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Arguably Thailand’s most famous beach destination, Phuket is almost synonymous with a holiday in ‘The Land of Smiles’. Boasting some of the most beautiful beaches in Southeast Asia, extensive accommodation ranging from budget to ultra-luxury and plenty of fun activities and sightseeing opportunities, it isn’t hard to see why.

Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said, “Phuket continues to attract an increasing number of international tourists, in particular during the European winter. This peak season for Phuket begins in late October, and TAT offices in key overseas markets are already actively promoting the island as a must-visit location while holidaying in Thailand.”

Anticipating increased visitor traffic to and from Phuket during the peak season, several airlines in the region are either adding new flights or increasing the frequency on existing services.

Among these is the national flag carrier Thai Airways International, which on 29 October will boost its current Beijing – Phuket service from four flights to seven flights a week. At the same time it will switch aircraft used on the route from a 264-seat Boeing 787 to a 299-seat Airbus A330.

Vietnamese carrier Vietjet will launch a new Ho Chi Minh City – Phuket service on 15 December, with four flights a week using an Airbus A320 with seat capacity of 180.

AirAsia meanwhile will introduce a twice daily flight to Phuket from Macau starting on 8 January 2018, also using an Airbus A320. Phuket is considered a top destination for travelers from Macau and China.

Mr. Yuthasak said, “The addition of more flights and extra seat capacity will mean even more choice and flexibility for tourists when organising their travel plans to Phuket and indeed elsewhere in Thailand.”

source: TAT NEWS

Thai Shopping Centres Association (TSCA) members are investing THB57 billion (US$1.7 billion) to increase their combined mall space to more than 9.1 million square metres by 2019.

The industry group says the expansion is in line with its “Shopping Centre 4.0” vision, aimed at serving the lifestyles of consumers in the digital era and strengthening Thailand as one of the top destinations in Asean.

The TSCA comprises the top 13 companies in shopping-centre sector: Boonthavorn Ceramics, Central Pattana, Index Living Mall, KE Land, LH Mall & Hotel, MBK, Pacific Park Sriracha, Rangsit Plaza, Seacon Development, Siam Future Development, Siam Piwat Group, The Mall Group and The Platinum Group. The companies run 97 malls with 8 million square metres in combined space.

TSCA president Wallaya Chirathivat says members would invest alongside the government’s infrastructure projects in the major provinces and in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project. They would also announce co-investment projects and giant shopping-centre projects destined to become global landmarks.

She says the association is ready to help support local SMEs and distribute income to provinces. “The TSCA vision for this year is that together we will transform the retail industry to keep up with changing consumer lifestyles, aiming to grow by 4 to 5 per cent this year with three strategies.”

The strategies are: customer-centric, which addresses the design of shopping centres and provision of services; omnichannel, to offer a seamless shopping experience and provide personalised services by using big data; and building partnerships, turning competitors into partners “because the most challenging competitor now is the consumer”.

TSCA member shopping centres will link to support government policies and promote shopping districts in Bangkok and tourist cities to help spur the economy and tourism.

“We will also continue to invest in mega-projects to help push the economy and to establish new landmarks for Thailand,” says Wallaya. “Two mega-projects that will become Thai landmarks are expected to open next year – Central Phuket and IconSiam.

“TSCA members have been united in embracing government policies that support countrywide development and we will invest in provinces where the government plans to build mega-infrastructure projects such as motorways, double-track railways and high-speed railways.”

Following infrastructure work in northeastern Thailand, TSCA members have developed CentralPlaza Korat and Terminal 21 Korat, plus expanded The Mall Korat.

“We are also investing in the EEC special economic zone covering Chon Buri (Pattaya) and Rayong with projects such as Central Marina, CentralPlaza Rayong and Terminal 21 Pattaya as well as investing in the eastern Bangkok zone in Bangna-Suvarnabhumi in projects such as Bangkok Mall, Megacity and Seacon City, plus renovating CentralPlaza Bangna.”

Meanwhile, the TSCA has engaged with RetailEx Asean 2017, a regional trade event allowing retail entrepreneurs to expand into the Asean market, and will soon join the ICSC Recon Asia-Pacific event, where Wallaya will be a speaker on the topics of “shopping centre business expansion” and “Thai retail to regional markets”.

Source：Inside Retail Asia

THE THAI economy is forecast to grow 3.6 per cent this year and 4.3 per cent next year, driven by Thai export expansion following rising global trade, an announced election schedule and mega infrastructure investment and external factors, according to Standard Chartered Bank (Thai).

Tim Leelahaphan, economist at Standard Chartered Bank (Thai), said that these local factors, particularly continued mega infrastructure investment, could support the local economy for the rest of this year and next.

Of the total investment of Bt1.79 trillion in mega infrastructure projects, about Bt200 billion will likely be disbursed next year following a combined disbursement of Bt50 billion or less than 5 per cent in the past two years. Aside from the government-led mega projects, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) development scheme also attracted both local and foreign investors, he said.

Aside from the government-led mega projects, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) development scheme also attracted both local and foreign investors, he said.

Being a hub for the CLMV sub-region will be another factor to promote investment, while the Thailand 4.0 policy will help drive economic growth in the future, he said. The CLMV countries are Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Even though the Thai economy could grow 3.6 per cent this year, this level is regarded as lower than its 4.0 per cent potential, he said.

