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 Moving with family? Here’s how to cut health costs in Thailand
Relocating to Thailand with your family brings exciting new opportunities, but it also comes with the challenge of managing healthcare costs in a new system. Thailand has both public and private healthcare options, each offering different prices and quality of...
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Finance: Next phase of tech revolution may be here
PHUKET: While many have been focused on Brexit, problems in Europe, the Middle East and the US elections, a technology revolution has quietly marched toward its most important phase, that is not being recognized by the mainstream media (which is focused on making predictions about where the market will go in 2017). The tech revolution is alive and well and…
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Finance: Stocks are hot, bonds are not
PHUKET: The post election weeks have seen many leadership stocks take off, with the overall breadth of the market uptrend being impressive. The market is being led higher by both small and mid cap stocks, plus sectors like energy, materials, industrial, technology and the economically sensitive Dow Transports – all positive signs for even higher stock prices in the months…
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Business Buzz: Social Media trends to look out for in 2017
PHUKET: Another year gone and the social media scene has witnessed a lot of changes, with new platforms such as Periscope and Snapchat rising in popularity – while Twitter continues its slide. Video, 360 degree images and smart graphics will likely continue leading the way in content marketing and branding, appealing to our need for instant gratification and shorter attention…
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Deputy PM pushes to implement Thailand 4.0
PHUKET: Deputy Prime Minister Admiral Narong Pipatanasia met with the governors of Phuket, Phang Nga, Ranong, Krabi and Trang last week to push for the implementation of the Prime Minister’s ‘Thailand 4.0’ policy to bolster the economy in the Andaman region. At the meeting, held at Phuket Provincial Hall, Admiral Narong said that the nationwide plan initiated by Prime Minister…
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Finance: Where to invest after Trump victory
PHUKET: As the world learned that Trump had won, equity futures plunged – only to turn positive just minutes after the market opened the next day, with the rally lasting the rest of the week. The fact that the Dow and small cap US stocks shot up by 10 per cent to a new high shows that the market has…
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Ten reasons why the market will head higher
PHUKET: US and global markets continue to hold in a tight 2-3 month range near new highs after breaking out of a long 1.5 year consolidation just after Brexit. This is occurring despite all the pessimism out there surrounding the US elections, the Fed, terrorism, Brexit fallout, Deutsche Bank troubles and other concerns. I have ten reasons to believe the…
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Kata Group taps into trillion-yuan wedding market
PHUKET: Kata Group Resorts Thailand aims to host up to 2,000 weddings in Phuket over the next three years after forming an alliance with Travel Wedding (Beijing) to exploit the growing market of Chinese honeymooners. The group, which owns seven hotels in Thailand, this month launched a range of wedding and honeymoon products to be exclusively promoted in China to…
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Business Buzz: Think before you share online
PHUKET: This month we are going to cover a range of things that have been topical recently, and a timely reminder of what is important locally. I am going to show my age as a Generation Xer. Growing up, compared to now, things are a little bit different. Whenever we had to do a study assignment, we used to go…
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Finance: Profiting from periods of panic
THERE is a good lesson in handling panic that can be learned from recent events in Thailand. The SET index, which is a broad measure of the Thai stock market, went on a pretty wild ride in response to the news regarding the monarchy. If you are not aware of what happened, the chart (right) shows the massive sell-off, only…
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Demand for black clothes soars
PHUKET: The government and private sectors have joined hands to ensure that the demand for black-colored clothing is taken care of in Thailand, including in Phuket. The move came after the government announced that government officials must wear black clothing for an entire year during the official mourning period of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej. It is recommended, but clearly not…
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Finance: Listen to price rather than opinions
PHUKET: It’s clear that the entire world is focused on the coming US elections as several of my non-US clients have asked me recently what the impact on their investments will be if Donald Trump actually is elected. One worried client even sent me an article from the New Yorker, highlighting the following lines: “The Economist Intelligence Unit, an economic-and-geopolitical-analysis…
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Krabi hosts Global Rubber Conference 2016
PHUKET: Experts and industry players from 25 countries met at the Global Rubber Conference 2016 in Krabi on October 11, to discuss the future prospects of the rubber industry in Krabi and all over the world. The two-day conference was held at Deevana Plaza, Ao Nang, and was organized by the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT) and Confexhub. “More than…
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Business Buzz: Advent of panoramic photos
PHUKET: While there has been a lot of news in the press recently about Twitter and what is going to happen with the new relaxed 140 character rules, or the Samsung Note 7 exploding with regularity and being banned from all commercial airlines, the interesting news for me is what we can all use to promote our businesses and get…
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Biz leaders make French connection
PHUKET: Phuket’s tourism industry leaders are banking on boosting the number of foreign visitors to the province by about 20 per cent during the year-end high season by attracting more French tourists. Local hoteliers, tour operators and agencies are hopeful of a new influx of French nationals after a string of successful roadshows in Nice, Lyon and Paris, from September…
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Finance: Leading tech stocks emerge
PHUKET: As of mid September, the overall market appeared to be in a volatile choppy transition phase. Some individual stocks are doing well while others are continuing to be punished. Certain indices such as the S&P 500 aren’t exactly performing that well either. However, there are leadership stocks forming, consolidating and blasting higher, with technology stocks doing particularly well. This…
