Commerce Ministry To Create A Target Of 20,000 Thai Restaurants Worldwide By 2008

[Jai Dee]

The Commerce Ministry to create a target of 20,000 Thai restaurants worldwide by 2008

The Commerce Ministry plans to increase the number of overseas Thai restaurants to 20,000 within 2008.

Caretaker Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak (สมคิด จาตุศรีพิทักษ์), now on a visit to the United States, said it is not difficult to open 11,000 more Thai restaurants worldwide in addition to the 9,000 already set up abroad if both the public and private sectors give their support.

Mr. Somkid said he has already assigned the Export Promotion Department (EPD), Food Institute and EXIM Bank to provide financial assistance and quality ingredients at low prices for entrepreneurs.

EPD chief Chantra Buranarirksh (จันทรา บูรณฤกษ์), meanwhile, said the Thai delegation to the US has already been able to sell goods such as canned tuna, shrimp non-alcoholic drinks and gems and jewelry worth around five billion baht altogether.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 13 July 2006

[JXXXL]

The Commerce Ministry to create a target of 20,000 Thai restaurants worldwide by 2008

The Commerce Ministry plans to increase the number of overseas Thai restaurants to 20,000 within 2008.

Caretaker Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak (สมคิด จาตุศรีพิทักษ์), now on a visit to the United States, said it is not difficult to open 11,000 more Thai restaurants worldwide in addition to the 9,000 already set up abroad if both the public and private sectors give their support.

Mr. Somkid said he has already assigned the Export Promotion Department (EPD), Food Institute and EXIM Bank to provide financial assistance and quality ingredients at low prices for entrepreneurs.

EPD chief Chantra Buranarirksh (จันทรา บูรณฤกษ์), meanwhile, said the Thai delegation to the US has already been able to sell goods such as canned tuna, shrimp non-alcoholic drinks and gems and jewelry worth around five billion baht altogether.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 13 July 2006

I can just see it. A bunch of TRT ministers sitting in a room brainstorming about how to increase exports. One guy says, "I got it, lets open more Thai restaurants abroad"

Farking hilarious.

[Maejo Man]

Mr. Somkid said he has already assigned the Export Promotion Department (EPD), Food Institute and EXIM Bank to provide financial assistance and quality ingredients at low prices for entrepreneurs.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 13 July 2006

Now that I've stopped laughing, all I can say is that there must be a ministerial university somewhere, purely for aspiring politicians to graduate in weird schemes.

Imagine Tony Blair promoting a scheme to open more British restaurants in Thailand

[veteran]

:TIT:

[snoophound]

I am sure that target is well exceeded already,judging by the numbers of menus in my letterbox in sydney alone.

Mr. Somkid said he has already assigned the Export Promotion Department (EPD), Food Institute and EXIM Bank to provide financial assistance and quality ingredients at low prices for entrepreneurs.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 13 July 2006

Now that I've stopped laughing, all I can say is that there must be a ministerial university somewhere, purely for aspiring politicians to graduate in weird schemes.

Imagine Tony Blair promoting a scheme to open more British restaurants in Thailand

[geoffphuket]

Usually thai restaurants are used as a front anyway for the visa side of exporting whores.

Think a lot people would be offended by that comment

[Maejo Man]

Usually thai restaurants are used as a front anyway for the visa side of exporting ...........

Think a lot people would be offended by that comment

There are two Thai restaurants in Australia that I know of that offer a complete "take away" service. The bill is adjusted to accordingly

[simon43]

Thailand . . . the hub of . . . er . . . exportng Thai restaurants!!!

Edited July 16, 2006 by simon43

[Netfan]

Usually thai restaurants are used as a front anyway for the visa side of exporting whores.

Think a lot people would be offended by that comment

Quite possibly the dumbest comment i have read in all my years of reading posts on thaivisa.- (the original, not the repy)

Edited July 16, 2006 by Netfan

[OldAsiaHand]

Usually thai restaurants are used as a front anyway for the visa side of exporting whores.

Think a lot people would be offended by that comment

Quite possibly the dumbest comment i have read in all my years of reading posts on thaivisa.- (the original, not the repy)

Nope, I'd vote for the reply as the dumbest.

Just because someone might be offended by the poster's comment, doesn't make it untrue. If you do think it's untrue, you ought to say so, not hide behind the claim that someone might....gasp, be offended.

Good Lord, by that standard half the posts on this board are a problem.

[astral]

I hope they are better than The Blue Elephant in Beirut, where the food was tasteless and overpriced.

and that was before the bombing started.

[PeaceBlondie]

Being overly generous, let's assume the Thais who operate the Thai Ministry of Thai Commerce know the first thing about Thai restaurants in Thailand. But I'll bet they haven't been to supposedly Thai restaurants in other countries. Do they have even an inkling of a clue of an idea of what it's like to do business in Thailand.....ooops, I mean all those other countries? I'll bet that in most developed countries, half of all small businesses fail in the first year.

