Business
Phillipp Graf von Hardenberg takes the reins at Thanyapura

PHUKET: It takes one look at Phillipp Graf von Hardenberg’s resume to understand why he was appointed the new President and CEO of Phuket’s Thanyapura. Hailing from Germany, Mr Graf von Hardenberg wears many hats: business coach, entrepreneur, financier, educator, hotelier and if that is not enough – fundraiser and philanthropist.
He has turned around the fortunes of the first International School in Berlin, established a self-funding school that generates jobs for the underprivileged children of Phang Nga, set up Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation in Germany and played a leadership role in cementing Ritz-Carlton Hotels as a global five-star luxury brand.
“In my past I have run hotels, I’ve run companies, I’ve brought a company public to the stock market, I’ve been a chairman in a number of schools. I have also done a fair amount of charity. And I think it’s the mixture of all these experiences that I can put to work here,” he explains.
Mr Graf von Hardenberg is a founder of the public welfare Yaowawit School, an institution with close ties to Thanyapura’s Phuket International Academy. It was during one of the meetings with Thanyapura Founder Klaus Hebben that the idea of him taking over leadership of the complex came to life. Knowing Mr von Hardenberg’s background, it is not hard to understand why he got the job, but why did he decide to take it?
“When I came to Thanyapura I immediately fell in love with this place. The facilities are great, the school, the sport facilities. Whoever I meet is always amazed with what we have here,” he says. “But I think it is kind of sad that not enough people know about Thanyapura and not enough people use it.”
“My goal is to put the vision of ‘body mind and soul’ to work. And for that you need a really good structure, good organization and the right people. And we do have a lot of great people here, though some need more training,” he explains.
“We want to make sure Thanyapura is a single unit – it’s not a school, a medical center and a sports center – it’s all in one,” he adds.
It sounds like quite a challenge and Mr Graf von Hardenberg has wasted no time and flung himself into his work – starting with information gathering.
“I’m reaching out to the Thanyapura community and asking their opinion. I include dishwashers, housekeepers, trainers to learn what are our strengths and weaknesses. We ask parents of children in our school. We made a huge survey to learn more about ourselves,” he explains.
The new CEO has already come up with a few conclusions. One of them is realizing that there’s a gap between what Thanyapura is, and how it presents itself to the world.
“The message we were sending out wasn’t very clear and sometimes a bit arrogant. It sounded like we are just for the elite. We’re not. We want to cater to anyone who wants to take care of their body, mind and soul. If you want top-notch meditation classes, you can have them, you want to learn how to swim, you can do it, you want to be better at tennis, you’re welcome.”
Mr Graf von Hardenberg believes that what Thanyapura needs is not more and better facilities, but a change of spirit. And he promises to deliver it soon.
“I think that before we weren’t service minded enough. Nobody said to our guests ‘thank you for being here’. So this is where the change will be most viable – in the attitude of our staff. It’s not about building the next tennis court, spending more money – we have done quite a lot of that. It’s about the attitude and it will come from us, from the leadership. We will empower our people.”
— Maciek Klimowicz
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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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