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  • Soon, fly to Singapore, Bangkok, directly from Chandigarh

    Soon, fly to Singapore, Bangkok, directly from Chandigarh

    The Chandigarh international airport in Mohali will be spreading its wings by connecting two new international destinations and four new domestic stations with direct flights from here.While two more international direct flights to two most sought-after global tourist destinations – Singapore and Bangkok— will start taking off from Chandigarh in March, the direct flights to and fro from Goa, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad will also start taking off in February and March.

    With this, Chandigarh will have four international flights (two international direct flights to Sharjah (thrice a week) and Dubai daily are already flying since September this year), while the number of domestic flights daily will go up to 25.Today, Chandigarh was connected directly to Leh with Air India (AI), launching a flight between Leh and Chandigarh. The first flight (AI-457) departed from Leh at 08:05 hours and arrived here at 09:00 hours. In the return journey, the flight (AI-458) took off from Chandigarh at 09:40 hours and landed in Leh at 10:20 hours.

    The flight, operated by an A-319 Airbus, will fly on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday every week.Sharing the airport expansion plans for 2017 with The Tribune here today, the airport CEO, Suneel Dutt said besides adding more international and domestic flights, as per the demand and viability, a duty-free shop and more retail shops would also open at the international terminal in the coming days. Also, the international cargo and another aerobridge, which will be the third here, would begin operations in 2017. The domestic cargo and two aerobridges are already functioning here.

    The airport CEO said there are also plans to beautify the international airport terminal further with the expansion of its green belt in the New Year.The newly-constructed integrated terminal building of Chandigarh international airport had already bagged the prestigious Vishwakarma Award for best construction project.

    The new terminal had been awarded for being the best project for well-developed landscapes and interior with art, paintings and mural works. Inaugurated on September 11, 2015, the new international airport had taken off in September, 2016, with the operation of two international flights to Sharjah and Dubai.The terminal building can handle 1,600 passengers during peak hours, with an annual capacity of 4.5 million.

    Fully air-conditioned and equipped with modern facilities, the new building has the facility of three aerobridges, four baggage carousels, 14 elevators, six escalators and 48 check-in counters. The parking area has the capacity for 500 cars and a separate provision for VIP car park and bus parking. Aircraft parking main apron and the cargo apron has a capacity of 10 C-type aircraft and one E-type aircraft at a time. The interior of the airport is decorated with art and mural works depicting the heritage and culture of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

  • AEON collaborates with Siam Piwat to launch “Siam The Ultimate Giving” campaign

    AEON collaborates with Siam Piwat to launch “Siam The Ultimate Giving” campaign

    Praphan Rangsiyopas, Vice President Marketing of AEON Thana Sinsap (Thailand) Public Company Limited, together with Chanisa Kaewruen (third right), Deputy Managing Director Marketing Event and Business Relations Division, and Saruntorn Asaves (third left), Assistant Managing Director Marketing Promotion and Customer Relationship Management of Siam Piwat Co., Ltd., attended the recent launch of “Siam The Ultimate Giving” campaign.

    The Siam Ultimate Giving campaign offers Aeon credit cardholders special privileges, such as movie tickets for two at Major Cineplex cinemas with every 5,000 baht of accumulated purchases at Siam Paragon, Siam Center, and Siam Discovery. With every 2,000 baht of accumulated purchases, cardholders receive two coupons for a lucky draw for chances to win prizes worth over 7.8 million baht, including a brand new BMW 218i GT. The campaign runs until January 15, 2017. 

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  • Thai AirAsia X ends Middle East service

    Thai AirAsia X has completely pulled out of the Middle East, a market that appears unready for TAAX’s long-haul, low-cost business model. The airline, part of Asia’s biggest no-frills airline group, is axing Bangkok-Muscat and Bangkok-Tehran routes launched in June this year, due to poor traffic demand at both ends of the each of the routes.

    The termination of Bangkok-Muscat takes effect on Jan 19 and the suspension of Bangkok-Tehran flights became effective on Dec 5, according to insiders. TAAX has struggled to keep the two routes afloat by rationalising capacities to match actual demand. In November, the carrier reduced the frequency of service on both routes to two flights a week, the minimum level acceptable by the market, down from three flights a week at launch.

