The alluring Thailand is well known for its beautiful beaches, extravagant food, well crowded cities and many other cities. Bangkok which is the capital of Thailand is considered to be one of the multi ethnic cities of South East Asia. Thailand was known by the name Siam until 1939. This country was never conquered. It is in diplomatic relations with China and Japan, Malaysia, Persia and even Europe.
The history of Thailand has a lot of ups and downs. The country had a lot of military, civil and political unrest.? A good thing is that despite of these turmoil?s, the country managed to maintain a steady economic growth.
It was in the late 1970s when the communist rule in the country ended and better days of Thailand came in which it made great democratic relations with its neighboring country.? In the year 2004, Thailand was badly hit by the tsunami disaster, terrorism threats, civil unrest and unstable government.
Economy of Thailand
The economy of Thailand is much export dependent.? It has been dependent on the exports of agricultural produce which mainly include forestry, fishery and rice. It is considered to be the second largest economy in South East Asia.
Major Thai exports are contributed by the automotive industry in which the names of Toyota and General Motors are worth mentioning.? The country managed to recover from economic crisis because of the automotive industry and its electronic items.
During the period of 2008 to 2009 which is known as the global financial crisis era, the year 2008 was quite unfortunate for the country. However, in 2009 the economy showed a strong growth. The financial sector of the country went through the blow of the economic crisis successfully because of the strong external accounts.
The Thai government decided to provide relief to those who were being affected by the global economic crisis. These measures enabled Thailand to improve its growth and bring back the economy at its previous stable stage.? Apart from providing reliefs to the locals, the government also introduced changes in the foreign policy in order to make sure that the foreign investors remain confident in making investment in Thailand.
Why entrepreneurs are attracted to invest in Thailand
Thailand offers lucrative avenues for the entrepreneurs. This country is considered to be one of the largest growing economies and it also serves as a gateway to South East Asia. The one doing business in Thailand will have plenty of other markets which serve to include India, China, Burma, Laos and Cambodia.
Being a member of the ASEAN, Thailand is considered to be the hub of the economic cooperation between the members of the ASEAN and so it is easy do trades and business within the whole region.
Another great thing is that Thailand has great relations with many of the foreign countries and it also has well-defined investment polices due to which foreign direct investment is greatly encouraged here.
There is free trade in the country due to which plenty of investors are always found interested in investing. The government emphasis on skill oriented and technology based business so that local workforce could live up to the standards of the developing world.? It is regarded as the 4th easiest country in Asia to do business with. The investors can easily get tax incentives, concessions in the import duty and support services by the government.
Thailand has got a growing domestic market so the entrepreneurs can easily tap on to a large potential market.? This country has abundant natural resources and skilled workforce. Moreover, with the rapid growing industrial sector who would not be attracted in starting a business in such a favorable market ?
The government has started to focus on five sectors of the economy which include automotive industry, food and beverage industry, tourism and entertainment industry, information and communication industry and last but not the least, the fashion and creative industry.
Strengths of Thailand
- A business can get plenty of odds to flourish in Thailand.
- There is freedom of information in the state as censorship is quite liberal in the state and there are no harsh regulations regarding it.
- Foreign investment is quite favorable here as the investors are provided with plenty of incentives.
- It is one of the least expensive places to visit in entire Asia.
- Getting property in Thailand is a lot cheaper than that of its neighboring countries
- Plenty of investment opportunities are provided to the foreign investors by the Thai government
Weaknesses of Thailand
- There is much inequality in Thai society as the gap between the rich and the poor is quite large.
- There is open corruption in the dealings
- Though getting properties here is cheap but there are some properties that are restricted to the locals only.
- There is limited ownership of business in Thailand
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