Chairman Pin Kewkacha said the funds would come from B850 million in loans from local financial institutions, company cash flow and money raised from Safari World’s capital increase programme.
On Monday (February 16), company shareholders approved the issue of 133.33 million shares at B5 each to existing shareholders.
The plan is to raise B666.66 million, with registered capital rising to B1.66 billion from B1 billion now.
Safari World has been on the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s rehab list for five years.
The company faces delisting in the absence of a concrete rehabilitation plan to improve its financial situation.
Safari World will invest through its subsidiary Phuket FantaSea Plc, operator of the Phuket FantaSea theme park, to build a new theme park on a 62-rai plot next to the existing one on Kamala Beach.
The construction of the theme park will start by mid-year and take about a year and a half to complete.
Aside from the new park, Safari World has set aside B150 million to pay back loans and B110 million to buy a 12-rai plot and four buildings from Kamala Beach Resort and Hotel Management Co to use as staff housing for the new theme park in Phuket.
“We made a decision to expand our business here because we see a lot of tourism potential in Phuket, where the number of tourist arrivals continues to increase each year,” Mr Pin said.
The AEC’s formation late this year is expected to increase the number of foreign tourists from other Asean members visiting Phuket, building on the traditional European crowd.
Litti Kewkacha, Safari World’s director and executive vice-president, said the new theme park would be an alternative for new and existing customers alike and increase per-person spending.
“We expect the new theme park will generate additional revenue and help us be profitable in 2017,” he said.
The hope is that once Safari World has a stable string of profits it will exit the rehab list and resume trading on the SET.
The business of Phuket FantaSea remains healthy, but Safari World in Bangkok still faces losses.
“A lot of tourists disappeared due to the political problems last year,” Mr Litti said.
“This year, the Russian rouble devaluation caused a big decline in Russian tourist numbers, as they suspended their trips to Thailand.
“We’ll have some effects, as the Russians are the second-largest foreign tourist group visiting Safari World.”
To survive, the company will explore the Chinese tourist market and create new products to serve their needs.
Theme parks are less exciting for Chinese tourists since China has more than 200 theme parks.