Anytime Fitness, the US-based 24-hour health and fitness club, debuted its fitness club in Bangkok last Saturday at Kian Nguan building on Wireless Road to cash in on continued interest in health.
Chuck Runyon, co-founder and chief executive of LLC, the owner of Anytime Fitness chain, who was in Bangkok at the weekend, said Thailand has shown a growing concern about fitness. The country also has an exceptional culture of caring for people and for service, the core of the company's business, he said.
Mr Runyon opened Anytime Fitness in 2002 in Woodbury, Minnesota. It was a small, neighbourhood gym featuring convenience, affordability and personable service in friendly, non-intimidating facilities.
Thailand is the seventh market in Asia for the company, which has been growing exponentially in the region since 2013.
"We are thrilled to be in Thailand and offer a financially compelling franchise system that delivers a safe, secure and welcoming environment for Thais to get healthier," said Maurice Levine, chief executive of Anytime Fitness Asia, the master franchisee of Anytime Fitness in Asia.
"The popularity of fitness business has continued to increase in Thailand over the past few years because of health concerns. There are many fitness chains available in Thailand including major players like Fitness First, We Fitness, Virgin Active and Jatomi Fitness Club."
The market value of Thailand's fitness business was about 9 billion baht in 2016 with average growth of 9-10% per year. There are 1,000 registered fitness centres in Thailand.
Mr Runyon said Anytime Fitness is the first networked gym chain in Asia, and operates on a unique system under which members have access to any of the 3,000+ Anytime Fitness gyms in 25 countries on five continents.
"We look forward to further growth in Thailand, Asia, and around the world. We will open as many Anytime branches as it takes," Mr Runyon said.
The company had 400 Anytime Fitness branches in Asia in 2016. It expects to have 150 Anytime Fitness branches in Southeast Asia by year-end 2017, as well as more than 230 in Japan and 40 in India. It plans to add 100 or more branches in the coming year.
"We are overwhelmed by the support of Asia in welcoming us to be part of their communities, and we try our utmost to spread our passion for health everywhere we go," he said. Mr Runyon said Asia is part of a global expansion.