Bangkok Business Brief - Volume 2, Issue 10 - Mid-September/October 2013

InsideGeneral Interest 2Government/Economy 3Finance/Investment 4Production 5Retail/Services 6Tourism 7Real Estate 8IT/Comms 9The Chambers 10The Calendar 14

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Mid-September/October 2013Vol. No. 2, Issue No. 10

The future is now... part onemobile devices, cloud computing and big data have transformed industries (music, publishing, film and TV, etc.), challenged the sta-tus quo, and changed the way we communicate and conduct our personal lives. But how is technol-ogy affecting our careers and our future job prospects? And how can we prepare for the next ten or twenty years of our professional lives?

Over the past fifty years, numer-ous technologies and devices have improved the efficiency of the office, from fax machines to computers, from beepers to mo-bile phones to video conferenc-

ing; all have altered the workplace in generally positive ways. For in-stance, they have allowed people to work from home or anywhere they have access to the Internet, and they’ve spawned movements such as the Results-Oriented Work Environment (or ‘ROWE’) philosophy that have challenged the traditional 9-5 office work-place.

But until now, all of these tech-nologies have only changed how we do our work. According to many experts, technology is now changing not just the how, but the what as well. In other words, the nature of work and careers is

evolving and, in many ways, at an increasingly rapid rate.

According to Thomas Frey, a fu-turist and executive director of the DaVinci Institute in the United States, “As a rule of thumb, 60% of the jobs 10 years from now haven’t been invented yet.” While he predicts that current jobs like engineers, nurses, and computer systems analysts will still exist in the future, they will have morphed into something quite different from what they are today. He also say that “as data becomes cheap-er, faster, and more pervasive, the

Story continues on Page 12

By Noah Percy

It’s now 2013. We are 13 years into the 21st century and well into the so-called Web 2.0 era of tech-nological transformation. The ubiquitous smartphone and other

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General Interest

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Many successful business leaders believe that enhancing the human capital can help the company reach a higher level of achievement in the long run. One of the most important tasks of the manage-ment is to ensure that the company has allocated sufficient resources in building a strong team consisting of highly compe-tent people. In order to reach such goals, the management has to pay attention to people at the development process. Building multi-skilled employees can be another area in human-resource devel-opment as it can be beneficial to both frontline and back-end operations.

In the production environment, multi-skilled labour can help boost productivity and cost effectiveness through a combi-nation of related functions so one person can perform several tasks within a shorter

China’s economic slowdown has damp-ened air-freight demand throughout Asia and the Pacific as regional carriers’ busi-ness volume in June contracted 1.8 per cent year on year, according to the Inter-national Air Transport Association. In the first half, volume dropped 2.3 per cent. This is the weakest performance among the regions and reflects the broad impact of the slowing growth of Chinese gross domestic product. There are now fears that China will not achieve its 7.5-per-cent growth target this year, which may disrupt the global economic recovery. The Thai National Shippers Council fore-casts only a 2-per-cent increase in the country’s shipments to China this year. Elsewhere in the world, only airlines in...Full story: http://goo.gl/Xb2gts

Many companies have labour unions and employee committees, but few fully understand the potential significance or impact of these organisations. Unfortu-nately, even fewer understand the possi-ble legal ramifications of taking disciplin-ary action against employee committee members.

Employers may face severe criminal pen-alties if they violate an employee commit-tee member’s rights, and so it is vital for them to understand these principles be-fore taking any form of disciplinary and/or obstructive action against an employee committee member.

Purpose and composition: The funda-mental purpose of the employee commit-tee is to maintain friendly relations and open communication channels between

Developing your staffSlow growth in China hits Asia-Pacific air freight performance

Biz buzz: PiyasvastiThe employee committee explained Former Thai Airways International presi-

dent Piyasvasti Amranand doesn’t think he’s old, though he turns 60 this year. When he was 10, he thought people of 30 were old and those of 50 very old. His nanny, whose name was Uthai, he called “Kae”, which means “old” in Thai. Now 60, Piyasvasti says he doesn’t feel old, though he admits that young people would probably see him that way.

Since retiring as THAI’s president, he has spent much of his time travelling. For the first time in his life, aside from gardening, he swims on a daily basis – even doing more exercise than he did in his days at boarding school. “I have lost 3kg through exercise and feel a lot healthier,” he said triumphantly.

It sounds like the kind of retirement many would look forward to. However, Piyas-vasti doesn’t see himself as a retiree. He

employers and employees through regu-lar meetings. The law provides for the ex-istence of such a structure under the La-bour Relations Act (BE 2518) to ensure...Full story: http://goo.gl/pO36Xh

might be retired from his full-time job with the national airline, but he still has many things to do. Currently, he is acting as an adviser to several organisations on energy issues and continues to speak at various events – usually on...Full story: http://goo.gl/QEJVQf

cycle of time. For example, an operator can learn how to set up machines for the start-up operation or the changeover without facility technicians being present. He can also complete production tasks...Full story: http://goo.gl/6ia8XY

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Greece, India, China and Thailand are home to the weakest national pension systems in the world, crippled by a mix of acute sover-eign debt, young retirement ages, high ratios of pensioners to work-ers and poor pension take-up, a study showed.

The Allianz Global Investors Pen-sion Sustainability Index, which tracks the relative sustainabil-ity of national pension systems in 44 countries around the world, showed the number of Greek re-tirees to people of working age re-

Land subsidence caused by ground water losses tops the list of prob-lems that must be solved in Bang-kok to mitigate the impact of the climate change on flooding, says a study by multinational agencies.The conclusion is contained in a report entitled “Climate Risks and Adaptation in Asian Coastal Megacities”, jointly conducted by the Asian Development Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the World Bank in 2010.

The report recommended a...Full story at http://goo.gl/20yMD

‘There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune”, wrote Wil-

KUALA LUMPUR : The Asian cri-sis in the late 1990s was a wake-up call for the region that has turned out to be a blessing in disguise nearly 15 years later, as the region’s financial sector is now strong and able to sustain a certain degree of shocks from the fallout in the Western Hemisphere, according to a panellist at a recent Asean conference.

