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 Thailand health insurance that covers chronic conditions: What expats need to know
The Thaiger key takeaways Managing chronic conditions in Thailand requires health insurance that covers specialist visits, medications, tests, and hospital stays. Cigna offers high-coverage plans with access to top hospitals, direct billing, and telemedicine support for convenient long-term care. Expats...
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Phuket Business: B300 minimum wage hike to worsen labor shortage
PHUKET: With the nationwide minimum wage set to rise to 300 baht, a labor shortage tops the list of business risks for property and construction firms in 2013. To consumers, this could mean longer construction periods while they wait to take possession of their new homes.Thailand’s construction, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors are now facing a shortfall of about 200,000 workers.…
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Phuket Business – Think outside the box: Pornthip
PHUKET: The island’s most recognized local food-gift company Pornthip (Phuket) Co Ltd, was recently honored with the “Good Design Award” in Japan for the packaging of its Sino-Portuguese snack gift items. This was the second year in a row the company received the accolade for its unique and innovative packaging design. Also recognized with the “G Mark”, the annual award…
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Phuket Business: We want to help – IRS
PHUKET: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) insists that it wants to assist US citizens residing overseas, including dual citizens, in catching up with tax filing obligations and provide assistance for people with foreign retirement plan issues.“We want to help US citizens abroad get current with their tax obligations and resolve pension issues,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.Shulman said that as…
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Phuket Business: AMCHAM’s warnings
PHUKET: “Caution” was a common theme echoed at the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Greater Phuket Chapter’s final meeting of the year, held recently at the Royal Phuket Marina. The evening featured three informative presentations, courtesy of AMCHAM Thailand’s legal council, which provided a wealth of valuable advice to expat business operators – as well as those considering conducting business…
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Phuket Business: HotelTravel – here to stay
PHUKET: After 13 years building his company from the ground up, Phuket expat Blair Speers set a local business benchmark last month when he sold HotelTravel.com (HT) to the Indian based travel and e-commerce group that operates MakeMyTrip.com. Shortly after the US$25 million (760mn baht) acquisition was finalized, executives from the MakeMyTrip Ltd Group (MMT) met with employees at the…
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Phuket Business: Chapel bells boost dress sales
PHUKET: The business of love continues on an upward trend, with Phuket’s Modern Wedding Studio reporting a spike in monthly sales volume by as much as 75% over the last three years. “Business shot through the roof after we were featured on a game show called ‘SME Tee Tak‘ a few years ago.” Mr Narin explained that the nationally televised…
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Phuket Finance: Using exchange traded funds
PHUKET: In today’s uncertain economy, investors are increasingly seeking diversification, safety and a secure income. Interest rates continue to hover at or near all time lows in many countries, and the continued uncertainty about the strength of the global economic recovery has made many investors extra cautious. Nevertheless, there is one investment option available that can offer risk-adverse investors both…
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Phuket Business: Island’s inflation skyrockets
PHUKET: Not only does Phuket continue its reign as the most expensive (consumer) province in Thailand, but the island province’s rate of inflation doubles that of the national average, recent economic data shows. The Phuket Commerce Office, in collaboration with the Phuket provincial government and the Commerce Ministry’s Information Office and Bureau of Trade and Economic Indices, recently published the…
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Phuket Business: Tourism growth projected at 15% by Seacon head
PHUKET: Piya Sosothikul, executive director of Seacon Group, and owner of the Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa, recently gave his outlook for Phuket tourism. Mr Piya said he expects tourist arrivals to increase by 15% this year, despite a decline in arrivals from the island’s traditional tourist source markets in Western Europe, due to the economic and financial crises affecting…
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Phuket Business: Pepsi gets new Andaman arm
