McDonald’s Thailand is welcoming employees from Texas Chicken, which is set to close at the end of this month. Yesterday, September 23, McDonald’s Thailand’s Recruitment Facebook page posted a message specifically inviting Texas Chicken employees to apply for positions at McDonald’s, which operates over 230 branches across the country.

 

“To our friends at Texas Chicken, we are saddened to hear that Texas Chicken will cease its operations in Thailand. We want to offer our support and let you know that McDonald’s, a global restaurant brand, has plenty of opportunities available for everyone.

 

“The skills you have can help you grow steadily with us. Bring your abilities to McDonald’s, and we will always welcome you. Join us in creating wonderful moments for our customers, no matter what position you hold. Come talk to us, we are waiting for you… From all of us at McDonald’s Thailand.”

 

Texas Chicken employees facing the closure of their workplace are encouraged to consider the opportunities McDonald’s offers. This support from McDonald’s comes as a significant gesture to those who might be worried about their employment future following the shutdown of Texas Chicken at the end of this month.

Texas Chicken employees are encouraged to reach out to McDonald’s for discussions about potential positions, reported KhaoSod.

 

ORIGINAL STORY: Cluck’s up: Texas Chicken to fly the coop in Thailand after 9 years

In a shock announcement, Texas Chicken has revealed that it will be shuttering all its outlets in Thailand by the end of this month, ending a nine-year run that has left fans of the crispy treat crestfallen. The bombshell was dropped on their official Facebook page, and there was no explanation for the abrupt exit.

“It’s time to say goodbye to Texas Chicken after nine years of tasty memories,” the statement read, leaving fried chicken lovers devastated.

Known as Church’s Texas Chicken in the States, this American fast food giant first spread its wings in San Antonio, Texas, before roosting its headquarters in Atlanta. Here in Thailand, it was the PTT Oil and Retail Business Plc (OR) that brought the beloved brand to the nation’s petrol stations, expanding its reach to community malls and beyond.

 

The fast food chain was an integral part of OR’s strategy to diversify from its core oil business and into the ever-popular culinary market, reported Bangkok Post.

 

Church’s Texas Chicken isn’t just clucking around in Thailand, the franchise boasts a presence in 26 countries worldwide. But alas, for Thai fans, the countdown to the last crunch has begun.

So, mark your calendars and grab that final bucket, it’s your last chance to savour the finger-lickin’ goodness before Texas Chicken closes its doors for good in Thailand.

 

The news of Texas Chicken’s closure will be good news to some parents worried about the welfare of their children. Today’s youth in Thailand face a startling reality. Their life expectancy may be shorter than their parents, largely due to health issues stemming from excessive junk food consumption.

 

Over 39 million children under 5 are overweight, fueling a rapid obesity epidemic. A significant contributor is junk food marketing, targeting children who lack the cognitive skills to discern advertising intent.

 

Marketers exploit this vulnerability, spending billions to shape future consumers. Fast food chains alone spent US$5 billion on youth advertising in 2019, according to CyberGhost.

 

by Puntid Tantivangphaisal
Photo courtesy of KhaoSod

 

Source: The Thaiger 

-- 2024-09-25

 

I've been to Texas Chicken  a few times.....and more often than not, I have been the only customer....

5 minutes ago, ChrisY1 said:

I've been to Texas Chicken  a few times.....and more often than not, I have been the only customer....

In my local mall Texas Chicken came in with a large restaurant hoping for a big clientele, unfortunately that never happened and they reduced the restaurant by half. Still sales were poor and must have been depressing for the workforce to see KFC opposite booming.

I preferred their menu over KFC and since this restaurant, and another at a nearby PTT station, opened i haven’t set foot in KFC.

Ironically since announcing their closure they have been packed on the couple of times i have visited.

Was always OK when I ordered but they had a few menu problems, IIRC they offered chips/crisps with their meals, I would certainly have preferred fries/hash browns or similar.

 

I did use to enjoy their biscuits/scones though. 

thai rak kai thai ? or something like that?

Interesting, from the point of view that the local oil company mentioned is nowadays, in many ways, a very capable diverse business organization which realised some years back that oil companies need to diversify.

