KASIKORNBANK (KBank) and State Railway of Thailand promote Chatuchak Weekend Market via a campaign to attract Chinese tourists to "Shop, Shoot and Share". The program includes world's renowned street art and special promotion to accommodate spending via mobile phones, aimed at increasing Chinese tourists' spending by 20 percent to benefit merchants using K PLUS SHOP application.
KBank President Pipit Aneaknithi said tourism is a major driver of the Thai economy and Chinese tourists constitute the largest visitor group in Thailand. According to KASIKORN RESEARCH CENTER, the number of Chinese tourists will range between 10.4-10.6 million, rising 6-8 percent over-year, and tourism receipt from this group will reach THB580 billion, or equal to growth of 11 percent, given their high purchasing power.
To cash in on a large number of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand each year, KBank has thus worked with the State Railway of Thailand to make Chatuchak Weekend Market more popular, especially through landscape facelift. This will bolster the chance of raising income for over 10,000 SMEs who open their shops in Chatuchak Weekend Market – among the most preferred shopping venues for Chinese visitors.
More than 90 percent of Chinese holidaymakers opt to make payment via mobile banking application while traveling abroad due to its convenience and attractive promotions offered. These are major supportive factors for their high spending. On the downsides, however, there is still a limited number of merchants accepting payment via mobile banking application. K PLUS SHOP application, initiated by KBank, can accept payment of both AliPay and WeChat Pay – which are the most popular applications among Chinese tourists. Stores accepting payment made via K PLUS SHOP will thus have an edge over peers as they can meet the needs of Chinese customers.
Currently, KBank boasts the country's highest volume of bill payments made with Alipay and WeChat Pay via EDC QR and K PLUS SHOP. Such a transaction volume has now topped 11 billion Baht, growing 20 percent per month on average, thanks to the growing number of Chinese tourist arrivals to Thailand. In addition, application for Alipay and WeChat Pay is easier than before because KBank is the only bank in Thailand that offers more convenience for merchants to apply for Alipay and WeChat Pay on K PLUS SHOP by themselves. With Alipay and WeChatPay, KBank is able to offer more payment channels for Chinese tourists. The volume of bill payments made with Alipay and WeChat Pay via K PLUS SHOP at Chatuchak Weekend Market is among the highest in the country.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Siripong Preutthipan, Director of the Land Development Project Administration Department, State Railway of Thailand (SRT), said that Chatuchak Weekend Market is an important shopping venue that almost all foreign tourists can not miss when visiting Bangkok. During the weekend, there are over 400,000 tourists largely Chinese coming here for shopping.
With the cooperation with KBank, Thailand's well-known graffiti artists, namely, Alex Face, Rukkit and Stupidnoobmacc, will craft street art paintings in contemporary Thai style at Gate 2 and Gate 3, creating exotic and inviting points of entry for Chatuchak Weekend Market. As Chinese holidaymakers, who hardly miss the latest trend, like to take pictures and share their moments in social media, these eye-catching artworks will likely prompt them to snap photos and share them online. This will make Chatuchak Weekend Market better known among international travelers and easily become a new check-in spot for tourists.
Mr. Pipit concluded that this cooperation should bolster sales for merchants with K PLUS SHOP app in Chatuchak Weekend Market. Thanks to KBank's joint promotions with Alipay, Chinese tourists are expected to spend 20 percent more because mobile payment and special promotions are important factors for Chinese holidaymakers to make their shopping decisions.