All markets showed strong growth, said TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn. In the first half of this year, Thailand welcomed 17.3 million tourists, generating Bt876 billion for its economy. TAT targets Thailand to finish 2017 with Bt1.81 trillion in tourism-related gains.

A leading bank research centre, KResearch, has revised its tourism forecast for Thailand upwards to 35.20 million this year, representing a surge of 8.2%.

Earlier in the year, Kasikorn Research Centre forecast international visits would hit 34.15 million with an estimated revenue of THB1.79 trillion. Now the bank’s research centre says revenue could top THB1.81 trillion.

The revision followed the Ministry of Tourism and Sports release of tourism performance data for January to July that showed tourist arrivals topped 20.41 million up 4.5% on year-on-year.

Ministry estimated revenue from tourism, during the seven months, reached THB1.03 trillion up 6.1%.

Thailand expects to enjoy continued growth both in tourist arrivals and tourism revenue this year

Looking at the last quarter, KResearch expects inbound tourism to continue to expand due to various factors including  the country’s “tourism-friendly environment,” and proactive marketing plans of government agencies.

10 million Chinese tourists in 2017 ?

The major driver pushing Thai tourism to new highs is China.

The research centre noted that  tensions between China and South Korea were favouring tour movements to Thailand as Chinese tourists were reluctant to book holidays in South Korea.

Even concerns over the appreciation of the Thai baht against major currencies such as the Euro and US dollar are not expected to slow tourism to Thailand.

This is probably because the bulk of tourists visiting Thailand are from Asian nations where currencies are also appreciating at a similar pace to the Thai Baht.

China continues to dominate Thailand’s inbound tourist arrivals with August ending up with 3,133,411 visits, up 8.6% year-on-year. August was the fourth month, this year, that saw arrivals exceed 3 million, the second highest after January when visits reached 3,197,053.

Other peak travel months when visits exceeded 3 million were March and July.

!function(e,t,s,i){var n=”InfogramEmbeds”,o=e.getElementsByTagName(“script”),d=o[0],r=/^http:/.test(e.location)?”http:”:”https:”;if(/^/{2}/.test(i)&&(i=r+i),window[n]&&window[n].initialized)window[n].process&&window[n].process();else if(!e.getElementById(s)){var a=e.createElement(“script”);a.async=1,a.id=s,a.src=i,d.parentNode.insertBefore(a,d)}}(document,0,”infogram-async”,”https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js”);

So where did tourists come from in August?

• China,…

Source link : China is pushing Thai tourism towards new records for 2017 by Bandid Nijathaworn

Chinese bike-sharing startups Mobike and Ofo are expanding to several Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Singapore, betting that the push by local governments to encourage cycling will overcome the region’s structural barriers against the mode of transportation.

At Thammasat University outside of Bangkok, Ofo’s trademark yellow bikes crisscross the sprawling 1.2-million-sq.-meter campus. In August, the school began hosting the company’s limited trial run to demonstrate the benefits of on-demand biking.

The bikes proved to be so popular that Ofo added 400 more of them this month on top of the initial 600.

The bikes are free to use until the end of September, after which it will cost 5 baht (15 cents) for 30 minutes.

“I don’t have to wait for the bus in the hot weather, and they are convenient because you can leave them after you’re done,” said a 19-year-old female college student.

Mobike, officially known as Beijing Mobike Technology, will also soon launch tests of its shared bikes at a shopping center and another college in Thailand.

Bike-sharing, facilitated by smartphone apps that unlock bicycles and accept fees, have taken off in many of China’s metropolises to the point of oversaturation and official freezes on further expansion.

Mobike raised funds from Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings and U.S. equity funds. Ofo won backing from Alibaba Group Holding, China’s e-commerce conglomerate. Together, the two young companies are branching out internationally.

Beating traffic and staying healthy

Their first stop was Singapore, which is struggling to deal with traffic snarls. Just 100 days after Ofo launched its service in the city-state in March, the number of users topped 100,000. Mobike, which set up shop in April, has equipped its bikes with tracking functions.

Source link

Source link : Chinese bike-share operators are expanding in Thailand by Headline Editor

The Belt Road Initiative promises economic development for China’s westernmost province but reality on the ground is less promising

According to official Chinese data, the western province of Xinjiang grew by 7.6 percent in 2016, 0.9 percentage above the national average. While most of China were dipping into mid- or high-single digit growth, Xinjiang registered no less than 11 percent from 2010 to 2014.[i]

“The BRI is about infrastructure, road construction, and energy pipes,” explains Chun-Yi Lee, Lecturer at the School of Politics and International Relation at the University of Nottingham. “If so, then I start with Xinjiang as the province being the main gateway by land into Central Asia and Europe. The infrastructure investment to build pipelines and roads started back in the 1980s.

