Major companies and attractions in Thailand that may not survive Covid-19

[PeteC]

A thread about changes to or the disappearance of major companies that will affect the Thai economy. Please add to the thread as you read information.

Chevrolet

Their decision and preparations to close their Thai operations was made prior to the onset of the virus. Good luck and good timing.


Nissan

A developing story explained in the link below.


Mitsubishi Motors

Ditto above, see below link.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/13052/niss ... -thailand/


Thai Airways

The news is filled with articles about them. I don't think they will remain a National Airline, and I would bet they will be broken up and sold in pieces after filing for bankruptcy.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... n-for-thai

In turn, the plans for the Eastern Economic corridor have been dramatically slowed. The major plan for a second runway at U-Tapao is still in progress, but slowed. Also, plans for a Thai Airways maintenance center at U-Tapao contracted to many major airlines is full stop from what I understand. Airbus has pulled out of the planned partnership and although Thai Airways says they are seeking a new partner, with their other major problems I can't see that as being any kind of priority or even being pursued at present.


Motorcycles

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30387767

[buksida]

Any company that has anything to do with tourism is going to be screwed for years ahead. Even when flights resume, people will be too scared or too skint to travel to Thailand.

[STEVE G]

Any company that has anything to do with tourism is going to be screwed for years ahead. Even when flights resume, people will be too scared or too skint to travel to Thailand.

Yes and from talking with my colleagues in Europe, another big factor putting people off from booking expensive long distance vacations is the uncertainty factor with ever changing rules, quarantines, flight cancellations, lock-downs and the resulting difficulty of getting your money back if you can't take your holiday.

[oakdale160]

Talking to a friend who is in a protected position, CFO of an International Hotel in Pattaya. There isa very grim feeling there, a realisation that there will be no significant tourist arrivals in 2020 and that MOST of the closed businesses will never reopen.

[STEVE G]

Also, as far as travelling from the UK goes, as long as the FCO is advising against nonessential international travel, any vacation you book is basically un-insurable.

[buksida]

I guess we should include banks in this ... there may be some mergers later this year if some start to fold ...

Borrowing is all well and good ... but it should be paid back!

Commercial banks' NPLs hit 9-year high at end of March
Local commercial banks' non-performing loans (NPLs) climbed to a nine-year high at 3.05% of loans outstanding at the end of March, with consumer bad loans outpacing commercial NPLs for the first time in four years.

Stage 2 loans, defined as those with credit risk that increased significantly, spiked to 7.7%, according to a senior official at the central bank.

The higher NPLs (Stage 3) and Stage 2 loans could be attributed to the sagging economy, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and new Thai Financial Reporting Standards 9 implemented this year.

Commercial banks' loan quality deteriorated from the end of last year with NPLs amounting to 497 billion baht at the end of March, said Tharith Panpiemras, senior director of banking supervision and risk assessment management at the Bank of Thailand.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... d-of-march

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... s-year-bot

[buksida]

Agoda to axe 1,500 staff in Asia
Travel Agency Agoda will cut 1,500 staff in Asia as part of its cost cutting measures, industry media reported this week.

The worldwide travel and hospitality industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic shuttering airlines, hotels and agents alike.

Agoda said they held off on making staff redundancies for as long as possible but must now let go of some 1,500 staff across Asia to ensure the company’s survival.

Travel Industry media website Skift previously reported that CEO John Brown had rejected his salary for 2020 as part of a first round of cost cutting measures but that wasn’t enough.

In an email to staff, seen by Thai Enquirer, Brown promises that there would be only one round of layoffs.

Agoda is owned by Bookings Holding alongside other well known travel agencies like Kayak and Open Table. Both those companies have also let go of staff.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/13273/agod ... -only-cut/

[Bluesky]

Vehicle sales in Thailand tumbled 65.02 percent year-on-year to 30,109 units in April 2020, hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.This was the eleventh consecutive month of decrease after more than two years of strong growth. In 2019, domestic car sales dropped 3.3 percent to 1 million vehicles, compared with last year’s 19.5 percent gain to 1.05 million, the highest level in five years. It was the first contraction in three years.
https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/t ... icle-sales

[Big Boy]

There seems to be quite a hate campaign running on social media regarding Bluport. The stories include:

• Blueport is closing

• Since re-opening, they've only been able to open the basement and ground floors

• Some of the services previously provided on the upper floors are now filling vacant units in the basement

I need to visit AIS at Bluport, but haven't bothered because of the stories. Can somebody (probably caller) please tell us what is really going on? I for one am being kept away by the stories.

[Big Boy]

Somebody has clarified the situation:

It will re open in waves first wave basement and ground floor already open. The rest will follow. I have contact with both the mall group & proud group .

So I guess it could be a while before AIS re-opens.

[HHTel]

Basement. Immigration???

[caller]

Currently, the basement, ground floor and floor 1 are open. But not the Department Store. Very senior Mall Group Staff visited Bluport on Wednesday. They are joint owners.

There are quite a lot of empty units on the upper floors, my hunch would be that they would try and fit those that are still open into fewer floors. The economic outlook isn't good, even without tourists, so I would imagine all cost saving measures will be considered.

[caller]

Basement. Immigration???

When I looked the other day, there was a sign up explaining about the automatic extending of visas and 90 day reports. There was a further sign saying if still needing visa assistance, to go to the main office.

I can't see that there is any need for the Bluport office to re-open until the end of July?

[Big Boy]

There are quite a lot of empty units on the upper floors, my hunch would be that they would try and fit those that are still open into fewer floors. The economic outlook isn't good, even without tourists, so I would imagine all cost saving measures will be considered.

Ouch!!! I remember a similar scenario years ago with one of the early Pattaya Malls - to this day, it hasn't recovered.

[caller]

Ouch!!! I remember a similar scenario years ago with one of the early Pattaya Malls - to this day, it hasn't recovered.

Maybe this should go into the thread about businesses that won't survive? I doubt many will remain unscathed.