How many young Thais can reap benefit of the 'startup' trend?

[webfact]

STREETWISE

How many young Thais can reap benefit of the 'startup' trend?

Achara Deboonme 
 

BANGKOK: -- For those aged over 50, the business world has evolved at a dizzying pace over the past two decades.

 

Since the 1997 financial crisis, the terms "entrepreneur" and "small and medium-sized enterprises" (SMEs) have become buzzwords, as tens of thousands of white-collar workers were forced out of jobs only to turn things around and create their own businesses.

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/How-many-young-Thais-can-reap-benefit-of-the-start-30295743.html

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-09-20

[chainarong]

The question should be , how many can afford to start a business...........................................

[worgeordie]

Coffee shop,noodle stall,will be the first choices.

regards Worgeordie

[villagefarang]

A friend of ours organizes SME expos around the country for a local bank and the events are well attended and well organized.  Granted it is still a small segment of the population but I was impressed with the people and the interest I saw at the events I attended.

[DrTuner]

Without foreign VC's who won't touch Thailand with a barge pole, very few.

[GeorgeCross]

about 10 years late to the party

[mikebell]

Only those who can afford to pay the police protection money.

[BKKdreaming]

First problem is language ,  and Google is very bad if that is how you are going to translate English , no idea if Chinese + Japanese are as bad

 

Then they need to have more places like Japan where you have shared office space / maker spaces with lots of equipment everyone can use , and you hang around with like minded people trying to get ahead and make things ,

 

I think the talent is there ,  it needs some direction  and some funding

 

Watch some of the shows on Japans NHK World and see what can be done by small companies ,

[yellowboat]

5 hours ago, DrTuner said:

Without foreign VC's who won't touch Thailand with a barge pole, very few.

Sadly, all too true, and Thai "incubators" only invest in enterprises that have an income.  One of the Thai phone companies put on a dog and pony, but stipulated that they had to have paying customers already.  Are there any real VC's or angels in Thailand ?

 

Young Thais have better chances outside of elitist Thailand.  Singapore has VC's and Angels which might be an option.  Hong Kong does too, but Shenzhen is attracting most of the Tech talent  these days.    

[hansnl]

6 hours ago, chainarong said:

The question should be , how many can afford to start a business...........................................

More to the point, after seeing turnover as profit and spending this on nice things, how many can remain in .

business.

 

[Alive]

It seems to me there is a lot of opportunity for web-related businesses just for Thailand. Not everyone that goes into this field expects to get rich. A lot of tech businesses are able to provide a comfortable basic living which is enough for most Thais.

[mike324]

for those that are writing Thailand off, you guys fail to see the opportunities and the low barrier of entry. Thailand is still in its infancy in regards to tech, hence you can't expect to make hundreds of millions even with a successful business.

 

There is a small talent pool that needs fine tuning and guidance, but its a growing pool. 

[williamgeorgeallen]

wonder how many small and medium enterprises in thailand are set up by western men trying to get their girls out of working in a bar.

[BKKdreaming]

If you are  only going after the Thai market , you have a population of 67 million ,

 

so 1/10th of 1% is still 67,000 ,  still not a bad number ....

 

But if its a good idea , then language will not matter because that can be changed ,

 

But  the Thai way of copying anything  and not caring will be more of a problem.

[mike324]

7 hours ago, BKKdreaming said:

If you are  only going after the Thai market , you have a population of 67 million ,

 

so 1/10th of 1% is still 67,000 ,  still not a bad number ....

 

But if its a good idea , then language will not matter because that can be changed ,

 

But  the Thai way of copying anything  and not caring will be more of a problem.

 

"Thai way of copying anything and not caring will be more of a problem" - Its the same world wide, I find it that Thais actually don't copy as much as others.

[ericthai]

On 9/19/2016 at 10:04 PM, DrTuner said:

Without foreign VC's who won't touch Thailand with a barge pole, very few.

Why do you guys comment when you dont know what you are saying.  My second company in Thailand was started with money from my partners and myself and then we had a VC from the USA.  All depends on the business.

[innerspace]

First problem with this thread is 50% lack of knowing what startup even means. SME or new business is not the answer.

Next, foreign VC concerns of Thailand are real but not critical. Omise, hotel quickly, agoda, grab... Highlights of Thai startups are all incorporated overseas with local operating branches. Mine too.

Pessimism of Thai ecosystem also not true, the ecosystem exists and is growing. Recently raised Angel funding, joined incubator pre revenue so discard those claims.

It's not the valley but can be done.

[DrTuner]

The OP article says it: appx 50M$ total angel&VC foreign investment in the whole year of 2015. That's peanuts. A quick look at angellist shows Singapore is the startup place to be in SEA. No BOI <deleted>, capital controls, etc.

[BKKdreaming]

here is a good show about start-ups on NHK Japanese TV in English

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/vod/lens/20160919/

link good for a couple weeks

 

You can see how the shared office space and maker space helps things get done ,

 

They need to make a few of those places and forget the submarines !

Edited September 23, 2016 by BKKdreaming