I Love Donald Trump

[jko]

Thailand’s Rural Boom Yields Mercedes and $6,000 Jacuzzis

By William Mellor and Supunnabul Suwannakij - Oct 28, 2013

Bloomberg Markets Magazine

When Tos Chirathivat and his billionaire family make acquisitions for their Thailand-based retail, property and hotel empire, they often do it in style.

Seeking additional prime space in Bangkok’s congested downtown in 2006, Tos’s Central Group bought 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) of the British ambassador’s front lawn, which it’s now transforming into a curvaceous luxury shopping mall in the shape of an infinity symbol, Bloomberg Markets magazine will report in its December issue.

Then, in 2011, the family entered the European market, paying $350 million for the Italian department store chain La Rinascente SpA, whose stately flagship emporium fronts Milan’s Piazza del Duomo.

Lately, the urbane Tos, a former Citigroup Inc. investment banker who was educated at New York’s Columbia University, has also been expanding in an entirely different direction. He’s opening stores, malls and hotels in Thailand’s poorest region, the parched northeastern plateau of Isan, which is home to one-third of Thailand’s 67 million inhabitants.

“We are going into towns we would never have thought of five years ago,” says Tos, 49, in his executive suite overlooking the U.K.’s now much-diminished Bangkok embassy compound. “There’s a real boom going on in those places.”

Full article here

[mccw]

"""""Through it all, Thailand has become the worlds leading manufacturer of hard-disk drives by quantity and last year leapt ahead of Britain, Spain and Canada as an auto producer. Of the 2.4 million vehicles produced in Thailand by Japanese, U.S. and European carmakers, 1 million were exported."""""

[SantiSuk]

"the parched North-Eastern plateau of Isaan"

Some journalists need to get out of Bangkok more if they want to avoid writing trite bollux.

[mccw]

It is parched/ dry and dusty over there isn't it? That's why Thaksin wanted to do the mega project diverting water from the Mekong to irrigate the whole plateau no?

[SantiSuk]

Err, in a word ... No!

Come and visit Isaan, instead of mis-forming views from ThaiVisa. You'll find it diverse in height (ok - no really tall mountains) and in vegetation. No it is not all a dry and dusty plateau! I've no idea where the plateau bit comes from - maybe there are some large areas of Korat and Khon Kaen that might be elevated and flat, but even those provinces are not mono-gelogical!

[yoshiwara]

Err, in a word ... No!

Come and visit Isaan, instead of mis-forming views from ThaiVisa. You'll find it diverse in height (ok - no really tall mountains) and in vegetation. No it is not all a dry and dusty plateau! I've no idea where the plateau bit comes from - maybe there are some large areas of Korat and Khon Kaen that might be elevated and flat, but even those provinces are not mono-gelogical!

Isaan is a lush paradise, just like the Holloway Road next to Emirates Stadium.

[Baerboxer]

That's blown Bloomberg's credibility ! Does no one check the crap some journalists peddle anymore?

[mccw]

Err, in a word ... No!

Come and visit Isaan, instead of mis-forming views from ThaiVisa. You'll find it diverse in height (ok - no really tall mountains) and in vegetation. No it is not all a dry and dusty plateau! I've no idea where the plateau bit comes from - maybe there are some large areas of Korat and Khon Kaen that might be elevated and flat, but even those provinces are not mono-gelogical!

I've driven through it out past ufon Thani. Flat and dusty. Not sure how high because I couldn't see an sea of course. By the Mekong is nice thanks to the water. I'm sure down by the coast is ok too. And spots around reservoirs, lakes; those farms smart enough to follow the kings sufficiency techniques - (have you seen that cartoon with the two nieghbouring farmers? The mono culture rice grower, next door to the sufficiency. Very good.) anyway, obviously not exactly the same everywhere but as a generalisation I think dry plateau is a forgivable term, or at least points to the area he is talking about in the example of Udon.

But anyway....

Isn't this article meant to be about economics rather than geography?

I think Thailand and SEAsia has plenty of growth in it yet. Many more cycles to go until they reach a debt saturation point / limit like west has reached.