NocNoc, Thailand's last big local e-marketplace, closed after years of price wars

NocNoc, the last remaining major Thai-owned e-marketplace, shut down: BetterBe Marketplace Co Ltd, its operator, notified Thailand's Electronic Transactions Development Agency of its decision to terminate NocNoc and its business operations from midnight on February 9, 2026, according to a Siam Cement Group filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on January 9.

The numbers told the story of a long siege. SCG, which holds a 50% indirect stake in BetterBe, expected to recognise a non-cash accounting loss of roughly 1.8 billion baht in the fourth quarter of 2025; in 2024, BetterBe's performance had already contributed a loss of about 650 million baht to SCG's consolidated statements. Its exit mirrored JD Central — the Central Group and JD.com joint venture that closed in 2023 despite its global partner.

E-commerce expert Pawoot Pongvitayapanu told the Bangkok Post that NocNoc was the last local operator aspiring to build Thailand's national e-marketplace, and blamed the shutdown on the mindset of SET-listed firms' shareholders, who are reluctant to absorb losses and focused on short-term profit — while global giants' investors accept early losses for long-term dominance. Subsidised pricing, he noted, was unsustainable for the local players.

The e-commerce industry demands scale and rapid growth, and years of subsidised price competition drained the local backers' appetite for losses.

Listed-company shareholders prioritised short-term profit, cutting funding precisely when the game required sustained investment.

Even a strong local anchor (SCG) and, before it, a global joint venture (JD Central) could not close the scale gap against foreign platforms.

Marketplaces are scale games: investors who demand early profit against rivals buying growth are choosing a slow exit over an expensive chance to win.

With NocNoc gone and JD Central closed in 2023, Thailand's e-marketplace sector was left dominated by foreign platforms, ending local hopes of building a national champion in the category.