“There will be more crises in the future, and the Asian crisis in

The shift of economic growth mo-mentum to the East has opened up numerous opportunities that Asian countries should not miss out, suggests an economist.The robust economic growth of China and emerging economies will open a new opportunity for Asian economies to increase their wealth from trade in goods and services at a time when the United States and Europe are...Full story at http://goo.gl/S65D6


Thailand near top of list of world’s weakest pension systems: study

Panel: Asia better off, not immune, from global crises

Preventing Bangkok from sinking biggest challenge

Grow with the flow of cycles

Asia stands to gain from West slowdown

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...added that the company had set aside a significant investment budget of Bt200 million to Bt300 million for overseas expansion.Full story at http://goo.gl/bH6PFliam Shakespeare in JuliusCaesar. Nature and life are cyclical _ the seasons of the year, life and death, the phases of the moon, the tides. Caught up in daily details, we eas-ily forget that the business world has cycles, too. We are all familiar with the economic business cycle of expansion, contraction and re-covery. However, other cyclical phenomena affect...Full story at http://goo.gl/fJolr

1997-98 was a blessing, as the impact of 2008 would have been far worse for the region,” Azman Mokhtar, the managing director of Khazanah Nasional of Malaysia, told the CIMB Asean Conference.His comments were...Full story at http://goo.gl/dfu2u

mains above the European average.In India, China and Thailand, roughly 12 percent of the popula-tion contribute to a pension, while the weaknesses of Thailand’s pen-sion system are...Full story at http://goo.gl/rtpH3Government / Economy

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The government’s 2-trillion-baht in-frastructure megaprojects will have little immediate effect on stimulating the economy, as the overall benefits will be-come visible only upon their completion, says a financial analyst. Stephen Hinch, an international client adviser with the MBMG Group, said the projects’ imme-diate impact is job creation, which is only a small economic stimulus since the over-all stimulus is expected once the projects are completed. “When you do stimulus that’s infrastructure-based, you normally get a trailing impact on the economy of 12-15 years,” he said.

Mr Hinch cited China as an example of achieving double-digit growth in 15 years from an investment-based economy. Australia’s infrastructure stimuli have not done anything to change the economy at this point. However, he said infrastruc-ture development projects do have the potential to sustain long-term economic growth, given that infrastructure has the capacity to enhance connectivity as planned. The Thai government is pinning its hopes on massive infrastructure...Full story: http://goo.gl/dBXrCs

Thailand may face a setback in sustain-ing economic growth if it does not imple-ment structural reforms and address the rising household debt burden, says Fred-eric Neumann, the managing director of HSBC. “If you want to avoid a crisis in the future, you have to make sure your pro-ductivity growth increases, and the only way to do this is by taking the bitter medi-cine named structural reforms,” he said.

The country needs to improve its edu-cation system as it lacks sufficient high-quality engineering graduates to raise productivity growth. Infrastructure devel-opment is another essential area which needs rapid improvement to facilitate the expansion. Privatisation of state-owned enterprises, meanwhile, can boost pro-ductivity and competitiveness.

Mr Neumann said Thailand should also cut back on some subsidised pro-grammes and use the savings to invest for the country’s future. “The 2-trillion-baht infrastructure development projects are deemed as a type of...Full story: http://goo.gl/Jg6Rzv

A Finance Ministry inquiry committee has uncovered 18 ministerial officials suspect-ed of stealing more than 4.3 billion baht from the state through fraudulent tax refunds. Ministry permanent secretary Areepong Phucha-um said the commit-tee’s initial probe findings had concluded several senior officials may be involved in the fraudulent value-added tax refund scam. Of the 18 suspects, four are officials holding positions of senior director and specialists at the C-9 level, while the rest are officials at the operational level.

He said the ministry has set up a commit-tee to launch a disciplinary investigation into the four C-9 officials, while the Rev-enue Department has been assigned to consider action against the other 14. Mr Areepong said the ministry will also ex-pand the investigation to look at whether officials at higher levels are involved in the scam. The investigation will cover the entire Finance Ministry organisation, Mr Areepong said.

He said the ministry will also review regu-lations relating to VAT refund requests by entrepreneurs to try to reduce the risk of fraudulent refunds being paid out. The ministry approved a 2-billion-baht budget last year for the Revenue Department...Full story: http://goo.gl/s0d3FJ

Drinkers awoke to higher prices of beer, wine and liquor after the cabinet ap-proved new effective alcohol tax rates. The Excise Department has ordered its officials to be on alert to prevent the smuggling of untaxed alcohol and the hoarding of liquor following the decision. The alcohol tax is broken into two parts – a tax on product value and a tax on al-cohol content.

If this is your pleasure, your only choice is to pay more or drink less, as alcohol prices are set to rise across the board. The maximum tax for beer will be maintained at 60% of the product’s value, but the ef-fective tax rate per litre of 100% alcohol content rose from 100 baht to 300 baht. The tax hike will drive up beer prices by about 3-7 baht per bottle. For wine, prod-ucts worth less than 600 baht per bottle will be be exempt from the product value-based tax, while those priced above 600 baht will be taxed at 36% of the product’s retail value. In terms of alcohol content,...Full story: http://goo.gl/RNwXG5

Megaproject benefits ‘mainly long term’

Drinkers awake to higher tabs

HSBC suggests structural reforms

VAT fraud probe implicates 18

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Eight Thai companies are listed on Forbes Asia’s Best Under a Billion (BUB) list of the top small and medium-sized enter-prises in Asia-Pacific this year, up from six last year. The listed firms are Aikchol Hospital, BEC World, Malee Sampran, Master Ad, Premier Marketing, Robinson Department Store, Sahamit Machinery and Workpoint Entertainment.

The list comprises 200 leading public companies in Asia-Pacific with annual revenue between US$5 million and $1 billion. Forbes editors select the list from among 15,000 companies based on cri-teria such as rising financial performance, sufficiently broad and private share own-ership, reasonable debt levels and profit-ability.

Companies from China and Hong Kong

PACE stumbles out of the gate in IPO

Thai bond market still in good shape for second half of 2013

Thai SMEs rampage up ‘Forbes’ list

Although the global financial markets have been facing great volatility, invest-ment in the Thai bond market could still increase steadily in the second half of this year. One of the main boosters was capital inflow, causing it to be more ac-tive than in the previous year, not only in terms of higher turnovers but also in-vestment returns. However, whether the Thai bond market’s sentiment in the rest of this year will continue to grow strongly or at least as actively as in the first half of 2013 probably depends on the following four points.

The first one is related to the recovery and growth rate of the Thai economy. Gross domestic product grew more

dominated the list this year with 63 en-tries, while Japanese companies rose to 17 from four in recent years. Taiwan had the second-highest number of compa-nies on the list at 26, three more than last year, while India came in third with 19 companies, its lowest level since...Full story: http://goo.gl/2dPVKP

slowly than expected in the first half of this year. Among the major reasons were signs of a Chinese economic slowdown, which has already started to affect Thai exporters. China is one of the Thailand’s biggest trading partners, with 12 per cent of all overseas shipments. In addition, spending on a government water-man-agement project has been delayed, as it requires public hearings, according to the Central Administration Court. This may cause the Bank of Thailand to revise the...Full story: http://goo.gl/7mg0xl

Krung Thai Asset Management yester-day launched the Bt3-billion KTAM SET ICT ETF Tracker, the first exchange-trad-ed fund to track the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s index for the information and communications technology sector. The fund’s policy is to invest in the stocks of companies that are constituents of the SET ICT Sector Index. The SET ICT Sector Index consists of stocks of ICT businesses that are listed on the Thai exchange. It currently consists of 27 companies. The

Pace Development Plc had the first dis-mal initial public offering debut on the local stock market this year following Ananda Development Plc’s flop on the first day of trade in July 2012. The stock started trading at 3.10 baht and stayed below the 3.50-baht IPO mark through-out the day before closing at 2.70 baht, a 22.9% discount from the IPO price, in trade worth 2.38 billion baht.

