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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Business Buzz: Defining your perfect customer
PHUKET: One of the first things you should be focusing on in business is deciding what your niche is and who your perfect customers will be. Most people, in theory, will have done this as part of the initial planning and deciding what business to go into, but sometimes businesses change and go through significant metamorphosis over time, so it’s…
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Finance: Cycling the bull market
PHUKET: As the bull market in global stocks continues in the worst economic environment for a bull market within my lifetime, I find it reassuring to turn to those with some of the most impressive track records in the world of investing and trading. Have things changed this time? Is the new era of central bank money printing going to…
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Lighthouse Weekend Market a boon to businesses
PHUKET: The new addition of a mini-motor expo at the Lighthouse Weekend Market last month produced four on-the-spot car sales, tagging the event as a business generator on Phuket – one in so much demand that it will continue through the rainy season. The cars that sold were Mini Cooper, Volvo and Subaru models, confirmed Kanittha Prasopsirikul, market organizer and…
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Business Buzz: Re-make marketing plans
PHUKET: We all know that social media marketing is popular, but how can we best use it for our business to increase awareness, grow our customer base, make more sales and improve profitability? Targeting people using social media is easy if done correctly, but to be successful and get the best results, you need a blueprint to make sure everything…
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Finance: Strong dollars for investors
PHUKET: One of the biggest and most unappreciated risks faced by global investors this year is the continued strength of the United States dollar holding back key investing asset classes. After all, a strong dollar tends to be a double-edged sword.BAD FOR LARGE CAP US STOCKS As foreign currencies weaken against the dollar, US stocks that are large cap multinational…
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Business Buzz: Successfully harness social media power
PHUKET: There is no doubting the power of social media marketing as a business tool. The question is, are you using it, and if so, are you doing so effectively? Social media can be very overwhelming as there are so many options it can be difficult to know where to start. It can also be a case of ‘you don’t…
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Finance: One size does not fit all
PHUKET: When it comes to financial advice, my first words of caution to everyone are “never, ever, do anything yourself that you don’t understand 100%”. If the markets seem too complex, there is no reason you can’t handle your financial affairs without using this tool. Every asset class at the end of the day is just that: a tool. There…
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Chanintr Living launches month-long Phuket sale
PHUKET: Chanintr Living has launched a month-long sale at its classy imported furniture outlet in Phuket, providing islanders and visitors the chance to grab quality furniture at a knocked down price. Chanintr Living was established in 1994 and has several outlets in Bangkok and Singapore, as well as one multi-brand location in Phuket. The reputable dealer’s current sale, from May…
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Finance: Investment ideals for new oil and gas realities
PHUKET: Late last year, legendary oil and gas entrepreneur Thomas Boone Pickens said during a CNBC interview: “Energy is cheap in America. We still have the cheapest energy in the world…Take advantage of it, play the demand side.” Since then, Pickens has repeatedly stated in public appearances that he believes oil will rise to US$70 a barrel this year and…
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HK Express takes flight in Phuket market
PHUKET: Hong Kong’s low-fare airline has seen significant first-quarter growth as it continues its campaign to woo both the Thai and expat markets in Phuket. HK Express has carried close to 500,000 passengers in the first quarter of this year, which represents a 102 percent growth compared with the same period in 2014. The airline reports total passengers for March…
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New Banyan Tree Phuket hotel manager “at home’
PHUKET: Hery Kuswoyo has taken the helm as the hotel manager for Banyan Tree Phuket, the Banyan Tree group’s flagship property. Mr Kuswoyo joined the Banyan Tree family in 2010 as the Food and Beverage Executive Assistant Manager for Banyan Tree Bangkok. Prior to joining the Phuket team, he was the executive assistant manager for Banyan Tree Macau – the…
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Finance: Sometimes you can buy happiness
PHUKET: I recently read a study about buying experiences versus material things and their relative effects on happiness. Interestingly, studies show that money only increases happiness up to a certain point, and buying experiences can have a longer effect on happiness than buying material things, even though the ‘things’ will be around for a substantial amount of time. The reason…
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Finance: Ways expats lose money
PHUKET: Financial problems, or losses, are often the major reason expats are forced to return home or worst – end up stuck somewhere they no longer want to be. If you don’t want to end up in the same position as the many failed expats, keep in mind the following ways they lose money abroad. OFFSHORE INVESTMENT PRODUCTS Investing in…
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Visionary dentist bridges gap in Phuket dental market
PHUKET: Medical tourism and the hordes of foreign customers it brings to Thailand and Phuket’s shores is on a steady rise, with the Tourism Authority of Thailand reporting more than 2.5 million international patients travelling to the Kingdom for treatments in 2012 and predicting an increase of 13% per annum. One dental clinic conglomerate, Dental Corporation Co Ltd, started filling…
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Finance: Exchange rate rigmarole
PHUKET: An issue most Phuket expats deal with in one form or another is exposure to some risk of fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Many earn money outside of the country and then need to convert that to baht for spending purposes. Offshore oil workers are a good example of this, and how best to deal with this situation can…
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Business Buzz: Outsourcing – Imagine hiring an expert from 150 baht
