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.

  • 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...

  • Phuket business: Thailand-UK trade steady; London Olympics to give Thai food exports a boost

    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…

  • Phuket business: Sports tourism “scores big’; Games to bring in B600mn

    Phuket business: Sports tourism “scores big’; Games to bring in B600mn

    PHUKET: Defining and developing ‘Brand Phuket’ as a world class sports tourism destination was top of the agenda at a recent meeting of senior business people here. Organized in collaboration with the Phuket PR Network and the Greater Phuket Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), the meeting was held at the Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club (TSLC) on…

  • Phuket business: Smart phone sales soar in Q1

    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…

  • Phuket business: Greece primed to exit the Euro

    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…

  • Phuket business: Unplanned losses recovered

    Phuket business: Unplanned losses recovered

    PHUKET: I very often come across a syndrome I refer to as “investor paralysis”. Basically this is where a poor investment is made, the value drops suddenly, and now you are too afraid to make any decision at all for fear of making another mistake, possibly a bigger one. Rather than putting yourself in that position, you are in fact…

  • Phuket business: Google bridges the gap

    Phuket business: Google bridges the gap

    PHUKET: Amid the fast paced “age of online” a bulk of local businesses have fallen behind a rapidly evolving consumer base, and companies need to catch up, says Ariya Banomyong, head of Google Thailand The country’s first manager for the iconic IT giant was in Phuket last week and the Gazette had the privilege to pick his brain for an…

  • Bangkok Hospital Phuket celebrates 17 years

    Bangkok Hospital Phuket celebrates 17 years

    PHUKET: Bangkok Hospital Phuket today launched a two-week health fair to mark the facility’s 17th anniversary. During the fair, which runs until June 3, the hospital is offering special discounts on a range of patient services, including checkups and cancer checks, said Hospital Director Dr Narongrit Havarungsi. “We are also offering special prices on physio-therapy equipment and other recovery items,…

  • New Etihad Phuket airlink opens gateway to Europe

    New Etihad Phuket airlink opens gateway to Europe

    PHUKET: The new weekly direct flights between Phuket and Abu Dhabi, and on to Germany, launched last month by United Arab Emirates (UAE) national carrier Etihad Airways have transformed the UAE into a portal for European tourists traveling to and from Phuket and the rest of Asia. The new service was launched on April 15 after Etihad inked a cooperation…

  • PHUKET BUSINESS: Artificial reefs key to mass tourism dive industry

    PHUKET BUSINESS: Artificial reefs key to mass tourism dive industry

    PHUKET: In the tourism game creating memories is everything, explains the Head of Development at Reef Worlds, Dave Taylor. “If you can create a tourism memory then you have won your game. You have won everything, because that’s a memory that never leaves a potential client, and they always come back to it,” Taylor told the Phuket Gazette in an…

  • Phuket Business: Transit proposals keep coming

    Phuket Business: Transit proposals keep coming

    PHUKET: Two more parties have engaged the Phuket provincial government about the prospect of developing the island’s multi-billion baht light rail and tunnel mega projects. A multinational delegation from the Chinese construction giant China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) visited with Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha recently. “We are the biggest company in China and the 80th largest company of the top…

  • Phuket Business: ThaiVisa penetrates neighboring markets

    Phuket Business: ThaiVisa penetrates neighboring markets

    PHUKET: ThaiVisa.com, the leading English-language social networking website about Thailand, is expanding its operations to Myanmar and Cambodia.“We have carefully studied internet traffic trends and we see a sharp rise in search traffic and interest about our neighbor Myanmar,” said Barry Main, marketing director of Bangkok-based ThaiVisa Expat Group Co Ltd.“We believe it’s pretty easy for us to get a…

  • Community Enterprise Phuket street market under way

    Community Enterprise Phuket street market under way

    PHUKET: A three-day street market featuring items produced under the Ministry of Agriculture’s “Small and Micro Community Enterprise” (SMCE) program will taking place in Phuket Town started at 2:30pm today. Kanda Pantong of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Phuket Office (DOAE-Phuket) in Phuket Town told the Phuket Gazette yesterday that the street market would start with an address by Phuket…

  • Phuket AMCHAM/PR Network to hold Sports Destination Tourism Seminar

    Phuket AMCHAM/PR Network to hold Sports Destination Tourism Seminar

    PHUKET: A panel of leading experts will conduct a session on the high velocity potential of Sports Tourism and its impact on Brand Phuket at Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club’s (TSLC) ‘The View’ on May 24. Among those giving presentations will be Debbie Dionysius, Assistant Vice President of Destination Marketing at Laguna Phuket, who will discuss how the success of…

  • Phuket Business: Learning from the master investor

    Phuket Business: Learning from the master investor

    PHUKET: Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is arguably the greatest investor of our time. Most of us can never hope to achieve the kind of success he has had, but we would all probably do well to follow some of his very common-sense advice. I have gathered a few quotes attributed to him for this week’s article. They’re pretty…

  • Phuket fractional ownership ventures into new waters

    Phuket fractional ownership ventures into new waters

    PHUKET: Among the many luxury yachts to go on display at the 2012 Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX) at Royal Phuket Marina. on Thursday will be the event’s first fractional ownership boat for sale. Shared ownership pioneer Absolute Fractionals will showcase the Elan42 luxury motor yacht. A product of one of Europe’s largest and long established shipbuilders, the yacht features…

  • Suzuki Swift on a roll in Phuket

    Suzuki Swift on a roll in Phuket

    PHUKET: The Suzuki car dealership in Phuket Town is reporting brisk sales of the “all new” Suzuki Swift eco-car and expects to sell 200 units by the end of the month from its recently renovated showroom in Phuket Town. The showroom, on Surin Road near the Shell service station, is well-known to scores of Suzuki SJ413 “Caribian” drivers on the…