Kongkiat Opaswongkarn, the chief exec-utive of Asia Plus Securities, the financial adviser and lead underwriter of PACE, blamed political uncertainties for the disappointing debut. The House started deliberating the controversial amnesty bill amid protests from anti-government groups. But Mr Kongkiat still believes PACE has a thriving outlook, with the lux-ury MahaNakorn project expected to...Full story: http://goo.gl/LkI3Bu

KTAM debuts Bt3-billion ICT Tracker fund

index is a market-capitalisation-weighted price index, which contributed to 13.5 per cent of the main SET Index as of June 30. Last year, the SET Index gained 23.87...Full story: http://goo.gl/oOg7yi


















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mains above the European average.In India, China and Thailand, roughly 12 percent of the popula-tion contribute to a pension, while the weaknesses of Thailand’s pen-sion system are...Full story at http://goo.gl/rtpH3Production

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Volvo Group, the Swedish manufacturer of buses, trucks and construction equip-ment, yesterday launched the first heavy-duty truck model _ Quester _ made at its assembly plant on Bang Na-Trat Road to capitalise on the growing Asean mar-ket. “Quester is the first UD truck devel-oped specially for growth markets, while Volvo’s heavy-duty trucks stay focused on the premium segment,” said Joachim Rosenberg, the group’s executive vice-president.

UD Trucks was known as Nissan Diesel before it became part of Volvo in 2007. Volvo, the sole distributor of Volvo and UD trucks, recently announced a 5-bil-lion-baht investment plan including 3 billion for expanding sales and service outlets. The rest will be used to expand annual production capacity to 4,500 Vol-vo trucks and 20,000 UD trucks. Thailand is the global production base for Volvo and UD trucks for export, especially those destined for Asean, Africa and the Middle East where demand in each market is ris-ing. Volvo aims to export UD trucks to...Full story: http://goo.gl/U0w1oi

Japanese tyre-maker Bridgestone has set up its first technical centre in Thailand to respond more quickly to changing cus-tomer needs. The centre, which is the company’s first facility of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan and China, will provide technical support across the region. The centre will over-see the functions of tyre development, production technology, quality manage-ment, and procurement, and serve as a regional base to enhance safety, environ-ment, product quality and delivery at its Asian plants.

Yoshiyuki Morimoto, senior vice presi-dent and chief technology officer of Bridgestone, said Bridgestone plans to increase its presence in the Asia-Pacific region by enhancing research and devel-opment, expanding its sales network, and increasing its tyre production capacity. The company recently began production of conveyor belts through its subsidiary Bridgestone NCR in...Full story: http://goo.gl/Q6Cqkz

Tyre-maker Bridgestone rolls out technical centre here

Volvo plant launches Quester

Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, says it is all set to expand its solar-energy business in Thai-land. Schneider aims to deploy more than 100 megawatts of its systems to be op-erational in large solar power plants in the Kingdom this year alone, and targets two new potential areas – buildings and homes.

According to a report from the Ministry of Energy’s Alternative Energy Develop-ment and Efficiency Department, Thai-land’s geography is suitable for solar photovoltaic energy production because the solar irradiation is high in both its direct and diffuse components. The re-port pointed out that 14.3 per cent of the overall territory in Thailand received an average of 19-20 megajoules of solar energy per square metre per day, while 50 per cent received an average 18-19 megajoules. When compared with other countries, Thailand ranks high in the list of “sunbelt” countries that have a strong potential to produce electricity from solar power.

Marc Lees, Schneider Electric’s head of solar for East Asia, said the company’s move was aligned with the government’s evolving policies on solar energy. “Schnei-der Electric is currently collaborating with partners to complete solar projects in...Full story: http://goo.gl/OtkJ9d

Schneider Electric to grow solar energy business in Kingdom

Nissan Motor Asia-Pacific has opened a new vehicle test track in Thailand, Nis-san’s first overseas R&D vehicle-test fa-cility in the Asean region. It also inaugu-rated a new office building for the Nissan Technical Centre Southeast Asia, located on the premises. With investment of ap-proximately Bt1.1 billion, the expansion of NTCSEA will strengthen Nissan’s ca-pabilities in R&D in the region, a key ele-ment of the automaker’s growth strategy, executives said.

NTCSEA’s regional scope covers ten countries and six production sites across Southeast Asia. By 2015, NTCSEA will as-sume responsibility for all R&D processes following the vehicle physical design stage for models marketed in the ASEAN region. By 2016, NTCSEA will more than triple its workforce to 370. This expansion allows it to better reflect the specific pref-erences of customers in Southeast Asia,...Full story: http://goo.gl/BkSCfF

Auto giant launches test track

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Bangkok Airways is set to become the third Thai airline to offer regular flights from Bangkok to Mandalay on Sept 15, joining competitors Thai AirAsia and Thai Smile. The privately owned carrier will initially offer four flights per week on the route before ramping up frequencies to daily on Oct 27 to tap stronger demand in the high season, said airline officials.

Its entry will intensify the contest for the second-most important route between Thailand and Myanmar after Bangkok-Yangon, which is served frequently by several Thailand-based airlines including Bangkok Airways, TAA, Thai Airways International and other international op-erators. Bangkok Airways released details of its Mandalay service, which will depart from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport on a 144-seat Airbus 319 jetliner. The flights

Bangkok Airways opens Mandalay route

Union Auction predicts used car sales to remain flat

CP in running for Hong Kong’s ParknShop supermarket chain

California Wow founder pleads innocence

Thai restaurant finds a niche in Mozambique

will be on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, departing from...Full story: http://goo.gl/n0Xyqt

The Thai used-car market is expected to remain oversupplied this year thanks

Dhanin Chearavanont, Thailand’s richest man, is moving towards placing another piece in the jigsaw as he grows his retail business regionally, with Charoen Pok-phand’s bid for Hong Kong’s ParknShop supermarket chain. Dominating the convenience-store segment in Thailand through CP All, which operates about 8,000 7-Eleven outlets, Dhanin has set his sights on expanding throughout Asia with the ParknShop brand.

CP All, Dhanin’s retail arm, in April spent Bt189 billion to take over Thailand’s lead-ing cash-and-carry wholesale business, Siam Makro, which would mainly be used as a new distribution channel to export products from small and medium-sized enterprises as well as agricultural goods, such as fresh and frozen produce, to ASEAN countries. A retail expert who

Eric Levine, the founder of stock ex-change-listed California Wow Xperience, has put up a vigorous defence against the Anti-Money Laundering Office’s al-legations that he and the directors made fraudulent transfers of the company’s funds overseas. In the first statement since the fitness-centre chain hit finan-cial trouble and later faced the AMLO allegations, Levine said the documents provide full disclosure of the company’s financial transactions, and are accompa-nied by a letter that categorically denies any wrong-doing by the company or any directors. The company also offers total cooperation for the investigation into its bank accounts and business activities, he said.

