Thailand
The Kingdom of Thailand is located in Southeastern Asia bordering Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, the Andaman Sea, and the Gulf of Thailand. It is about twice the size of Wyoming and covers an area of 514,000 sq. kilometers. Thailand’s total population is about 67.45 million and growing at about 0.52% with 34% living in urban areas. The Thai capital of Bangkok has a population of about 9.67 million with other major areas including Nakhon Ratchasima (province pop. 2.56 mil) and Chiang Mai (province pop. 1.59 mil). The people are governed by a constitutional monarchy and are predominately Buddhist. The primary language is Thai, but English is increasingly favored as a second language among the elite. The local currency used is the Thai Baht.
Thailand has a well-developed infrastructure and boasted one of the strongest Eastern Asian economies in the past decade. However, recent political uncertainty and riots have stalled some infrastructure projects and lessened investor confidence. Its main trade partners are Japan, China, US, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE, and Taiwan. Its primary imports are capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials, consumer goods, and fuels. Exports consist of textiles and footwear, fishery products, rice, rubber, jewelry, automobiles, computers, and electrical appliances. Thailand’s GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is $662.6 billion and is growing at a real rate of 6.4% with an inflation rate of 3%. Thailand ranked 18 out of 185 countries in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking.
Click the links below for articles with more information on Franchising in Thailand
Doing Business in Thailand (2012)
US Commercial Service Franchise Market Overview
US Commercial Service Market Report - Thailand (2009)
CFE Program Launches in Singapore and Thailand (2009)
Franchising Rides Waves of Economic Expansion in Asia and Pacific Rim (2007)
* CPI Score is published by Transparency International and relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).
**Ease of Doing Business Ranking is determined by the World Bank Group and is ranked out of a possible 185 countries. www.doingbusiness.org
Most recent statistics have been taken from the CIA World Factbook unless noted otherwise.
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