Besides, do they have any inkling of a clue that some of us non-Thais hate and despise Thai food? What doesn't taste too spicy tastes nasty and smells worse. I saw a Thai restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland, and didn't bother to check how authentic it was. The ones in Houston and Shanghai weren't very authentic.

Oh, wait - this is a Thai government announcement about Thai food.

[Maestro]

i saw the 'cook' chasing a large mouse out of the kitchen and found the toilet was back to back with the kitchen. The food tasted fine thou and I havn't had any adverse affects yet!!!

Are you quite sure he wasn’t after that mouse (rat?) to catch it for the frying pan, and it wasn’t on that plate of food you found to taste fine?

---------------

Maestro

P.S. If we eat frog legs, what’s wrong with eating rats or mice? Or ants or grasshoppers, for that matter.

[farangsay]

The Commerce Ministry to create a target of 20,000 Thai restaurants worldwide by 2008

The Commerce Ministry plans to increase the number of overseas Thai restaurants to 20,000 within 2008.

Caretaker Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak (สมคิด จาตุศรีพิทักษ์), now on a visit to the United States, said it is not difficult to open 11,000 more Thai restaurants worldwide in addition to the 9,000 already set up abroad if both the public and private sectors give their support.

Mr. Somkid said he has already assigned the Export Promotion Department (EPD), Food Institute and EXIM Bank to provide financial assistance and quality ingredients at low prices for entrepreneurs.

EPD chief Chantra Buranarirksh (จันทรา บูรณฤกษ์), meanwhile, said the Thai delegation to the US has already been able to sell goods such as canned tuna, shrimp non-alcoholic drinks and gems and jewelry worth around five billion baht altogether.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 13 July 2006

My God , what do they taste like ?

Do they run the shrimp through a blender or toss it in in chunks ?

Do they remove the exoskeleton first ?

Is Budweiser worried and looking for a new ad campaign ?

[Maestro]

goods such as canned tuna, shrimp non-alcoholic drinks and gems and jewelry worth around five billion baht altogether.

You will enjoy reading the book “Eats, shoots and leaves” by Lynne Truss. See attachment.

---------------

Maestro

Edited July 16, 2006 by maestro

[Guest endure]

goods such as canned tuna, shrimp non-alcoholic drinks and gems and jewelry worth around five billion baht altogether.

You will enjoy reading the book “Eats, shoots and leaves” by Lynne Truss. See attachment.

---------------

Maestro

Given away as a free audiobook in today's Sunday Times, spookily enough possums....

[Heng]

Being overly generous, let's assume the Thais who operate the Thai Ministry of Thai Commerce know the first thing about Thai restaurants in Thailand. But I'll bet they haven't been to supposedly Thai restaurants in other countries. Do they have even an inkling of a clue of an idea of what it's like to do business in Thailand.....ooops, I mean all those other countries? I'll bet that in most developed countries, half of all small businesses fail in the first year.

Besides, do they have any inkling of a clue that some of us non-Thais hate and despise Thai food? What doesn't taste too spicy tastes nasty and smells worse. I saw a Thai restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland, and didn't bother to check how authentic it was. The ones in Houston and Shanghai weren't very authentic.

Oh, wait - this is a Thai government announcement about Thai food.

I doubt the government really cares about the menu, atmosphere, authenticity, or any other part of the actual operations of overseas restaurants. IMO they are simply looking at the past results of Thai expats operating small to medium sized businesses overseas.... one thing that a good number of them (IMO the majority) have in common is religiously repatriating income to Thailand. I know we did and still do even though we aren't based there (at least not our branch of the family) any more.

As for the failure rate, having all family members as your employees (in the beginning anyway) and then later on having all illegal aliens (both types: the kind that swim over and the kind that fly over) in the kitchen + the outrageous highway robbery markup of Thai dishes overseas helps nudge the failure rate in the business owner's favor.

Edited July 16, 2006 by Heng

[farangsay]

Hey guys (and gals)

Are you taking this thread seriously ?

The Ministry of Commerce thinks "it should not be difficult" to open 11,000 more

Thai restaurants worldwide.

To garble a cliché , the Ministry of Commerce (in any country) is to commerce

what military music is to music. No relation.

Do you think they have despatched civil servants to NY , Paris , Sydney etc etc

to scout for possible locations ?

Took a Thai GF to dinner at a "Thai" restaurant near the Champs Elysée.

None of the staff could understand her because they were all from Hong Kong.

[Ijustwannateach]

Well, thank goodness a target has been created in an area so important for the well-being of most of the Thai people, and a media announcement about the target has been made.

[Ijustwannateach]

P.S. the "Thai" restaurant I ate in back home not long ago was a Malaysian one run by Chinese from Penang.

