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 12Go introduces Japan Rail Passes to enhance travel accessibility for international travellers
For those who have travelled throughout Thailand, 12Go is a well-known provider of various trips, though the platform itself has a much wider reach. Ranging from buses to planes, 12Go is undoubtedly a leading booking platform for travel throughout the...
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Thai Air Asia posts huge Q2 loss as their fleet struggles back into the skies
Despite many of Thailand’s discount airlines taking to the skies again, all airlines are still in the financial doldrums as they battle travel restrictions, a risk-averse flying public and closed international borders. Now Asia Aviation, major shareholder of Thai AirAsia, has announced revenue of 2,221 million baht and a net losses of 1,210.6 million baht for Q2 2020. The net…
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Labour minister says unemployment less than half of predictions
Thailand’s labour minister told a Friday press briefing that the number of unemployed people in Thailand is around 2 to 3 million, less than half the 7 to 8 million previously predicted. He said that since The National Economic and Social Development Council did the calculation, “it cannot be wrong… as the latter is Thailand’s economic planner”. Given the gravities…
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Pattaya spending millions on “facelift”
The world famous resort town of Pattaya is spending 160 million baht to improve the city’s beaches in a bid to attract domestic tourists. Pattaya’s mayor says the landscape redevelopment, on a 4 kilometre stretch of Pattaya Beach, will begin in October and is expected to be finished by the end of the year. “The City of Pattaya needs to…
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Phuket proposes to welcome tourists by November
PHOTO: Willy Thuan Phuket business owners are pressing forward with a proposal to turn around province’s tourism industry by allowing long-stay tourists to resume visits to the southern resort island as early as November. Under the “4T” model put forward at a meeting of the provincial disease control committee, long-stay visitors have been identified as having the best potential to…
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Thai Airways loses 28 billion baht in the first half of the year
Embattled, bankrupt Thai Airways suffered about 28 billion baht in losses for the first 6 months of this year, mainly attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seriously impacted its operations and crushed global travel, grounding fleets and shuttering many airlines altogether. The airline’s acting president said today that the pandemic has led to many countries, including Thailand, closing their…
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Thailand urged to promote itself as production hub for medical supplies, PPE
Thailand is being encouraged to promote itself as a manufacturing hub for medical and personal protection equipment as part of its financial strategy amid the coronavirus crisis, as industries like tourism and hospitality struggle. The director of the Centre for International Trade Studies at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce told reporters that the latest survey of 200…
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Study finds 82% of Thais “confident” in reopening tourism sector
As Thailand gradually reopens its borders, new findings from a global study suggests that 82% of Thais are confident that Thailand is well prepared to reopen its tourism and leisure activities, the highest globally. The study also found that tourists from Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, and India are all targeting Thailand as their first destination when their countries’ borders…
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US dollar denominated gold trade to be allowed
Ending decades of regulations limiting gold trade in Thailand to the baht, the US dollar will now be allowed as well. 2 weeks ago, in a bid to slow the rapidly rising baht and avoid landing on the US list of “currency manipulators”, the Bank of Thailand announced a policy to allow trading gold products in US dollars. Market players…
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Leading Thai epidemiologist warns against opening borders
A leading epidemiologist on the faculty of medicine at Chulalongkorn University is calling for the government to suspend any plan to allow foreign tourists for 6-18 months. Dr Thira Woratanarat, who makes daily updates on his Facebook in the Thai language and is well followed in the Thai media, has been delivering regular warnings about the risk of Covid-19 to…
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Thailand’s GDP forecast to fall up to 9% this year
Thailand’s GDP is set to fall 7-9%, year-on-year, according to the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking. The fall is, not surprisingly, being fallout from the catastrophic drop in tourism and lower exports. Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the Board of Trade of Thailand, says the expected contraction was revised downwards from 5-8%. The committee also predicted exports would drop…
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Nok Air blames some of its losses on MPs who don’t show up for flights
Part of Nok Air’s current losses are being blamed on privileged MPs, who receive free flights on the budget carrier but don’t turn up for their flights. Somboon Uthaiwiankul, secretary for the government’s House Speaker, says the issue was brought up by executives of the airline during a meeting with the House Speaker, Chuan Leekpai. The executives told him last…
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Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand family ranked 21 on world’s rich list
Bloomberg has released its list of the world’s wealthiest, and the family behind Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group sits at number 21. The CP conglomerate is one of the world’s largest, operating across multiple sectors, including food manufacture, agriculture, retail, and telecommunications. It has stakes in CP Foods, the world’s largest producer of shrimp and among the top 3 producers of…
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Swiss clothing firm denies layoffs
Contradicting earlier reports, Triumph International (Thailand) has denied any link with a garment company that laid off 800 employees on Friday. A statement from the Swiss Triumph Holding AG on yesterday said the company sold its production facilities in Thailand to Body Fashion (Thailand) 4 years ago. Accoding to the company’s head of corporate communications: “In fact, Triumph has handed…
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Hundreds left jobless as Air Force cancels golf club contract
Hundreds of people were left jobless in Chiang Mai yesterday after Wing 41, a property owned by the Royal Thai Air Force and the location of the Star Dome Golf Club, put up a sign cancelling its contracts with all renters. According to Wing 41, all contracts expired yesterday and as of today Star Dome will no longer be open…
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Thai Airways to operate repatriation flights to Denmark, Taiwan
Thai Airways has arranged 2 repatriation flights to Taipei and 2 to Copenhagen this month, to bring back foreign nationals who were stranded by the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline’s acting president says the Taiwan flights will fly on August 5 and 14, leaving Suvarnabhumi Airport at 8:25am and arriving in Taipei at 1:05pm local time; Chansin Treenuchagron said the flights…
