Thai Airways files for bankruptcy protection Despite Thai Airways issuing a press statement and taking to social media to deny rumours it intends to file for bankruptcy, various media reports appear to confirm the struggling carrier will file for Chapter 3/1 of the Corporate Reorganisation section of the Bankruptcy Act. This is the Thai equivalent…
Q3 rebound eyed from relief boost Thai GDP in the first and second quarters of 2020 faces a sharp year-on-year decline due to the global economic slowdown, widespread drought and coronavirus impact. But prospects are expected to improve in the third quarter onwards, boosted by the 1-trillion-baht plan for cash handouts to virus-hit people and…
Tourism sector prepares to resume business Businesses that have been battered by the Covid-19 outbreak, especially those in the Eastern Economic Corridor (straddling Chonburi, Rayong, and Chachoengsao provinces) that rely mainly on tourism, are in desperate need of support. But the vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce says it’s still too early to predict when…
Social distancing pandas fill empty seats at Bangkok restaurant An “X” usually marks the seats in restaurants and other establishments to make sure people are social distancing to prevent spread of the coronavirus. Sometimes the “X” on the empty is marked with red tape, unintentionally sending a negative message. Now one Vietnamese restaurant in Bangkok…
Business winners and losers, and the lumpy recovery As we slowly start to emerge from enforced lockdowns, how have things changed? There have been early ‘winners and losers’ but the profound changes to our lives will now start to morph into lingering economic hardships and unpredictable business outcomes. Different countries are going to restart their…
The China Bounce – are the Chinese packing their bags ready to come back to Thailand? The results of a comprehensive new survey of consumers in Mainland China’s first tier cities concludes that 53% of respondents would like to travel internationally sometime this year. Citing the opportunity, the most popular months for trips abroad for…
Back to business – time for Thailand’s tourist industry to get ready OPINION by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Tourism is a vital part of Thailand’s economy. And as the country emerges into the post-Covid world, getting tourists back to the country will be an essential springboard to the rest of the Thai economy. None of that…
PM asks public to cool down on selling their gold Massive unemployment due to the national state of emergency and the Covid-19 outbreak has pushed gold prices to near a 7 year high, and gold shops throughout the country are running out of cash because so many people are cashing in. In a briefing this week in Bangkok, PM…
NBTC seeks to reduce mobile bills by 30% Hopefully for both prepaid and postpaid subscribers. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has been meeting with Thailand’s telecom operators in an effort to lower mobile phone service fees for users. The NBTC say the fee reduction proposal is for both prepaid and postpaid subscribers and seeks to…
A golden moment for Thailand’s gold sellers The streets of Bangkok’s Chinatown today have been paved with gold… sellers. Today, dozens of Bangkok citizens lined up outside Yaowarat Road gold shops, creating chaos as they tried to sell off their gold ornaments and gold bars after the price gold rose by 550 baht per baht…