    TAAX deploys Airbus 330-300 wide-body jets configured with 377 seats on all its routes. The arrangement did not work out well, leading TAAX to terminate Middle East flights altogether. When TAAX inaugurated its Tehran flight on June 22 and Muscat service on June 28, the airline became the first low-cost carrier to offer regular non-stop services on those routes. TAAX’s departure means that all connections between Bangkok and the two Middle Eastern capitals will be handled by full-service airlines. Bangkok-Tehran flights are operated by Iran-based Mahan Airlines and Thai Airways International (THAI), which commenced service in October. The non-stop Bangkok-Muscat flights are flown by Oman Air, while Thai Airways offers regular services to the Omani capital with a stopover in Karachi.

    Insiders said the poor performance by TAAX was in sharp contrast with a rosy outlook perceived earlier this year. TAAX chief executive Nadda Buranasiri said in May the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran in January had turned Tehran into a new economic frontier and an emerging tourism market.

    “There seemed to be strong initial demand for both routes, but it tapered off to become unsustainable eventually,” said an insider who asked to remain anonymous.

    In a release, TAAX apologised for ending its Middle Eastern services and offered full refunds for affected passengers.

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  • Performance remains key metric in Thailand

    Performance remains key metric in Thailand

    Performance ratings continue to determine pay decisions in the majority of Thai organisations, a recent Aon Hewitt survey found.

    With high turnover rates highest among junior managers and supervisors in the Land of Smiles, there is growing pressure on these staff to maintain their performance levels and prove their worth.

    According to the Total Compensation Measurement Study and Benefit Survey 2016 by Aon Hewitt, performance continues to determine pay-related decisions for 95.1% of organisations in Thailand.

    With junior management and supervisor levels recording voluntary turnover rates of 14%, and involuntary turnover rates of 5.3%, one tactic being utilised is to offer wage increases, with salary increments ranging from 4.7% to 6% in 2016 across industries polled.

    Across the Thai economy, the retail and life sciences sectors offered the most generous wage increase in 2016, with an average increment of 6%.

    On the other hand, the travel industry witnessed the lowest average salary increase, at 4.7%.

    The study also showed that other strategies were used to keep hold of employees.

    For example, 72.2% of employers offered individual performance awards, while 38.9% offered special recognition as short-term incentives to retain staff.

    “The high turnover rate among junior managers should warn employers in Thailand to think about their compensation policies in the context of their overall talent retention strategy,” said Panuwat Benrohman, Country Leader, Aon Hewitt, Thailand.

    Panuwat cautioned that companies have a responsibility to arm junior managers with the skillsets necessary to make the step up from individual contributor roles.

    “With ‘better external opportunities’ and ‘limited growth opportunity’ among the top three reasons for attrition, a focus on learning and development will help employers in Thailand build a strong leadership pipeline from within, while still compensating high performers attractively,” he added.

    A total of 174 organisations across all key industries in Thailand participated in the survey.

  • ‘Cloud’ powers Thai e-commerce group’s regional expansion

    ‘Cloud’ powers Thai e-commerce group’s regional expansion

    In August this year, Thailand’s e-commerce enterprise Ascend Group has finished migrating its existing businesses as well as new ventures to the cloud, a move that is expected to support its ambitious regional expansion plans.

    The Ascend Group owns and operates business-to-consumer (B2C) marketplaces WeMall and iTrueMart, and the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) platform WeLoveShopping. It also operates TrueMoney, a wallet solution for digital payments, among other allied businesses.

    Chaiwat Ratanaprateepporn, Chief Technology Officer of Ascend Group, said the company is looking beyond the country’s borders to expand its e-commerce business in the ASEAN region.

    “Most of the operations we have now in ASEAN are under the TrueMoney business. We have Myanmar and Thailand as headquarters, then we have businesses in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines,” he said. Services currently consist of mobile wallet, remittance, top up services, bill payments and the e-commerce payment gateway.

    With a combined population of approximately 600 million, the ASEAN region has a booming e-commerce landscape, which is only logical for the Thai group to target.

