US giants keen on Thai investment, says Somkid

By THE NATION

 

 

Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said today (November 15) that Amazon and a US digital company had expressed interest in investing in Thailand.

 

Representatives from both companies have make enquires and wanted to hold talks with related ministers, he said, adding that they were told to hold meets with officials of the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.

 

"It is a good sign that global IT giants are showing strong interest in Thailand".

 

Somkid held talks with Finance Ministry's executives today on the global economic situation. Thailand has to be well-prepared to deal with the declining global economy, he said.

 

Domestic consumption, Somkid said, showed signs of improvement in October, reflecting success of "Eat, Shop, Spend", the ongoing economic stimulus package.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30378374

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-11-15

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Yes! Amazon should come to Thailand.

8 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Domestic consumption, Somkid said, showed signs of improvement in October, reflecting success of "Eat, Shop, Spend", the ongoing economic stimulus package.

And what'll happen when the stimulus packages end?

Amazon will only come here at the expense of Thailand not the other way around.

2 hours ago, Tayaout said:

Amazon will only come here at the expense of Thailand not the other way around.

 

100% agree. Amazon calls ALL the shots, and whilst Thailand may actually be a good location for a fulfillment center, I just can't see Thailand bowing to Amazon's mandatory demands...

 

But Amazon would bring an incredible ecosystem of partners and credibility...so it's one that would be really interesting for Thailand...

 

Microsoft, highly unlikely. Besides their Surface products and peripherals, software is digital and licensed and they sure wont put a development center in Thailand given the void of talent and Intellectual Property attitude.

 

My guess. Fake news.

If you want to see who the SMART American companies are....They are the ones that DO NOT come to Thailand....

Somkid is just the same as his pal Prayut, full of c++p.

 

9 hours ago, DLock said:

 

100% agree. Amazon calls ALL the shots, and whilst Thailand may actually be a good location for a fulfillment center, I just can't see Thailand bowing to Amazon's mandatory demands...

 

But Amazon would bring an incredible ecosystem of partners and credibility...so it's one that would be really interesting for Thailand...

 

Microsoft, highly unlikely. Besides their Surface products and peripherals, software is digital and licensed and they sure wont put a development center in Thailand given the void of talent and Intellectual Property attitude.

 

My guess. Fake news.

Its not Microsoft. The Digital company is Amazon as well, but their data centre company rather than the more widely known ecommerce part.

5 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Somkid is just the same as his pal Prayut, full of c++p.

 

I know for an absolute cast iron 100% fact some businesses of Amazon are already actively looking at Thailand so it is not <deleted> this time.

I'm surprised Colt and Smith & Wesson are not eyeing the potential!

When they work out that most of their potential employees will come from "neighbouring countries" I wonder how the investment decision will go.

US giants keen on Thai investment, says Somkid

 

This should be in the fake news section.

3 hours ago, smutcakes said:

Its not Microsoft. The Digital company is Amazon as well, but their data centre company rather than the more widely known ecommerce part.

 

It is Microsoft according to Somkid. 

 

 

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

"It is a good sign that global IT giants are showing strong interest in Thailand".

Big government loves big business.   They have similar bloat.   Taiwan and China have thousands of mid sized companies, and their economies are stable.  Thailand's lack of nimble thinking and its love of big and prestige is not good for the country.   Big companies are not as innovative as smaller ones.  They cannot diverse as much or as quickly, as smaller companies.   More smaller concerns would lead to a better education work force and a better opportunities for growth. 

 

Microsoft is old news as is Intel.  They are both playing catch up, trying to find new foot holds.

 

Bringing big companies into Thailand just means old stony face is just trying to keep the wealth concentrated at the top.     

Edited November 16, 20196 yr by yellowboat

Why would US Giants wish to donate 51% of their company to Thailand?

4 hours ago, smutcakes said:

I know for an absolute cast iron 100% fact some businesses of Amazon are already actively looking at Thailand so it is not <deleted> this time.

Well if Amazon has such a hard-on for SE Asia I think Malaysia would be a much smarter place to set up shop.....  

9 minutes ago, mikebell said:

Why would US Giants wish to donate 51% of their company to Thailand?

It doesn't work this way for multinational. 

55 minutes ago, mikebell said:

Why would US Giants wish to donate 51% of their company to Thailand?

Why would a US company be donating half of their company to Thailand? Have you noticed that nearly every single large US brand is already active in Thailand. 

 

Facebook, Google, Apple.... the list goes on.