PHUKET: Super Cheap Co Ltd has taken over distribution of Pepsi beverage products in Phuket and two other key Andaman coastal provinces, a spokesperson from the local retail giant has confirmed.The development follows the expiration on November 1 of a long-running contract between the Thai subsidiary of Pepsi-Cola (PepsiCo) and local beverage firm Serm Suk.Prior to the split, Bangkok-based Serm…
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Phuket Business: Coca-Cola pouring B200mn into Thai cola battle; New player enters market
PHUKET: Coca-Cola (Coke) is spending 200 million baht on marketing in the final quarter of this year in hopes of surpassing Pepsi to become the undisputed leader of Thailand’s 38.5 billion baht carbonated-drink market.Colas represent about 75% of Thailand’s carbonated drink market. This is followed by flavored drinks (20%) and lemon-lime beverages (5%). The cola segment is also the most…
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Phuket Business: Get your head in the clouds
PHUKET: Information technology (IT) has dramatically changed the way people communicate and do business. Changes in information technology are rapidly taking place and investors who are able to spot the newest trends can profit from those trends greatly. One continually evolving trend is “cloud computing”. Investors focused on IT growth stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have several options when it…
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Doing Business in Thailand: AMCHAM Legal Forum
PHUKET: AMCHAM will hold a forum titled ‘Doing Business in Thailand – 3 Things You Should Know’, on Thursday, November 29, at Royal Phuket Marina. Three top international lawyers will be on hand to talk about how to do business without Thai nominees, enforcing contracts through arbitration, and the increasing focus on criminal corrupt practices and anti-corruption laws. The event…
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Phuket Business: The economic realities of 2015
PHUKET: A lot of people in Phuket have been talking about the drastic changes, which are meant to happen in the region come 2015, when the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), is to adopt a common economic community (the ASEAN Economic Community, or AEC) similar to the Euro Economic Area. There are some obvious differences such as the…
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Phuket Business: Andaman tourism campaign aims for 20 million
PHUKET: Woravat Auapinyakul, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, has told the Phuket Gazette that he expects the “Andaman – The World Experience” tourism initiative to attract more than 20 million tourists to the region. At a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall held recently to chart the progress of the tourism initiative, Mr Woravat said that intense competition within the…
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Phuket Business: Makro – now bigger and better
PHUKET: The newly renovated Makro Phuket has reopened its doors, announcing that it is better equipped to meet the cooking and catering needs of local hotels, restaurants and cafés (HoReCa).With an emphasis on enhancing the capabilities of businesses to maintain international standards, the membership-based wholesaler has increased the quantity and diversity of its consumer products, which include both fresh and…
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Phuket Business: New trade records set for the island
PHUKET: The Phuket Customs House reported another record-breaking year for international trade, with the island’s surplus of exports over imports in 2012 peaking at 11.4 billion baht, a 10% annual jump. According to Phuket Customs’ receipts for the 2012 Thailand Government fiscal year (October 2011 – September 2012), the value of Phuket’s exports reached a new milestone of 13.5bn baht,…
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Phuket Business: Krabi marina to steam ahead
PHUKET: Two months ahead of Krabi Boat Lagoon’s (KBL) first anniversary, the owners of the Thai Andaman coastal province’s only full-service, full-facility marina, remain optimistic about the region’s tourism, hospitality and boating future. Speaking to the Phuket Gazette at KBL’s 18-year-old brand-parent Phuket Boat Lagoon (PBL), Sriya Yongsakul, the deputy managing director of both marinas, affirmed that all objectives for…
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Phuket Business: Property executives heed warning
PHUKET: The island’s property market continues to grow with a high number of new apartments, condominiums and small hotels in line for approval.This “rising boom” sets the stage for the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community), which will come into effect in 2015. The Phuket Real Estate Association (PREA) recently held an “Executive Dinner Talk” at the Boat Lagoon Resort, inviting Songkran…
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Phuket Business: Food and energy inflation soaring