“I state with absolute certainty and in the strongest, most unequivocal terms that California Wow Xperience operated transparently and that neither I nor any director or staff member ever made any improper or illegal transfers of even a single baht out of the company,” he said. “Even though I have been gravely affect-ed by these public accusations, until now, I chose not to respond. However, I...Full story: http://goo.gl/ycUSwJ

Despite its distance from Thailand and the small number of Thai people in the country, a Thai woman has opened an authentic Thai restaurant in Maputo, the capital and largest city in Mozambique. Jena Nuangniyom, owner of “InterThai” restaurant, started her business there with between $60,000 to $70,000. Now responsible for almost 20 employees, including Thai chefs and Mozambican waiters, she is very happy with the return on her investment. Jena launched her res-taurant business in Maputo only 10 years ago after marrying a local man. When the marriage ended in divorce, she de-cided to stay on in Mozambique and go into business. With her cooking abilities and passion for authentic Thai cuisine, she has started InterThai restaurant, one of only three Thai restaurants in Maputo. She was also encouraged to open the restaurant by friends, who believed her friendly demeanour and skills as a cook...Full story: http://goo.gl/RDofxS

declined to be named said Charoen Pok-phand Group’s bid for Hutchison Wham-poa’s chain of ParknShop stores would al-low CP to have a larger retail network in the region. According to a recent report by Bloomberg, Hutchison, a Hong Kong conglomerate controlled by billionaire...Full story: http://goo.gl/Uz00ji

to 1.2 million new car owners that ap-plied for the government’s first-time car buyer tax rebate last year. Aekpittaya Lemkongaek, president of Union Auc-tion Plc, Thailand’s leader in car auctions, said new supply in the used-car market is expected to exceed 2 million units at the end of this year. Annual used-car supply is usually one to 1.5 times larger than new car sales.

Thailand’s automotive industry enjoyed a bumper year in 2012, with 2.45 mil-lion vehicles made, up by 68.3% from 2011, lifting Thailand to 10th among car-producing countries. Thailand’s domestic car sales were forecast to stay around 1.2 million vehicles this year. Depressed de-mand is also putting pressure on average auction prices this year...Full story: http://goo.gl/xxPIYj

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mains above the European average.In India, China and Thailand, roughly 12 percent of the popula-tion contribute to a pension, while the weaknesses of Thailand’s pen-sion system are...Full story at http://goo.gl/rtpH3Tourism

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Vana Nava water park to splash Hua Hin

TAT banking on new behavioural database

First tourist court to open in Pattaya

Thailand mulls compulsory travel insurance

Proud Real Estate Co, owned by the Lip-tapanlop family, is spending 3-4 billion baht to develop a tourist attraction in Hua Hin. The 35-rai site is near the In-terContinental Hua Hin Resort. Of the total investment, 800 million baht is for a 20-rai jungle-themed water park, up to 2 billion for a 400-room, three- or four-star hotel, and at least 1 billion baht for a residential condo project. The Vana Nava Hua Hin water park began construction in June and will open in the second quar-ter of 2014. The hotel and condos will be completed in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

“We will focus our investment in Hua Hin because we believe the seaside re-sort town will become a true world-class tourist destination like Nice or Cannes,” said Proudpud Liptapanlop, MD of Proud Real Estate. Ongoing infrastructure pro-grammes, including high-speed rail from Bangkok, the Southern Motorway and the arrival of international flights at Hua...Full story: http://goo.gl/B3s0iS

Thailand’s first tourist court will open in Pattaya as part of the government’s move to reassure travellers of their safety while visiting the country. From 4.30pm to 8.30pm, foreign tourists can come and lodge complaints, especially over unfair services and personal security. Consider-ation of cases will be cut to one day for uncomplicated disputes from the usual six months, Wirat Chinwinigkul, secre-tary-general of the Judiciary, said.

The specialised court will encourage ne-gotiations between parties. Most of the cases are about consumer protection, so it is easier to reach a compromise. If it’s a serious issue, the case will be transferred to the regular court. There will be capable officials speaking foreign languages to help. Six more night courts are planned – Pathum Wan district for the Silom area and Dusit district for khao san in Bangkok, Krabi, Samui, Chiang Mai and Phuket. Those tourist destinations have faced various problems, especially cheating by operators. The Pattaya court would be a pilot project. It is expected to take up speedboat services, which is one of...Full story: http://goo.gl/yJF0g2

The Tourism and Sports Ministry is plan-ning to make it compulsory for all foreign tourists to have travel insurance before entering the Kingdom because unpaid bills are putting a huge strain on cash-strapped public hospitals in major des-tinations, particularly Phuket. However, some tourism-business operators warn that this measure might keep away trav-ellers as well as tarnish the country’s im-age.

In a telephone interview with The Nation, Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pu-reesrisak said the ministry was readying to implement the regulation to cut down on foreign tourists’ unpaid medical bills that cost the country more than Bt200 million annually.

Somsak is discussing the matter with Public Health Minister Pradit Sintavana-rong and Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong. “They agree that foreign tourists should buy an insurance package, which would cost about Bt500,” he said.

This would first be applied to tourists who apply for visa at Thai diplomatic missions overseas. The ministry has yet to...Full story: http://goo.gl/xK0IYS

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is ea-ger to build up a detailed database on tourists’ behaviour this year, so that it more fully understands their lifestyles and can focus its plans accordingly. The proj-ect will make it easier for the 53-year-old agency to map out its marketing plan for expanding the number of quality tour-ists and achieving Bt2.2 trillion in overall tourism revenue in 2015, which is a policy objective of the government.

So far, the TAT has set up an information-technology system, initially costing Bt5 million, to build up data as part of its so-cial customer-relationship management. Having a strong behavioural database would help the agency to more precisely target potential visitors from market to market at a time of fast-changing hab-its driven by innovative technology, said Silachai Surai, executive director for the TAT’s Information Technology Office. The move would also help maintain Thai-land as a regional tourism destination and achieve its ambition next year to achieve third place in the region in terms of tour-ism earnings, behind China and Hong Kong. At present, the Kingdom is...Full story: http://goo.gl/31ahp2

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Khao Yai developer looks to Bangkok

Jomtien gaining popularity with condo buyers

Raimon ready to diversify from solid luxury base

City housing market still rising, says DTZ

Sansiri left foaming at the mouthThree brick-sized pieces of foam, rub-bish paper and candy wrappers recently found inside the wall of a condo at The Base Sukhumvit 77 may not physically harm the unit’s owner, but they have al-ready wrecked the developer’s reputation overnight. Kristopher George Houston, owner of the condominium unit devel-oped by Sansiri Plc, found his wall stuffed with foam, paper scraps and candy wrap-pers when he tried to fix a rainwater leak. This is definitely not the first such case for a housing development in Thailand, but it could serve as a wake-up call for con-sumers to pay more attention to protect their rights.

