Issue 59

Designers and businesspeople joined forces to unleash their creativity at this year’s Creative Thailand and BIG+BIH 2016.

Tens of thousands of visitors flocked in to see the latest designs in the gifts and houseware industry at the 42nd Bangkok International Gift Fair 2016 and Bangkok International Houseware Fair 2016 (BIG+BIH), and the Creative Thailand Symposium held from October 19 to 23 at BITEC, Bangna. Many joined in seminars on how to develop businesses according to the Thailand 4.0 model which encourages innovation.

“Creative Thailand is hosted under the Think Big concept to encourage companies to dare to think, do, create and build our country,” said Suvit Maesincee, Deputy Minister of Commerce at the opening ceremony.

The DITP revealed that global buyers from countries and regions as diverse as the US, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Germany and the UK attended the trade show.

“Due to expectations that the global economy will improve in 2017, BIG+BIH 2016 attracted more buyers from various countries and the event is expected to have a purchase-sales value of over 1.5 billion baht, up from 1.3 billion baht during the previous year,” said Malee Choklumlerd, director general of the DITP.

Show highlights ranged from Top of OTOP, a variety of top OTOP (One Tambon One Product) made from natural raw materials; Pet Parade, innovative products to meet pet lovers’ needs; Thai Wellness, Thai-style healthcare and services involving wellness for seniors, and CLMVT, handcrafted goods from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand.

Apart from showcases of government-supported projects at Creative Thailand 2016, the DITP also held activities under the Thailand 4.0 policy to seek a new engine for growing the economy by organising the Creative Thailand Symposium. The event brought together prominent figures in creative industries from around the world at the five-day brainstorming seminar, where speakers from various fields shared ideas on how creativity can drive business. Topics ranged from running business startups, to animation and the digital industry, engaging the aging population, and social enterprises.

“The key to success is collaboration between creativity and industry,” said Tadashi Sudo, founder of the Anime!Anime! website during his talk on Cool Japan and the Japanese Animation Industry at the symposium. “I think Thai people are very creative and they have their own Thai style.”

Dennis Hwang, director of Visual and Interaction Design at Niantic, the creator the popular Pokémon Go game agreed that the creative community in Thailand should continue to develop its own style.

“I’ve always considered Thailand a culturally rich country, with a very strong sense of serenity that comes from Buddhism,” he said. “Creativity really feeds off culture, so the Thailand creative community might want to draw on something really unique in the culture to create a unique blend of design and ideas that the world hasn’t seen.”

For more information, visit www.ditp-design.com or oct2016.bigandbih.com
Words by Pimsirinuch Borsub