News

Tax exemptions and other incentives are set to spearhead Thailand’s efforts to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) in targeted areas of the economy. The initiatives form part of a broader range of incentives and reforms aimed at increasing capital inflows into Thailand, with a particular focus on tapping investment for planned industrial clusters in the eastern economic corridor (EEC) project, an...

The limited number of new luxury villas in Phuket has doubled the price of resale units, as demand is relatively strong in this niche market. Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, managing director of property consultant CB Richard Ellis (Thailand), said top-end villas on the island were part of an exclusive market characterised by a limited number of high-value transactions. Major players used to be small foreign...

An expanded product range aimed at broadening the client base alongside plans to target new markets are part of Thailand’s campaign to shore up its medical tourism industry, which is coming under pressure from increased competition and weaker economic performance in key source countries. In early September the Ministry of Public Health unveiled a new series of packages as part of the “Visit Thailand...

Amending the law to allow median prices based on current appraisal prices to be used for the local development tax could be an alternative to generate massive tax income instead of pushing the controversial land and buildings tax, says a source familiar with the subject. The strategy could help revenue from the local development tax surge by 100 times to 100 billion baht, said the source. The local...

An initiative driven by Thailand to develop closer financial integration and cooperation among Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries could bolster Bangkok’s position as a capital markets and banking centre. Thailand’s campaign to strengthen fiscal and economic ties with its near neighbours reached a new level in June, with the hosting of a two-day summit for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and...

One thing that I love about Phuket is the ability for luxury to live side by side with abject casualness. You could be sitting next to a multi-millionaire or a packaged tourist on the bar stool, as the ties that bind are the flip-flops adorning your respective feet. Islands tend to have little social stratification, which can probably be explained in a Robinson Crusoe round-about manner. Be it a local...

A stronger-than-expected performance in the first quarter has prompted analysts to revise their year-end growth forecasts for the Thai economy, though some remained cautious in the face of ongoing challenges both at home and abroad. Data issued in May by Thailand’s National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) put year-on-year (y-o-y) growth for the first quarter of 2016 at 3.2%, the...

Property developers are urging the government and its new economic cabinet to use tax incentives to help restore housing demand in the remaining months of this year. They are concerned that already-soft demand will be weakened further by Monday night's bomb attack. Cutting property tax and transaction fees would help to stimulate the economy in general and the property market in particular, said Thongma...

Foreign Direct Investment in Thailand is expected to be -5480.00 THB Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Foreign Direct Investment in Thailand to stand at 20000.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Thailand Foreign Direct Investment is projected to trend around 24000.00 THB Million in 2020,...

SET-listed property developer Land and Houses Plc (LH) plans to spend 14 billion baht to build Terminal 21 shopping centres in Pattaya and Phuket. The investment value of the two shopping malls is estimated at 7 billion baht each, compared with the 3-billion-baht price tag of the first Terminal 21 in Bangkok, LH chairman Anant Asavabhokin said without giving a time frame for development. The new malls...