Thai business sector is complacent

Out of the several dozen requests I’ve had over the years, guess how many large Thai corporations have responded? Zero; although smaller businesses may respond about 30 per cent of the time. 

Admittedly, I’m at a disadvantage, by not speaking or writing Thai, and unlike 95 per cent of foreign businessmen, I don’t have a Thai wife to assist with such things. But should that matter? In the front office of a Thai corporation, is there not one person who can respond to a simple one-paragraph request in English? When I contact businesses in China or India (and one in Laos), there are responses. At Thai universities, do they teach business majors not to respond to customer queries? That’s what it appears.

As for Thai business websites, some of the URL’s don’t go through. Of the ones that work, perhaps half have info in English. Of those, perhaps one in four have an e-mail contact address, and half the time those addresses are defunct.

If Thai businesspeople want to segue into the 21st century, they will have to become more responsive to the general public. It’s no longer good enough to just cater to a few chums, unless you’re selling something specialised like uranium or blast furnaces. Talk with any successful western businessperson, and they’ll tell you that being open and the exchange of ideas is as important as any other facet of doing business. 

Thai businesspeople act like they don’t need any input or exchange from anyone they’re not already chummy with – as if they already know all there is to know about their respective businesses. Not a healthy attitude.

Ken Albertsen

Chiang Rai