic and investment trends in Phuket this Thursday | Thaiger

    Phuket Business: Seminar on economic and investment trends in Phuket this Thursday

    PHUKET: Siam Commercial Bank will be hosting a seminar in Phuket titled “Economic and Investment Trends in Phuket’s Thriving Tourism Industry” this Thursday, March 20 at 1:30pm at the Royal Phuket City Hotel. With industry and investment insight from leading speakers in their fields, the free seminar will be in two languages – Thai and English – and is targeting…

  • Phuket Business: Phuket’s plans to trap MICE travellers | Thaiger

    Phuket Business: Phuket’s plans to trap MICE travellers

    PHUKET: A recent conference organized by the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) examined the role of Meeting, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) travellers in Phuket’s diversifying tourism industry. The event, which was co-hosted by AMCHAM, the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand (BCCT) and the Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce (AustCham), featured three experts on Thailand’s rapidly growing MICE tourism industry. The…

  • Phuket Business: Quality and convenient coffee | Thaiger

    Phuket Business: Quality and convenient coffee

    PHUKET: Getting great espresso or coffee for your home, office or hospitality business in Phuket can be a trying task at times. Dealing with messy coffee grounds, cleaning complicated espresso machines, getting a good froth with your milk and training yourself or your staff to make a consistently good coffee are just some of the troubles you have probably faced…

  • Phuket Business: MICE expert to speak at AMCHAM event tomorrow | Thaiger

    Phuket Business: MICE expert to speak at AMCHAM event tomorrow

    PHUKET: Tomorrow, March 14, the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) will host a tourism event at Angsana Laguna Phuket focusing on how to sustainably grow MICE business. One of the keynote speakers at the event will be Mrs Supawan Teerarat, vice president of strategic and business development at the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB). The TCEB is a government…

  • Phuket Business: Amcham to host MICE tourism conference | Thaiger

    Phuket Business: Amcham to host MICE tourism conference

    PHUKET: The island’s growing MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) market is a key segment which can help Phuket attract quality visitors. On March 14 the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) has organized a tourism event at Angsana Laguna Phuket focusing on how to sustainably grow MICE business along with the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand (BCCT) and the Australian-Thai…

  • Phuket Business: Mövenpick appoints two new key vice presidents | Thaiger

    Phuket Business: Mövenpick appoints two new key vice presidents

    PHUKET: Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts recently announced two key new appointments – Jan Bundgaard has been internally promoted to the position of vice president of development, Europe and Africa, and Paul Mulcahy joins the company as vice president of distribution and revenue management. The two new members of the company’s corporate center team based in Zurich will be focusing on…

  • Phuket Business: Making gym cool again | Thaiger

    Phuket Business: Making gym cool again

    PHUKET: There sure are some exiting sports out there – diving, rock climbing, free running, gym fitness training… wait, the gym? It might be challenging and fulfilling but few would call it exciting. At least this is how things were up until now. A new place here in Phuket is on a mission to change that image. “Unit-27 has been…

  • Etihad Airways to launch daily Abu Dhabi to Phuket flight | Thaiger

    Etihad Airways to launch daily Abu Dhabi to Phuket flight

    PHUKET: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will expand its network in Southeast Asia with the launch of a non-stop daily service between Abu Dhabi and Phuket. The new route will launch on October 26, 2014, using a two-class configutation Airbus A330-200 aircraft, with 22 Pearl Business seats and 240 Coral Economy seats. The flight will…

  • Phuket Business: Hooters restaurant to open in Patong | Thaiger

    Phuket Business: Hooters restaurant to open in Patong

    PHUKET: Hooters of America, LLC, the well-known hospitality franchise that employs attractive young waitresses to help lure customers, recently announced a development agreement with an international franchisee to open three Hooters locations in Thailand over the next three years. Destination Resorts Co Ltd will introduce the iconic brand and dining destination to the country, with the first Hooters location scheduled…

  • TAT, AirAsia join campaign to drive travel to three regions | Thaiger

    TAT, AirAsia join campaign to drive travel to three regions

    PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is cooperating with AirAsia on a campaign to promote travel to the North, Northeast and South of Thailand. The “All Out Fun! Discover Thailand with AirAsia” campaign seeks to enliven travel in those three regions with low fares starting from 555 baht one-way, inclusive of airport tax and fees. Tickets may be booked…

  • Local tourism industry unfazed by Bangkok turmoil | Thaiger

    Local tourism industry unfazed by Bangkok turmoil

    PHUKET: Wanprapha Suksomboon, acting director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Phuket office, recently said that the political turmoil in Bangkok has had minimal negative effects on local tourism.There have been only “a few” booking cancellations, she said, citing the fact that Phuket can be accessed by direct international flights that don’t need to connect in the Thai capital. Since…

  • Australian superyacht industry seeks closer ties with Phuket | Thaiger

    Australian superyacht industry seeks closer ties with Phuket

    PHUKET: Representatives of peak industry body Superyacht Australia, along with several Australian-based marine companies recently toured Phuket as part of a program aimed at fostering business relations in the marine industry. The tour was hosted by the Australian Trade Commission and funded through the Australian Government’s Asian Century Business Engagement Plan grant program. During the visit, the group toured all…

  • Southern blockades didn’t affect Phuket goods: DIT Chief | Thaiger

    Southern blockades didn’t affect Phuket goods: DIT Chief

    PHUKET: The island’s market for consumer goods and fresh produce has not been affected by the political turmoil in and around Bangkok, the head of the Department of Internal Trade (DIT) Phuket office has assured. “I’m not aware of any shortages on the island, so there should be no reason why goods in Phuket would be any more expensive than…