 

I worked for one of the biggest global oil companies for many years in several countries. Perhaps 10 or 12 years ago the company got serious:

 

- They realized that total focus on oil and petroleum, fossil fuels,  was not going to sustain long-term.

 

- They realized they had substantial resources and infrastructure world wide and they did big investigation / research on what they should focus on / how they should diversify for revenues and margin as the world changed from fossil fuels. (Other big oil companies doing the same.) 

 

- My company decided the answer was food, every aspect of food. 

 

- Some oil companies are very successful in their step by step change to food (or whatever), some aren't.

 

- Part of the situation is not understanding well enough the market for food. KFC spends very big and uses big many tools and activities to build and maintain their brand. Many of the companies who are new to this type of business.

 

- One local company told their HR to find new staff who were well acquainted with building food brands. HR found a number of local people who had a masters degree in marketing but no real marketing experiences. The CEO's diversification committee (including several folks brought in from outside) didn't employ even one of these people.

 

The HR manager was furious 'but they all have a masters degree'.

 

I was asked to give some advice. I told the HR manager 'you're looking at the wrong items. The folks you found have no knowledge or experience with building brand and in building brand in the food / fast food industry.

 

HR Manager insisted that my comment was not relevant, and insisted that the fact they had a masters degree was the most important point because if they attended meetings / seminars etc., they could give their business card and highlight that they had a masters degree.

 

The HR manager saw impressing the other attendees with education qualifications impress the other attendees by saying they had a masters degree as the key point.  

 

I responded by quoting the very low revenue numbers and highlighting that very little money / resources was being spent of marketing and branding.

 

HR manager insisted that was good 'saving money'.

 

A later meeting more discussion with the HR manager and he and his  senior staff were dismissed and quickly a whole new team employed, all given specific tasks re building brand. They are now making progress. 

 

Edited September 25, 20241 yr by scorecard

I quite like the KFC zinger deal, a burger,2 wings, fries, and a chicken piece and drink (refillable). If you look at Texas chicken deals there isn't really a comparison, and where they do have a similar meal it seems more expensive. Like Texas chicken wrap though. KFC's fries are awful though, always seem old and soggy no matter what time of day you buy the meal.

I prefer McDonalds fried spicy chicken. Much better than the others IMO

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Over 39 million children under 5 are overweight, fueling a rapid obesity epidemic.

Thailand has 39. illion children under the age of 5?? Surely not.

 

I never knew Texas Chicken was a PTT franchise. They probably figured "we've done well with Amazon coffee - captive customer base at all our filling stations - how hard can fast food be" ... with no thought to the complexity of staffing / stock control / equipment cost for a restaurant operation. Also that at a PTT filling station there is only ever one coffee option, but plenty of food options.

Why doesn't Texas Chicken keep a few branches instead of closing them all? The one next to phrakanong bts seems to always have clients, thai, western, indian, chinese.....

Dollars to donuts Texas Chicken will reopen once the Thai partner ditches their western partner.  They learned all they needed and now it's time to quit splitting the proceeds.

 

It's a familiar story...

 

I wonder what they'll call it? 

 

Texas Chicken is the best......Puts KFC and their MSG chicken to shame....

1 hour ago, Celsius said:

Why doesn't Texas Chicken keep a few branches instead of closing them all? The one next to phrakanong bts seems to always have clients, thai, western, indian, chinese.....

 Perhaps when they have a large number of outlets this reduces the overall operational costs (Supply chain efficiency / cost efficiency). But if only a small number of branches and even more so if they are not geographically quite close the supply chain cost could be unacceptable. 

6 hours ago, LittleBear57 said:

I quite like the KFC zinger deal, a burger,2 wings, fries, and a chicken piece and drink (refillable). If you look at Texas chicken deals there isn't really a comparison, and where they do have a similar meal it seems more expensive. Like Texas chicken wrap though. KFC's fries are awful though, always seem old and soggy no matter what time of day you buy the meal.

 

KFC fries in Thailand are diabolical 24/7 ... what is wrong with those people? Simple enough task. Do the managers eat them? If so then maybe they have weird tastes.

 

The main reason I rarely eat at KFC.

 

Edited September 25, 20241 yr by BusyB

Popeyes chicken is the best. Their red beans & rice is awesome.