    The Ascend Group’s cloud journey started in November 2014 when the company adopted a “cloud first” policy. This has allowed the company to reduce infrastructure build time, improve flexibility and accelerate speed-to-market.

    Chaiwat said the cloud journey is among the preparations it is doing for the expansion move.

    “Why we are moving to the cloud? Our TrueMoney business in Thailand has been around for more than 10 years, while our e-commerce business has been around for just over three years. But we want our start-up companies (though they are no longer startups) to have the same capabilities. They were born in the cloud and are using cloud technologies to move fast and offer customers better services,” he explained.

    In the first quarter of 2015, iTrueMart, an e-commerce retail destination for home appliances and electronic products, hit critical mass.

    “We looked for alternative solutions on how we can manage the traffic and cost and using the technology so we decided to move to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Later that year, we also moved some of the services of TrueMoney to AWS as well,” Chaiwat recounted.

    In the second quarter this year, Ascend also moved the services of WeLoveShopping.com completely to AWS. Thus, its three flagship e-commerce websites are already 100 percent in the cloud. For TrueMoney, however, the company is opting for a hybrid cloud strategy because of the different banking regulations in each of the six ASEAN countries, which make it difficult to operate purely on the cloud.

    Chaiwat, who oversees the digital transformation of the company’s IT infrastructure, shared that when the company launched the WeMall in Thailand, they did so without adding new technical staff to implement, operate and support in addition to iTrueMart.

    “And that is because we leveraged the innovative tools and technology of AWS,” he said. “Ultimately all of this innovation will allow us to better serve our customers and create efficiency that will result in better value for people who shop on Ascend Group’s e-commerce properties.

    The company’s goal is to become the leading e-commerce business in the ASEAN region and leverage the digital technology to expand business opportunities for merchants in Thailand and the region.

    Next steps in the cloud

    What is next for Ascend Group’s cloud journey?

    Chaiwat disclosed that the company’s cloud strategy comprised of three steps. The first step or Version 1.0 is moving the services to the cloud, which they accomplished in the past two years. The second step or Version 2.0, which is being implemented now is using the technology the technology to do more optimizations for cost savings, more automation so they can gain better productivity in the workforce.

    The next step or Version 3.0, which will be implemented starting next year, is really moving to more high-end technology as the data and analytics, machine learning and other capabilities that will help us serve the customers better.

    “What we are aiming ahead are data and analytics. Right now, we are data-driven, meaning we use analytics to do reports on how the transactions are growing. But this is business intelligence, not yet analytics. We are aiming to move there using the capabilities of AWS,” he said.

    For companies starting on their own cloud journey, Chaiwat said it is important to identify or define the benefits that they would want to derive from the cloud. It should help in creating guidelines and the roadmap.

    He stressed, however, that going to the cloud is not all about the benefits. “The company has to transform the workforce, upskill them, and adopt a different mindset and way of working,” he said.

    Nick Walton, Head of ASEAN at AWS, affirmed that e-commerce in Southeast Asia is booming, especially e-commerce on mobile devices.

    “AWS has analytics for mobile, which I think will be relevant for Southeast Asia,” he said. “There are two types of e-commerce – the new e-commerce providers (online only) and the bricks and mortar retailers that are adding the e-commerce experience to the mix. We look at the ability to quickly scale up, get promotions to market quickly, make the needs very successful sales. The last thing you want is a very successful marketing campaign that is let down by the website not performing.”

    The other place for e-commerce is analytics. “This is where we see a good application of the AI technologies like Amazon Polly, a service that turns text into lifelike speech,” Walton noted.

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  • AEON joins The Mall Group in “The Magic of Giving” Campaign

    AEON joins The Mall Group in “The Magic of Giving” Campaign

    Waraporn Nilpanich (third left), Vice President Credit Card of AEON Thana Sinsap (Thailand) Public Company Limited, together with Voralak Tulaphorn (middle), Senior Vice President Marketing of The Mall Group Co., Ltd. has launched “The Magic of Giving” campaign to reward AEON credit cardholders this New Year.

