Business News
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Sponsored Chef Fabio Genghini takes over Portofino at Le Meridien Phuket for an Exclusive 2-week residency
Food lovers, prepare your taste buds for a gourmet Italian feast! From July 2 to 13, acclaimed Chef Fabio Genghini will take over Le Meridien Phuket’s beloved Italian restaurant, Portofino as a guest chef. It’s a chance for you to...
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Phuket Business: AMCHAM affirms commitment to saving the environment
PHUKET: The American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Greater Phuket Chapter assembled at Holiday Inn Patong for its third meeting of the year recently. Organized in conjunction with environmental organization, SEEK, the evening’s discussions focused on ways that hospitality and tourism stakeholders can implement “Green Tourism” practices while reducing operational overheads and thus increasing profit margins. The meeting followed an all-day,…
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Local TAT chief bullish on Phuket tourism industry
PHUKET: The new director the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Phuket Town has proclaimed the “low season” a thing of the past with so many tourists arriving year-round. Speaking at the “Governor Meets the Press” gathering at Provincial Hall today, TAT Southern Region 4 Office director Chanchai Doungjit expressed confidence in the performance of the Phuket tourism industry,…
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Phuket Business: Midyear tax filing deadline tomorrow
PHUKET: Tomorrow, August 31, is the midyear tax return filing deadline for both companies and individuals who have generated income in Thailand during the first six months of 2012 – regardless of where or how payments were made. The Revenue Department website states: “A company [or individual] is obliged to estimate its annual net profit [or net income] as well…
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Phuket Business: Capitalizing on world illiquidity
PHUKET: There have been several investment strategies, with great results, that I have been relying on recently. They are filling the gap left behind as banks are forced to shore up their capital bases and thus forgo many of their traditionally lucrative and profitable businesses. One of these strategies – legal financing – I have written about several times. Another…
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Phuket Business: The ultimate island view
PHUKET: What do you get when you cross a remote controlled helicopter with a camera? A helicam of course. Helicam is also the name of the Phuket-based company that has been hovering over the island for the past eight years. And what do you get when you have eight years of aerial shots of Phuket? An opportunity to create a…
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Phuket Business: German economist warns about ASEAN+3
PHUKET: Mechanisms need to be in place for crisis prevention and resolution before the next economic crash, and this means the Southeast Asian regional financial structure needs to be reformed, warns Ulrich Volz, a senior economist at the German Development Institute.Giving a public lecture at Chulalongkorn University on lessons learned from the current European crisis, Volz said there were five…
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Phuket Business: Mid-year tax filing deadline approaches
PHUKET: Companies and individuals who generated income in Thailand during the first six months of 2012 – regardless of where or how payments were made – have until August 31 to file their midyear tax return. In this first article, we will go over the basics of regulations and procedures for filing and paying income tax in Thailand. Next week,…
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Phuket tourism roadshow in Japan “well received’
PHUKET: Recently returned from a week-long tourism fact-finding tour in Japan, Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha has told the media that the “Amazing Thailand in Japan” roadshow impressed the Japanese tour operators in the three cities they visited. Organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and coordinated by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (PPAO) and the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA),…
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Phuket Business: Football Club sales steady
PHUKET: Business was steady for Phuket FC during the first half of the 2012 season, with the club’s accounts revealing nearly a million baht in revenue. Accounts for the 18-team Thai Yamaha One soccer league (Division 1), recently released by league’s mother company, Sponsor Thai Premiere League, show that Phuket FC generated a gross revenue of 976,830 baht from March…
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Phuket Business: India, Vietnam rice exports to surpass Thailand in 2012
PHUKET: A Thai trade researcher has concurred with a recent prediction by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that India and Vietnam will export more rice than Thailand this year. Thanawan Phonwichai, the Director of the Business and Economics Forecasting Center at the Thai Chamber of Commerce University said that Thailand is expected to lose its crown as the…
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Boonthaworn Phuket showroom to open by October 1
PHUKET: After years of delay, Bangkok-based construction materials retailer Boonthavorn is moving forward with its plans to enter the Phuket market with the opening of a “mini-showroom”.The new facility will be located between Songkhla and Yaowarat roads, near the Tesco-Lotus junction in Rassada.Speaking to the Gazette at the project site, Boonthavorn architect Jiravut Kararun said the company is currently renovating…
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Phuket Business: New trade surplus high; FDI jumps 66%; Foreign shares to be scrutinized
PHUKET: Three-quarters of the way into the government’s current fiscal year, international trade in Phuket is thriving, with this year’s trade surplus already surpassing last year’s record high. Phuket Customs House’ records through June 30 show that the value of exports in the 2012 government fiscal year (October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012) is now at 12.06 billion baht…
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Phuket hotel investments surge in 2012
PHUKET: Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels is predicting that Phuket will be one of Asia Pacific’s hotel investment hot spots in 2012, following record sales in the first half of the year. Investment in the hotel property sector in Phuket is expected to exceed 10 billion baht (US$315m) for the full year for first time ever in 2012. Mike Batchelor, Managing…
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Phuket Investor: The alternative gold rush
PHUKET: With all the economic strife the world has seen over the past 12 months, I feel as if I’ve turned into a portrayer of doom. So, I’m taking the doom gloves off and jumping on the feel good train, which seems to have hit the European markets this last couple of weeks. I’m not saying that the problems have…
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Phuket needs “facelift’ before ASEAN Community 2015
