Thailand: massive transport spending plan details revealed
It was one of those moments that investors and analysts in Thailand have been waiting for: insight into the government’s massive Bt2,000bn ($68bn) infrastructure spending plan.
But rather than a big press conference, it came in a little-publicised lunch talk by Chadchart Sittipunt, Thailand’s transport minister, to members of the Japan-Thailand Association last Friday. Continue reading »
Thai IPOs: bumper year forecast
By any comparison, 2012 was a bumper year for new issues on the Thai stock market. Companies and property funds listing on Thailand’s bourse raised $1.8bn – the most since 2002.
With stock prices strong, investors can expect a lot more in 2013 – the Stock Exchange of Thailand forecasts that the market capitalisation of new listings will climb from Bt116bn ($4.03bn) in 2012 to Bt120bn ($4.2bn) Continue reading »
Thai exporters may be protesting too much over baht rise
The yen shock has sent shudders around Japan’s Asian exporter rivals, not least Thailand.
The baht has soared spreading consternation among exporters. But even in a country where exports are over 75 per cent of GDP, the picture isn’t as simple as it seems. First, currency isn’t the only determinant of export competitiveness in a world of complex trade flows. And second, there could be benefits to Thailand in the expected outflow of Japanese money seeking higher yields in emerging markets. Continue reading »
Thailand pioneers tablet computers in schools nationwide
Where's my iPad?
A Thai government deal to supply 1.8m school children with tablet computers, the largest contract of its kind in the world, could tempt about 10 manufacturers to bid.
At just under $100 a tablet, the margins will be wafer-thin. But there will be considerable kudos for the winners. In a fiercely-competitive market that will do no harm. Continue reading »
Thailand posts record trade deficit
What rebound? After the catastrophic floods of late 2011, Thailand should by now be hoping for something closer to normality in terms of trade.
Instead, it’s got the biggest trade deficit on record in January – a whopping 5.5bn, the largest since 1991. What’s going on? Continue reading »
Thailand: 2012 GDP comes with strings attached
Thailand has done it again – exceeding all expectations, even those of its own central bank. The government said on Monday that GDP grew 3.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012, up 18.9 per cent on the same period in 2011 and bringing full-year growth to 6.6 per cent. The fourth quarter figure is the highest since records began in 1994 and was received as excellent news for the Kingdom – but has also fuelled concerns that a bubble is in the making. Continue reading »
Thailand: will building never cease?
Thailand’s appetite for construction and public debt appears far from sated, judging by a huge infrastructure spending bonanza now poised for approval by the government.
At a time when most capitals are scrambling to reduce national debt, the Thai government is finalising plans for a long-promised infrastructure building spree estimated at Bt2,000bn ($67bn) that some critics warn will tip public debt over 50 per cent of GDP, from its current 41 per cent level. Continue reading »
Thailand tourism: hitting record highs
The hoardes of tourists flocking to Bangkok’s temples and bars and to island resorts beyond tell the story of Thailand’s remarkable comeback from the impact of devastating floods in 2011 and violent street clashes in 2010.
So, too, does the charmed performance of Thailand’s stock market, among the best performing markets in Asia last year, as well as record inward foreign investment, roaring bond market and robust economic growth after a miserable zero per cent growth in 2011. Continue reading »
Thailand helps Laos to bond market
Communist Laos has taken a further step from obscurity into a globalised world with plans for its first ever international bond issue.
The Bt1.5bn ($49.2m) issue will be in Thai baht – as a result of a key change in Thailand’s bond issuance regulations, which says more about Thailand’s ambition to be seen as a regional power than about Laos’s fledging pseudo-capitalist economy. Continue reading »
Thai minimum wage: short term pain
The Thai government, known for its string of populist policies including rice and fuel subsidies, is delighting working class voters (those with a job, anyway) with the introduction of a national minimum wage, which kicked in on January 1.
The policy has already triggered fierce criticism in business circles and reports of job losses, particularly in rural provinces. Yet, some experts argue that despite short term pain, a hefty national minimum wage increase will raise both living standards and productivity. Continue reading »
Rice policy costs Thais export crown
After more than 30 years at the top, Thailand has lost its spot to India as the world’s number one rice exporter, slipping to third place last year due largely to a controversial government farm subsidy policy.
Now some critics say that as well as disrupting exports, the policy could undermine the food security because the government’s radical intervention could make supplies less stable in the future. Continue reading »
Thailand: BTS rides high with IPO plan
Riding Bangkok’s elevated rapid transit railway service known as the ‘Skytrain’ makes New York’s Subway and London’s Underground feel antiquated. Now, BTS Group, the company with an exclusive concession to run the service, has confirmed plans for an initial public offering of an infrastructure fund worth at least $1.6bn, which looks likely to be the biggest in Thailand’s history. Continue reading »
Thai market comes of age with energy group’s $3bn rights issue
A $3bn equity issue is a big achievement for any company in the current financial enviroment. So it’s a tribute to PTT Exploration & Production, Thailand’s biggest oil and gas explorer, that the rights issue announced on Friday has been welcomed in the markets, with the shares rising 3.6 per cent. Continue reading »
Thailand holds rates: change of tack
Reading Thailand’s economic numbers is a tricky exercise right now, with the impact from the 2011 floods causing all sorts of bumps in the data. But the Bank of Thailand is confident that the economy is on the right track.
It decided on Wednesday that, for now, a hold is best, and kept interest rates at 2.75 per cent, having previously made a surprise cut at the last policy meeting. And the bank committee was as one, with all seven members voting to hold, while the previous cut was a split 5-2. Continue reading »
Thailand: export recovery slow
Thai exports last month posted their biggest increase in over a year as the country’s factories recovered from floods and global demand picked up after a sluggish summer.
Even so, the 15.6 per cent rise fell short of expectations as economists had pencilled in 20 per cent. That gives the central bank a little more reason to cut rates when it meets on Thursday, though most forecasters still expect the Bank of Thailand to leave rates unchanged at 2.75 per cent following last month’s surprise reduction. Continue reading »
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