    Accumulated spending of every 3,000 baht at the Mall shopping center with AEON credit cards, entitles cardholders to receive a gift voucher of up to 1,000 baht. Besides, cardholders will receive x3 lucky draws for chances to win prizes valued over 1 million baht when spending every 1,000 baht. The campaign runs until January 11th, 2017

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  • Siam Discovery Launched Year-End Campaign to Spread the Love and Spirit of Sharing

    Siam Discovery Launched Year-End Campaign to Spread the Love and Spirit of Sharing

    Siam Piwat, the owner and operator of Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery, invested over 30 million baht in the greatest year-end marketing campaign, which integrates the customer-centric strategy. Interpreting the festive season as the time when people send their love and good wishes to others, the Company launched “Citizen of Love: It’s time to Give Good Love” campaign.

    The shoppers will not only find a wide array of gift items for themselves and loved ones, but also enjoy a big promotion that serves the government’s Shop for the Nation campaign. To add the sentimental value to the campaign, Siam Discovery hosts an art exhibition displaying the genius of the late King Bhumibol, including his great love and generosity for his citizen. In response to the royal wish on endless giving, Siam Discovery will organize “Gifts for Them” CSR activity that gives the gifts to 300 children in Community Children Foundation (CCF) under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. During the festive season, the shopping center expected to welcome 80,000 – 100,000 Thai and foreign shoppers a day.

    Year-End Campaign: “Citizen of Love: It’s time to Give Good Love”

    Mr. Charnchai Cherdchoowongthanakorn, Senior Executive Vice President – Retail Business Development, Siam Piwat Co., Ltd., said, ” In each year, December is considered the high season with the greatest spending. However, the shopping sentiment this year differs from the past. Siam Discovery, considering itself as a friend of shoppers, understood their feelings and translated the season of joy into the joy of sharing. It therefore hosts the integrated campaign called “Citizen of Love: It’s time to Give Good Love”. Siam Discovery started from creating its ambience, in which encourages everyone to participate under the concept of ‘exploration, creation, and cultivation’. In addition, it holds an art exhibition to commemorate the talent of H.M. the late King, who worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life of his people. He did this out of love and wanted nothing in return. Moreover, Siam Discovery offers Thai people a space to express their love and give the moral support to one another. The shoppers can take photos and share their love in the Living Room of Love. It also displays the art installation that presents the Royal Rainmaking Initiative Project and Reforestation Initiative Project. The exhibitions are open for the public to help them feel connected.”

    Siam Discovery spent more than 30 million baht on “Citizen of Love: It’s time to Give Good Love” campaign, which includes the creation of shopping ambience, promotion and CSR activity. It expected to daily attract 80,000 – 100,000 Thai and foreign shoppers on average, with 50:50 ratio. The survey revealed that 80% of foreign tourists are Free Individual Traveler (FIT), which are considered high-quality tourists with high purchasing power.

    Launching a big promotion to boost the holiday shopping in response to Shopping for the Nation campaign

    Siam Piwat responds to the government’s economic stimulus policy that encourages the people to shop and use the tax invoice of December 2016 for the tax deduction. Expecting an influx of shoppers, Siam Piwat prepared the staff and equipment to facilitate the shoppers who request the formal tax invoice and to ensure the fast and convenient service.

    In addition, Siam Piwat holds special promotion, to create the unique shopping experience at Siam Paragon shopping mall , Siam Center , and Siam Discovery from now – December 31, 2016. Spending at least 15,000 baht, the shoppers will receive Siam Gift Card worth 1,500 baht. VIZ cardholders and the members of Siam Discovery Mobile Application will enjoy more benefits

    “Gifts for Them” CSR activity for the disadvantaged

    Miss Chanisa Kaewruen, Senior  Deputy Managing Director of Siam Piwat Co., Ltd., revealed, “Besides the value-added promotion, Siam Discovery infuses the sentimental value into the customers’ mind because we believe that our customers care for the society and wish to share good things with the people around them. We therefore come up with “Gifts for Them” activity, inviting the customers to spread the joy to others by giving the gifts to 300 children in Community Children Foundation (CCF) under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. The customers can buy gift items for the children on 50% discount and Siam Discovery will subsidize the other half. We will host an event where the donors can present the gifts to the children themselves.

