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BANGKOK: The Central Group of Companies, Thailand’s biggest retail conglomerate, plans to spend B1 billion to build its first outdoor lifestyle mall in the Bang Tao area of Phuket next year. Lertvit Pumipitak, the group’s senior executive vice-president of corporate business development, said the company will start to develop Porto de Phuket on 50 rai in Bang Tao in 2019, with construction to be...

What marketing works that doesn’t cost years of your life or thousands of dollars? How much would you pay for 1,000 new ‘targeted people’ to come to your website each month? What return on investment would you expect from it? Maybe 3-5% of these 1000 new visitors clicking your ‘Contact us page’? If say 5% of 1000 made a serious inquiry that’s 50 extra inquiries and if your business converts...

A rising number of direct flights from mainland China is helping the Thai island of Koh Samui fill the gaps in its traditionally seasonal tourism sector, a new report has found. According to the latest Samui Hotel Market Update from C9 Hotelworks, both direct flights to the island and new services to Surat Thani Airport, the closest secondary gateway, have led to a sharp rise in Chinese visitors to Samui....

A court ruling on Airbnb in Hua Hin was meant to weaken sentiment among condo buyers who buy units to rent out on a daily basis. Yet the data shows the number of daily-leasing units continues to rise. Apichart Chutrakul, chief executive of SET-listed Sansiri Plc which has developed a large number of condo projects in Bangkok and the provinces said developers cannot stop condo buyers who want to rent out...

PHUKET: Local residents will be able to get on board Phuket’s light-rail by 2023, a top official behind the project has assured. Niran Kaetkeaw, the Director of the Regional Bureau of Transportation and Traffic Promotion, Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and planning (OTP), said on Friday (Oct 26) that the project was making good progress. “The e-bidding for the project is expected to start next...

We no longer live in a world where male entrepreneurs dominate. The scenario has changed. There are countless examples of women entrepreneurs making it BIG in their industry. From Arianna Huffington to Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, we have seen the rise of female entrepreneurs who have reached the pinnacle success. “Want to become a leader who gets things done. Start using ProofHub.” This article is a small...

Abstract: Amenities specified by hotel companies’ brand standards can become a point of contention between hotel owners and brand managers. At issue for the owner is whether offering a particular amenity justifies the expense, while brand managers are typically more concerned with maintaining consistent brand standards systemwide. This report provides another perspective, by analyzing the short-term...

Asian cities lorded over the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living report, out last week. Names from the continent dominated both lists of the costliest and most affordable places to live in the world, per the report’s Cost of Living Index. Five of the world’s top six expensive cities are all in Asia, while cities in the Indian subcontinent make up half of the 10 least costly cities...

PHUKET: The Chief of the Phuket Immigration Office, Col Kathathorn Kumthieng, has confirmed that all foreigners registered as living in Phuket must re-report their address to immigration after being registered as staying in a hotel within Thailand, even for just one night. The confirmation follows complaints from long-term expats that they were fined B2,000 for not re-registering their home addresses...

Our 2017 annual letter is addressed to our dear friend Warren Buffett, who in 2006 donated the bulk of his fortune to our foundation to fight disease and reduce inequity. A few months ago, Warren asked us to reflect on what impact his gift has had on the world. What follows is our answer to him. It’s a story about the stunning gains the poorest people in the world have made over the last 25 years. This...