Posts Tagged ‘Bangkok’

Thai economy recovers well after financial crisis

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Thailand is in a good position to attract rebounding global foreign direct investments, thanks to the country’s strong economic recovery, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says.

Mr Abhisit on Thursday told the launch of the World Investment Report 2010 prepared by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) that Thailand is among Asian countries whose economies have recovered significantly from the global financial crisis.

“Global investments have shown clear signs of a rebound. Thailand and Asia have been perceived as the main locations for world investments and have played major roles in driving the global economic recovery,” he said.

Figures from the Board of Investment (BoI) indicate that foreign direct investments (FDI) into Thailand rebounded from late 2009 and continued to grow in the first half of this year.

FDI has arrived from major investors such as Japan and from other countries which want to step up their presence here, Mr Abhisit said.

The tourism sector, which was hard hit by the recent political turmoil, has remained an area attracting foreign investments.

But investments over the past month are not only in sectors in which Thailand is a major player. They also are in industries which have the potential to grow, he said.

Voters don’t lie! Bangkok named ‘World’s Best City’ by Travel + Leisure magazine

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Travel + Leisure Magazine has released its 2010 “World’s Best” list, with Bangkok voted as the top city in the world, followed by Chiang Mai, in the annual poll voted on by the American luxury travel magazine’s readers.

We’re quite certain there has to be a bit of celebrating going on in the offices of Thailand’s Tourism Authority, which has been battling hard to bring back the tourists following the recent unrest in Bangkok. (Though it must be noted the Travel + Leisure survey was completed before this year’s mass protests.)

Rounding out the top 10 on the “World’s Best City” list are Florence, San Miguel de Allende (Mexico), Rome, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Oaxaca (Mexico), Barcelona and New York City.

Thailand’s hotels did well too, with the Peninsula Bangkok rising from No. 66 in 2009 to No. 7 in 2010, while Thai Airways was voted the world’s eighth best international airline. Check out Travelandleisure.com for the full list of 2010 winners.

Political stability to push GDP to 5.2%

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

The Thai economy is recovering and if the political situation is stable and the financial crisis in Europe over, gross domestic product (GDP) could expand by 5.2 per cent this year, Thanawat Polwichai, director of the Economic and Business Forecasting Centre at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said on Tuesday.

Mr Thanawat said a survey of economic expansion in the first quarter of the year confirmed that the economy has rebounded in all regions due to global economic recovery that helped boost the country’s exports.

The survey found that first quarter GDP growth is projected at 9.2 per cent in the Northeast, 8.6 per cent in the North, 9.1 per cent in the South, 16 per cent in Central, and 11.1 per cent in Bangkok and its vicinity. These would make the country’s GDP expand by 12 per cent in the first quarter.

He projected that economic recovery in the region would help boost Thai economic growth to as high as 5.2 per cent at year-end — on the condition that politics is rapidly stabilised, the world economy has recovered as expected and there is no further financial crisis in Europe.

If there is no political stability, the world economy expands slower than expectations and the European financial problem continues, Thai GDP growth could be as low as 3.5 per cent, the director said.

The centre maintained its GDP growth forecast at 4.5-5.2 per cent for 2010.

The Bangkok Post

Tourism Authority of Thailand register 16% increase in Tourism arrivals

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced that Thailand received 6,563,099 visitor arrivals during January-May 2010, registering a 16.07 per cent year-on-year growth. Tourism receipts were estimated at 242,559.35 million baht, or about US$7.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.26% in comparison with January-May 2009.

The top five visitor-generating markets during the period were Malaysia (770,804), China (428,709), Japan (419,980), United Kingdom (352,586), and South Korea (335,648). These markets are Thailand’s traditional top tourist producers, but other markets such as India (277,393) and Russia (284,424) showed phenomenal growth during the same period.

TAT expects a number of markets to continue to perform well until the end of the year. Proximity and value for money will still be the main attractions for tourists from South Asia, the Middle East and ASEAN countries.

BoI: Foreign investment applications surge

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

The Board of Investment (BoI) has reported a 31.7% increase in foreign investment applications in the first four months of 2010, worth 53 billion THB in total.

BoI Secretary-General, Dr Atchaka Sibunruang, stated that the foreign direct investment (FDI) from January to April this year indicated foreigners’ firm interest in investing in Thailand. She elaborated that 245 foreign projects had filed their investment promotion applications, increasing by 31.7% year-on-year.

Dr Atchaka pointed out that the accumulated investment value of the FDI projects in the first four months grew 146% to 53.30 billion THB from 21.67 billion THB of the same period last year. Of the 245 projects, 130 are new ones with a value of 24.51 billion THB while the other 115 are expansion projects worth 28.78 billion THB.

The highest number of foreign investors submitting their applications is in the metal product, machinery and transport equipment businesses with 67 projects worth 16.91 billion THB, followed by the service and utility businesses with 57 projects worth 12.69 billion THB, and the electronic and electrical appliance businesses with 49 projects worth 8.4 billion THB.

The Japanese investors handed in the most investment applications with a total of 99 projects worth 25.61 billion THB, increasing by 152% from last year. The Singaporeans came in second with 25 projects worth 6.89 billion THB, followed by the Chinese with 9 projects valued at 6.44 billion THB.

BoT: Interest rate to rise slowly

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) said the country’s economy is still on the path to recovery, but warned the private sector that the interest rate has a tendency to rise gradually.

After attending a meeting of BoT and private sector representatives on Tuesday morning, Thai Chamber of Commerce deputy chairman Pongsak Assakul said the central bank had reported that the country’s overall economic situation was slowly recovering and was not heavily hit by the political situation.