Mr Houston bought a condo unit in The Base Sukhumvit 77. But once he moved in, he described the continued water leakages during rain as a nightmare. After

Bonanza Group, the Khao Yai-based property developer, will tap Bangkok’s housing market with plans to launch two projects on Chaeng Watthana Road. “We’re not worried about the po-litical situation,” said founder Phaivong Taechanarong. “As long as PM Yingluck Shinawatra keeps smiling and compro-mising, there will be nothing in politics to be worried about.”

One of these projects will be called The Sereno by The Bonanza, on a seven-rai site on Chaeng Watthana Soi 15. The 500-million-baht project will comprise 79 three- and 3.5-storey townhouses priced from 5.4 million baht. Construction will start next month for completion in...Full story: http://goo.gl/arzl7P

About 10,153 condominium units in 20 projects were launched in Pattaya during the first half of this year, which boosted supply by 32.9 per cent from the end of last year to 40,939 units, according to Knight Frank. The Jomtien area gained in popularity with 4,247 units, or 42 per cent of new units, the real-estate consultancy said. This year, condo developers include listed companies SC Asset, Sansiri, Supa-lai, Quality Houses and NC Housing.

“Pattaya has become one of the most desirable seaside locations. It is easily accessible to major destinations in Asia, supported by the government’s infra-structure investments, including the up-grade of U-tapao Airport’s capacity to 5 million passengers per year, as well as the planned high-speed rail link connecting Bangkok to Pattaya, which will help drive traffic to the resort city. “Pattaya has also become an international business hub for the impending ASEAN community, at-tracting investors from overseas. Also, the number of international and local tourists has been increasing steadily,” the agency said.

After Jomtien, the North Pattaya/Wong Amart area attained the second-most-popular slot, with launches of 3,114 units or about 30 per cent of the total. The area is considered a peaceful area favoured by Thai condo buyers. It is also a...Full story: http://goo.gl/SE3YkJ

Raimon Land Plc was listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 1994. Under a new management team since 2002, the company has established a sound track record of successful property develop-ment both in Bangkok and the main re-sort locations of Thailand. CEO Johnson Tan discusses the company’s strategy and outlook. What is Raimon Land’s business model?

Raimon Land is currently a property real estate developer focused primarily on the luxury market segment in major urban and resort locations in Thailand. We are currently exploring new revenue streams outside pure property development that will diversify our core business. In the first quarter of 2013, there was a major change in Raimon Land’s shareholders with JS Asset replacing IFA Hotels & Re-sorts. Why has JS Asset decided to...Full story: http://goo.gl/HZmd1Z

Optimism still prevails in Bangkok’s prop-erty market on the back of persistent demand, particularly in the office and condominium sectors, says a report by the property consultant DTZ. The condo market continued to expand in both inner

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Sansiri’s after-sales staff tried unsuccess-fully to repair the leaks many times, Mr Houston decided to ask an outside tech-nician to do it. To his surprise, when the technician tore into the wall, Mr Houston saw three pieces of foam, some Ole can-dy wrappers and brown, wrinkled...Full story: http://goo.gl/UUQRTm

and outer areas in the second quarter, al-beit at a slower pace than in the previous quarter. The number of new launches in the central business district was estimat-ed at 1,600 units, down from 3,000 in the first quarter and confined largely to lower Sukhumvit Road. The bulk of launch ac-tivity was still concentrated in fringe and suburban Bangkok. Active zones included Bang Na district, Phahon Yothin Road, Rama IX Road, Rattanathibet Road and Thon Buri district.

On the supply side, gradual extension of new mass transit lines will continue to open up development opportunities for both existing and new players, said the report by DTZ, a unit of Australia’s UGL Ltd. On the demand front, this will sup-port urbanisation and lift home...Full story: http://goo.gl/YiU7U8

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Business leaders urged to make use of new know-how

Acer launches Liquid Z3 in bid to double Thai sales

PSI to go portable with two new devices

Son of GMM Grammy founder keen on taking empire into the future

HP enters Thai tablet market

Security software firm eyes cloud, data centres

Acer Inc, the world’s fourth-largest PC maker, plans to double its smartphone sales in Thailand next year. The Taiwan-ese firm has set a goal to become a global top 10 phone maker by 2015, up from 15th currently. Acer chose Thailand for launch of the Liquid Z3 smartphone, aimed at first-time smartphone users. Priced at 2,590 baht, the 3.5-inch Android-based model has a 1-gigahertz processor and supports dual SIMs.

S.T. Liew, president of Acer’s smartphone business, said the company last year shifted its smartphone focus to selected potential markets. “Apart from Europe and China, Southeast Asia, especially Thailand and Indonesia, is our main tar-get market thanks to the large population and sound economy,” he said. Acer plans to spend US$2 million this year to...Full story: http://goo.gl/22Kdl3

The convergence of social media, mobile cloud computing and analytics is trans-forming the way businesses operate in order to grab new opportunities and stay ahead of competition, says a new report

There is no doubt that Paiboon Dam-rongchaitham and other high-profile executives built GMM Grammy into a strong music and entertainment empire with 30 years’ worth of content in its li-brary. It is now the duty of Fahmai, a son

PSI Holdings, the country’s largest satel-lite-dish and set-top box provider, yester-day launched a portable satellite dish and a built-in signal-receiving screen aimed at condo dwellers, street vendors and driv-ers. Users can put the portable satellite dish outdoors or near a window so it can receive signals from the Thaicom 5 and 6 satellites and connect it with a compat-ible screen that looks like a tablet.

The Ozone satellite dish has a one-foot parabolic antenna and an internal stand of low-noise block converter. The seven-inch screen, called an OTV, has a built-in signal receiver and a battery running three hours on each charge. It also offers 100 free-to-air channels.

The duo is an alternative for those who live in apartments or condominiums, where they are not allowed to install big satellite dishes on their own on high-rise building walls. If they use Ozone, they need not pay for the satellite dish...Full story: http://goo.gl/sOtbfB

NForce Security Systems, a corporate in-formation security supplier, is expanding into the fast-growing information secu-rity regulatory compliance, cloud com-puting and data-centre segments. State agencies, banks, retailers and data-centre operators are projected to be the top spenders of information security systems this year.

Managing director Nakrop Niam-namtham said nForce expects Thailand’s enterprise information security market to grow by 12% to 3 billion baht this year, fuelled by strong demand for security. He said the market for conventional informa-tion security products like firewalls has al-ready matured, as companies are shifting to cloud computing and need new tools to comply with laws and regulations.

NForce is preparing to introduce prod-ucts that meet the payment card industry data security standard. The international standard, aimed at enhancing payment account data protection, is for organisa-tions that handle cardholder information for major debit, credit...Full story: http://goo.gl/gdNdb7

HP has become the latest US computer

maker to jump on Thailand’s consumer tablet bandwagon, underlining the po-tential of the third-generation mobile broadband market. HP yesterday un-veiled its Android-based consumer tablet in the Thai market, hoping to capitalise on increasing demand. However, indus-try veterans believe the world’s second-largest computer maker might not be able to keep pace with the likes of Apple and Samsung in the short term.