    In preparing the product  to serve the customer demand, Siam Discovery, with the expertise in matching the right products for each lifestyle, has selected the perfect gift items for each target segment. It also displays the recommended gift items on each floor.   To increase the value to the gifts, it offers the personal gift wrapping as the customized service in addition to the regular gift wrapping service.

    In “Think Giving”, Siam Discovery offers a wide variety of products from the Royal Project Foundation, PatPat shop under Chaipattana Foundation, Phufa and Doi Kham as the special gifts for special people. The event will take place on the 5th floor from now until February 19, 2017.

    Customer-centric marketing focuses on capturing the customers’ interest. Siam Discovery therefore launched the marketing promotion activities that add the sentimental value to the shoppers. It expected that “Citizen of Love: It’s time to Give Good Love” campaign will not only increase the sales volume by 15 – 20%, but also make the holiday shopping more meaningful and bring the spirit of giving to this season of joy.

  • Titan Launches Thai Commemorative EDGE Wristwatch

    Titan Launches Thai Commemorative EDGE Wristwatch

    Titan Company Limited, the world’s fifth largest watchmaker and part of the Indian conglomerate giant TATA Group, is releasing a limited edition timepiece in Thailand created especially for the Thai market.

    Titan selected its Red Dot award-winning EDGE, the world’s slimmest wristwatch in the universe, to create the exclusive wristwatch, commemorating the timeless respect and honor for His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

    The royal emblem marking the 70th Anniversary Celebrations of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Accession to the Throne is placed at 12 o’clock and the Thai numeral for nine at 9 o’clock. 

    The Titan Thai Commemorative EDGE wristwatch is available with a black, blue and brown dial and color-matched leather strap. The blue and brown dial watches are set in rose gold plated case while the black dial watch is set in a gold plated case, both of which gives this exclusive wristwatch an extra-special elegance and sophisticated quality. 

    With a total slimness of just 3.6 mm and a wafer-thin movement of 1.15mm, the Titan EDGE is a technological marvel. It is water resistant up to a depth of 30 meters. The classic hallmarks of the EDGE design include a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass front, stainless steel case and specially designed slim battery. 

    The inscription, “In Honor of His Majesty the King”, is engraved on the watch back as a tribute to the King, creating a wonderful memento for owners to treasure for years to come.

     “The intricate craftsmanship of the Titan EDGE, its timeless design and incredible innovation resonate with the Thai market,” said Sonia Yamdagni, Managing Director of Omni Co., Ltd., the sole distributor of Titan watches in Thailand. 

    “A sense of  tradition and appreciation for quality are valued and passed along from one generation to the next whilst moving toward a future of hope and success for the country and the Thai people; a symbol of the importance of finding time to give back to the nation and to others,” added Sonia.

    Titan watches are retailed in 32 countries worldwide. The Titan Thai Commemorative EDGE wristwatch, presented in an attractive velvet-lined wooden box, retails at THB 8,900 and is currently available at Central, Robinson and The Mall Group department stores nationwide, including Siam Paragon and Emporium in Bangkok.

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  • AIS to invest $1.1b in 4G expansion

    AIS to invest $1.1b in 4G expansion

    Thai mobile market leader AIS plans to invest at least 40 billion baht ($1.12 billion) to expand its 4G network to improve take-up and performance.

    AIS has been spending heavily to deploy its 4G network and now expects to achieve 98% population coverage by the end of the year.

    But only around 25% of AIS’ 39.9 million strong subscriber base are 4G users, compared to 25.2 million for 3G.

    AIS aims to increase the percentage of 4G subscribers to 40% by the end of 2017. Take-up has been faster than initially expected, prompting the operator to raise its target.

    AIS launched 4G two years later than key rival TrueMove, but due to it 4G investment strategy has exceeded True’s 4G subscriptions and coverage, the report states.

    The operator is shoring up its network to be able to cope with heavy data usage and the ongoing erosion of voice and SMS usage. Roughly 22% of the company’s 60,000 base stations have been upgraded to 4G.

