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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Sponsored 9 most common health issues covered by insurance for expats in Thailand
Thailand is a popular destination for expats due to its affordable lifestyle and excellent healthcare system. However, settling in a new country often brings health concerns. To ensure you’re covered for the most common medical needs, understanding what expat health...
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Phuket Business: Ideas bounced around at rubber meeting
PHUKET: A three-day rubber industry convention and study-tour event wrapped up in Thalang recently. The meeting/event, dubbed “ASEAN Rubber Day 2013”, brought together industry experts, operators and researchers from Thailand, Malaysia an Indonesia. Organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the meeting was part of a private-public collaborative effort to create greater investment opportunities for the rubber industry, as…
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Phuket Business: The not-so-hidden cost of inflation
PHUKET: If you are an expatriate living in Thailand or considering relocating here, high inflation might be a distant memory from as far back as the late 1970s. However, Thailand has much higher rates of inflation than is seen in most developed countries, and you will need to consider that when you invest and prepare a budget for your Thai…
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Laguna Phuket to host record-breaking Nu Skin incentives meeting
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket is playing a major role in a record-breaking annual incentive program being staged over six days, from Sunday April 21, for 4,000 delegates and staff of anti-aging products company NU SKIN Greater China. The delegation is expected to generate a business boom for Phuket and Thailand.NU SKIN delegates from seven cities in mainland China, as well as…
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Phuket Finance: Note the contrarian investor
PHUKET: Contrarian investors are those who generally do the opposite of what the majority do. There are many forms, but basically they can all be summed up by the old Wall Street adage, “Buy Low, Sell High.” As simple and as logical as this advice sounds, in practice the majority of investors in fact do the opposite. The lonely contrarians…
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Tesco shopping online
PHUKET: Leading domestic hypermarket chain Tesco Lotus last week launched online grocery shopping and home delivery services for its customers in Bangkok. Asked if the retail giant had plans to launch such services in Phuket, Ms Salinla Seehaphan, Corporate Affairs Director, revealed that: “Our plan is to offer a convenient online grocery shopping service to all of our customers in…
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Phuket gets first Evolution Cinema Planetarium in Thailand
PHUKET: Island residents and tourists alike earlier this week welcomed the opening of the Evolution Cinema Planetarium, a new ‘edutainment’ attraction in Phuket Town. Located in front of Central Festival Phuket’s main entrance, the new mobile cinema planetarium is the first of its kind in Thailand. “The Evolution Planetarium is the newest generation of visualization systems for entertainment and studying,…
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Phuket Business: Budgeting tips and concerns for expats
PHUKET: Becoming and remaining an expat in Phuket, Thailand will require careful budgeting to avoid potential minefields or serious financial problems down the road. With that in mind, here are concerns or tips to keep in mind to help you avoid blowing a hole in your expat budget: Track your living expenses Most personal finance software like newer versions of…
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Phuket Finance: Buy Priceline and book your visa run
PHUKET: Just the other day I had a client ask me how he can save some money on his next visa run. He wants to explore more of Southeast Asia and has gotten tired of making the usual trip to Cambodia, Laos or Kuala Lumpur. That’s when I told him about Priceline.com. Priceline (PCLN) is the famous “Name Your Price”…
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Phuket Business: B28bn worth of 20-baht notes to get exchanged
PHUKET: As part of the Bank of Thailand’s (BoT) policy to make its banknotes more modern and user friendly, 4 billion baht worth of new series-16 20-baht banknotes are being put into circulation. Until now, the Kingdom’s lowest-value, yet most widely used banknotes have not been fraud-proof in synchronizing with electronic finance machines. “The new design incorporates a range of…
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India travel delegation arrives on inaugural Mumbai flight
PHUKET: Laguna Phuket hosted a welcome lunch for Indian travel agents, media, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) executives and airline representatives who traveled on the inaugural Thai Smiles flight from Mumbai on Thursday (April 4). The lunch at Banyan Tree was hosted by Ziya Birkan, deputy managing director of Laguna Phuket. The travel agents later attended a business-to-business conference organized…
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April festivities to generate millions for Phuket
PHUKET: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office expects upcoming festivities this month to generate between 600 and 700 million baht for the local economy. TAT Southern Region 4 Office director Chanchai Doungjit talked about the current tourist situation ahead of the upcoming two-week festive period. He announced that the holiday period officially starts tomorrow, with Chakri Memorial Day,…
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UK’s residency law changes may affect Phuket’s expats
PHUKET: With the Finance Act 2013, the UK is making changes to the statutory residency laws, which may affect some expats living in Phuket. It is well worth taking the time to review the changes if you are one of those who have just left the UK or who, and although you reside in Phuket, you maintain significant ties to…
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Phuket Gazette Business: US tax regime to scrutinize taxpayer bank accounts
PHUKET: In light of the ‘federal fiscal fiasco’ in Washington DC – to the tune of nearly 17 trillion dollars – the American government is looking to expand its worldwide tax base. As such, US citizens and green card holders conducting, contracting or controlling business operations in or from countries outside the US, including Thailand, need to ensure consistency and…
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Phuket Business: Thai football market value to triple by 2017
PHUKET: Thailand-based sports media corporation, Siam Sports Syndicate Pcl, has set a five-year target for the value of the Kingdom’s professional football market to grow by 300%.VIPs from Thailand’s professional football leagues met last month in Bangkok to sign a five year licensing management and administration agreement for the broadcasting and promotion rights, and work out benefits of the lucrative…
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Phuket Business: Formaldehyde free for the AEC