“Xinjiang is the main gateway of the Silk Road economic corridor to Central Asia and Europe because of its geographic location. It also has considerable reserves of oil and gas, so the pipeline construction also started before BRI became a buzzword.”

She concludes, “All this activity in Xinjiang should have made Xinjiang a regional power and increased China’s bargaining power with neighbouring Central Asian countries. At least, all that good stuff was what the Chinese government expect [all this to lead to].”

More money, more problems

Lee was making these observations as the recent SMU School of Social Sciences seminar, “Fifty Shades of China Dream: Under the Framework of OBOR”, referring to the BRI’s former name, One Belt One Road or OBOR. Lee also pointed out the less-than-rosy reality on the ground in Xinjiang, where the 2009 July 5th Urumqi riots claimed nearly a thousand lives according to official numbers, a figure often claimed to be higher.

“The government believed economic development to be a good way to secure peace not just with other countries but also restive citizens,” Lee says.

“In the 1980s and 1990s the Chinese government started to pour lots of money into Xinjiang because as a border province it was less developed. The government believed that as long as they pour money into Xinjiang that would be resolved. But it’s not so simple.

“The division between Han and non-Han people widened even more with the government pouring money into Xinjiang. The reason was that most of the job opportunities were controlled by the Han people. It actually led to Han consolidating their position, and conversely weakened those of non-Han people. If you wanted to get a decent position, you had to speak and write good Mandarin. In Xinjiang, the Uighur had their own language. It deterred the Uighurs from getting good jobs, especially in the government bureaucracy.”

That has led to…

Source link : Belt, Road, and the Xinjiang issue by Zhang Fang

Gen Prayut was speaking Monday to a gathering of 570 investors from Japan led by Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko.

“When you return home, please consider investing [in Thailand] this year. This year, the country is in a transitional period and undergoing reform,” Gen Prayut said.

Last year marked the 130th anniversary of diplomatic ties being established between Thailand and Japan.

An important delegation from Japan is now visiting the Kingdom, and Thailand expected them to boost investment in infrastructure, particularly for dual-rail, high-speed trains, by next year to steer development in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday.

The EEC is the government’s flagship policy to create special economic zones spanning 30,000 rai in the three eastern provinces of Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao.

It is promoting investment in 10 targeted industries: next-generation cars; smart electronics; affluent, medical and wellness tourism; agriculture and biotechnology; food; robotics for industry; logistics and aviation; biofuels and biochemical; digital; and medical services.

Other infrastructure projects encouraged by Thai government include ports, aviation and digital systems in line with the 10 new industrial groups targeted to become Thailand’s economic growth engines. “The first five years will focus on these developments. I look to Japan as a good example of train development,” Prayut said.

“The government has emphasised the importance of transparency and has pursued policies aimed at encouraging investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor [EEC] as well as investment in major infrastructure projects,” the prime minister said.

Gen Prayut went on to say the government has devised plans to develop the EEC into a series of new economic zones featuring upgraded technology based on an estimated 600 billion baht…

Source link : Japanese Investors are back, fuelling FDI in Thailand by Fujiko Takahashi

Twelve airlines registered in Thailand will have their international flights terminated pending an International Civil Aviation Organization inspection to free-up their Red Flag status.

Twelve airlines have failed safety and related regulatory assessments conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), requiring them to suspend operations abroad until they get new Air Operator’s Certificates (AOCs). Domestic flights still operate as normal.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), 12 airlines that have not been granted Air Operator Certificates (AOC) will have to terminate international flight operations until the completion of the International Civil Aviation Organizations (ICAO) inspection.

Shortage of qualified personnel and tourists arrivals on the rise

Thailand has faced a shortage of qualified personnel and training officials regarding aviation and safety issues following years of a boom in the aviation and tourism sectors.

The number of foreign tourists has increased rapidly over past decades to about 30 million this year.

The airlines that failed to pass international safety standards include low-cost domestic carriers such as Orient Thai Airlines, Thai VietJet Air and Siam Air Transport. The rest – mostly private charter jet and cargo carriers – are Mjets, K-Mile Air, Jet Asia Airways, AC Aviation, Siam Land Flying, Asia Atlantic Airlines, VIP Jets, H.S. Aviation, Advance Aviation and Skyview Airways.

Until today, 9 airlines in Thailand have passed the ICAOs strict Recertification Inspection regime and can now resume normal operations.

These include Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X, NokScoot, NokAir, Thai Smile Airways, Lion Air and Sabaidee or New Gen Airways.

Source link : International flights grounded for 12 Thai airlines companies by Bahar Karaman

Today Allianz General Insurance, a member of the Allianz Group, one of the world’s leading insurers, signed an agreement in Thailand with Audatex, the leading global provider of data and software to auto claims and collision repair industry.