But the BoT was concerned that the tourism industry could be severely affected by the recent political unrest, Mr Pongsak said.

“The central bank also warned the private sector that the interest rate will likely rise steadily, as it has been kept at a low level for a long time,” he said.

The private sector wanted the baht’s value to be closer to the currencies of other trade partners even though the BoT insisted the Thai currency was not much stronger than other currencies in the region, he said.

Bangkok Post
15/06/2010

Thailand Leads ASEAN Higher

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

As we expected ASEAN Markets have been performing well with Thailand leading the way. Today will offer a good buying opportunity as a weaker Wall St exchange will lower values around ASEAN for the day.

Thailand Stock Exchange rose 1.5 percent on Monday as higher consumer confidence improved the market for companies reliant on the domestic economy, while energy shares in the region got a lift from a strong oil market.

Thailand Stock Exchange is by far the best buy in Asia as stocks are trading at a 12-month forward price to earnings ratio of 10.4, the lowest valuation in the region and a great bargain for investors.

June 15, 2010
East Asian Times

NO IMPACT ON HOUSING DEMAND

Monday, May 31st, 2010

Despite the political turmoil, Thailand’s property firms have launched new residential projects worth several billion baht so far in the second quarter of thie year.

Most of them say their presales in April and May have been close to estimates.

Sansiri’s president Srettha Thavisin said his company’s presales in April and May reached Bt1.4 billion – close to the figure it expected.

The company is preparing to launch its latest Bt1.9-billion project, Keyne by Sansiri, close to the Skytrain’s Thonglor Station on Sukhumvit Road. The project will have only 208 units, with a starting price of Bt5 million each.

“The political uncertainty has not affected our sales. Demand to buy residences outside central Bangkok is growing strongly, and we believe that our sales will reach our target of Bt22 billion by the end of this year,” he said.

Quality Houses has boosted the number of new residential projects it will launch this year from 14 to 21. Seven of them will be developed by its new subsidiary, The Confident Company, which has been established to specialise in residential projects with prices lower than Bt3 million per unit.

Quality Houses’ chief executive Ratt Panichaphan said political problems had not affected demand for residential projects, so his company had proceeded with new launches.

BTS Group Holding is about to unveil two condominium projects with a market value of Bt10 billion. The condominiums, with the Abstracts brand, will be on Phaholyothin Road and at Sukhumvit 66/1.

Managing director Kavin Kanjanapas said teh buildings would be constructed under a deal between his company and a Hong Kong construction afffiliate called Hip Hing Construction (Thailand).

Both projects should be completed next year.

Supalai’s chief executive Prateep Tangmatithum said his company was confident it would generate Bt15 billion in presales this year. It has already recorded presales worth Bt5.5 billion in the first quarter.

Supalai’s revenue was Bt3.19 billion in the first quarter and net profit was Bt831 million, up 53 per cent and 54 per cent respectively from the first quarter of 2009. The company’s backlog is valued at Bt18.31 billion.

The Nation

Real estate launches rise 22% in value in Q1

Monday, May 31st, 2010

INCREASE IN LAUNCHED HOUSING UNITS Up 72% 22,333

Real estate launches in the first quarter rose in value by 22% year-on-year to 50.89 billion baht from 81 projects with 22,333 units, a rise of 72%, according to a survey by the consulting firm Agency for Real Estate Affairs.

The agency’s president Sopon Pornchokchai said the supply in the first quarter rose in line with rising investor confidence and improved economic sentiment, as investors were largely unconcerned about political risk.

In his view, the surge in launches may not relate to the government’s property incentives.

Most developers applied a presales policy, so their launches would not necessarily be completed before incentives end on June 30, after being extended from May 31 in reaction to political unrest, he said.

Large developers have expanded their investment plans, partly supported by the raising of the ceiling price for a BoI home to 1.2 million baht.

This opens up tax incentives for developers from the Board of Investment,under its policy to promote affordable units for low- and middle-income earners.

Based on the first quarter’s figures,AREA forecasts that 89,332 units may be launched this year,55% more than in 2009.

But the figure may be 10-20% lower than the prediction, he said.

The agency found that 43% of new launches in the quarter – or 9,604 units – were sold in the quarter, more than triple the 2,195 units sold in the same quarter last year.

Condominium units made up 55%of launches in the first quarter. The figure of 12,287 condo units launched was an increase of 142% from 5,073 units in the first quarter of 2009.

New townhouses totalled 6,227 units,up by 101% from 3,092 units. New single houses numbered 2,549 units, a dip of 18.35% from 3,122 units.

AREA found the average unit price for the first quarter was 2.279 million baht, down by 29% from 3.211 million a year earlier.

2010 Thai GDP to grow 4.5-5.2%

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Despite negative impact from political violence, the economy could expand by 4.5 per cent to 5.2 per cent this year, Thanawat Polwichai, director of the Economic and Business Forecasting Centre at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said on Thursday.

Dr Thanawat said the projection was based on the facts that the country has strong economic fundamental and the export sector, the key economic driver, was not hurt by the political turmoil. He expected exports to grow by 13 per cent in 2010.

Moreover, it is expected that the government’s measures to help business operators affected by the political unrest would help boost domestic consumption, he said, adding that the reconciliation road map would also help stabilize the Thai politics which would help boost confidence of investors.

The director forecast that economic expansion would be around 12 per cent in the first quarter of the year, 2 per cent in the second quarter and 3 per cent each in the third and fourth quarters. Thus, the gross domestic product growth rate for this year would be no les than 4.5 per cent to 5.2 per cent.

In the worst case scenario as another round of political riot takes place, the economy would grow by about 3.5 per cent, the academic said.

Bangkok Post