Business
Phuket Business: New biz center opens

PHUKET: Kasikorn Bank Group opened Southern Thailand’s first Business Services, Securities and Leasing Center, located on Thepkrasatri road in Phuket Town recently.
The center will specialize in investment and lending services for Kasikorn clients in Phuket and the entire southern region.
Padermpob Songkroh, Managing Director of Private Fund Management, Kasikorn Securities said, “The center is one of only 12 nationwide and the third such center to be opened outside of the Bangkok metropolitan area. The first one opened in 2010 in Chiang Mai and the second in Pattaya last year. A fourth one is planned for the Isarn region in the near future.”
“Kasikorn gives importance to the expansion of investment channels via Kasikorn Bank branches that have market opportunity and potential,” he continued.
“These centers increase access to services for investing in integrated capital markets and serve bank client groups which number more than 9 million subscribers. Access to investment opportunities is made possible by opening of ‘Full Branches’ or Business Centers in major cities, in addition to ‘Mini Branches’ also known as K Investment Corners,” he explained.
He continued, “Phuket has great economic potential and is preparing for the ASEAN Economic Community, which will take affect in the coming three to four years. The new center will improve the strength of our services and increase access in the Southern region to investment opportunities, which are expanding.”
As for the new Phuket center’s target in the first three months, Mr Padermpob said the branch has set a goal to open 100 new accounts.
Also attending the opening ceremony was Akaranan Titsiriwit, Managing Director of Kasikorn Leasing Co Ltd, who went on to reveal the following figures.
“We now have about 3,000 to 4,000 clients in Phuket and our growth target this year is set at about 38%. We will support loans for both Japanese and European cars. In all, Kasikorn has as much as 400,000 loan portfolios and outstanding loans are valued at about 70 billion baht,” he said.
“In the first nine months of last year we were able to issue loans for 800,000 cars. However, we didn’t reach our target due to the flooding, which had affected [business] in the last three months. As long as nothing major happens this year, we expect to see growth and reach our goals,” he added.
— Warisa Temram
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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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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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Business
Domestic air passenger numbers double those of January

Passenger numbers on domestic flights within Thailand have doubled within a month, rising from 4,000 in January to over 10,000 this month. Having nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels, domestic travel plummeted once more when Covid-19 resurfaced late last year.
Apirat Chaiwongnoi from the Department of Airports says 15 of Thailand’s 29 airports are now operating domestic flights, with more expected to follow. He believes the aviation sector will continue to recover further in the coming 6 months, bolstered by the national vaccine rollout.
Around 120 domestic flights a day are now operating, which is twice the number that were operating at the lowest point in the crisis. Prior to the resurgence of the virus in December, domestic passenger numbers had recovered to 30,000 – 40,000 a day, around 80% of pre-pandemic numbers.
The DoA says airports must continue to adhere to the Covid-19 hygiene measures put in place by the Health Ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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