    This move forms part of a wider strategy aimed at transforming AIS into a fully integrated digital services provider by 2019.

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  • Alibaba Looks to Tighten Its Hold on Thai Ecommerce

    Alibaba Looks to Tighten Its Hold on Thai Ecommerce

    Having established a dominant position in China, ecommerce giant Alibaba is setting its sights on expanding in Southeast Asia. Last week the Chinese firm inked a deal with the Thai government to speed the development of the country’s ecommerce sector.

    The agreement calls for ecommerce platform Lazada—the leading ecommerce site in Thailand—to provide ecommerce training to 30,000 small- and medium-sized Thai businesses. Alibaba acquired a controlling stake in Lazada earlier this year.

    The deal also calls for Alibaba to advise the country’s postal service, Thailand Post, on shipping and logistics.

    Ecommerce makes up just a tiny sliver of Thailand’s total retail sales (1.5%), but it is growing rapidly. eMarketer projects that ecommerce sales, excluding travel, will grow at a rate exceeding 15% annually over the next four years, reaching total $5.69 billion by 2020.

    While other large international ecommerce players like Rocket Internet and Rakuten have been pulling up stakes in Southeast Asia this year, Alibaba has dug in.

    Alibaba has the capital to outlast local competitors in order to gain market share, as well as deep experience handling payments and logistics problems in emerging markets. And it owns Lazada Thailand.

    But Alibaba faces two potentially significant challenges in Thailand. One is that Thailand still lags behind developed markets in terms of internet usage. eMarketer estimates only 49.8% of the population of Thailand uses the internet as of 2016. Markets that are still in the early stages of internet adoption tend to need time to grow into ecommerce.

    The second challenge for Alibaba is the other 800-pound gorilla in the global ecommerce sector: Amazon, the only competitor with the budget and will to battle Alibaba in a Southeast Asia turf war.

    Alibaba already competes with Amazon in India via two surrogates in which it holds sizable stakes: Paytm, a payment and ecommerce company, and marketplace Snapdeal. The battle shaping up in India is likely a harbinger of things to come in Southeast Asia, according to Pawoot (Pom) Pongvitayapanu, the CEO and founder of local Thai ecommerce marketplace Tarad.com. “I think in the next 10 years there will be a few very big ecommerce sites,” Pongvitayapanu said. “Alibaba or Amazon, they‘re going to control the world. That’s coming for sure.”

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  • Thailand tourism breaks records and welcomes 30 millionth visitor to the kingdom

    Thailand tourism breaks records and welcomes 30 millionth visitor to the kingdom

    Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said, “This has been an amazing year for tourism in amazing Thailand as shown by the huge numbers of visitors. We have reached 30 million and the high season has only just kicked off. We know that more people will be coming to enjoy the cool weather and holiday festivities. Thailand has so much to offer the world and we know that the Thai people make every visitor feel as welcome as we made Ms. Huang Junyi feel today.”

    Ms. Huang Junyi receives a certificate naming her as “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor – The Amazing, Smashing Success” from Mr. Yuthsak Supasorn, TAT Governor

    Ms. Huang Junyi,“Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor – The Amazing, Smashing Success”, was greeted at Suvarnabhumi Airport with a fantastic welcoming ceremony co-hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Thai Airways International and True Corporation.

    Ms. Huang’s prize will be two economy-class return tickets to Thailand from her original destination, which are valid for a year. She will also be given a voucher for a five-night stay in one of Thailand’s luxury hotels in Bangkok, Pattaya or Hua Hin as well as a mobile phone with a 4G sim card and seven days of Internet usage and a certificate naming her as “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor – The Amazing, Smashing Success” so that she can remember this day forever. The lucky 30 millionth visitor was also given an exclusive limousine transfer from the Airport to her accommodation in Bangkok.

    This is the second time that Ms. Huang Junyi has travelled to Thailand. During this trip, she will be spending 10 days in Bangkok and Pattaya.