PHUKET: I remember when I started in this industry just how much there was to learn and how many different things I needed to do to get started: build websites, get a domain, hosting, design a logo, create an exciting intro logo, set up social media accounts, start promoting – the list goes on and on! I understand the challenges…
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Golfers flock to Laguna
PHUKET: The newly re-designed Laguna Phuket Golf Club is winning the hearts of golfers with the island’s very first offer of shorter, five or 10-year memberships, Paul Wilson, the club’s director, told the Phuket Gazette. This new product sits between a lifetime membership and the one-year access card that most clubs, including Laguna, offer. The new memberships target several key…
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Business Buzz: Cashing in on Google’s greed
PHUKET: When asked what Google is, most people answer ‘where to find things’, while the more technically minded reply ‘a search engine’. Google’s own mission statement is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. What many people do not realize is the true dominance that Google already has in the online world. Put simply, Google…
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Neighborhood electric vehicle market thrives on luxury resort island
PHUKET: The numerous luxury resorts in Phuket has helped grow Southern Thailand’s golf cart and other neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) market, which is now in a dead heat with the Central Region, Ekasit Kunanantakul, managing director of Global Electric Motorcars Asia Company, said in an exclusive interview with the Phuket Gazette. Global Electric Motorcars, now 12 years old, was among…
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Business Buzz: Blogging me bonkers with business
PHUKET: A blog in its simplest form is a website that gets updated regularly. The only real difference to a ‘normal’ website is the frequency with which it is updated or changed. My preferred working blog is a combination of the traditional website with a blog or news page included, so that it covers the best of both worlds and…
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Phuket’s new tourism rule book: “Out with the beach, in with the shopping’
PHUKET: The island’s reputation for attracting luxury tourists with its azure seas, coral sand coves and boutique resorts is being transformed by recent demographic shifts which are seeing wealthy visitors to Phuket spending more time away from the beach in pursuit of retail therapy. Shopping is becoming the main activity for luxury travellers coming to Phuket from within the region.…
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Business Buzz: Twitter – Instant marketing, tweets of success
PHUKET: Twitter was created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey and Noah Glass as a method of using SMS to give status updates to all of your friends in your address book, but without the cost or time used sending individual messages. This has morphed into what is now a multi-billion dollar company with 232 million monthly users. What started out…
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Finance: Paying for education
PHUKET: By far the biggest potential financial-headache for a young expatriate family is paying for the cost of an expat child’s education. After all, even large multinationals are increasingly scoffing at hiring expatriates with children or offering pay packages that include paying the full costs of international school fees, which can easily top 325,000 baht to 650,000 baht or more…
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Finance: UK’s ever-shifting goalposts affecting Phuket expats, retirees
PHUKET: The UK government is continuing to shake things up for retirees and expatriate workers trying to make long-term plans for the post-work future with yet another shift of the goalposts, one of many in recent months. The most dramatic change announced in the new budget, to go into effect next year, is the reduction in lifetime allowance to one…
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BluAnda dodges mass markets, backs quality tours
PHUKET: For a premium tour company in Phuket, the goal is providing superior services and beating the crowds of a developing mass- tourism market by delivering private experiences at the region’s most well-known destinations. A newcomer to the Andaman island tour market, BluAnda walked onto the scene recognizing exactly that, and within three years has developed a strong client base…
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Business Buzz: Facebook – unlimited sales potential at our fingertips
PHUKET: Marketing 101: to make money you need customers, and to get customers you need a database to market to. The better quality the database, the better the results. But we will come back to that in a minute… These days everyone has heard of Facebook. Most people who are even mildly computer literate have a Facebook profile, no matter…
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Finance: Drop in oil prices can be a good thing
PHUKET: When it comes to investing, many make it more complicated than it actually is. What I try to do is use common sense and simplify the process. The two big factors driving global markets right now are central banks and the drop in oil prices. Banks have been pumping trillions of dollars into the global financial system ever since…
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Anthony Lark takes the reins at Trisara
PHUKET: Widely respected hotelier Anthony Lark has been appointed managing director and general manager of Trisara, a high-end resort of 48 pool villas and 20 privately owned residences on Phuket’s west coast. In his new role, Mr Lark will continue to provide hospitality advisory services to the clients of the Montara Hospitality Group, which operates the resort, and will develop…
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Finance: Invest in your children
PHUKET: I read an article in the BBC recently that I thought was worth sharing with my readers. It was about an investment that actually costs no money, but could yield very large returns to your children in the future. The investment is in their imagination, and the study I read about had some counter-intuitive advice. It actually concluded that…
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Villa Market opens Boat Lagoon branch
PHUKET: The doors to Villa Market’s third branch on the island open on March 20 with the Grand Opening Ceremony in Boat Lagoon taking place on March 27. The grand opening, organized by Kanittha Prasopsirikul from ‘By Kanittha’, will be the highlight of the Boat Lagoon’s monthly Lighthouse Market, which offers a variety of vendors the opportunity to showcase their…
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