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 5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)
Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...
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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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UPDATE: SET suspends trading of Thai Airways shares
UPDATE: Trading in Thai Airways shares was suspended by the Stock Exchange of Thailand this afternoon after auditors declined to sign off on its financial statements for the six months to June 30. Auditor Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Jaiyos said it couldn’t reach a conclusion on the statements due to issues including a lack of liquidity and debt defaults, which created…
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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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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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CCSA to allow sports gatherings, exempt Chinese fruit traders from travel ban
The Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration announced on Monday that will allow fans to attend sports events, and allow Chinese traders to enter Thailand for fruit export. The CCSA said that as Thailand approaches 80 days without a local Covid-19 transmission, it’s believed to be safe for spectators to attend large sports gatherings, although measures will be tighter for events…
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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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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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Price of gold rises but investment not without risks
A leading investment research firm says the price of gold is on the rise, with predictions bullion could reach US$2,000 an ounce. Chayanee Juengmanon from Morningstar Research Thailand says one exchange-traded fund favoured by most domestic gold mutual funds, recorded net inflows of over $20 billion within the last year, a 30% increase in the value of its assets. gold…
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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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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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Trump threatens US TikTok ban
Donald Trump said yesterday that he plans to sign an executive order – perhaps as soon as today – banning the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok from the US. Such a ban would mark the culmination of national security concerns over the safety of personal data handled by TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, which became 1 of only a handful of…
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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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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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Tourism sector facing massive closures
Thailand’s tourism sector, long seen as a lifeline for the nation’s battered economy, is in a meltdown; more than 30% of tourism-related businesses have left the market with many more expected to follow, according to the Tourism Council of Thailand. The president of the TCT says the tourism industry predicts further deterioration after 6 months of the Covid-19 crisis, as…
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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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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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Thai Airways unlikely to resume flights in August
Anyone expecting the beleaguered Thai Airways to resume its flight schedule in August should not hold their breath. That’s the word from reliable sources in the industry, who predict the national carrier will not take to the skies again until September at the earliest. A report in TTR Weekly says the airline, currently undergoing a rehabilitation process, has extended 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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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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UK’s Kew Green Hotels launches 7 properties in Bangkok
Despite a quickly changing business environment for the world hospitality industry, some companies are accelerating expansion plans in anticipation of the eventual recovery. Kew Green Hotels, one of the UK’s leading hotel management companies with over 55 hotels in its portfolio, has now announced plans to expand into the south east Asian market through a joint venture with Siamese Asset.…
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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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Prohibition activist criticises unequal enforcement of Thai alcohol laws
The head of the prohibitionist Alcohol Watch Network is criticising the Office of Alcohol Beverage Control and police for looking the other way after ML Piyapas Bhirombhakdi posted a photo of herself showing off a branded bottle of an alcoholic drink on her Instagram profile (the picture has since been deleted). Piyapas is not only a great-granddaughter of HRH Prince…
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Bangkok’s shopping malls struggle under tourist ban, fierce competition
Suvarnabhumi, the name of Bangkok’s second international airport, means “realm of gold,” and was given by His Majesty the late King Rama IX to Bangkok’s eastern outskirts (technically in Samut Prakhan province), once a marshland called Nong Nguhao (Cobra Swamp). With its overtones of wealth, the name represents the hopes of developers, who are turning the area into a retail…
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