Bangkok--20 Dec--Wall Street Institute Thailand Wall Street Institute Thailand (WSI) announced today its 2007 performance, which made it one of the fastest growing and most successful franchises in the world. Wall Street Institute in the Kingdom WSI has 5 centers in Thailand. The first 4 centers, on Silom, Sukhumvit, in Ladprao and at Siam are located in the heart of Bangkok, all within walking distance of BTS and MRT routes. In August 2007, WSI’s latest center in Thailand opened its doors in the Pinklao area and was very well received by the Pinklao community and people in the Thonburi area. Since 2003, in Thailand alone, WSI has taught over 15,000 people to speak English with confidence and expects to continue its remarkable growth in 2008. WSI had 3,193 students in 2005; 4,966 in 2006 and 6,912 in 2007. Forecast for 2008 is at 10,000. The main target group is young professionals aged 25 to 35 but WSI also welcomes university and even high school students. There are differences in each center: the Silom and Sukhumvit centers are dominated by young professionals while Pinklao and Siam are mostly attended by university and high school students. The Ladprao center has roughly the same number of young professionals and students. Khun Apichai Chaiwinij (K. Bank), Regional Marketing Director of Wall Street Institute, oversees marketing strategy for the Wall Street Institute in Thailand, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Khun Apichai commented that branding is one aspect that separates WSI from its competitors. “Wall Street keeps connecting with Bangkokians via advertising and marketing campaigns, as well as consistent service quality and student activities such as a giant Halloween Party in Siam Center, Prom Night at Intercontinental Hotel, Movie Night Out with over 1,000 students at Siam Pavalai or Camping trips in Kanchanaburi. These activities show our students that Wall Street is much more than just another language school. In fact, each school is really a lifestyle center where people come to speak English, exchange ideas, and make long-lasting friendships. Our goal is that our students not only speak English with Confidence, but will LOVE to speak English with Confidence” said Khun Apichai. “These extra benefits and activities greatly contribute to our success as prospective students hear about our activities from current students and they decide to join and to make a positive change in their lives. Word of mouth among our students is incredible; that is something that none of our competitors can claim.” Surveys commissioned by WSI showed that in Thailand the Institute had 40% brand awareness among target groups at the end of 2006. By the end of 2007 brand awareness had jumped to over 60%. Wall Street Institute Throughout Southeast Asia Wall Street Institute Thailand has been awarded the franchise for Hong Kong, where it plans to quickly increase the number of already existing centers. WSI plans to enroll 10,000 students in Hong Kong in 2008. WSI Thailand has also acquired the franchise for Indonesia and plans to open 2 new centers there in 2008 where it forecasts enrollment of 10,000 students. Regarding the opening of new centers, Mr Apichai commented: “The unique Wall Street method requires high investments in both premises and technology. WSI spends about 50 million baht per center. Next year we will spend about 100 million baht on new center openings, excluding marketing budget. The marketing budget to invest in branding and social activities will be about 165 million baht for the 3 countries in which we operate: Thailand, Hong Kong and Indonesia.” The English Language Business in Asia and Opportunities for 2008 The English language industry in Asia is extremely competitive and many schools come and go. In 2007 alone 2 of the biggest English-language schools in Hong Kong and Japan went bankrupt due to sudden drops in governmental subsidies and operational problems. These 2 high-profile bankruptcies left thousands of students without a place to learn English and discouraged a lot of people. Wall Street was able to capitalize on this by offering them to study at Wall Street with low entrance fees. When asked if political uncertainties and the overall economic environment would affect WSI’s performance in Thailand in 2008 Khun Apichai commented: “Businesses that start with the letter E will do just fine, as people cannot go without Energy, Entertainment and Education. People cannot afford not to invest in Education. If you feel that your life, the economy or politics are in crisis, then speaking English only improves your capacity to be more competitive. This may be one of the reasons why we are doing very well with young professionals and university students, regardless of how the economy performs or of the political situation.”