PHUKET: Officials took another look at necessary island developments during a Phuket Tourism Association (PTA) seminar Friday, as Phuket prepares to enter the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015. “This is the third seminar that [the PTA] has held on this topic, because we understand the importance of ‘creative tourism’ and the necessity of applying it to Phuket in preparation for…
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Phuket Business: Risk on, risk off
PHUKET: There has been an increasing amount of correlation in the markets ever since the increased use of computers and algorithms. This has caused a lot of trouble with conventional diversification methods, and when markets get reactive to political tensions as they have been recently, it is common to see things moving in tandem across assets classes as developments are…
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‘Creative Tourism’ seminar in Phuket next week
PHUKET: In preparation for the measures of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) set to take effect in less than three years, the Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) will host a seminar on Friday, July 20 to promote sustainable tourism under the concept of “creative tourism”. Among the distinguished guests invited to speak are former Bangkok Governor and current Democrat Party deputy…
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Phuket Business: Sunken Deep Sea Port upgrade project resurfaces at meeting
PHUKET: Transport Minister Charupong Ruangsuwanm has told a consortium of Phuket officials and the operator of Phuket’s Deep Sea Port that he will raise the problem of the stalled 100-million-baht plan to develop the facility with Cabinet.However, Mr Charupong said the project must clearly provide benefits for local people if the plan is to go ahead.Mr Charupong was in Phuket…
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Phuket Business: Notice and redemption periods
PHUKET: One thing many investors don’t understand when looking at a fund fact sheet, is how long it will take to get their cash back when they sell. There are generally two pieces of information you’re looking for: one is the notice period and the other is the redemption period. These two things, in addition to a third factor –…
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Phuket Business: Migrant workers regulations; AirAsia move; Prefab construction
PHUKET: Employers in Phuket have been allotted additional time, until December 14, to have their Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian migrant workers complete the nationality verification process so they can be legally registered to work in Thailand. Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa explained the news to employers and their representatives at a meeting on June 20 organized by the Phuket Provincial…
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Phuket Business: Boating industry shows signs of recovery
PHUKET: The yachting sector is showing signs of recovery following a three-year-period of stunted growth and sluggish sales brought on by global economic turmoil, a local industry expert has observed. “Despite what some figures indicate (see ‘Customs: more pleasure floating in’ below), it seems to me that our strongest years in terms of sales were from 2006 to 2008,” says…
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Phuket Business: Vespa dealer to kick-start sales
PHUKET: Drago Andaman Company, Phuket’s first and only authorized Vespa dealership, reported the sale of over 200 brand new scooters in 2011, the firm’s inaugural year of operation. “This year our sales target is 300,” showroom Manager Supamat Thammakoranont told the Gazette. The annual sales goal increase of 50% has already faced some bumps along the road, she admits. “Up…
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Myanmar to lure Mice to Phuket
PHUKET: The emergence of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the opening-up of neighboring Burma will generate more high-yield visitors for Phuket and Thailand in general, delegates attending a recent tourism industry conference were told. Emerging opportunities, as well as accompanying challenges, were the primary topics of discussion at the first Thailand MICE International Forum (TMIF) held in Bangkok on…
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Phuket Business: Why Facebook was never a sure thing
PHUKET: Personally speaking, I have never been one to jump on the Facebook band wagon. I just do not get the whole ‘let the world know what you are doing on an hourly basis’ scenario. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very useful application when, like ourselves, we enjoy the sun-soaked shores and we want to keep in touch…
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Phuket Business: CPI rise slows down; Rice stocks pile high
PHUKET: THOUGH the cost of living in Thailand continues to rise, the rate of increase over the past three months has slowed, Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures indicate.Compiled and released by the Ministry of Commerce (MoC), the CPI national average nudged up 0.45 points to 115.23 in last month, a month-on-month increase of 0.39%.Calculated by comparing current average prices of…
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Phuket Business: Trade booming
PHUKET: Two-thirds of the way into the government’s current fiscal year, international trade in Phuket is thriving, with the value of both imports and exports looking likely to surpass last year’s record-high performance. Phuket Customs’ records through to May 31 show that the value of exports in 2012 (October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012) is now at 11.11bn baht…
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Phuket inks rice deal with Maha Sarakham
PHUKET: Trade representatives from Phuket and Maha Sarakham have entered into bilateral negotiations centered primarily on the supply of scented jasmine rice from the Northeastern Thai province. Marking the start of a promising commercial alliance, the development was highlighted by the signing of a trade memorandum at the Pearl Hotel in Phuket Town on Tuesday. The general terms of the…
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Phuket business: Thailand-UK trade steady; London Olympics to give Thai food exports a boost
PHUKET: After a moving ceremony handing out IB diplomas to graduating students at the British International school, HE Ambassador Asif Ahmad took time to speak with the Phuket Gazette about the strong links between the two countries. HE Asif Ahmad was made Ambassador to Thailand in late 2010 but had traveled frequently to the Kingdom, first as Director- Asia for…
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Phuket business: Smart phone sales soar in Q1
PHUKET: Thailand’s rapidly expanding smartphone market recorded nearly 70% growth in the first quarter of this year, according to GfK research group’s retail audit findings, which compare quarter on quarter revenue performances. Heightened consumer demand has brought about a surge in sales volume of over 80%, reaching 758,000 smartphones sold in the first three months of 2012 (Q1). Consumers in…
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Phuket business: Greece primed to exit the Euro
PHUKET: It is fair to say that recently the world’s markets have been as unstable as a new born baby trying to stand on its own two feet! With the financial woes of the European markets, the rest of the world has been dragged down by a seemingly constant torrent of poor European economic news. We have a new French…
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