IDC (Thailand), a unit of the global re-search firm, predicts tablet sales in Thai-land will surge by 94% to 5.3 million units this year, driven mainly by the govern-ment’s One Tablet per Child scheme. Smartphone sales are also expected to jump by 70% to 9 million, making up 40% of mobile phone sales. In contrast, the notebook market in Thailand contracted by 10% in the first...Full story: http://goo.gl/Tl1YCP

of Paiboon – founder, chief executive and chairman of GMM Grammy – to build for the future on the available resources. The vision is clear that the empire wants to deliver music and radio and television programmes to all audiences.

Fahmai, now chief operating officer for platforms at GMM Z, the parent firm’s satellite-television arm, stressed that his team had set a clear direction to make sure that the media platforms were up and ready. However, the 27-year-old executive admitted that this would be a great challenge. “I have to make it suc-cessful in the next five years,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Nation.

The five-year target was set according to the successful sale of 1.8 million GMM Z set-top boxes in the past two years. As the box is customer-friendly, he foresees a continued warm welcome. The pace of sales could double in the next two years. By 2018, he expects that half of the King-dom’s households will be accessing TV programmes via GMM Z set-top...Full story: http://goo.gl/YedzQ7

by Accenture Plc. The Dublin-based business technology consulting firm has found that technology has become the core of all aspects of business, and senior leaders should understand this fact and make the best use of it. As well, software has the potential to change the business model of a company or even an industry in the future.

But Nontawat Poomchusri, the manag-ing director of Accenture Thailand, said only 30% of Thailand’s highest-level ex-ecutives _ the “C level” _ are involved in digital strategies. Half of all Thais are less than 35 years old, indicating huge potential for companies to focus on next-generation customers and recruit more young employees. “Business leaders need to understand the implications of a soft-ware-driven...Full story: http://goo.gl/DXwMy3

Read today’s business news briefs about

Bangkok, Thailand, and Asean every weekday at

www.BBBrief.com


The Chambers Use your smartphone’s QR Code scanner or enter the short code to go directly to AMCHAM’s website.
















General Interest

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Sponsored by...

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mains above the European average.In India, China and Thailand, roughly 12 percent of the popula-tion contribute to a pension, while the weaknesses of Thailand’s pen-sion system are...Full story at http://goo.gl/rtpH3

7th Floor, GPF Witthayu Tower A, 93/1 Wireless Road, Lumpini, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330

Tel: +66 (0)2 254 1041 Fax: +66 (0)2 251 1605 Website: www.amchamthailand.comEmail: [email protected] http://goo.gl/mbUpG

TWO NATIONS, ONE FRIENDSHIP [Continues from last issue]1960S and 1970s: a changing business and political environmentA greater number of young Thais were going to the U.S. for their studies and they returned with more than simply a degree, but also a taste for American fashions and consumer goods. Concurrently, an increasing number of Americans came to Thailand as tourists and as members of groups like the Peace Corps.

The largest American contingent was the military personnel associated with the Vietnam conflict By 1968, 45,000 U.S. military personnel (mostly Air Force) were stationed in Thailand. The American presence helped fuel a construction boom. The American designed “Friendship Highway” brought many rural residents seeking a better living to Bangkok, where businesses and factories were located.

As the conflicts in Southeast Asia dragged on and, in 1975, ended in communist victories in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, the mood in Thailand turned increasingly nationalistic, straining U.S. — Thai relations. In 1972, the ruling military junta announced the Alien Business Law. The Law prohibited or restricted the ability of foreigners to engage in a long list of commercial activities. But Americans, it turned out, were not subject to many restrictions thanks to the Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations. Economic boom, crisis, and recoveryUnder stable governments thoughtout the 1980s and 1990s, business flourished and Thailand became one of the emerging tigers of Southeast Asia. Demands for American goods and services increased at a remarkable pace and enterprising entrepreneurs recognized the changing taste and achieved great success.

Dej Bulsuk left Thailand in 1968 for the U.S. on a Field Service scholarship and “many,

The American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (AMCHAM)

many Big Macs later,” Dej owned a chain of McDonald’s outlets in Thailand, opening his first store in in 1985 at Amarin Plaza, on Ploenchit Road. Bill Heinecke, who had come to Thailand with his parents as a teenager in 1963, developed a consumer empire that included Pizza Hut, and later The Pizza Company, the Marriott and many other properties.

Less familiar to the mass public, perhaps, but far more important to Thailand’s economy were the arrival of several American industrial giants. In 2005, Chevron acquired UNOCAL and began supplying natural gas for PTT Public Company (PTD, Thailand’s national oil company, which produces one-third of the nation’s demand. The ‘Detroit of the East,’ as the Eastern Seaboard became known, attracted American automotive companies such as Ford, General Motors, Dana Spicer and Goodyear.

However, the economic boom that so impressed the world had fatal flaws. Over-expansion and increasing debt led to the deflation of the Thai baht and economic contraction. Most American businesses remained in Thailand through the economic crisis, with many providing generous donations to support the recovery economy.

In 1998, Thailand’s Finance Minister Tarrin visited President Clinton in Washington, D.C. for the announcement of a U.S.$1.8 billion financial aid package. Thailand soon returned the favor in 2001 by extending the U.S.-Thailand Bilateral Double Taxation Treaty.

Mutual supportAfter the 2004 tsunami that hit southern Thailand, Americans (both privately and publicly) donated over U.S.$2.83 billion to help the Southeast Asian region. A year later, in 2005, Thailand assisted American victims following Hurricane Katrina, sending 60 doctors and nurses along with a shipment of rice. Most recently, the United States pledged over U.S.$10 million in direct humanitarian assistance and civic aid to help Thailand recover from the 2011 floods in central Thailand.

For over three decades, AMCHAM members have been committed to improving the social infrastructure in Thailand and in 2004, AMCHAM formally registered the AMCHAM Thailand Charitable Foundation (ATCF). To date, over 1,700 Thai University students have received AMCHAM scholarships and nearly 700 schools have benefited from the ATCF’s Adopt-a-School program.

Looking towards the futureThailand and the U.S. remain ever vital to each other’s success. AMCHAM estimates member companies have investment of over U.S.$45 billion in Thailand and provide more than 250,000 local jobs.

President Obama said during his 2012 visit to Thailand, “Thailand is America’s oldest friend in Asia. Our men and women in uniform have stood together and they’ve bled together. Our business people and our entrepreneurs work together to create jobs for both our peoples. Our diplomats, development experts, researchers, and students work together so that our citizens and the people across this region can live in peace and security and dignity.”

1970 photo of Bill Heinecke and staff


The Chambers Use your smartphone’s QR Code scanner or enter the short code to go directly to AustCham’s website.
















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Sponsored by...

