Thailand cost-effective destination for luxury brands, retailer says

[webfact]

LUXURY DESTINATION
Thailand cost-effective destination for luxury brands, retailer says
SUCHAT SRITAMA
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thailand remains an attractive country for global luxury brands as the cost of investment here is about half that of some neighbouring destinations, said Kriengsak Tantiphipop, chief executive officer of The Emporium, who also manages Bangkok's EM District.

"During the last two years, more than 100 new global brands have entered Thailand. That has approximately doubled the number of stores [in this category] compared with 2012," he said.

The top brands are from Italy, Britain, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sweden.

The cost of investment for luxury brands setting up in Hong Kong is about double that of Thailand, and Singapore costs 1.5 times as much. Costs here are also much lower than in many Western countries.

Kriengsak said Thailand was also popular with international brands because of the size of the market, with a 70-million local population and tens of millions of tourists. "There are also more than 500 million people in the region. As such, top international brands are looking at expanding throughout the region from their stores in Thailand."

Another key reason for the fast growth in luxury brands' presence here is the fact that tourism has recovered after suffering a huge drop last year during the political crisis. Meanwhile developers have new unique venues in place.

Kriengsak said retail business would continue to grow during the rest of the year. However, he urged government to promote the country as a shopping destination as well as to assure foreigners that Thailand is a safe place to visit.

"When The EM District, which is so far consists of The Emporium and EmQuartier, is fully opened, including the Bhiraj Tower, we expect 200,000 customers per day."

This year, it is forecast that visitors from other Asean countries will contribute Bt10 billion in sales, helping increase The Mall Group's sales by Bt53 billion or 6 per cent from 2014.

At EmQuartier, about 90 per cent of retailers have opened their doors. More world-class brands will open outlets soon: the first and only branch in Thailand of New York jewellery store Tiffany & Co; French jeweller Van Cleef & Arpels; separate Dior boutiques for women and men, Lady Dior and Dior Homme; Burberry; Emporio Armani; Issey Miyake; Tod's; Canali; Patek Philippe; Rolex; and Hublot.

The Mall Group plans to open a new shopping mall called Bluport in Hua Hin next year, followed by another Bluport in Phuket in 2018, and Emsphere in The EM District in 2019.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Thailand-cost-effective-destination-for-luxury-bra-30260995.html


-- The Nation 2015-05-27

[BSJ]

That's wonderful news! I am sure million's of Thai's living hand to mouth will be excited too!

[TheAppletons]

Marketing disguised as a news story. The Mall Group spokesperson would be better off lobbying his government to reduce the onerous import duties/taxes that make shopping for foreign goods in Thailand outrageously expensive (though, given the brands the article cites, I supposed that's the point.)

[trogers]

And the casualties are the Thais who can ill afford them start pawning them to pay for the education of their children.

[whatawonderfulday]

Verbal c*ap again

[shirtless]

way to go this is all great news but who is going to buy this stuff , most Thai people i speak are tapped out already ,

[alant]

checked Burbery.com they don't list Thailand on their site. So if I had a UK brand, can I open a store in the mall to sell my product without having to form a limited company and employ people? It would be good if yes but I don't think it can be done like that. Would love to know.

[WhizBang]

Anybody been to the EM District? Rarely have I seen such a poorly designed shopping center.

And why do Thais always seem to open these new buildings before they are finished?

[JOC]

>>The Mall Group plans to open a new shopping mall called Bluport in Hua Hin next year, followed by another Bluport in Phuket in 2018, and Emsphere in The EM District in 2019.<< Quote

Sure the tourists in Hua Hin (all 5 of them) will appreciate that.

And when they have finished their luxury shopping, they will walk to the beach to admire the horses shitting all over the place!!

[ratcatcher]

way to go this is all great news but who is going to buy this stuff , most Thai people i speak are tapped out already ,

Understandable, since you, as a shirtless person, are hardly likely to come into everyday contact with the kind of people who can afford to buy this imported

stuff.

And yes, many Thai people are up to their eyes in debt, but face saving is more important than money saving, eh?

Edited May 27, 2015 by ratcatcher

[baboon]

I thought luxury stuff like Armani and Rolex was the same price everywhere? Maybe I go to the wrong outlets, but bargains to me seem few and far between..

[trogers]

I thought luxury stuff like Armani and Rolex was the same price everywhere? Maybe I go to the wrong outlets, but bargains to me seem few and far between..

This article is directed to Brand Name owners to set up shop in Em District or similar. For the same selling prices, you can get lower business cost, thus higher profits.

[clockman]

Total crap, luxury goods are far expensive in Thailand! Actualy customs would not bear close scrutiny. Never see anything about 300 luxury cars vanishing!

[Halion]

Total rubbish and wishful thinking. Luxury brands benefit only the local elite and the retailers. Most tourist can get far better deals in there own country or other duty free regions.

Retailers here slap such high mark ups on goods to justify their high operating costs in these marble and glass fantasy towers and also to give themselves a healthy profit.One of the worst places in the world to shop for high end goods that are not copys

Is this the level of crap that they are descending too in order give false testimony to happiness to the people.

