BUSINESS IN… Bangkok


The Thai capital is entering a new dawn with several multinational investments transforming the banks of the Chao Phraya. John Church reports


I 44 NOVEMBER 2015


s Thailand turning a corner? The government installed via a military coup last year has been at pains to point this out to the world, and evidence is mounting that it may be correct. Political instability and economic malaise in the past couple of years had a chokehold on growth and Bangkok endured the brunt of this. But June figures from the World Bank’s Thailand Economic Monitor showed projected growth at around 3.5 per cent for 2015, up from 0.9 per cent the previous year.


Domestic demand has lifted, visitor figures in the first quarter of 2015 were at their highest ever, at 7.88 million (21 million by the end of September), and public spend is up. Out of 189 economies, Thailand now sits 26th for ease of doing business, up from 28th a year ago, according to the World Bank. There’s more evidence from hotel booking agency HRS, which reported a huge 46.3 per cent increase in the capital’s room rates in the second quarter of 2015 compared with the same period the previous year.


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