Business
Bangkok Hospital Phuket to invest B600mn in facility

PHUKET: Bangkok Hospital Phuket (BHP) has announced that it will invest 600 million baht to open a new hospital on the island by early next year.
The site of the as yet unnamed hospital will be on Chao Fah West Road, just opposite the Chao Fa Villa Phuket housing development in Mueang district.
Director of Bangkok Hospital Phuket Dr Narongrit Havarungsi said that BHP has been open for business for 18 years, and revealed that they will now launch a new BPH network hospital.
The new 100-bed facility has a target opening date of early 2014, and will be oriented towards “middle-of-the-road” patients seeking treatment services for non-complex conditions that are too expensive [at BHP], said Dr Narongrit.
The new hospital will not take the same name as Bangkok Hospital Phuket, as in BHP 2, but will simply be integrated into the BHP network, he noted.
Although the standards will be on par with Bangkok Hospital Phuket, the cost of treatment is expected to be about 30% less, since the new hospital will be smaller and thus have lower overhead costs, he said.
These lower overhead costs, including the building, location, medical devices and personnel, will be underlined by reduced administration costs and will not affect the service standards that BHP is known for, he said.
The new hospital will comprise two buildings on a plot slightly larger than 10 rai (16,000 square meters). Although it will eventually contain 100 beds, it will only have 50 beds initially, which will increase in line with patient demand.
The facility will be equipped to handle between 200 and 400 outpatients for general, non-complex diseases and conditions, including those related to the digestive tract, hearing, throat, orthopedics, nose and olfactory systems. There will also be pediatric, obstetrics and gynecology clinics.
Dr Narongrit added, that on any given day during the high season, BHP sees between 700 and 800 outpatients and 200 inpatients. During the low season, the number of inpatients is reduced to about 160 per day.
Of these, 70% are Thai and the remaining 30% are foreigners. Foreign patients undergoing treatment at the hospital include accident victims and those who are undergoing elective cosmetic procedures.
This second group is expanding by about 20% annually and currently accounts for about 10% of revenue, he said.
He elaborated that a large portion of this group are Australians and New Zealanders who come to do breast enhancement and augmentation procedures, which he reasoned are about two to three times cheaper to do (at BHP) than in the patients’ home countries.
Dr Narongrit finished by saying that BHP plans to establish a fully-integrated cancer clinic within two years.
This article appears in the current issue (May 25-31) of the Phuket Gazette newspaper, now on sale at newsstands throughout the island. Digital subscribers may download the full issue, this week and every week, by clicking here.
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— Kritsada Mueanhawong
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Business
Governments & old media versus social media – who will win? | VIDEO

We look at the recent changes made by the Australian and Indian governments to except control over the world’s biggest social media platforms. India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social. There is now an open battle between the rise of social media platforms and the governments and ‘old’ media that have been able to maintain a certain level of control over the ‘message’ for the last century. Who will win?
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told. The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Business
The social media giants in battle with ‘old’ media and world governments | VIDEO

“The rules signal greater willingness by countries around the world to rein in big tech firms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter that the governments fear have become too powerful with little accountability.”
India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social.
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The companies are also being made to publish a compliance report each month with details about how many complaints they’ve received and the action they took.
They’ll also be required to remove ‘some’ types of content including “full or partial nudity,” any “sexual act” or “impersonations including morphed images”
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told.
The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
Keep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Business
Turbulence ahead for Thailand’s aviation industry | VIDEO

When the airlines, in particular, were asking the government to put their hands in their pockets for some relief funding in August last year, it was genuinely thought that international tourists would be coming back for the high season in December and January. At the very least local tourists and expats would head back to the skies over the traditional holiday break. And surely the Chinese would be back for Chinese New Year?
As we know now, none of that happened. A resurge in cases started just south of Bangkok on December 20 last year, just before Christmas, kicking off another round of restrictions, pretty much killing off any possibility of a high season ‘bump’ for the tourist industry. Airlines slashed flights from their schedule, and hotels, which had dusted off their reception desks for the surge of tourists, shut their doors again.
Domestically, the hotel business saw 6 million room nights in the government’s latest stimulus campaign fully redeemed. But the air ticket quota of 2 million seats still has over 1.3 million seats unused. Local tourists mostly skipped flights and opted for destinations within driving distance of their homes.
As for international tourism… well that still seems months or years away, even now.
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