BUSINESSES TOLD TO BE CAUTIOUS

       Businesses have been warned to adopt marketing strategies to cope with a variety of economic scenarios next year, because conditions remain unpredictable. The warning came from executives at a seminar hosted yesterday by the Marketing Association of Thailand.
       Bank of Thailand Deputy Governor Bandid Nijathaworn said the economy had been picking up continuously since September, thanks to the rebound of the global economy and the government's spending and stimulus package.
       However, he said good business players should be cautious in such an uncontrollable economic environment. Different marketing plans and strategies should be adopted to cope with changes in the market and economic environments.
       Marketing Association president Somboon Prasitjutrakul said marketers had to create marketing plans and strategies to cope with different business circumstances, which might range from a stagnant to a growing market environment.
       Political unrest and oil prices will be two key factors affecting the local economy.
       In the event of a growing economic environment, local players should adopt more proactive marketing plans to accelerate their business growth and gain market share, said Somboon, who is also president of leading trading firm Diethelm.
       "We've seen better signs of economic recovery, especially in the tourism sector, since the end of September. We've seen many tourism-related products, as well as luxury goods, starting to show higher sales," he said.
       Singha Corp marketing director Chatchai Wiratyosin said present economic difficulties would not turn around quickly and that business players should expect uncontrollable conditions for the next three or four years.
       "Business people should do their jobs as best they can. They need to be flexible all the time, to deal with any changes. They should know and evaluate their own company internally based on a factual and realistic market environment," he said.
       Chatchai said political instability was the only worrying factor apart from an undesirable economic environment.