Singapore-based health club chain True Fitness has advanced into Thailand for the first time, opening a US$5m (£2.6m, 4m euro) club in the country’s capital city.

Located in Bangkok’s Exchange Tower, the 560sq m (6,000sq ft) club offers more than 150 CV stations, 60 group cycling bikes and resistance and freeweights equipment. Supplied by Technogym, it also features 50 CardioWave machines.

“The club is a fantastic flagship site for Technogym in south-east Asia,” said Daniel Clayton, global accounts director for Technogym, who was responsible for securing the deal.

Technogym has sold a further 50 CardioWaves to two other True Fitness clubs – Desa Sri Hartamas and Subang Taipan, both in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Bangkok club can cater for more than 10,000 members and is hoping to attract 6,000 by the end of the year. This is in spite of Bangkok’s fitness market being in its infancy, with only 2 per cent of the 10 million-strong population currently members of gyms.

True Fitness was founded in Singapore in 2004 by CEO Patrick Wee.

Wee also created True Yoga, designed to be a community built around fitness and trust. In 2005 Wee, who previously oversaw the Asian expansion of California Fitness, moved into Malaysia and opened the first True Fitness.

Thailand is the third country for True Fitness, and this year it plans to penetrate two more. By 2010, the group expects to run 20 clubs in five countries.