Batey Thailand closes down operations

BANGKOK - Batey Thailand has folded its operations after months of speculation, retrenching about forty people.

Some ex-Batey employees are reported to have joined the agency’s biggest client - property developer Sansiri, which has set up an in-house advertising division.

Alan Fairnington (pictured), CEO of Batey confirmed the news and mentioned that Batey had a minority equity position in the Thai company “so all decisions were made in partnership with the majority local shareholders.”

“Our forward projections indicated a significant decline in revenues due to a combination of political and economic effects on our clients. We therefore decided to cease trading rather than go forward into a very uncertain future.”

Fairnington also said that the agency has found jobs at other companies for over half the staff while the other half were paid in full per their contracts and government legislation relating to time with the company.

According to him, Batey will service any client needs via other WPP companies as it does in other markets.

“We do have a lot of faith in the future of Thailand and hope that new opportunities emerge in the future.”