Starbucks is planning to double its store count in Thailand amid fierce competition from Communist China and their flagship Luckin Coffee brand.

The NASDAQ-listed giant is aiming for 800 branches across Siam by the end of 2030.

It comes as disgraced firm Luckin Coffee - which was banished from Wall Street in 2020 over an accounting scandal - this year overtook the Seattle-based company in China with 13 new stores a day and announced a push to grow across the lucrative Southeast Asia region.

Nednapa Srisamai, managing director of Starbucks Thailand, said the company is upping its game and planning 480 stores by the end of this year, up from its current 465 locations.

She said the rapid expansion strategy demonstrates the company's confidence in the Southeast Asian nation's economy in the long term.

She said: 'Thailand has been a strategic country for Starbucks in Southeast Asia for a long time and we are optimistic about the future of the coffee business here.'

Nednapa said that Starbucks drive-thru stores, which were a key adaptation during the Covid-19 pandemic, were also planned to be increased from 56 to 100 in the future to cater to changing customer preferences.

To address the growing sustainability trend, the company intends to establish additional Starbucks Greener - or eco-friendly - stores and cashless outlets, the managing director said.

Presently, there are three Starbucks Greener locations in Thailand.

The company also recently transformed its largest store, Starbucks Reserve Chao Phraya Riverfront at Iconsiam, into its second Community store, aligning with its plan to operate eight Community stores by 2030.

Nendapa said that this store will make a substantial community impact by implementing a profit-sharing business model.

This initiative will be in line with Starbucks' global plan to open more than 1,000 Community stores worldwide by 2030.

Despite the rapid growth of its rival Luckin Coffee, Starbucks declared revenue of 32.25 billion USD in 2022 compared with just 1.927 billion USD from Luckin, which is partially owned by the Chinese state's sovereign wealth fund.

Communist China has seen rapid economic growth in recent years but has appalling human rights abuses.

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) stated that China's treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang had lead to the 'United States and several other foreign governments' branding China's actions in Xinjiang as 'genocide'.

China has also been blamed for grotesque child slavery and environmental abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where it has monopolized the lucrative mining industry for cobalt - an essential compound in batteries used in smartphones, laptops and electric cars that power its rise.