Thai Industry News

True Corporation is moving aggressively into high-speed fibre-optic networking for corporate customers with the introduction of up to 10-gigabit ethernet service to meet demand for greater bandwidth.

The Housing Finance Association expects growth in new home loans this year to slow to 8%, down from 9.2% last year, because of rising interest rates and cessation of tax incentives.

The Federation of Thai Capital Market Organisations (Fetco) expects the Thai bourse in 2013 to exceed the record high achieved before the 1997 Asian financial crisis, thanks to likely sustained levels of inflation and interest rates and listed companies gaining a higher return on equity as a result of investment expansion.

Thai Union Frozen Products (TUF), the country's largest exporter of frozen and canned seafood, projects its first-quarter revenue will grow by at least 30% year-on-year as destruction from massive quakes may prompt more orders from Japan.

Somboon Advance Technology Plc (SAT) will review this year's revenue forecast of 7.3 billion baht to take into account the Japanese disasters and Middle East riots.

Second-hand units will see more demand. Housing prices are forecast to rise by at least 5% this year, reflecting the higher costs of construction, wages and land, says the Housing Business Association.

The domestic sale of motor vehicles in Thailand surged by 44.2 per cent to 78,039 units in February, with Toyota retaining its predominant market share of 30,592 units, up 44.2 per cent, and Isuzu, ranked second largest with 14,713 units, up 22.2 per cent, an informed source in the automotive industry revealed on Wednesday.

The supply of new condominiums in Bangkok grew a massive 182 per cent last year compared to 2009, however fears of an oversupply appear to be subsiding as developers moderate the number of new developments they are offering to the market.

The travel business in Thailand is likely to suffer a negative impact over the next three to six months as Japanese tourists defer plans to come here, while Thais are likely to travel to other countries for fear of being caught in another quake.

Despite the govt's price controls, many people are having to pay more when there is a shortage of goods. The continuation of the government's price-freezing policy for more than a year has hit consumers hard, hiking the cost of living and resulting in shortages of essential goods.