PHUKET: The Deputy Minister of Public Health declared the Baan Saan fresh market in Phuket Town as formaldehyde free, following an inspection tour of the market earlier this week. The Baan Saan market, also known as the Phuket City municipality public fresh market number 1, is located on Ranong Road, near the local bus (sawng taeo) boarding area in Phuket…
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Honda’s BigWing takes off in Phuket
PHUKET: Honda’s BigWing dealership announced its arrival in Phuket yesterday with drum rolls and engines roaring, as the island’s biking community were eager to get their hands on the latest offerings from the Japanese giant. Following their successes in Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Udon Thani and Bangkok, the island was the natural choice for the brand’s expansion into Southern Thailand. Honda…
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Phuket Business: You can run, but you can’t hide
PHUKET: In light of the ongoing ‘federal fiscal fiasco’ in Washington DC, the US tax regime is looking to grow its global revenue pool, with American expats residing in places like Phuket high on the list to be scrutinized. Recently a group of American taxpayers gathered in Phuket for an informative yet dreaded update seminar about the latest income reporting…
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Phuket Business: Why Google is still the best
PHUKET: The word ‘Google’ is a household name, synonymous with the word ‘search’ or even ‘research’ for most people around the world. The name itself originated from the word ‘Googol’, coined by Milton Sirotta, meaning the number 1 followed by 100 zeros; basically an extremely large number. It represents the vast universe of information that Google makes available to the…
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Phuket Business: Tax filing deadline nears
PHUKET: With the peak of the Thai hot season fast approaching, the Personal Income Tax (PIT) filing deadline is also nigh. Usually, the deadline is March 31, but since the last day of March this year falls on a Sunday, income earners in the Kingdom have been given until Monday, April 1 to file their paper returns, or until Tuesday,…
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Phuket’s scrap yards cleaning up
PHUKET: As part of a campaign to raise awareness about pollution, and thus reduce it, the Phuket Environmental Office is conducting appraisals of the island’s antique shops, warehouses and old household item scrap yards. So far, a total of 39 businesses on Phuket have been targeted by the government campaign, which looks to certify related operators as a “Green Antique…
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Phuket Pearl’s crowning achievement
PHUKET: Phuket Pearl Group was selected to design and make the tiara for this year’s Miss Thailand World beauty pageant finalist, who will be crowned on April 9 in Bangkok. Mr Amorn Intha-charoen, president of the Phuket Pearl Group, revealed that his company was selected to design the crown as part of a competition that was organized by Thai TV…
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Reflecting on currency exposure
PHUKET: If you are a long-term expatriate living in Phuket, Thailand, you have probably seen the Thai baht appreciate significantly against your home currency – a trend that will likely continue for the foreseeable future. This appreciation (along with an average inflation rate of 2.7% since 2000) makes it increasingly expensive to live in Thailand at a time when you…
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Phuket Business: AMCHAM to host US taxation seminar in Patong
PHUKET: If you are an American and are baffled by the US tax regime on overseas residents, then you do not want to miss an AMCHAM (the American Chamber of Commerce) seminar on Friday (March 8), at the Holiday Inn Patong. John Andes, tax partner at KPMG Thailand, will provide an overview of US taxpayers’ 2012 US income tax and…
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Phuket Business: A land of opportunity
PHUKET: The island emerged last year as Thailand’s strongest hotel market, according to a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle. The report, entitled Spotlight on Thailand – Hotel Investment Market said that as of December 2012, year-to-date (YTD), Phuket had an occupancy rate of 72.4%. Meanwhile, it said that the Average Daily Rate (ADR) was 3,902 baht, which resulted in…
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Phuket Business: Local firm takes the LEED in sustainability
PHUKET: The island-based construction and development firm, Development Management Group Co Ltd (DMG), recently announced that its Sustainability Manager, John Covello has earned his LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) certification. The designation, with a specialization in Building Design and Construction, makes John one of a small number of sustainable building specialists in Thailand. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy…
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Major hotels prepare for blackouts next month
PHUKET: Major retailers, hotels and other businesses are planning strategies to cope with a possible electricity crisis in April, preparing to reduce power consumption to prevent blackouts and losses in revenue. A large supply of natural gas from Myanmar will be disrupted from April 4-12 as two drilling rigs in the Andaman Sea are shut down for repairs. Other fuel…
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Phuket Finance: The many laws of averaging
PHUKET: Averaging is a word that has many meanings when it comes to investing. The investment world is full of conflicting opinions and advice, and a very common mistake people make is following advice that may be intended for short term speculative money and applying it to long term investment money, or money that is meant to be generating a…
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Phuket Business: Expats rank Thailand highly in global survey
PHUKET: One of the largest ‘expat living’ surveys conducted last year ranked Thailand second in terms of experience and quality of life, while ranking the Kingdom third in economics. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) recently published the results of its 2012 Expat Explorer Survey, which encompassed responses from more than 5,000 expats residing in thirty countries.The same…
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Phuket Business: Fill “er up with gasohol please
PHUKET: Due to the discontinuation of the supply of pure Benzine (91-octane) petrol nationwide, the consumption of gasohol in Phuket this year is expected to increase by at least 50%.Rattakorn Klinchan, head of research at the Phuket Energy Office, affirmed that supplies of pure Benzine 91 were discontinued nationwide on January 1, with most Phuket stocks already drying out this…
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AMCHAM taxation seminar for Americans
PHUKET: If you are an American and are baffled by the US tax regime on overseas residents, then you do not want to miss an AMCHAM – the American Chamber of Commerce – seminar on March 8 at the Holiday Inn Patong. John Andes, tax partner at KPMG Thailand, will provide an overview of US taxpayers’ 2012 US income tax…
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