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mains above the European average.In India, China and Thailand, roughly 12 percent of the popula-tion contribute to a pension, while the weaknesses of Thailand’s pen-sion system are...Full story at http://goo.gl/rtpH3

20th Floor, Thai CC Tower, 889 South Sathorn Road, Yannawa, Bangkok 10120

Tel: +66 (0)2 210 0216-8 Fax: +66 (0)2 675 6696 Website: www.austchamthailand.comEmail: [email protected] http://goo.gl/N47Gg

The Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce (AustChamThailand)

Message from the President, Leigh Scott-Kemmis

We are proud to announce that AustCham has recently been awarded funding from the Australian Government under its Asian Century Business Engagement Plan scheme. A headline activity of that grant will be our Australian Business Forum (ABF) luncheons. It’s no secret that two of the most powerful business enablers are people and information. The ABF, therefore, will bring individuals together in a way that promotes people-to-people business connections, and enables the sharing of business information and knowledge.

The luncheons will follow a standard agenda of:1. A briefing on business strategy by an Australian-related or Australian-Thai

related business

The largest event of its kind outside of Australia, AustCham’s annual AFL Grand Final extravaganza will this year be held on Saturday, 28 September at The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel. You can access the Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel from the Phrom Phong BTS Skytrain station with just a short stroll through Benjasiri park. The hotel is directly accessible from the park side.

Beginning from 10am with an all-day champagne brunch, the grand final family day includes entertainment for the children, giveaways (including airline tickets to Australia courtesy of Qantas), Aussie meat pies, free flow beer and wine and much, much more. The centrepiece is, of course, the AFL Grand Final which is displayed on six big screens - recreating the MCG big game atmosphere.

The AustCham AFL Event is like no other. Great reasons to attend include:• Great coffee served all day by The Coffee Club’s own baristas.• A lucky draw prize of two tickets to Australia courtesy of Qantas.• Fine Aussie bubbles served courtesy of Bangkok Fine Wines.• A huge all-day international brunch buffet.

• Unlimited free-flow drinks! Beer and quality Australian wine.• Loads of activities for your children in the Kids Room.• Big Game atmosphere with six huge screens.• Handball competition - test your skill and win prizes.• Lots and lots of prizes up for grabs in our huge charity raffle, with all proceeds

going to the enormously worthy Beaumont Ruam Pattana School.

Event detailsDate: Saturday 28 September 2013Time: 10:00 - 15:00 (please note the changed time from previous years) Cost: Baht 22,500 for full table (table of ten) Baht 5,500 for family ticket (two adults and two children 6-17 years) Baht 2,500 for individual adult ticket Baht 700 for individual child ticket (6-17 years) Free for children under 6 years of age with accompanying parentsLocation: The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, 199 Sukhumvit Soi 22BTS: Phrom Phong

2. An update by the Australian Embassy3. An opportunity for open discussion/knowledge-sharing

By following a standard program participants will know what to expect when they attend, thus creating an Australian Business Forum ‘brand’ in the same way that ‘Sundowners’ has become renowned as the best cocktail-style networking in Thailand.

The ABF and luncheons will be unapologetically Australia-Thai focussed. But they certainly won’t be Australia-Thai exclusive. There is no strict definition of Australian-related or Australian-Thai. The terms are intended to broadly refer to businesses, business-people and related entities that are interested in (or can assist in promoting) commerce between Australia and Thailand. Our first ABF luncheons are planned for September so I hope to see you there.

Finally, this month we begin recruiting for a new Executive Director (ED). Our current ED, Mark Carroll, will be returning to Australia in January so we are beginning work early to ensure a smooth transition. We won’t be letting Mark off too lightly, however – he’s got the ABF and a few other initiatives to deliver before the end of the year. We’ll be keeping the pressure on for him to continue the good work we’ve seen over the past few years!

GET READY FORthe coffee club

AFL grand final family day 2013

GET READY FORthe coffee club

AFL grand final family day 2013

Date: Saturday 28th September Time: Brunch served from 10.00am

Venue: The Imperial Queen's Park Hotel

Date: Saturday 28th September Time: Brunch served from 10.00am

Venue: The Imperial Queen's Park Hotel For more details CLICK HERE!

12 BANGKOK BUSINESS BRIEF Mid-September/October 2013

21st century careers & educationStory continued from Page 1.

nature of our work begins to change as well.”

A recent Slideshare presentation by the New York-based branding agency Sparks & Honey contrasts the “stable, linear, singular” careers of our parents and grandparents, with the “complex, fragmented, spe-cialized, collaborative, and ever-evolving” careers of the immediate fu-ture, concluding that for most of us (and our children), our work lives will consist of “a portfolio of micro-careers.”

These ‘micro-careers,’ according to Sparks & Honey, will possibly in-clude stints as ‘productivity counselors,’ ‘personal digital curators,’ ‘al-ternative currency speculators,’ ‘drone pilots’ (for commercial and pri-vate use) or ‘digital death managers.’ Thomas Frey has his own list of possible jobs in the future that includes ‘urban agriculturalists, ‘avatar designers,’ ‘3D-printing engineers,’ and ‘nano-medics.’

But while these ‘future jobs’ may sound enticing, there could also be a downside to the proliferation of technology. MIT Economist Andrew McAfee is predicting that we are on the verge of a “new machine age” with “more and more machines and fewer and fewer jobs.” He pre-dicts that automation will continue to increase and that machines, and eventually sophisticated androids, will take over the monotonous, re-petitive jobs that are currently filled by people. As he says in a recent TED Talk, “Within [our lifetimes], we’re going to transition into an economy that… doesn’t need a lot of human workers. Managing that transition is going to be the greatest challenge that our society faces.”

On the surface, this might look like a disaster for the people in devel-oped countries like the U.S. and in emerging economies like Thailand, who lose their jobs in this new “age of technological unemployment.” But while he acknowledges the societal challenges that we face with these new realities, he is also cautiously optimistic that solutions exist and technology, while taking over many jobs, will create new jobs and opportunities.

But with all of these dramatic changes to the economy and to job mar-kets in the coming years, how do we prepare ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren for life in the 21st Century, for jobs that don’t exist yet? How do we help current and future generations develop 21st Century skills for a portfolio of micro-careers in different or new sec-tors, or for jobs across multiple industries?

For most experts and commentators, creating the workforce of the future requires a radical rethinking of our educational system. Thomas Frey laments, “One of my primary complaints with higher education is that they tend to prepare students for jobs of the past.” Indeed, educa-tional systems in many countries in the world haven’t changed much since the 19th Century. Despite the technological changes that have altered the way we communicate, consume information, and lead our lives, the way we are taught in the classroom has remained relatively constant for generations.

And much like the music, publishing, and entertainment industries, the education industry, however reluctantly in many cases, is facing dramatic changes as a result of technology. New tools like tablets and other devices are being introduced to classrooms around the world, and the traditional educational model, the university, is facing the chal-lenge of MOOCs – massive, open, online courses – that threaten to forever change the way we learn and prepare for our professional ca-reers.

In Part Two, next month, we will examine the effects that MOOCs are having on traditional institutions, and how education and training might be conducted in the future.

