How far has Thai retailing come in 20 years?

In just two decades, retailing in Thailand has evolved from a traditional model to the global model seen today.

The first 7-Eleven opened in 1989 in Bangkok's Patpong area, and the format proved a huge success. There are more than 4,400 locations in Thailand currently. The Japanese chain Family Mart came to Thailand in 1993. Tesco Lotus's Lotus Express also operates in this segment.

Take a trip thru the last 20 years of Thai retailing with this article.

Baht at 10 year high, Dollar at 26 year low.

Two years ago, that 4 million Baht studio or one bedroom condo in Bangkok would cost you $96,367 Now, that same condo will cost you $129,209 and that's not the appreciation of real estate. Thats just the exchange rate. From WSJ:

The dollar hit a 10-year low Thursday when it struck 34.03 baht from the Wednesday close of 34.19 baht in Thai trading. The onshore foreign-exchange market is insulated from speculative pressures by controls on many types of capital inflows.

SET at new high, amid political uncertantity

The country has it's problems, but it seems more an more investors are becoming thick skinned when it comes to political turmoil. Story:

This week, foreigners have helped push Thailand's stock exchange to its highest level since the financial crisis that began here a decade ago, with net foreign buying on Monday and Tuesday of $300 million, according to Keith Neruda, head of Thailand research at UBS Securities in Bangkok.

Yet the country's economic outlook is mixed. Thailand's exports of cars, electronics and agricultural products continue to surge - one reason for the continued appreciation of the baht. But the banking system now has one of the highest levels of non-performing loans in Asia, 8.7 percent, according to Neruda at UBS. By contrast, bad loans account for 2.9 percent of lending in Singapore and 0.6 percent in Hong Kong.

Never mind, Thailand is on a roll:

Thailand's main stock market index, largely driven by foreign buying, has risen about 21 percent since the beginning of the year. Foreign investors have bought $3 billion more than they have sold on the Thai stock exchange since January. Thai investors have been net sellers of the same amount.

Foreign tourists continue to arrive in record numbers despite the New Year bombings in Bangkok that killed three bystanders and the Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand. From January to April, 5 percent more foreign tourists arrived at Bangkok's international airport than in the same period last year. In Phuket, the increase was 21 percent and in Chiang Mai, 9 percent. Overall, about 14 million tourists visited Thailand in 2006.

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Thai economy improving?

I have to say, I am a bit surprised with all the political turmoil, the Thai economy is still going well:

Bangkok Post "Kasikornbank president Prasarn Trairattanaworarkul said his bank had now revised this year's exports growth to around 14-15 per cent from the 10-12 per cent forecast earlier.

The better-than-expected export growth will help push the national economy to grow to between 4-4.5 per cent from the 3.5-4.5 per cent projected earlier although private investment remains sluggish, he said.

Local interest rates also dropped sharply during the first half of this year as policy interest rate of the Bank of Thailand fell to 3.5 per cent now from 5 per cent, said Mr. Prasarn."