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Supercars and champagne: Bangkok's rich purr through pandemic

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Aidan Jones, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/afp/08/10/supercar.jpg"/><figcaption>This photo taken on June 13, 2020 shows Thai business owner Thanakorn Mahanontharit, also known as Yod, getting into a Lamborghini car during a testing session for clients in Bangkok. With tourism and exports in freefall, Thailand&#x27;s growth could shrivel by as much as 10 percent this year, dumping millions into unemployment. But in a split-screen economy there are plenty with immunity to the economic scourge caused by COVID-19. Lillian Suwanrumpha, Agence France-Presse</figcaption></figure></div>BANGKOK - As the coronavirus brought the global economy to its knees, Thai businessman Yod decided to buy himself an $872,000 treat -- a lime-green Lamborghini.Yod picked up the customised Huracan EVO supercar in Bangkok, a city of billionaires with a luxury economy unbroken by the crisis ripping through Thailand&#x27;s wider economy.With tourism and exports in freefall, Thailand&#x27;s growth could shrivel by as much as 10 percent this year, dumping millions into unemployment.But in a split-screen economy, there are plenty with immunity to the economic scourge caused by COVID-19.Thailand is home to the ninth most billionaires anywhere, according to the China-based Hurun Report&#x27;s Global Rich List 2020.Among those with deep pockets is Yod -- full name Thanakorn Mahanontharit -- who was undeterred by Thailand&#x27;s &quot;crazy&quot; supercar import taxes of up to 80 percent when he made his March purchase.&quot;This car makes me feel like David Beckham,&quot; the genial Bangkok-based petro-chemicals businessman told AFP.&quot;When you open your door everyone looks at you like you&#x27;re a superstar.&quot;Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and Lamborghini have all launched top-end models in Bangkok over the pandemic period, cars with price tags of between $750,000 and $1.2 million.It is a bet on the wealth sloshing around Bangkok.Millions of dollars of that cash were on proud display in the capital last week as an eye-catching 40-car convoy from the Thailand Lamborghini Club cut through the city&#x27;s knotted traffic for a day trip to a nearby resort.Lamborghinis &quot;appeal to a very niche audience of high net-worth individuals&quot;, said Matteo Ortenzi, chief executive for Automobili Lamborghini in the Asia-Pacific region.There has been &quot;continued interest and demand (from Thailand), one of our most important markets in Southeast Asia,&quot; he added.Yod said his supercar purchase was the completion of a lifelong dream.&quot;It is a reflection of your success, it doesn&#x27;t mean I am better than you,&quot; he told AFP.&quot;It&#x27;s just that I work hard and play harder.&quot;<div>ECONOMY IN REVERSE GEAR</div>But most Thais are in a different game.The kingdom is one of Asia&#x27;s least equal countries.Thailand is headed by a super-rich monarchy and buttressed by a handful of family dynasties with monopolies covering everything from beer and duty-free to convenience stores.Their fortunes have surged under six years of military-aligned government which has parcelled out major contracts to them, while the wider economy has backslid.&quot;One percent of the population owns pretty much two-thirds of the country,&quot; said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political analyst from Bangkok&#x27;s Chulalongkorn University, warning that inequality is kindling a political crisis.Meanwhile many more are sinking.Farmers are reeling as demand struggles to return to pre-virus levels and remittances from migrants to the cities are drying up, while the urban middle class are facing a cash crunch playing out in unpaid loans and school fees.As a result, household debt is forecast to surge to 88-90 percent of GDP by the end of this year, according to a Kasikornbank research note.Government figures predict the pandemic could leave 8.4 million jobless, over a quarter of them employed in the cash-cow tourism sector.That would eviscerate the gains of the last two decades, which saw millions lifted from poverty by Thailand&#x27;s export, manufacturing and tourism boom.Even before the pandemic hit, the number of people living in poverty had risen by nearly two million to 6.7 million, according to a March report by the World Bank.Now, as the pandemic strips back the economy, the middle and working classes &quot;are not well-cushioned,&quot; said Pavida Pananond, an academic at the Thammasat Business School.Yet the rich enjoy a level of &quot;financial immunity&quot; from the crisis.<div>YACHTS AND CHAMPAGNE</div>Signs of the resilience of wealth are dotted across Bangkok.Houses worth between $1-5 million are selling well, according to real estate agency CBRE Thailand, while condos at the super-plush Mandarin Oriental are being snapped up despite the $14,200-a-square-metre price tag -- pricier than the swankiest west London postcodes.A trawl through the Instagram accounts of Thailand&#x27;s &#x27;Hi-So&#x27; (High Society) set also reveals a glamour scene unruffled by the new normal -- yoga sessions on pristine beaches, yacht parties and champagne receptions.&quot;They&#x27;ve got the money and they can spend it any time,&quot; says Naphalai Areesorn, editor-in-chief of fashion and society magazine Tatler Thailand.The allure of being &quot;Hi-So&quot; runs through Thai society, she said, explaining that money -- especially the show of having it -- is a shortcut into Thailand&#x27;s elite, which was once defined by having the right &quot;breeding&quot; and education. &quot;There&#x27;s still very much a class system here... maybe it comes from a feudalistic history,&quot; she said.Entering High Society -- and staying there --- is very much &quot;an aspiration&quot; for many in Bangkok &quot;whether you can afford it or not&quot;.<div>burs-apj/dhc/qan</div><div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

As the coronavirus brought the global economy to its knees, Thai businessman Yod decided to buy himself an $872,000 treat -- a lime-green Lamborghini.

As the coronavirus brought the global economy to its knees, Thai businessman Yod decided to buy himself an $872,000 treat -- a lime-green Lamborghini.

Supercars and champagne: Bangkok's rich purr through pandemic

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Supercars and champagne: Bangkok's rich purr through pandemic

Aidan Jones,

Agence France-Presse

Published Aug 10, 2020 07:12 AM PHT

Read More:

thailand

ANC

bangkok

wealth

billionares

lamborghini

ferrari

rolls royce

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