  • Phuket Business: Copyright fraudsters on the prowl | Thaiger

    Phuket Business: Copyright fraudsters on the prowl

    PHUKET: Operators of entertainment establishments that utilize copyright protected songs should be wary of personnel claiming to be royalty collectors, a statement issued by the Department of Intellectual Property has warned. The warning, published last week on the Ministry of Commerce website, said that the department has recently received a number of complaints from establishment operators in Phuket, Pattaya and…

  • Phuket Business: The European tourist market is dormant, but not done

    Phuket Business: The European tourist market is dormant, but not done

    PHUKET: Local officials and tourism industry representatives are optimistic about the revival of the European tourist market in the near future, following the recent success of a Phuket tourism promotion roadshow in Germany. The Internationale Tourismus – Borse 2012 (ITB 2012), one of the largest tourism trade shows in the world, was held in Berlin, Germany. Representing Phuket at the…

  • Phuket Business: Batik operations seek integration

    Phuket Business: Batik operations seek integration

    PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Industry Office (PPIO) recently led a seminar to reinforce the continued development and integration of the island’s high-potential Batik fabric industry. The industrial promotion event marked the beginning of the second consecutive year of efforts to develop local production, reinforcing momentum from the forming last year of the Phuket Batik Cluster. That initiative was marked by…

  • Phuket Business: Income tax filing: Part II

    Phuket Business: Income tax filing: Part II

    PHUKET: For anyone who generated income in Phuket or elsewhere in Thailand last year, regardless of where or how they were paid, the personal income tax filing deadline is March 31. However, since the last day of this month falls on a Saturday, the last opportunity to file on time will be Friday, March 30. In the first of two-article…

  • Blue Flag Fair a hit in Phuket Town

    Blue Flag Fair a hit in Phuket Town

    PHUKET: Wage slaves suffering from rising consumer costs and stagnant salaries have been flocking to the Blue Flag Consumer Products Fair at Sanamchai field in Phuket Town, where government-subsidized consumer staples and other products are on sale at rock-bottom prices through tomorrow. Supacha Bunthalit, who heads the Department of Internal Trade (DIT) Office in Phuket, told the Gazette the most…

  • Laguna Phuket MD resigns

    Laguna Phuket MD resigns

    PHUKET: Michael Ayling has resigned his position as Managing Director of Laguna Resorts & Hotels, which owns and operates the Laguna Phuket resort complex on Phuket’s west coast. A media statement issued this morning noted that Mr Ayling’s last day with the renowned resort company will be on May 31, 2012. According to the statement he will be leaving the…

  • Phuket Business: A mortgage in the UK

    Phuket Business: A mortgage in the UK

    PHUKET: House prices in the UK have suffered a dramatic fall over the past few years and banks have made it harder for first-time buyers. To put it bluntly, banks have made it harder for any buyer getting on the housing ladder when prices are low. Although UK house prices are expected to make a steady recovery over the next…

  • Phuket pushes for first dedicated hospitality college

    Phuket pushes for first dedicated hospitality college

    PHUKET: With Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s arrival on Phuket for the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, more details of the proposed transformation of Thalang Vocational College into Phuket’s first dedicated hospitality and tourism college have been unveiled. The college’s director, Suthep Yongyut, told the Phuket Gazette that the plan is to be proposed to the Cabinet tomorrow for budget approval of 300…

  • Phuket Business: SET in the city

    Phuket Business: SET in the city

    PHUKET: Investors in Phuket became privy to invaluable financial advice at the island’s inaugural investment extravaganza hosted by the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) recently. Organized in collaboration with the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, Phuket Federation of Industries and the Phuket Bankers Association, it was the first time for “SET in the city” to be held in Phuket. The event…

  • Phuket Business: APSA gears up for boat show

    Phuket Business: APSA gears up for boat show

    PHUKET: ASIA-Pacific Superyacht Association (APSA) is gearing up for the Phuket International Boat Show (PIMEX), to be held at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina from March 29 to April 1. The leading consumer boat show in Asia, PIMEX will feature the largest in-water boat display with more than 50 boats representing leading brands from around the world. The line up…

  • Phuket business: Tourism campaign lures swingers; Tourism and hotel college enrolls for May

    Phuket business: Tourism campaign lures swingers; Tourism and hotel college enrolls for May

    PHUKET: With the Thai summer just around the bend, club swingers are among the latest tourist group that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has set its sights on. In a bid to increase golf tourists to the country by 10%, TAT this year has partnered with MasterCard to launch the “72 Hours Amazing Thailand Golf Paradise” campaign. All in,…

  • Phuket Business: Sansiri sales on the up

    Phuket Business: Sansiri sales on the up

    PHUKET: Amid an oversupplied and flooded real estate market, many new developers in Phuket are struggling to close project sales. In contrast, Bangkok based mega developer Sansiri Plc has received promising feedback from buyers on the island. In the five months since taking on Phuket, the Bangkok giant has invested nearly 2.7 billion baht (approx US$ 90 million) in four…

  • Phuket business: Tax filing deadline approaches

    Phuket business: Tax filing deadline approaches

    PHUKET: For anybody who generated income in Thailand last year – regardless of where or how they were paid – the personal income tax filing deadline is March 31. In this two-part series, the Phuket Gazette will outline the need-to-know basics for filing personal income tax in Thailand. First, we will cover taxable income, deductions and tax certificates. In the…

  • Phuket business: A speculative investment

    Phuket business: A speculative investment

    PHUKET: I remember as a young kid growing up in the US often seeing bumper stickers on cars with slogans about freeing Burma. When I was I first planning to move to Phuket, Thailand I still had no idea where Burma was, as the maps now showed some country I had never heard of called “Myanmar” bordering the Kingdom to…