[geriatrickid]

>>The Mall Group plans to open a new shopping mall called Bluport in Hua Hin next year, followed by another Bluport in Phuket in 2018, and Emsphere in The EM District in 2019.<< Quote

Sure the tourists in Hua Hin (all 5 of them) will appreciate that.

And when they have finished their luxury shopping, they will walk to the beach to admire the horses shitting all over the place!!

I will be surprised if the Hua Hin Blue Port is really "finished" in 2016. It's been ongoing for the last few years.

The tourists to Hua Hin are in large part, Bangkok's wealthy. They have money.

You exaggerate the horse manure problem, as the animal torturers are obliged to pick up the manure, and they do that.

The bigger problem is the lack of sewage treatment and effluent that taints the water, along with the aggressive kite school operators who monopolize large sections of a public beach.

In respect to the presence of "famous brands", with the over abundance of counterfeit products, the market has been damaged.Why purchase a real one when you can get a copy for 1000 baht.

[harryfrompattaya]

I thought luxury stuff like Armani and Rolex was the same price everywhere? Maybe I go to the wrong outlets, but bargains to me seem few and far between..

Price a Rolex in Costco in American vs Price in Bangkok

Much cheaper in America

No I do not own one but sold many used in America for Le Roy

[chilli42]

You would need rocks in your head to set up a regional branch of a global luxury brand in Thailand: language capability zero, worker competence, red tape, high government taxation (relative to HK and SG), very small local market (think HK for China). The list against goes on. Agree the cost is low, there is a very good reason it's low, there is nothing else to offer.

[chilli42]

You would need rocks in your head to set up a regional branch of a global luxury brand in Thailand: language capability zero, worker competence, red tape, high government taxation (relative to HK and SG), very small local market (think HK for China). The list against goes on. Agree the cost is low, there is a very good reason it's low, there is nothing else to offer.

[fred Kubasa]

Nonsense ! There are, literally, hundreds of companies who will NOT ship to Thailand

( check some out on Amazon ), so until they revamp their incoming duties/fees/poor delivery, Thailand will, not,

as in most cases, be anywhere near " cost effective " !

[harleyclarkey]

Yat another example of Thai brass necks.

Yes....bring your expertise, your designs, your styles and set up in wonderful happy Thailand.

Then we can copy and sell out of the back door.

Do the stupid Thais not know this??

Avoid the country like the plague.

[Jenny Adara]

is that a Joke????
Thailand has the highest import tax for Luxury brands in the World!!! 40% import tax on makeup and 20% import tax on hair products,,,
That does NOT include VAT at 7%
Also does not include the corruption charges and tea money importers have to pay the Customs Mafia or risk losing their cargo.

Sorry Thailand you are deluded - you are actually the worst place in the world to buy quality luxury items... or import products into
You cannot even operate FEDEX or TNT ot dhl WITHOUT ripping every customer off and are without a doubt the worst in SE Asia in my opinion.

But great to buy crap and knock of fakes from the street. Dont over inflate your ego just because you have lots of malls with over priced Chinese junk in them that look expensive because the malls are glossy.

Edited May 27, 2015 by Jenny Adara

[maidee]

so international companies, come here to have your "luxery" stuff made at the lowest price and sell it at a premium in the malls all over the world, how much %%% profit do they make on this ?

[robertthebruce]

Agree with everyone, total crap, Thailand is expensive for Luxury or Marked Brands..

I am a big Paul Smith fan, and the stores in Bangkok are near on double what I would pay in London....

[Jonmarleesco]

'... the cost of investment here is about half that of some neighbouring destinations, said Kriengsak Tantiphipop ...' Hardly surprising. Given their scant attention to safety standards, building costs are substantially lower than countries where safety is prioritised over extra-quick profit from extra-quick opening. We saw the results with Siam Paragon's rush to open; and it was evident in the rush to open the EM Quartier, as well as to rush through renovation of - and keep open all through - the Emporium.

'"When The EM District, which is so far consists of The Emporium and EmQuartier, is fully opened, including the Bhiraj Tower, we expect 200,000 customers per day."' And won't Sukhumvit know it?

[SantiSuk]

I thought luxury stuff like Armani and Rolex was the same price everywhere? Maybe I go to the wrong outlets, but bargains to me seem few and far between..

Louis Vuiton handbags of the non-knock off copy variety are 10 to 25% cheaper in London than in Bangkok (the range depends on whether you reclaim the VAT at Heathrow or not). Having bought one for my wife (out of the substantial tax refund I got from going non-resident UK!) I was asked to buy another for an acquaintance of hers which I did and I was fully reimbursed quickly. So to answer your question on who buys these things I offer up (1) daft foreigners and (2) lottery vendors. Go figure.

Appreciate I'll get lambasted by the usual suspects on ThaiV, but thought the insight might be useful

[konying]

How can it possibly be cost effective when tax on luxury goods is over 300%