Private investment remains a driver. However, it has not been sufficient, and is expected to pick up late next year or early 2019 as the government continues its mega projects, he said.

The bank expected the Thai policy rate to rise two to three times from the middle of next year and interest rates could be on the upward trend, he said, warning the private sector to be well-prepared for this upward cycle.

Divya Davesh, the bank’s FX Strategist/Asean and Southasia, said that emerging-country currencies are expected to continue appreciating on the back of capital flowing into stock, bond and money markets following the global trade recovery.

The US dollar remains under pressure from uncertainties of the US economic policy and continues its depreciation, while the baht is moving in line with its regional peers but stronger than 8 per cent due to Thailand’s high current account surplus, he said.

The Thai currency is expected to appreciate to 32.50 per US dollar late this year and 31.0 late next year.

Meanwhile, the Thai Industries Sentiment Index (TISI) rose for the second consecutive month in September, reflecting operators’ positive sentiment towards the overall economy, according to Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

FTI Chairman Chen Namchaisiri said yesterday that the consecutive rises indicated the operators’ positive view towards the overall Thai economy on the back of increases in purchasing orders, particularly from overseas for the last-quarter delivery. TISI rose to 86.7 in September from 85.0 in the previous month.

Thailand’s domestic consumption also gave a good signal in light of a rise in sales, particularly small operators from the previous month, Chen said. The index was based on a Septmber survey conducted among 1,044 operators in 45 industries under the FTI.

Meanwhile, the operators surveyed repeated their concerns over the agricultural sector’s purchasing power and the international political conflicts which have affected currency movements, Chen said.

Earlier, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC)’s Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting revised upward its Thailand’s 2017 economic growth forecast to 3.9 per cent from the earlier estimate of 3.6 per cent on the back of higher-than-expected recoveries in exports and tourism and acceleration in public spending.

It also projected economic growth of 4.2 per cent next year on the back of continued export expansion, massive infrastructure investments and up to Bt40 billion to Bt50 billion expected to be spent for the 2018 election.

The TRIS Rating expected Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by between 3.3 per cent and 3.6 per cent this year, compared with 3.2 per cent last year, driven by a recovery in exports, continued growth in the tourism industry, and a rise in household expenditure. However, TRIS Rating is still concerned about external risk factors such as threats to the global economy, the high level of household debt and the floods.

Source: THE NATION

Bangkok is poised to become the world’s most popular city this year for international travellers for the second year in a row, according to the report of financial services corporation Mastercard.

In its Mastercard’s 2017 Global Destination Cities Index released last week, it said Bangkok is set to welcome nearly 20.2 million International overnight visitors this year, or 4% increase from last year.

London retained its No. 2 title for the second year running, with projected arrivals topping 20 million in 2017.

Paris is in third place with 16.1 million visitors forecast.

Dubai, coming in at No. 4, expects to see just over 16 million international visitors in 2017.

Singapore rounds out the Top 5 for arrivals, with nearly 13.5 million international visitors expected in 2017.

The Mastercard Index of Global Destination Cities ranks cities in terms of the number of their total international overnight visitor arrivals and the cross-border spending by these same visitors in the destination cities in 2016, and gives visitor and passenger growth forecasts for 2017.

Top 10 destination cities are:

1. Bangkok, Thailand — 19.41 million visitors in 2016 (20.19 million forecast for 2017)

2. London, England — 19.06 million visitors in 2016 (20.01 million forecast for 2017)

3. Paris, France — 15.45 million visitors in 2016 (16.13 million forecast for 2017)

4. Dubai, UAE — 14.87 million visitors in 2016 (16.01 million forecast for 2017)

5. Singapore — 13.11 million visitors in 2016 (13.45 million forecast for 2017)

6. New York, USA — 12.70 million visitors in 2016 (12.36 million forecast for 2017)

7. Seoul, South Korea — 12.39 million visitors in 2016 (12.44 million forecast for 2017)

8. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — 11.28 million visitors in 2016 (12.08 million forecast for 2017)

9. Tokyo, Japan — 11.15 million visitors in 2016 (12.51 million forecast for 2017)

10. Istanbul, Turkey — 9.16 million visitors in 2016 (9.24 million forecast for 2017)

source: Thailand Business News

Bangkok has been prospering rapidly, with its approved US$5.2b high speed rail link to China, together with the development of a new commercial district called “The ASEAN Business Hub” towards the North of Bangkok City, plus the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, the investment potential of its property is vowed to soar.

Golden Emperor partnered with BTS-Sansiri to hold a Bangkok Property Investment Seminar to thoroughly analyze the current market and share some investment tips. During the event, “THE LINE Wongsawang” which settled 3 MRT stops away from the upcoming High Speed Rail & ASEAN Business Hub, was launched first time worldwide at our exhibition.  This BTS-Sansiri JV project is a mere 3 minutes / 200m walk to the nearest MRT station,  our event was attracting about 700 customers attended over the weekend.

Above: Around 700 customers attended the weekend exhibition.

Above: Terence Chan, Managing Director of Golden Emperor, provided a presentation on investing in Bangkok.

Above: Sansiri & BTS’s latest property project in Bangkok, THE LINE Wondsawang also be featured at this event.

Above: Our clients in Hong Kong had exclusive offer during the event.