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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Dermatology stakes claim in Thai medical tourism industry
PHUKET: Dermatology is staking its claim in Thailand’s developing medical-tourism sector, a growth which is due in part to an increasing number of highly qualified dermatologists, state-of-the-art treatments and affordable services. Romrawin Clinic, with two of its branches located in Phuket, has taken advantage of the demand for dermatological procedures and is now at the forefront of the business with…
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Business Buzz: The beauty of Instagram
HUKET: Instagram as we know it is changing, but that can be a good thing if you are a business looking to increase your exposure. Instagram is a photo-sharing app that reportedly has more than 300 million monthly users. It is very popular with people born in the 80s and 90s, who account for more than 37% per cent of…
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Finance: Rising interest rates won’t kill REITs
PHUKET: Many investors looking for yields and exposure to real estate have piled into Real Estate Income Trusts (REITs) despite the prevailing investment wisdom being any eventual rise in interest rates will be a disaster for the sector. After all, REITs rely heavily on borrowing to acquire real estate with interest payments on this debt usually being their biggest expense.…
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Finance: Millennium in a league of its own
PHUKET: I have been asked quite a few times by my readers for some of my advice that I actually follow myself, since I often tend to focus in my articles on warnings to stay away from certain asset classes or at least temper exposure to them. With that in mind, I have chosen to write about a few funds…
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Heritage tourism on Phuket
PHUKET: While Phuket has become a leading mass tourism destination and Thailand’s second market after Bangkok, travel specialists and local businesses are digging deep into the island’s rich culture and history to satisfy a growing demand from high-end visitors seeking immersive experiences on the island. The local Baba culture provides one such source of inspiration for those wanting to venture…
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Business Buzz: How to promote a sales funnel successfully
PHUKET: We have now covered how to prepare the marketing and sales process. The next part, crucial to any success, is getting the message out to the target market. It does not matter how good your product, customer service or social media presence is if nobody knows you exist. There are so many choices with social media these days that…
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English-language seminar on Thai capital market, financial products on Sunday
PHUKET: The Association of Thai Securities Companies (ASCO) will be shooting to give Thais and foreigners greater clarity about Thai capital market and Thai financial products during a seminar on July 5 at the Phuket Royal City Hotel. Those attending will be broken up into three groups, with the seminar being held in Thai for two groups and English for…
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Finance: Before bidding: Take stock of eBay stock
PHUKET: While you are probably familiar with eBay as a great place for deals on everything imaginable, you might not be familiar with the large cap internet auction stock as an investment. However, there are some compelling reasons why investors should be taking a closer look at the stock right now. For starters, and at the end of last September,…
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Business Buzz: Creating sales funnels with social media
PHUKET: Following up on last week, now that you have a plan, know your target market and understand the importance of your biggest asset – your database, we are going to look at how the customer experience is created through your sales funnel. Many people do not fully understand the role and importance of a sales funnel as a whole…
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Business: East coast shopping
PHUKET: Choice, and lots of it, is what Phuket’s cosmopolitan consumers are demanding, and as the shopping scene transforms to adapt to more local-centric lifestyles among the island’s international community, smaller family-oriented malls are taking shape across the island. Leading the way in bringing a more upmarket shopping experience is shopping and lifestyle guru Kanittha Prasopsirikul, managing director of ‘By…
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Business Buzz: Building your database
PHUKET: This week, let me explain the biggest asset your social media marketing efforts will build for you: your database. A marketing database is an electronic list of all of your potential customers, with as much relevant information as you can gather about them. Normally, this is combined with a platform that can be used to communicate automatically on a…
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Finance: Bond investor survival guide
PHUKET: It’s inevitable that interest rates will eventually rise, but what do rising interest rates mean for investors and how can you prepare your portfolio? First of all, here is what you need to consider or be concerned about: INTEREST RATES AND BONDS When interest rates rise, prices of fixed rate bonds will fall (and vice versa) because no one…
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Finance: Cycling the bull market
PHUKET: As the bull market in global stocks continues in the worst economic environment for a bull market within my lifetime, I find it reassuring to turn to those with some of the most impressive track records in the world of investing and trading. Have things changed this time? Is the new era of central bank money printing going to…
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Lighthouse Weekend Market a boon to businesses
PHUKET: The new addition of a mini-motor expo at the Lighthouse Weekend Market last month produced four on-the-spot car sales, tagging the event as a business generator on Phuket – one in so much demand that it will continue through the rainy season. The cars that sold were Mini Cooper, Volvo and Subaru models, confirmed Kanittha Prasopsirikul, market organizer and…
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Business Buzz: Re-make marketing plans
PHUKET: We all know that social media marketing is popular, but how can we best use it for our business to increase awareness, grow our customer base, make more sales and improve profitability? Targeting people using social media is easy if done correctly, but to be successful and get the best results, you need a blueprint to make sure everything…
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Thanyapura to boost ‘Sports Hub of Asia’ status with B300mn investment
