Carl’s Jr. says goodbye to Thailand, stores in Bangkok and Pattaya close next week

The American fast-food chain, Carl’s Jr., is saying goodbye to Thailand. All six of its stores in Bangkok and Pattaya will close by the end of the month. The R&R Restaurant Group, which owns the franchise rights to run Carl’s Jr. chains in Thailand, says that it can no longer afford to operate it.

The group says it was forced to important ingredients solely from the US, adding that CKE Restaurants Holdings, the parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, had set restrictions. Over the past year, the company says they tried to keep afloat, but decided to close as they could no longer afford the operating costs.

In addition to the import costs for ingredients, there has been a lack of foreign tourists, a large market for the burger chain. The Pattaya News notes just one branch in Bangkok and one in Pattaya were quite popular and successful during the pandemic.

In 2012, the…