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Phuket Smart City emblem revealed
PHUKET: The Phuket Chamber of Commerce launched Phuket’s official ‘Smart City’ logo at an awards ceremony late last month. The colorful contemporary design of a Sino-Portuguese style archway was designed by Ekkachai Jingjai, who was handed the award of 10,000 baht by Chamber President Surachai Chaiwat. The intricately thought out design symbolizes Phuket’s past, present and future. Mr Ekkachai’s logo…
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Finance: Bullish biotech breaks previous highs
PHUKET: As of early June, the US S&P 500, Nasdaq and the Dow are all at critical turning points because after a two-year long correction, the market is tightly compressed and sitting only a few points from a new all-time high – or making new highs such as with the Dow and S&P500. The big picture is this: The last…
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Local vendors cash in on Pokemon trend
PHUKET: Local vendors at popular Pokemon catching spots in Phuket have experienced a boost in income since the launch of Pokemon GO in Thailand. However, some vendors expect this spike to be short lived. For those who are wondering what Pokemon GO is, it is Nintendo Company’s mobile phone game which marries a classic 20-year-old franchise with augmented reality, and…
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Prime Minister to visit Phuket this month
PHUKET: Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-o-cha is to visit Phuket on September 16 for the regional launch of a new nationwide initiative aimed at helping budding local businesses get off the ground and into the international arena of digital commerce. The Startup Thailand 2016 campaign was launched by the prime minister in Bangkok in April as a joint government and…
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New e-payment service aims to ease fund transfers
PHUKET: A new payment method designed to ease bank transfers, backed by the central bank of Thailand, was announced at a press conference held in Phuket last week. Saowapa Limsila, chief of the Phuket Office of the Comptroller General, and Jongrak Angtanya, vice president of the ‘Phuket Bankers Club’, jointly chaired the meeting held at Phuket Provincial Hall. The new…
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Finance: Alibaba proves naysayers wrong
PHUKET: It’s not been an easy market for many individual stocks over the last few years. Take the case of Chinese internet and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) – a stock I have been watching closely since its debut, when a client wanted to buy some shares. Many western investors do not appreciate just how big of…
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Business: Local store wars intensify
PHUKET: Phuket Grocery Ltd Partnership opened its flagship store in Phuket Town on August 9 with the aim of penetrating the low-cost retail market currently dominated by the Phuket-based Super Cheap franchise. Chairman of the new retail outlet, Pornchai Chanchuwanichkul, said he hoped reasonable prices, air-conditioned comfort and a range of customer services in a convenient location would also attract…
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Finance: Cash is always king
PHUKET: Many of my clients have been moving money out of British sterling into different currencies or into deposit accounts in different countries. While I am not pushing anyone to do this, I am very often asked which countries are safe to hold deposits. It’s an interesting question and many are often mistaken about what guarantees actually mean.The most common…
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Business Buzz: Market it right and they will follow
PHUKET: As an avid fan of marketing, I’m always interested to see the next big global trend emerge and to watch it evolve into a successful operation on a macro and micro scale. Right now, here in Phuket, we are witnessing one of those global phenomena. Have you recently seen mature adults chasing invisible objects, using strange terminology and just…
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Finance: Hedging your way through Brexit
PHUKET: There has already been a lot written in this paper – and many others – about Brexit, but I’m getting lots of questions from both sides of the investment coin, so I thought it a good idea to highlight some of the things to think about before doing anything drastic. Are there any opportunities to exploit now that British…
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Businesses look to exploit halal potential
PHUKET: Phuket-based businesses are being encouraged to join a drive to promote the plethora of halal products made in the province to benefit from the billion-baht Islamic product export industry. Speaking at the Phuket Andaman Halal Tourism 2016 seminar at the Phuket Graceland Resort on July 21, Komol Dumlak, Chairman of the Phuket Islamic Council, said the province has huge…
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Finance: Five emerging leadership stocks
PHUKET: From a technical standpoint, the stock market is starting to look more and more like a strong bull market rather than another counter-trend rally, but we can’t be absolutely certain the worst is over – especially with earnings season underway, the ever present possibility of another black swan event, like the Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks, and some scheduled…
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Business Buzz: Keeping up with tech trends
PHUKET: If you’ve been following this column regularly, then you will be aware of the statistics on the soaring increases in use of the Internet and Social Media in recent years. Coupled with this is the substantial increase in the use of smart phones. Many platforms such as YouTube and Facebook have now specifically set up self-filling forms to assist…
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Biz Chat: The four Ps of marketing
PHUKET: The dictionary definition of marketing is ‘the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising’. Through the next series of articles, we will discuss the concept of ‘marketing mix’ and the ‘4 Ps’, particularly as they apply to small businesses. These are product, price, place and promotion. Any freshman marketing student will…
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Analyzing the luxury car industry in Phuket
PHUKET: Behind the closed doors of the glitz and glamor of the luxury car business in Phuket, are a host of complicated market forces at play. Let’s take a closer look at the factors that come together in the day-to-day running of this business. Millennium Auto, located on the Bypass Road, sells some of the most renowned luxury brands in…
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