PHUKET: Thanyapura Phuket is looking to invest an additional 300 million baht in an expansion plan that will further strengthen its status as the Sports Hub of Asia. To be scaled over five years, the investment will see the spectacular 23-hectare complex gain a 100-meter training pool, four tennis courts, a multi-room Wellness Center, an international school working toward becoming…
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Business Buzz: Successfully harness social media power
PHUKET: There is no doubting the power of social media marketing as a business tool. The question is, are you using it, and if so, are you doing so effectively? Social media can be very overwhelming as there are so many options it can be difficult to know where to start. It can also be a case of ‘you don’t…
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Finance: One size does not fit all
PHUKET: When it comes to financial advice, my first words of caution to everyone are “never, ever, do anything yourself that you don’t understand 100%”. If the markets seem too complex, there is no reason you can’t handle your financial affairs without using this tool. Every asset class at the end of the day is just that: a tool. There…
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Chanintr Living launches month-long Phuket sale
PHUKET: Chanintr Living has launched a month-long sale at its classy imported furniture outlet in Phuket, providing islanders and visitors the chance to grab quality furniture at a knocked down price. Chanintr Living was established in 1994 and has several outlets in Bangkok and Singapore, as well as one multi-brand location in Phuket. The reputable dealer’s current sale, from May…
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Business Buzz: Get visual with Pinterest
PHUKET: This week I thought we would cover something that would be of benefit to many businesses in Phuket. We are very fortunate that we are surrounded by scenic beauty, which is one of the reasons Phuket has a thriving tourism industry, plus a lot of adventure and outdoor activities. And what better way to promote your business than to…
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HK Express takes flight in Phuket market
PHUKET: Hong Kong’s low-fare airline has seen significant first-quarter growth as it continues its campaign to woo both the Thai and expat markets in Phuket. HK Express has carried close to 500,000 passengers in the first quarter of this year, which represents a 102 percent growth compared with the same period in 2014. The airline reports total passengers for March…
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New Banyan Tree Phuket hotel manager “at home’
PHUKET: Hery Kuswoyo has taken the helm as the hotel manager for Banyan Tree Phuket, the Banyan Tree group’s flagship property. Mr Kuswoyo joined the Banyan Tree family in 2010 as the Food and Beverage Executive Assistant Manager for Banyan Tree Bangkok. Prior to joining the Phuket team, he was the executive assistant manager for Banyan Tree Macau – the…
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Finance: Sometimes you can buy happiness
PHUKET: I recently read a study about buying experiences versus material things and their relative effects on happiness. Interestingly, studies show that money only increases happiness up to a certain point, and buying experiences can have a longer effect on happiness than buying material things, even though the ‘things’ will be around for a substantial amount of time. The reason…
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Business Buzz: Steal your Facebook
PHUKET: With the advent of social media and its meteoric rise in popularity, technology has grown at a rate much faster and in ways that the law has not been able to keep up with or envisage. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest now have billions of users. There are a couple of areas in particular…
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Visionary dentist bridges gap in Phuket dental market
PHUKET: Medical tourism and the hordes of foreign customers it brings to Thailand and Phuket’s shores is on a steady rise, with the Tourism Authority of Thailand reporting more than 2.5 million international patients travelling to the Kingdom for treatments in 2012 and predicting an increase of 13% per annum. One dental clinic conglomerate, Dental Corporation Co Ltd, started filling…
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Finance: Exchange rate rigmarole
PHUKET: An issue most Phuket expats deal with in one form or another is exposure to some risk of fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Many earn money outside of the country and then need to convert that to baht for spending purposes. Offshore oil workers are a good example of this, and how best to deal with this situation can…
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Business Buzz: Outsourcing – Imagine hiring an expert from 150 baht
PHUKET: I remember when I started in this industry just how much there was to learn and how many different things I needed to do to get started: build websites, get a domain, hosting, design a logo, create an exciting intro logo, set up social media accounts, start promoting – the list goes on and on! I understand the challenges…
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Finance: Cashing in on retirement
PHUKET: Generating an income in retirement beyond any pension or government-sponsored retirement plan has become much harder in today’s low-interest-rate environment. The income from defined pensions and even retirement benefits from government-sponsored plans are no longer a sure thing. However, there are strategies that help to maximize income during retirement: Dividend-paying stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) Dividend paying stocks are…
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Business Buzz: Cashing in on Google’s greed
PHUKET: When asked what Google is, most people answer ‘where to find things’, while the more technically minded reply ‘a search engine’. Google’s own mission statement is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. What many people do not realize is the true dominance that Google already has in the online world. Put simply, Google…
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Neighborhood electric vehicle market thrives on luxury resort island
PHUKET: The numerous luxury resorts in Phuket has helped grow Southern Thailand’s golf cart and other neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) market, which is now in a dead heat with the Central Region, Ekasit Kunanantakul, managing director of Global Electric Motorcars Asia Company, said in an exclusive interview with the Phuket Gazette. Global Electric Motorcars, now 12 years old, was among…
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