Thailand
Actual economic environment: The global financial crisis has less impact in Thailand because the banks are mainly in Thai ownership and the expenses of the "social net" do not overburden the central budget.
The foundations of the Thai economy are strong; the level of their foreign exchange reserves are presently 100.5 billion UDS (four times higher than the Hungarian foreign exchange reserves), compared to 26 billion USD ten years ago.
In the economy of Thailand, a country of the size of France, the great numbers of cheap workforce, the industry and construction industry of higher than average development play an important role and tourism has a key role. Thailand is the leading exporter of food products in the region and the world's number one rice exporter.
Thailand is the country in the region with the most advantageous business environment. It is one of the fastest developing economies in Asia. Education is high standard, health care is high quality and Thailand has an extremely good network of environment. Property prices are lower than in other countries with similar potentials. The yield of property investments is far above the European average and the average rate of return is shorter. The taxation system is relatively simple and the proportion of common public dues projected on wages is only a fraction of the European level.
The number of tourists visiting the Country of Smile rises annually and it was 17,600,000 in 2007. The number of tourists visiting Pattaya was 5 million in 2006 and 6 million in 2007. In 2006 more than 1 million tourists stayed in 5-star hotels, which is a 15% increase from the previous year.
Pattaya
It is situated 147 kilometres south of the capital, ninety minutes from the new airport. Pattaya developed into an international holiday resort from a tiny fishing village. In the north, the district of Naklua is the area of quiet, peaceful hotels; Jomtien Beach in the south is a sight full of never-stopping street hawks, while Walking Street is the centre of shopping and entertainment. Pattaya has a fine sand beach of 15 kilometres.
Those longing for white sand beaches, palm trees arching over the blue water and ice-cold coconuts, can find all this on the surrounding islands. Naturally, last but not least, at affordable prices.
The fast growth of Pattaya and the region is also helped by the development project of the government concerning the East Coast. It is remarkable that they managed to achieve a GDP growth of 4.9% in 2008 amidst the global economic crisis, while the annual inflation is 3.9% and the rate of unemployment is 1.5%.
Several extremely high quality international schools (Regent School, Pattaya International School), hospitals (Bangkok Hospital-Pattaya, Pattaya International Hospital) and huge shopping centres (Mike, Royal Garden, Avenue) can be found in the city. Asia's largest seaside shopping centre, Central Festival, opened its gates on 23rd January 2009.
As Pattaya's number of visitors is not season specific, such as that of Phuket, Koh Samui and other Thai holiday destinations, the occupancy indicators of the hotels do not reflect significant setbacks.
