Issue 12 : 15 Sept 2014
The International Logistics Fair 2014 (TILOG 2014) is set to be the most comprehensive logistics fair of the year connecting ASEAN nations and their Plus Six partners with the world, announced Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, the director general of the DITP.
Throughout its 10-year history, TILOG has gathered key players in the logistics and supply chain industries to explore new business opportunities, meet potential partners and share knowledge through its grand showcase of products and services, business matching events, seminars and numerous special events.
Issue 11: 1 Sept 2014
Thailand’s hard disk drive industry has demonstrated a resilience that not even an act of God can dampen.
No matter what happened to the world’s economy, nothing can pull back Thailand from putting itself on the map and claim the title of the world’s flagship HDD producer.
In the past 30 years, Thailand has emerged as one of the main manufacturers of hard disk drives (HDD) that run the majority of the world’s laptop and desktop computers as well as the huge server farms that the major corporations use to store their data. These include huge multinational companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon, who manage the rapidly increasing volumes of data stored in the ‘cloud’.
The word’s top two HDD makers, US-based Western Digital and Seagate have established their primary Asian HDD facilities in and around Bangkok.
“They initially went to Singapore but quickly moved to Thailand where wages were reasonably low and the workers had the best natural skills in the region,” says Dr Sampan Silapanad, president of Thailand’s Association of Electronic and Computer Employers Association, adding that the country makes about nearly 30% of the world’s HDDs.
In the past decade HDD technology, which uses an electro-mechanical system, has been challenged by the rapid rise of the more efficient – but considerable more expensive – solid state drives (SSD) which use just electronics and can retrieve information faster. The increasingly popular smartphones and tablets use SDD technology.
Despite this Dr. Silapanad claims that HDD volumes will continue to increase alongside those of SDDs.
Issue 9: 4 Aug 2014
Like a good many Thai companies, design and animation studio Imagimax really does live up to its name by using its imagination to the max.
“We want to create something beyond our imagination,” explains Imagimax’s managing director Saksiri Koshpasharin. The motto applies as much to the company as its possible commercial applications.
At the moment, Imagimax is preparing to storm international markets with Toontell –www.toontell.com – which will allow users to send personalised graphic messages simply by touching various icons. Much more sophisticated than emoticons and a great deal more fun, it allows people “to create animations for their communications,” claims Koshpasharin.
The digital design studio’s expertise ranges from developing Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) in films, to 3D and traditional 2D animation for films, digital games, graphic design, mobile content and internet games. “We were the first to do a Thai film with CGI,” says Koshpasharin. “We have done 50 to 60 Thai films already.”
The company’s portfolio also includes an extensive array of cable TV projects, including work for MTV. Although Hollywood hasn’t come a calling yet, it’s probably only a matter of time as Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong and a number of Japanese film companies already have been in touch with Imagimax.
Nor does it end there, Imagimax has created “a few hundred” digital games, including the extremely popular Ninja Gaiden. Between major projects the eighty or so staff are kept busy with advertising clients including work on major campaigns for Nexus and Toyota Camry.
Issue 10: 18 Aug 2014
Long regarded as an ideal destination for backpackers, Thailand’s tourism authority is now looking towards the region’s heavy spenders.
Cheap hotels, cheap food and cheap transport have attracted backpackers from all over the world to Thailand for decades. Now, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is marketing a luxury experience targeting a different type of visitor all together. “TAT calls them high-value travellers,” says Yuvadee Nirattakun, the director of the Market Research Division of TAT. “This year, TAT is aiming for high-value travellers from ASEAN.”
It seems natural for TAT to focus on ASEAN elite travellers. About 25%, or seven million, of the 26 million tourists that visited Thailand in 2013 came from ASEAN. And of the 500 million people who live in the region, nine million are regarded as high-value travellers.
Usually, these much sought after nine million go to Europe, Japan, and USA. “My job [as a market researcher] is to find what they want from these countries, and what can Thailand offer,” says Nirattakun, adding that Thailand has everything from shopping malls, boutique hotels and spas to designer brands and quality services that the discerning visitor might crave.
To give one example, Nirattakun discovered that Vietnamese tourists are interested in cosmetics and beauty treatments. So, TAT offers them a full range of packages – from a simple makeover to complete plastic surgery in one of the capital’s world-renowned international hospitals. TAT also offers medical vacations, with everything from routine check ups to IVF treatment. While specifically for Filipinos who love shopping, TAT is planning a Billionaire Tour of the capital’s premier shopping options.
Nirattakun believes that the benefit the country reaps from these high-value tourists is not just monetary. “They come from high society,” she says. “What they do and what they use are more effective than a billboard.”
Issue08 : 22 July 2014
Toy-like wooden products might seem out of place in an office environment, but Pana Objects’ wooden lifestyle accessories and stationery can bring a drab Bangkok office to life.
Airplanes, mountains, barns, trees, clouds and even country houses are transformed into tiny protective caps for USB cables. A four-legged reading lamp takes on the form of a small dog. While a stationery tray resembles a Japanese bento set. Each of these are the creations of Pana Objects – a Thai company that turns everyday office furniture and stationery into works of art.
Since the brand was founded in 2012, Pana Objects has created more than a dozen wooden lifestyle products, mainly home decorations, gadget accessories and stationery. All are designed to fit in well with our post-2010 way of life.
“The urban lifestyle since 2010 is all about consumer preferences, social media gadgets and compact home décor,” says production manager Waewyos Sonthichai. “When you understand the nature of your customers, you will know how you can offer them choices.”
Pana Objects is a fresh Thai brand that combines the specific needs of a modern lifestyle with the desire for pop designs. The seven founders met at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, where they all studied industrial design. Upon graduation they found it difficult to put their ideas into practice.
“Because we tried to present practical yet cool designs in our wooden products, we couldn’t find any supplier who could do what we wanted,” says director and designer Pattarapong Pornpanapong. “So, we decided to do both the design and the production ourselves.”
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