thegreglowe.com

By GREG LOWE
IN BANGKOK
THAI-LISTED companies saw net profits surge by 42 per cent last year to 446.51 billion baht (S$19.13 billion) on sales totalling 6.39 trillion baht, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) says.
The top-performing industry groups were resources, finance, and property and construction respectively, with PTT, Siam Cement, PTT Exploration and Production, Bangkok Bank [...]

[Read more →]

When I spoke to Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University, last weekend about the Thaksin assets verdict, he raised some thought-provoking points about why the Supreme Court’s ruling would not usher in a new era of political stability.
The ruling was in fact likely to strengthen claims [...]

[Read more →]

By GREG LOWE
IN BANGKOK
THE Supreme Court’s landmark ruling to seize 46.37 billion baht (S$1.97 billion) in assets belonging to the family of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is unlikely to have a significant impact on the Stock Exchange of Thailand index or investor sentiment in general, analysts say.
Two grenade attacks on Bangkok Bank branches in [...]

[Read more →]

Low interest rates and excess liquidity in Western economies could result in Asia’s markets falling prey to asset bubbles and speculation throughout the coming year, leading international and regional financial experts say.
Relatively high interest rates and plentiful opportunities will increasingly spur western investors to look to Asia. The International Monetary Fund forecast the region will [...]

[Read more →]

By GREG LOWE
IN BANGKOK
GOVERNMENT activity and fiscal stimulus remain key factors driving the Thai economy which is showing strong signs of improvement after a rebound in exports to key global markets, says Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij.
Mr Korn said the government had performed well in its first year in office by facing down the global and [...]

[Read more →]

The year ahead for Thailand´s hotel and resort development sector will witness a rebound from the impact of the global financial crisis, local recession and domestic political turmoil, according to property experts. But while the outlook is less turbulent, growth will remain anaemic and patchy, and project financing will remain tight.
Occupancy levels in Thailand´s main [...]

[Read more →]

While Phuket and Pattaya´s property markets have boomed over the past few years, with high-rise condominiums and luxury villas projects dotting the respective landscapes, something more moderate has been taking place along the Gulf of Thailand´s western coast.
Hua Hin, which was established as the country´s first beach resort by King Rama VII in the 1920s, [...]

[Read more →]

Preventing foreigners from owning land and property in Thailand does many things: it protects powerful Thai landlords and agricultural monopolies, forces overseas investors to consider setting up shop in other regional markets, drives Thai capital from the country and provides a pool of nationalist bile for tub-thumping politicians to draw on and whip up a [...]

[Read more →]

BANGKOK — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s recent appointment of Thailand’s former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, as an economic adviser was the diplomatic equivalent of precision bombing, whose shockwaves have sent relations between the neighboring Southeast Asian nations into a tailspin.
But as the dust settles, observers say it is unclear who actually benefited from the increased [...]

[Read more →]

Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission turns 10 today.
A member of the public peruses documents detailing the assets and liabilities of former ministers in the Thaksin government, as released by the National Counter-Corruption Commission.
Its very existence is testament to the endemic corruption that continues to erode local political, economic and social institutions; it is also symbolic of [...]

[Read more →]