Chinese bike sharing company Ofo has officially entered the Thai market with the first batch of about 6,000 bikes placed in this marketplace.
With this move, Thailand becomes Ofo's fifth overseas market, following Singapore, U.S., U.K., and Kazakhstan.
Prior to the official entry, Ofo implemented a one-month trial operation in Thammasat University, Bangkok. According to Ofo, the company will stick to its market strategy, which is "expanding from campus to the city". The company plans to enlarge its coverage by adding over 5,000 bikes each month to meet the demands during its expansion.
Ofo previously established a strategic cooperation relationship with Adyen, a payment technology company in the Netherlands, allowing its overseas users to complete payments via the Adyen platform.
Cao Xiao, Ofo's head of Asia Pacific region, said that Ofo will provide complete and localized services to Thai users and offer sustainable last mile transportation solutions to urbanites. By launching the shared bikes, Ofo hopes to promote the riding culture in Thailand and help improve and optimize the transportation system in cities like Bangkok.
So far, Ofo has placed over 6.5 million bikes in six countries around the world, providing over two billion riding services to hundreds of millions of users in more than 150 cities. By the end of 2017, the company expects to reach 200 cities in 20 countries.