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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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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UAE woos foreign direct investment
PHUKET: Under the directive of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, UAE Ministry of Economy recently announced that preparations for the 4th Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) scheduled from 8 to 10 April 2014 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center are in full swing.Delivering the speech…
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Phuket Finance: Sri Lanka could be the next frontier for investors
PHUKET: When most Westerners think of Sri Lanka, the island nation off the coast of South India that was once known as Ceylon, they probably think of tea (as the country has long been a major tea exporter), science fiction author Arthur C Clarke (who spent most of his adult life living there) or the now defeated Tamil Tiger guerillas…
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Phuket tourism market eyed for semi-submarine pilot
PHUKET: Looking to build on its recent successful launch in Malaysia, one Korean marketeer is now eying the Phuket and Phang Nga marine leisure markets for its simple yet innovative semi-submarine vessel.“The Penguin” was one of several interesting marine products that stood out at this year’s Phuket International Boat Show (see page 44 for more details about the event); To…
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Phuket Chinese New Year: fruit up 30%, no change in meat, vegetables
PHUKET: Produce shoppers did not seem deterred by the 30% annual increase on fruit prices ahead of the Chinese New Year celebrations, a visit today to one of the Phuket’s main fresh markets revealed. Meanwhile, no significant annual change was observed in the price of most vegetables and two staple meats – chicken and pork. Earlier today, the Gazette visited…
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Australia Day message from the Australian Ambassador to Thailand
PHUKET: Australia Day is the ideal day to reflect on Australia’s domestic and international achievements. It is also an opportunity for Australians and Thais alike to celebrate and reflect on the relationship between our two countries. Over several generations, Australians and Thais have built a solid bilateral relationship, establishing excellent models of cooperation and finding new ways to learn and…
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Don Battles – Merchant of the Orient: no regrets
PHUKET: “This Thailand, you farang!” Perhaps it’s that simple for many fainthearted foreigners struggling to justify distorting dreams for self-made financial freedom in the “Land of No Surprises”; but for one Phuket expat, entrepreneurial legend, the plot turned out to be a tad thicker. Anyone doing business in Phuket – or even just entertaining the prospect – should definitely read…
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Khao Lak – our neighbor to the north
PHUKET: These are exciting times for long-term Khao Lak resident Sascha Meissmer, Sales Manager of the all-new Khaolak Magazine. As the first issue of the quality magazine rolled off the presses recently to considerable acclaim, we managed to grab a moment with Sascha, 44, to find out more. So Sascha, tell us, what is the purpose of the new magazine?…
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Phuket Business: Boat Avenue, Villa Market opens in Cherng Talay
PHUKET: It’s been too long – residents of Laguna Phuket, Cherng Talay and Bang Tao, who had been travelling all the way to Tesco Thalang to do most of their shopping, were forced to undertake expeditions to the well-stocked markets in the south of the island to buy hard-to-find imported goods. But with the grand opening of the Boat Avenue…
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Makro’s Rawai branch open for business
PHUKET: Siam Makro PCL, the Thai subsidiary of Dutch “cash and carry” chain Makro, on December 20 opened its third store in Phuket, on Wiset Road in Rawai. The new branch is Makro’s second “Food Service” format store in Phuket, following the opening of its first branch in Patong earlier this year. Speaking at the grand opening ceremony, Jantima Goiphol,…
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Phuket Aviation: Jetstar Asia CEO talks regional markets
PHUKET: Well-positioned to meet swelling demand for one of Phuket’s top three tourism source markets in the post-GFC era, leading low-cost carrier Jetstar celebrated its first direct flight from Melbourne to Phuket on December 14; As reported earlier this month by the Phuket Gazette, story here. The airline also recently announced that it will deploy one of its flagship Dreamliner…
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A beacon of light: Lighthouse Restaurant on Chalong Bay
PHUKET: Located right on Chalong Bay near the Kan Eang pier, the Lighthouse restaurant and bar has earned near historical status among expats, tourists, and yachties alike. After being built in 1988 and managed by American Jimmy Pearson, Jimmy’s Lighthouse Bar and Grill enjoyed years of operation until recently when the doors shut and only a defunct restaurant and memories…
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The lowdown on common EFT investments
PHUKET: Given that so few managed funds are able to consistently beat important market benchmarks, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are great investments, because they track and replicate the performance of key market indices at a minimal cost. However, the popularity of ETFs has led to their proliferation with some being better investments than others. So what are the best ETFs…
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Beguiled by jewels
PHUKET: Art gallery owner Eric Smulders is well known on the island for his passion for Asian art, but recently he has taken the plunge into the world of fine jewelry. At his gallery in Surin, Soul of Asia, Eric will be displaying and selling 60 pieces of exquisite jewelry featuring precious stones such as diamonds, emeralds, tanzanites, sapphires, rubies…
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Phuket Business – Man of vision: Boon Yongsakul
PHUKET: Boon Yongsakul is the Deputy Managing Director of Boat Development Company, the dynamic local entity building some of Phuket’s newest commercial projects that will help lift the island’s business infrastructure to new heights.Boon is the latest of the Yongsakul generation to make his contribution to the changing face of the island. “My great-grandfather came to Phuket as a worker…
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Tesco Lotus opens new Phuket department store in Chalong
PHUKET: Tesco Lotus today opened its new Chalong Phuket Department Store on Chao Fa West Road.The store offers a wide range of fresh food and groceries, as well as a large variety of housewares, electronics, toys and furniture. The store complex has 72 commercial tenants including banks and leading restaurants. The Tesco Lotus store will create 170 jobs in the…
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Be a responsible investor – Phuket Finance
PHUKET: There is much wrong with our world unfortunately. I am guessing this is not news to most of you, and the corporate profit motive is widely accepted as being a major cause of many of the modern world’s largest problems. I am often asked by clients how they can invest in the markets without inadvertently supporting or contributing to…
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