[ronz28]

Already have 11 Thai restaurants here in Austin and most every medium sized cities and larger we have visited have enough Thai restaurants. The restaurants here may be out of certain ingredients but serve up the meal anyway. The Asian buffets are the big draw here but usually only have Chinese, Korean and some Japanese food. I think the best Thai food in a restaurant we have had was in Seattle.

Most Thai restaurants here seem to be successful but there's no better Thai food than what I get at home with all the flavors from the right ingredients.

[Johpa]

IMO they are simply looking at the past results of Thai expats operating small to medium sized businesses overseas.... one thing that a good number of them (IMO the majority) have in common is religiously repatriating income to Thailand.....

For every Thai restaurant sending money back to Thailand to support a family there is another Thai restaurant that was financed in the opposite direction by funds obtained in the black market in Thailand and then transferred offshore. It is nearly impossible to get a bank loan for a new restaurant unless you have a very long proven track record. As it takes a minimum of $100,000 to open a new Thai restaurant in the US, the $100 a month sent back to help yaat phii noong is a mere pittance.

Those sending funds back would be doing so regardless of their type of business. It is a pitfall of marrying into a Thai family that you will be expected to support those back in Thailand even if it causes financial distress to your own new family. Thais often do expect the poverty to be shared equally.

So I think the Bangkok elite is more interested in finding ways to invest funds, especially black market funds, offshore than in helping poorer familes.

[Heng]

IMO they are simply looking at the past results of Thai expats operating small to medium sized businesses overseas.... one thing that a good number of them (IMO the majority) have in common is religiously repatriating income to Thailand.....

For every Thai restaurant sending money back to Thailand to support a family there is another Thai restaurant that was financed in the opposite direction by funds obtained in the black market in Thailand and then transferred offshore. It is nearly impossible to get a bank loan for a new restaurant unless you have a very long proven track record. As it takes a minimum of $100,000 to open a new Thai restaurant in the US, the $100 a month sent back to help yaat phii noong is a mere pittance.

Those sending funds back would be doing so regardless of their type of business. It is a pitfall of marrying into a Thai family that you will be expected to support those back in Thailand even if it causes financial distress to your own new family. Thais often do expect the poverty to be shared equally.

So I think the Bangkok elite is more interested in finding ways to invest funds, especially black market funds, offshore than in helping poorer familes.

Well, your results may vary with the folks you associate with. In my experience, with our own businesses and the folks we knew in our neighborhood and local temple (Wat Dhammabucca in San Antonio), most everything was built from the ground up, finance free.... although there were many cases financed through friends or 'shares.' The restaurant was/is only one part of it all. Started with a room in part of a gas station (the Austin guy above might know the location.... it was the old Fina gas station across from Hamburger Heaven on Guadalupe St., started up in 1972), worked like crazy until we actually bought the gas station, purchased nearby location and the building next to that, expanded to convenient stores/gas stations out in Bastrop, Marble Falls, Thrall, Taylor, property rentals, seafood market, and video shops, etc. etc. Repatriated funds were for our own family investment (mostly real estate), not to help any yaat phii noong, except in cases where they were partners in said investments and actually well in excess of $100 a month.

This is not to mention the dozens of Thai employees (in addition to Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and Indonesians) / immigrants who came and got their start with us as menial labor/cashiers/peons and over the course of 15-20+ years (yes, it takes awhile to save up on $4-5 an hour/50 hours a week... but they did/do it.... as not everyone... or even anyone that I know of, had access to bank loans or black market funds), almost all are their own bosses now, with their own businesses -only some of which are restaurants-.

edit in: not important, but the first location was actually a grocery (the very first in Austin), the third business (third acquired location) was actually the first restaurant (one of only a handful when opened in the early 80's).

Edited July 17, 2006 by Heng

[Donz]

You guys are funny, whats so bad about this??

Thai restaraunts have boomed big time in sydney and most people love it.

Do you want some biscuits with your wine

[Heng]

A lot of posters reveal their personal problems no matter what the current topic is.....

for example:

"It is a pitfall of marrying into a Thai family that you will be expected to support those back in Thailand even if it causes financial distress to your own new family. Thais often do expect the poverty to be shared equally."

It's certainly the status quo (and not related to restaurants) amongst certain segments of the population, but hardly for all Thais everywhere.

[Johpa]

A lot of posters reveal their personal problems no matter what the current topic is.....

for example:

"It is a pitfall of marrying into a Thai family that you will be expected to support those back in Thailand even if it causes financial distress to your own new family. Thais often do expect the poverty to be shared equally."

It's certainly the status quo (and not related to restaurants) amongst certain segments of the population, but hardly for all Thais everywhere.

Quite odd that you simply restate and confiirm in different words my general observation and then also make an incorrect inference that I was somehow commenting upon a personal problem. Sorry if I touched a raw nerve Heng.

[Heng]

It's pretty obvious.

And again, I'm confirming your statement for certain segments of society. Not a blanket generalization as you originally stated.

Edited July 17, 2006 by Heng