Visuth Surachalermkul, managing director of M Fitness, said the estimated investment in each M Fitness branch will be between Bt9 million and Bt25 million. The company’s aim is to provide integrated health clubs in response to a boom in the well-being trend and with state-of-the-art facilities as well as design following the standalone concept, it is bound to attract the attention of health lovers.

“We focus on ‘tailor-made’ strategy, embracing trendy design, space, facilities, exercise class and reasonable prices to ensure the satisfaction of each targeted community. Occupying 1,200 square metres, the third and latest branch in Taksin is ready to offer a better health experience. The club targets to expand into 10 branches in five years and acquire 5,000 members,” he said.

The company spent over Bt25 million to launch what can be considered a very advanced and integrated health club covering 1,200 square metres in Taksin. The club features a sky running track in order to offer customers an experience that is very different from a simple treadmill.

The first M Fitness branch was opened in late 2015 in Mahachai, near Ekachai Hospital, for holistic health lovers, and thanks to the great response, it opened a second branch on Rama II Road early this year.

“According to a report from International Health Racquet and Sports Club Association in 2015, the proportion of Thais exercising at health club stands at just 0.6 per cent of the total population, which is very low compared to other Asian countries, which average at 8 per cent. But behavioural trend is constantly changing and Thais have started focusing more on health. This trend has resulted in a great expansion of the fitness club business in Thailand, which is worth Bt9 billion at the moment, and the expected growth is 10 per cent this year,” Visuth said.

“For our expansion plans, we prefer standalone locations, but not necessarily. It will depend on the situation and the scenario,” he added.