    The “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor” campaign was launched in 2015 to welcome and reward every millionth visitor to Thailand from June to December. The campaign was a great success and garnered interest from the public and media organisations across the world, boosting Thailand’s tourism sector and brand image. It has been brought back in 2016 to welcome the 30th and 31st million visitors and will continue till the end of 2016.

    In 2016, Thailand is projecting total international tourism revenue of 1.62 trillion Baht (USD 46 billion), representing a year-on-year increase of 11.68% over 2015.

    To boost tourism numbers, various initiatives have been put in place to encourage tourists to visit and spend. This includes the waiver of tourist visa fees for visitors from 19 countries from 1 December, 2016, to 28 February, 2017, and the price of visas issued on arrival will be halved. To encourage more domestic travel, a long New Year holiday of four days including 31 December, 2016, and 1 to 3 January, 2017, has been confirmed.

  • Thailand’s green material Industry and the green building trend

    Thailand’s green material Industry and the green building trend

    In the midst of today’s environmental movement, green buildings (buildings designed to be environmentally friendly through more efficient use of resources) are popping up more and more in Thailand.

    Using data from green building credentialing bodies like the U.S. Green Business Council (USGBC), which developed the Leading in Energy & Environment Design (LEED), and the Thai Green Building Institute (TGBI), which developed Thailand’s Rating of Energy and Environment Sustainability (TREES), EIC found that the number of certified green buildings and buildings in the process of accreditation in Thailand has risen substantially, increasing from six buildings in 2007 to 243 buildings in 2015.

    With EIC’s estimate of 294 green buildings in 2016, the average annual growth rate for green buildings in Thailand is 54%. Thailand’s green building area increased from 40 thousand square meters in 2007 to 4.3 million square meters in 2015, and it is estimated that it will reach 5.0 million square meters by the end of 2016, pushing average growth to 71% per year (Figure 1).

    Green buildings in Thailand consist of office buildings (around 40%), retail stores and shops (around 30%), and other structures such as factories, residential buildings, hotels, and schools (around 30%) (Figure 2).

    Although the costs of building green are higher than construction costs for conventional buildings, it is the benefits they offer that are responsible for the expansion of green structures today.

    The average cost of building green in Thailand is 20,700 baht per square meter, which is about 5.2% higher than the average conventional building cost of 19,700 baht per square meter (Figure 3).

    This is because building green involves more restrictions in choosing materials and in designing building systems, as well as additional fees for obtaining LEED or TREES credentials. However, owners can gain both monetary and non-monetary advantages from green buildings. Monetary benefits include a decrease in building management expenses like electricity and water costs that can be reduced by 10% or around 90 baht per square meter per year, and up to about 21% or 180 baht per square meter per year by the fifth year after the completion of the project (Figure 4). These numbers are comparable to the decrease in energy costs of  well-known green building Energy Complex.

    The Energy Complex building contains 192 thousand square meters of utility space and has reduced building management costs per year by about 28 million baht, or about 146 baht per square meter per year.  Another monetary advantage for green building owners is increased rents. Rents for green buildings are around 30% higher than those of conventional buildings in the same area, or about 230 baht per square meter per month (Figure 4). Non-monetary benefits include significantly higher worker productivity in green buildings compared to conventional buildings, deduced from sick day records and illnesses caused by sick building syndrome.

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  • Thai Kasikornbank Eyes Regional Expansion, Plans 2nd Branch in Laos

    Thai Kasikornbank Eyes Regional Expansion, Plans 2nd Branch in Laos

    Thailand’s Kasikornbank said on Tuesday (29/11) it plans to open a second branch in Laos and upgrade the status of its local bank in China in 2017 as part of a regional expansion.

    With assets of $68 billion, Thailand’s fourth-largest lender by assets is looking to open branches in Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar by 2018, Kasikornbank president Kattiya Indaravijaya said in a news conference.

    Loans and assets from foreign operations accounted for less than 5 percent of the bank’s current total loan portfolio, and the proportion is expected to gradually increase over the next few years, she added.

    Like other major Thai banks, Kasikornbank is looking to expand its business in fast-growing economies in Southeast Asia to help offset a slowdown in the domestic market.