Read today’s business news briefs about Bangkok, Thailand, and Asean every weekday at www.BBBrief.com

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TRENDYCONDO

WE ARE THE IDEAL VENUE FOR CORPORATE TEAM BUILDING EVENTS, EMPLOYEE PARTIES AND OTHER FUNCTIONS

• Reward your employees for all their hard work and achievements by putting on a fun team building

event at THE SPORTSMAN.

• All food can be chosen from our extensive menu of delicious

WESTERN AND THAI dishes.

• We’ll provide you with SIGNIFICANT DISCOUNTS on our normal drinks menu

prices for your event.

• We are also able to organise and run POOL AND DARTS competitions, which will keep everyone involved

for the duration of your event.

• LARGE RANGE OF FOOD AND DRINKS

• 7 BRUNSWICK POOL TABLES

• 2 DARTBOARDS IN A PRIVATE AREA

Bangkok Business Briefwww.BBBrief.com

Mango Mango Ltd. Part.124 Sukhumvit 38Prakanong, KlongtoeyBangkok 10110 • ThailandTel. 02 712 4052

Publisher and Managing Director (Thai Sales)Pavinee Chaymanee • [email protected]

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DeliveryAnan Boonma

In cooperation with Siam Gazette Co., Ltd.Alan Verstein • 081-761-9302

Volume 2, Issue 10 • Mid-September/October 2013Copyright 2011-2013. All rights reserved.

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Tel. 02-277-2870 or [email protected]

Free!! “Supply Chain Secrets” Book (Valued at THB 1,527)

BOOK QUICKLY – seats are limited!

Special

WORKSHOP!WORKSHOP!


The Calendar For event details, enter the short code below the event into your browser:

goo.gl/6ngBgMango Metro Networking Partyhttp://goo.gl/6ngBg

Monday Tuesday

Bangkok Trader / Mango Metro Networkinghttp://goo.gl/EnNbRSe

Pt. Sunday

15 16

22

29

23

30

6

13

2220

oc

t.

17

AMCHAM: Board of Governors Meetinghttp://goo.gl/Po4p5Z

Pattaya Property Auctionshttp://goo.gl/zRSEu5

AMCHAM: Professional Women Cmtehttp://goo.gl/xP0Mwb

PPI Professional Hourhttp://goo.gl/EbSqX

AMCHAM: ICT Cmtehttp://goo.gl/wrzYmK

AMCHAM: Myanmar Task Force – Sanctions Briefing http://goo.gl/sahIKY

AMCHAM: Myanmar Task Force http://goo.gl/P1tBnRAMCHAM: HR Cmte http://goo.gl/3htE45

AMCHAM: Mktg Cmte http://goo.gl/2xgnDS

8

AMCHAM: ICT Cmte http://goo.gl/Moj5dW

AMCHAM: Legal Cmte – Extradition and International Crimehttp://goo.gl/MvWOMZ

AMCHAM: Tax Cmte – Thai Tax Updateshttp://goo.gl/Rqm2Iz

AustCham: The Ten Tenors From Australiahttp://goo.gl/sEuLDx

15

24

1

Bangkok Entrepreneurs: http://goo.gl/JihG3

AMCHAM: Briefing with Deputy Sec’y of Energyhttp://goo.gl/8v4u2l

7

14

21

Joint: Chambers Lunch with Dr. Mechaihttp://goo.gl/1HLi0Thttp://goo.gl/tHLDdT


Send us your event details for the Mid-October/November issue by October 7th to [email protected]

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

21

27

2 5

10 12

18 19

23

28

16 17

25 26

Movers & Shakershttp://goo.gl/xOfWr

AMCHAM: YPC Speed Networkinghttp://goo.gl/I3dgL9

AMCHAM: Monthly Luncheon – CEO of Thai Air Asiahttp://goo.gl/XnbdLf

AMCHAM: Social Networking & Meet The Board Candidates Nighthttp://goo.gl/uqPFRx

AMCHAM: Security/OSAC – OSAC Bangkok Council Executive Council Mtghttp://goo.gl/PsktD1

AMCHAM: SME Cmte http://goo.gl/Z5Vnt2

AustCham: Sundownershttp://goo.gl/isogyw

AMCHAM: Transportation & Logistic Cmte – SRT Infrastructure Plan http://goo.gl/5fZopm

AustCham: Voluntary English Teachinghttp://goo.gl/dwpy2M

AustCham: Voluntary English Teachinghttp://goo.gl/uixG8q

Manchester United Players at Hemingway’shttp://goo.gl/1LdlLw

AustCham: The Coffee Club 2013 AFL Grand Final Family Dayhttp://goo.gl/krLdnP

AMCHAM: CSR Cmte – Best Practice by Chevronhttp://goo.gl/cSQJjB

AMCHAM: Community Engagement Cmtehttp://goo.gl/bIP3kA

AMCHAM: Santa Fe ChariBowl Tournamenthttp://goo.gl/xN2BMg

AMCHAM: Special Report – Thailand and Traffic in Persons Briefinghttp://goo.gl/zXnnrS

AMCHAM: CSR Cmte – CSR Excellence Awards Briefinghttp://goo.gl/lU0eSe

AMCHAM: Auto Council Cmtehttp://goo.gl/7lgrLU

AMCHAM: Adopt-a-School Dedication for Young Professionals Committeehttp://goo.gl/EblDJI

AMCHAM: Boardroom Briefing – Saving Money by Using Trucked LNGhttp://goo.gl/LQ9VMu

AMCHAM: Adopt-a-School Dedication for RMA Automotivehttp://goo.gl/LTpxF8

Joint: Eastern Seaboard Networking Eveninghttp://goo.gl/a1Y9WM

AustCham: 5th Women with a Mission Annual Charity Golf Tournamenthttp://goo.gl/XkT7bm

18

4

26

AMCHAM: Community Engagement Cmtehttp://goo.gl/ZGjdLE

AustCham: Australian Business Forum – Eastern Seaboard Luncheonhttp://goo.gl/aqI0i3

AMCHAM: Customs & Excise Cmtehttp://goo.gl/o5bM5v

AMCHAM: Travel & Tourism Cmte – Growing Thailand’s MICE Segmenthttp://goo.gl/6o5A6K

AMCHAM: Food & Agri-Bus. Cmtehttp://goo.gl/3cfGwM

AMCHAM: Customs & Excise Cmtehttp://goo.gl/q8OV6J

25

9 11

19 20

24

3

AMCHAM: CSR Cmte – Best Practice by Dow Chemicalhttp://goo.gl/gKrF9M

PFS Breakfast Seminarhttp://goo.gl/6CF6Hm

THURSDAY 31ST OCTOBER 2013 SHREWSBURY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLDinner and drinks from 6pm. Concert begins 7.15pmEmail: [email protected]. Phone: 02 675 1888

www.shrewsbury.ac.th

The best of British! Celebrating 120 years of proms

history and 10 years of exceptional music making at Shrewsbury

in one unique event

Last Night of the

LNOP 2013 A4 Ad on Expat Lady.indd 1 9/13/13 10:58 AM

Documents

Bangkok Business Brief - Volume 2, Issue 10 - Mid-September/October 2013