 

51 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

Well if Amazon has such a hard-on for SE Asia I think Malaysia would be a much smarter place to set up shop.....  

Why? Its got half the population? A much smaller economy, less ecommerce...... if they are looking at Thailand i presume they have done their due diligence on the area, i expect they would roll out throughout the region.

Amazon's retail business is all about logistics - storing the inventory, processing the order and delivery in the most efficient manner possible. In spite of all the naysayers on these boards, Thailand is actually pretty decent at this. The problems for Amazon will all be government related - delays at customs, requests for "gifts", and general incompetence at all levels.

While I would love to see Amazon here, I think the government will overplay their weak hand and screw things up with ridiculous demands. Amazon plays the hardest of hard ball when it comes to negotiations - just look at how they walked away from the HQ2 deal in NYC after the greedy, incompetent politicians started making crazy demands.

American companies will not come to Thailand so that Thailand can give preferential treatment (and possibly other information as well) to Chinese competitors. If Thailand wants to be "China's Ant" then this is no place for American firms.  http://www.khaosodenglish.com/opinion/2019/11/16/thailand-return-of-chinas-vassal-state/

Edited November 16, 20196 yr by zydeco

No benefit for MSFT to have brick and mortar in Thailand. Amazon, a small benefit, but Thailand would need to foot the entire bill to make that happen...

And if you don't give them what they want they will arrange for the CIA to stage a Military coup, then steal everything.

Bolivia refused to hand over Lithium resources. Result Coup.

The five US soldiers killed near the Somalian boarder two years ago were assisting McDonald's fishing contractors to steal Somalian fish resources. 

On 11/15/2019 at 6:52 PM, Tayaout said:

Amazon will only come here at the expense of Thailand not the other way around.

Same as nearly every company 

7 hours ago, Redline said:

Same as nearly every company 

When I'm talking about coming at the expense of Thailand, I'm talking about their business model. They won't pay tax or at least the minimum they can get away with, they will pay their worker the minimum possible and they are able to lose money for a prolonged period of time to kill competitors. They are awesome for consumer but not so much for the economy. 

On 11/16/2019 at 6:45 AM, PatOngo said:

I'm surprised Colt and Smith & Wesson are not eyeing the potential!

Smith & Wesson already here ;-)

On 11/15/2019 at 6:52 PM, Tayaout said:

Amazon will only come here at the expense of Thailand not the other way around.

 

On 11/15/2019 at 9:17 PM, DLock said:

 

100% agree. Amazon calls ALL the shots, and whilst Thailand may actually be a good location for a fulfillment center, I just can't see Thailand bowing to Amazon's mandatory demands...

 

But Amazon would bring an incredible ecosystem of partners and credibility...so it's one that would be really interesting for Thailand...

 

Microsoft, highly unlikely. Besides their Surface products and peripherals, software is digital and licensed and they sure wont put a development center in Thailand given the void of talent and Intellectual Property attitude.

 

My guess. Fake news.

 

On 11/16/2019 at 6:22 AM, smutcakes said:

I know for an absolute cast iron 100% fact some businesses of Amazon are already actively looking at Thailand so it is not <deleted> this time.

What the actual heck are you guys talking about.  You do realize that Microsoft and Amazon both operate here already right?  And Google.  And Facebook.

36 minutes ago, mruniverse said:

 

 

What the actual heck are you guys talking about.  You do realize that Microsoft and Amazon both operate here already right?  And Google.  And Facebook.

Actually I'm suprised that you are right. However the newspaper we cannot cite say they are only partly present and focus more on helping seller ship outside Thailand. If you use Amazon sometimes you will realise that the thai experience has nothing to do with buying from Amazon in Europe or North America. This is what made me believe they were not present in Thailand. 

Edited November 17, 20196 yr by Tayaout

1 hour ago, mruniverse said:

 

 

What the actual heck are you guys talking about.  You do realize that Microsoft and Amazon both operate here already right?  And Google.  And Facebook.

 

They are just subsidiaries here, selling "product" into the domestic market.

 

The article talks about investing the EEC, presumably a development office, logistics office or warehousing and shipping, likely for the SEA region...the article is so vague, and probably more wishful target list than anything else...every country in the world would bend over backwards to get these 2 companies.

 

It makes no sense for Microsoft, but some sense fro Amazon.

Both companies are not excited about thailand per say but interested in tapping into 70 million people market. 
 

they saw lazada, shoppee and the rest make good profits so they looking to take a slice of the market. 
 

Somkid makes it look and sound like thailand is sometime special , it is not , pure economics for both companies