    Kasikornbank is aiming at a loan growth of 4-6 percent in 2017 — assuming the Thai economy would grow 3.3 percent next year — and expected its non-performing loans to make up 3.3-3.4 percent of total loans, Kattiya said.

    In the first nine months, the bank’s loans grew 5 percent, versus a target of 6-7 percent for the whole of 2016, she said.

    The bank targets loan growth from retail clients at 5-7 percent next year when the number of it retail customers is expected to rise to 14.1 million, up 5-6 percent on year, the bank’s president said.

    Loan growth for large companies and small to medium sized firms is targeted at 4-6 percent next year, she said.

    Kasikornbank aimed to spend 4 billion baht on developing information technology (IT) next year to maintain its leading position in digital banking, the bank’s president in charge of IT, Teeranun Srihong, said.

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  • Banana acquires 44 Bangkok outlets

    Banana acquires 44 Bangkok outlets

    A Bangkok IT store in a shopping mall in Bangkok. The stores will complete their transfer to Banana in the first quarter of 2017.

    Com7, the Bangkok-based IT chain store under the Banana brand, has taken over 44 BKK shops from Bangkok Telecom 999 for 184 million baht in a drive to accelerate its expansion into the mid- and entry-level segments.

    “This is our first acquisition for the purpose of pursuing growth,” said Sura Khanittaweekul, chief executive of Com7.

    The move is a reflection of how medium-sized IT retail chain stores in Thailand are trying to survive the hyper-competitive handset sales market.

    Small retail chains are being forced to close their shops because they cannot compete directly with cash-rich large stores.

    The process of transferring BKK’s shops will begin on Dec 1 and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2017, Mr Sura said.

    Com7 will operate the acquired 44 stores under the BKK brand, most of which are located in high-density areas. At least 10 BKK shops (out of the 44 acquired stores) compete directly with Com7.

    BKK Telecom 999 sold 44 branches out of its 80 shops.

    Mr Sura said the acquisition will enable Com7’s expansion strategy to grow faster, as the company need not build its own stores, which takes time and planning.

    The average size of a BKK shop is 30-70 square metres, while the average size of a Banana shop is 100 sq m.

    He said the acquisition of the BKK shops will enable Com7 to penetrated untapped mid- and entry-level markets, with handsets priced below 10,000 baht each.

    “Returns on the acquisition can be expected over the next 3-4 years,” Mr Sura said.

    Most Com7 branches are situated in prime locations in department stores serving premium customers with high purchasing power.

    Thailand’s smartphone market is quite mature. There is still an extensive demand in the mid-level handset segment in the replacement market.

    Com7 aims to expand its retail shops to 500 branches by 2017, up from 365.

    In August, Com7 launched bananastore.com to extend its sale channels online to capitalise on new-generation customers who lead the digital lifestyle trend.

    “We aim to have 1 billion baht in total sales revenue in 2017,” Mr Sura said.

    Com7 expects revenue to grow 10% to 17 billion baht this year. Of the total, 35% will come from sales of mobile phones, 30% from computers, 10% from tablets and the rest from accessories.

  • Spar to open 300 stores in Thailand

    Spar to open 300 stores in Thailand

    Spar International and Bangchak Retail Company (BCR) have announced a new partnership to open 300 Spar stores in Thailand by 2020.

    The US$78.9m investment was announced on 28 November, with BCR to open seven new stores in 2016, and 50-80 new stores each year from 2017.

    “The launch of Spar in Thailand in partnership with BCR represents a significant and important step forward in Spar’s ongoing expansion into Asian markets,” Tobias Wasmuht, managing director of Spar International said at the official announcement of the new partnership. “It brings together our internationally tried and tested retail expertise particularly in convenience and supermarket formats with the extensive knowledge of the Thai market. The partnership is a true example of the Spar ethos in which through working together all shall benefit.”

    BCR managing director Viboon Wongsakul said the Thai company was exciting about the new offering for customers in Thailand.

    “We plan to bring local retailing to the next level and will dedicate the resources necessary to have a significant presence in the market in the shortest possible time-frame,” he said.

    The partnership will see both Spar and BCR focus on sourcing produce locally, with Spar International working on developing its own brand of products.

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