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Survey: China travel may take a year to recover
Data from the latest travel report by ITB China Travel Trends show that it’s possible – even likely – that the Chinese outbound travel market will take up to a year to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The survey of 200 Chinese outbound travel agents examined the anticipated travel behaviour of outbound Chinese tourists once the beginnings of recovery are…
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Thai delivery app merger gets 3.5 billion baht boost
Homegrown Thai delivery app Line Man is merging with its longtime partner, online restaurant review platform Wongnai Media. Line Man has secured fresh capital investment worth US$110 million (3.5 billion baht) from BRV Capital Management to bolster the new entity. The merger marks the first time any member of the Japan-based Line Group has secured a financial investment of this…
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Nok Air will survive despite bankruptcy: CEO
Thai budget carrier Nok Air is insisting that its business will be able to return to solvency despite filing a business rehabilitation request with the Central Bankruptcy Court, shortly after national flag carrier Thai Airways did the same. Nok Air CEO Wutthiphum Jurangkool said yesterday that the impact of Covid-19 is preventing the airline from flying its 18 international routes,…
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Hotel bookings bounce back for long weekend holiday
The long holiday weekend is reportedly seeing heavy bookings at hotels and resorts, reigniting hopes of a revival of domestic tourism, which has been battered for months by the Covid-19 outbreak. Accommodations in the southern provinces in particular have been receiving a good rate of bookings with holidaymakers for the 4 day extended weekend. The tourism authoritiy of Thailand says…
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Global aviation recovery could take 3 years – Survey
“Widespread recovery of the global airline industry could be up to three years away.” That’s the consensus out of n industry poll conducted as part of FlightPlan: Charting a Course into the Future. 500 professionals around the world were asked questions about the likely recovery of the global aviation industry. Apart from the dire predictions of a slow recovery over the next…
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Emergency Decree, Phase 6 to be discussed in coming weeks: CCSA
Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesperson of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said in a press conference this morning that discussions on the Emergency Decree and a “Phase 6” of lifting Covid-19 restrictions and reopening the country are expected in the upcoming weeks. A meeting is expected of the committees, including the CCSA and the National Security Council, responsible for easing…
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Thailand tries 2-prong strategy to get perishables to China
Thailand is bypassing supply-chain roadblocks to deliver its perishables – mainly agricultural and food products – to China, its biggest market in Asia. Since Thailand shares no border with China, perishable goods like fruit and vegetables have traditionally been sent from Thai farms and warehouses by truck, going through either Vietnam or Laos. Ships and planes are also used, but…
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Suvarnabhhumi Airport sees huge jump in traffic
Despite a continued and near-total ban on international arrivals, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport is seeing a spike in traffic after the government eased lockdown measures and allowed domestic travel. The airport’s general manager says that from July 1-15, Suvarnabhumi saw 3,205 flights (1,604 incoming and 1,601 outgoing) or an average of 214 per day. “The total number of passengers using…
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The future is now: 5G taking off in Thailand
5G… we’ve all heard aboutit, but what is it, really? 5G literally means fifth-generation wireless technology. As the successor to 4G, the biggest changes include higher speeds, almost zero latency (the delay in transfer of data once an instruction has been given), and the ability to connect more devices at once. However, the benefits of 5G aren’t limited to its…
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Poll shows most Thais still oppose foreign arrivals
A recent survey carried out by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll, shows that a majority of Thais still oppose opening the country to foreigners, even if they’re not infected with Covid-19, saying the global coronavirus situation is still very serious. The poll was conducted on July 6-8 on 1,251 people aged 18 and over, of various…
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“Travel bubbles” to require minimum 2 week stay
“Travel bubble” tourists who visit Thailand during its soft and timid reopening phase, tentatively scheduled for August, may have to spend 14 days in designated areas. Then, a negative test for Covid-19 after 2 weeks would free them up to go anywhere in the Kingdom. Thailand’s tourism and sports minister says he’s met with PM Prayut Chan-o-cha about creating travel…
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Thai Airasia ponders second Bangkok hub
Despite reports that Air Asia’s future is in doubt, Thai AirAsia says it’s considering making Suvarnabhumi airport its new hub, alongside its already established hub in Don Mueang Airport, to increase revenue and broaden its traveller appeal. The executive chairman of Asia Aviation, the largest shareholder of TAA, says the airline is conducting a feasibility study on the move to…
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AOT considering joint venture with Thai Airways to keep services running
The company that runs 6 of Thailand’s airports says it wants to work with Thai Airways to ensure airport services can continue while the national carrier goes through a “rehabilitation” process and struggles with the loss of business caused by the Covid-19 crisis. Airports of Thailand president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn says the AOT board is in talks about a joint venture…
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Thailand producing over 4 million face masks a day
An increase in production facilities means Thailand is now producing 4.2 million face masks a day, leading to a growing surplus. A report in Nation Thailand says Internal Trade Director Vichai Pochanakit says producers in China are once again exporting the raw materials needed for mask production. The Thai government is now looking at ways to manage a daily surplus…
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“Come and see” – Ministry invites diplomats to see coconut-picking monkeys in action
The monkeys, and the Thai government, are hitting back at accusations macaque monkeys are being exploited, even abused, and forced to pick coconuts for commercial farmers. Some larger western retailers say they’re going to pull Thai coconut products off their shelves after being lobbied by animal rights activist that the coconuts were picked by abused and over-worked macaque monkeys. The Thai…
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