PHUKET: Once again, raw data from the Commerce Ministry has affirmed that the South, and particularly Phuket, continues to be “hotter” – in terms of the cost of living – than elsewhere in the Kingdom. The Phuket Commerce Office, in conjunction with the Commerce Ministry’s Bureau of Trade and Economic Indices, recently published the Provincial Consumer Price Index (CPI-P) for…
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Phuket Investor: Insure your stock holdings
PHUKET: Some readers of the Phuket Gazette who have stock market investments may feel I ignore them, because of a personal bias against equity investments right now. For those of you who feel you have a knack for choosing good companies, or would like to participate in any upside in the broad markets, but would like to limit your exposure,…
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Phuket Business: Identifying island identity
PHUKET: The American Chamber of Commerce teamed up with the Phuket PR Network to present a fascinating and most entertaining culture-preservation lesson recently in Phuket Town. Held at the Blue Elephant restaurant in the heart of historic old-town, the evening was headlined by two heritage preservation experts, who gave captivating lectures about the importance of Phuket’s cultural past, present and…
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Phuket Business: Local petrol tax under scrutiny
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO) last week refuted claims that they had introduced a “new” tax to be collected on the sale of all fuels in Phuket, including diesel, marine diesel, benzine and gasohol. The “maintenance tax”, levied as a 10% surcharge on the sale of all engine fuels, is the same tax previously collected by the Excise…
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Phuket Business: AirAsia shift to reap Chinese pie
PHUKET: As part of its latest strategic marketing shift, Low Cost Carrier (LCC) AirAsia recently canceled its Phuket flights to Ubon Ratchathani and Bali, topped off with the cancellation last week of its Thailand-Sri Lanka route. Meanwhile, the leading LCC has reinstated its Phuket-Udon Thani route, while revealing additional plans to shift and expand regional focus to the high-volume, high-growth,…
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Phuket Business: Calculating the Sharpe ratio
PHUKET: One statistic you will often see when looking at a fund’s performance is the “Sharpe ratio”. This is an attempt to quantify the excess return for a given level of risk. For example, two funds may both return 12%. If one returns a steady 1% every month while the other swings up and down, common sense and our blood…
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Phuket Business: HMRC approves Gibraltar
PHUKET: Another surprising development in a year which has seen the UK pension transfer market repeatedly shaken up and placed on its head, Gibraltar announced last recently that it received confirmation from (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs) HMRC that it may resume accepting QROPS (Qualifying Recognized Overseas Pension Schemes) transfers. The move is extremely surprising because HMRC is not known…
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Phuket Business: Signs of the island’s time
PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Government recently published its economic summary report for the first six months of the year (F6M12). The in-depth report highlights year-on-year (y-o-y) figures and trends in trade, consumerism, and in the island’s tourism, property, investment and agricultural sectors. Here, the Phuket Gazette outlines some of these.TourismThe total number of tourist arrivals in F6M12 remained steady with…
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Phuket Investor: Excuse me, what is QE3?
PHUKET: Being a regular on the sun soaked shores of Phuket, watching the many boats sail by on a frequent basis, one may start thinking that QE3 is a new luxury cruise liner replacing the old QE2 that was recently decommissioned. Not the case. In the never ending roller-coaster ride that is the world of finance, this is the latest…
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Phuket Business: New trade surplus milestone achieved
PHUKET: A new milestone was set for Phuket’s international trade last month with the the island’s annual surplus of exports over imports peaking at 11 billion baht – more than 700 million baht clear of last year’s full-year, record figure.According to Phuket Customs’ receipts for the 2012 fiscal year (October 2011 to September 2012), accounting through to the end of…
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Phuket Business: Pickup sales champ
PHUKET: Reinforced with continuous, cutting-edge improvements to its steering and suspension systems, the Toyota Hilux Vigo Champ looks to retain its stronghold on the domestic pickup market. The Phuket Gazette had the opportunity to join an exclusive tour of Toyota Motor Thailand’s (TMT) Ban Pho production plant recently, gaining a first-hand look at the prized truck’s production and assembly line.…
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