10 Business Ideas & Investment Opportunities in Thailand

Thailand is a well-known tourist hub in South-East Asia. It is known for its picturesque beauty. The country sees a huge footfall every year as tourists visit the country from across the globe to indulge in its breathtaking beauty and spend time close to nature. The beautiful weather is another reason that draws more and more tourists to it, all year round.

Bangkok is one of the leading cities that sees a large footfall throughout the year. More tourists means more business opportunities and thus starting a business in Thailand is profitable. In 2021, some businesses are struggling because of ongoing pandemic lockdown but the business will bounce back sooner or later.

The livelihood of the local people is greatly dependent on the tourism of the country. The country generates good revenue from tourism. Being a tourist hub, it is evident that the place has an immense number of business opportunities. Some of these opportunities are directly related to tourism, while some others are indirectly related to it. 

If you are not interested in tourism-related businesses, there are other business opportunities as well.

10 Business Opportunities in Thailand are as follows:-

1. Hospitality Services

In the hospitality and accommodation sector there is a huge opportunity of starting a business. You can be a part of it indirectly by serving daily essentials and other items they require to the hotels and restaurants. You can also be a part of the hospitality services directly.

A hotel also requires some furniture and electronic goods that can be rented or bought. You can be a dealer of these electronic goods and furniture to hotels in a bulk. You could also give electronic items and furniture for rent to these hotels and restaurants and make a good profit in the process.

You can also provide professional services required by the hotels and restaurants from time to time. These services include plumbing, electrical repair, interior decorating, housekeeping, floor cleaning, and more. All these kinds of services require low investment, and the returns are high.

2. Suppliers of Regional Handicrafts

The promotion of regional handicrafts goes hand in hand with tourism. You can build a proper channel between the target audience and the local artisans. You can build a sustainable business that can also generate a sustainable source of income for the local artisans. When people travel to different destinations, they wish to carry a souvenir with them when they leave. It is the place you can tap the market. 

Make the best use of the resources available to you, and promote your local handicrafts to the tourists or the locals.

3. Yoga Centres

Yoga and meditation centers are another popular way of starting a business in Thailand. You can begin a yoga center with a low investment. In the beginning, you can get a couple of training professionals to guide your customers with meditation and yoga in the correct way. You can get your trainers to do some of the most rigorous training and get certified as per the governmental authorities.

The trainers should have the license to practice and teach in Thailand. Multiple yoga and meditation centers are growing up in the country. So the thing that keeps you ahead of your competition is the quality and promptness of the services.

4. Medical Services

You need not open a hospital or medical clinic to provide medical services to the customers. You can start a medical services business by organising on-call doctors for hotels and resorts for tourists. In the case of an emergency, the hotels and resorts should send their customers to you or give you a call to organize the medical services at the resort.

You can also offer medicine delivery services to these hotels and resorts and charge an amount for it. It is a very profitable business opportunity in Thailand that requires your people’s skills and not your money

5. Event Organiser

Events are a common phenomenon, so why not take your share of it? You can start an event management company and help your clients organize events. Thailand hosts many cultural events, parties, dance shows, music shows, concerts, etc. You can organize these events for them with the permission of the authorities.

There are spiritual events taking place in Thailand from time to time, you can organize these as well. The investment for setting up such businesses is low, but the returns are quick and high. 

6. Professional Photographers

A tourist destination calls for beautiful photos, but who do you turn to when you wish to have a couples photo or a family photo? Yes, there are professional photographers at your service. Though there are several professional photographers in the industry, the market is not yet saturated.

So, if you have a knack for photography and if you think you can be good in the field, professional photography in Thailand can be extremely profitable. The only investment that you need to make it on a professional camera. 

You should also promote your business in the proper way to the tourists. You should promote it to locals who might hire you for photography at events. If you know your work, you can earn well from this business opportunity.

7. On-Call Chefs

Restaurants hire chefs from time to time. If you love cooking and if it is a passion for you, you should surely try and set up a business as on-call chefs where you get hired at restaurants to cook some of their delicious dishes. These dishes should always have an authentic Thailand touch to get a good response from the tourists and locals.

You can take up a job at a high-demand restaurant or promote yourself such that people call to cook special dishes for them. You may not be able to see immediate returns on investment for this business.

However, with time as your popularity among the restaurant and hotel circle increases and you start getting more orders, will you be able to start earning with both hands. It is a great way to nurture your passion for cooking and earn reasonably at the same time. 

8. Food Processing 

Food is an integral part of people’s lives, so if you set up a business in the food processing industry, chances are that you might gain a huge profit from the investment. Thailand is known for its processed foods that are loved by both the locals as well as tourists. Thailand both processes food and imports processed food from other countries. 

To start this business, you will require several clearances from the local and the governmental authorities. You will also require the permission of the government to import processed food from elsewhere. You can sell the imported processed food to the local markets and stores for a reasonable profit margin. You will not believe the amount of profit one generates per year from the exporting or even food processing business.

9. Customised Restaurants

As Thailand sees a huge footfall every year, the need for authentic food joints to hold up the authentic dishes is very essential. You can start a business in Customised restaurants to attract customers and make better sales. Customised restaurants not only refer to the restaurants serving authentic dishes of Thailand, but you can also have niche restaurants offering regional food to the customer. 

If you plan to start a business in these lines, make sure to choose a crowded location where the footfall is comparatively higher. There is no need to target only the different categories of people, you can serve foodies in general. You can customize your services depending on the niche you are servicing and the customer’s requirements. 

10. Digital Marketing Business

Web pages and websites of big brands are the reason for drawing traffic and getting more and more customers to know what Thailand has in the offer. You can serve to provide web development and digital marketing services to clients. These clients could be small to big travel agencies, booking platforms, cab services, and more.

You can offer web development for tourism companies and help them draw tourists towards the country in general. 

If you have trained professionals who know what they are doing, and people who are specially trained in SEO, your demand for the work will and you will be able to charge your clients generously. There is a low setup cost in the case of digital marketing and web development service companies. You can, however, charge a hefty amount as fees from your clients.

These are some of the business opportunities that require low investment. There are many more and other sectors apart from the tourism sector also show good growth in the years to come. If you do have the will to start a business in Thailand but do not wish to make a huge investment for it, these and there are more such low investment business opportunities.

Based on your skillset and the investment you can choose your business and nurture your skills to start generating good profit out of it. Thailand is not just a place that has good tourist spots, it also has a great scope for business open for one and all.

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