Business
Four companies honored for green packaging

PHUKET: THE Foundation of Science and Technology Council of Thailand and the Science and Technology Ministry have jointly praised four companies for producing or using green packaging. They are Thai Containers Group, Biodegradable Packaging for Environment (BPE), Thai Namthip, and Nestle (Thai).
Chainarong Cherdchu, president of the foundation, said the four companies were recognized as part of its Green Science and Technology promotion for the business sector.
“We rewarded two green-packaging producers, Thai Containers Group and Biodegradable Packaging for Environment, and two users of such packaging, Thai Namthip and Nestle (Thai).
“This move is a part of our ambitious aim to help the country reduce waste and to encourage businesses and people to reduce waste together. If we start using green packaging that is biodegradable or reduce usage of plastic materials, we can save the environment,” Chainarong said.
Weerachat Kittirattanapaiboon, managing director of BPE, said that after investing in research and development, its main biodegradable material now was bagasse tissue.
“Our return on investment from R&D, in commercial terms, was not immediately tangible, since we posted losses for three years before finally seeing profits. But we got valuable returns in terms of people’s health and the environment, since our products can be biodegraded within 45 days,” he said.
Graczbrand
He added that half of the company’s Gracz brand of biodegradable packaging was exported and half sold domestically. BPE produces 70 stock-keeping units with production capacity of 600,000 to 1 million pieces per day. It is now investing in a new plant that is expected to increase production capacity to 2mn pieces per day. The new plant will start production in October.
“Currently, our production capacity is less than 1 per cent of the total food packaging people use in one day. This market is so huge, we are also starting to produce non-food packaging as well,” he said.
Varna Sudasna, design-center manager of Thai Containers Group, a subsidiary of SCG Paper, said the company had more than 200 customers for its green packaging, mostly big names such as Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and Ampol Food Processing, as well as home-appliance manufacturers.
“The benefits of using green packaging belong to our customers, including cost savings and being environmentally friendly.”
In Phuket, efforts have been made to reduce the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags at area Tesco Lotus supermarkets. The opening of a new store in Rawai last January was marked by the announcement that it would not issue plastic bags to customers (story here) followed by two other existing Tesco Lotus’ in Phuket following suit in May (story here).
Tesco Lotus also implemented a program offering incentives to patrons who chose more environmentally conscious products.
— The Nation
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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.
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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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