Business
Phuket Business: Pepsi gets new Andaman arm

PHUKET: Super Cheap Co Ltd has taken over distribution of Pepsi beverage products in Phuket and two other key Andaman coastal provinces, a spokesperson from the local retail giant has confirmed.
The development follows the expiration on November 1 of a long-running contract between the Thai subsidiary of Pepsi-Cola (PepsiCo) and local beverage firm Serm Suk.
Prior to the split, Bangkok-based Serm Suk ran bottling and distribution of Pepsi beverages in the Kingdom for nearly six decades.
However, PepsiCo recently sold its majority stake in Serm Suk to Thailand’s largest brewer and distiller, Thai Beverage Pcl, in a deal reportedly worth in excess of 15 billion baht.
Super Cheap Administration Manager Jiranart Intasarn, who is now looking after distribution and logistics of Pepsi products in Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga told the Phuket Gazette: “After PepsiCo’s contract with Serm Suk ended on November 1, Super Cheap became the [official] Pepsi distributor…”
“The amount of Pepsi drinks in Phuket will be the same as before. The only thing that has changed is the distributor – from Serm Suk to Super Cheap,” she said.
However, consumers will have noticed that Pepsi is no longer available in glass bottles as has been the norm at restaurants and eateries across the Kingdom for decades.
In the absence of Pepsi, Coca-cola will look to continue its strong hold on the returnable glass bottle market, which now faces competition from the recently launched “est” brand, Serm Suk’s new carbonated cola drink.
Claiming that there is a declining market trend in Thailand’s returnable bottle market, PepsiCo has shifted focus to single-use plastic and aluminum packaging.
The US-based corporation recently announced that it will invest upwards of 18bn baht (US$600mn) in the Thai market over the next three years.
At the core of this investment is the recent completion and opening of a 5.2bn baht ($170mn) bottling factory in Rayong province.
Spanning 96-rai (153,600 square meters), the new facility, recently utilized by San Miguel, is reportedly PepsiCo’s largest beverage plant in the world, outputting multi-range and multi-size non-returnable PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and cans.
“So far, we’ve ordered 10,000 packages of different plastic bottle sizes. We have sent our sales teams across Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi in order to keep up with orders from our customers since Super Cheap took over Pepsi’s distribution,” Miss Jiranart said.
Admitting that the volume of Pepsi orders is not yet on par with that before the takeover, she reiterated that the situation will be “as before” as soon as Super Cheap rebuilds and reinforces its Pepsi distribution network in the three Southern provinces.
In a recent PepsiCo press release, General Manager of Beverages for Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading Co Ltd, Jagrut Kotecha remarked: “Thailand is a growth engine of PepsiCo’s Asia Pacific business, and we’re committed to investing in the market to drive our future success…”
The release said that PepsiCo’s traditional trade distribution network in Thailand encompasses 50 distribution points, and that the company will continue to pursue strategic partnerships with modern supermarkets, small family-owned stores, local eateries, restaurants, cinemas and traditional outlets.
The firm will also undertake significant marketing investments in Thailand through campaigns related to music and sports.
PepsiCo said it will also place additional emphasis on training to support the company’s expanding workforce in the country. With the completion of the new Rayong plant, PepsiCo’s beverage business now employs 3,000 direct and indirect employees in Thailand.
The firm’s investment in Thailand is part of the company’s overall plan to drive growth in emerging and developing markets around the world, having nearly tripled its business in such markets from US$8bn in annual revenue in 2006 to US$22bn in 2011.
PepsiCo entered Thailand in 1952 and has built a strong and growing food and beverage business in the market.
The firm’s beverage portfolio includes some of Thailand’s most popular brands, including Pepsi, the country’s top-selling cola; Mirinda; 7-UP; Twister; and Gatorade.
PepsiCo’s successful food business in Thailand includes some of the country’s leading snack brands, including Lay’s, Twisties, Tawan and Sunbites.
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Thailand
Facebook removes “information-influencing” pages linked to Thai military

Facebook has confirmed the removal of 185 accounts run by the Thai military and allegedly involved in information-influencing. The social media giant says the accounts were deleted for engaging in what it calls, “coordinated inauthentic behaviour”. In total, 77 accounts, 72 pages, and 18 groups have been removed from the platform, in addition to 18 Instagram accounts. It’s the first time Facebook has taken such action against accounts linked to the Thai government.
The accounts were associated with the Thai military and were targeting people in the southern provinces, Facebook said its regular report on coordinated inauthentic behavior. The south of the country has been the scene of decades-long conflict, with insurgent groups in the majority-Muslim, Malay-speaking region calling for independence. To date, around 7,000 people have died in the ongoing struggle.
Facebook says the deleted accounts were most active last year and used both fake and real accounts to manage pages and groups, both openly military pages and pages that hid their links to the military. Some of the fake profiles pretended to be people from the southern provinces.
The report mentioned a post by the now-removed account named “comprehending the operation” in Thai. The page posted the logo for Amnesty International Thailand and wrote “The NGO never cares about ordinary citizens because they have no role in society. Normal people are not famous. Any case is not big news. They are not worth the investment of foreigners so they will not do anything to help. This is why we don’t see anything from the NGO.”

Image overlay translates to “The NGO never cares about ordinary citizens because they have no role nor money.”
On another now-removed account, named “truth about my home Pattani” in Thai, a post said “Muslim leader declares southern border is a peace zone. The southern separatists started a movement by spreading the idea that Thailand is under control by different believers so that people would come and fight for their religion. This was declared that the action clearly violates Islam faith.”

Image overlay translates to “Southern border is not Jihad zone.”
When contacted by Reuters, the military had no comment on the removal of the Facebook accounts, with a spokesman saying the organisation does not comment outside of official press conferences.
The head of Cybersecurity Policy at Facebook, Nathaniel Gleicher, has confirmed the reasons behind the platform’s decision.
“This is the first time that we’ve attributed one of our takedowns to links to the Thai military. We found clear links between this operation and the Internal Security Operations Command. We can see that all of these accounts and groups are tied together as part of this operation.”
He adds that the accounts had spent around US$350 on advertising on both Facebook and Instagram. One or more of the pages had about 700,000 followers and at least one of the groups had 100,000 members. Gleicher says the accounts were removed because of their misleading behaviour and not because of the content being posted. The content included support for the military and the monarchy, with allegations of violence and criticism of insurgent groups in the south.
It’s not the first time accounts linked to the Thai military have been removed by a social media platform. In October, Twitter removed 926 accounts it says had links to the army and posted pro-military and pro-government content. The Thai army has denied any involvement with the accounts in question. In November, Twitter also suspended an account posting pro-monarchy content that was found to have links to the palace and to thousands of other accounts posting similar content.
To read the February 2021 Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior Report, click HERE.
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Central Thailand
Airline executive arrested for failure to pay wages of 150 workers

An airline executive has been arrested in the central province of Samut Songkhram, after complaints from150 employees that they had not been paid. Chawengsak Noiprasan, who had a court warrant issued against him in October, was taken to Don Muang police station from a property in the Bang Khan Take sub-district. He is a board member of Siam Air Transport.
The airline began operations in October 2014 with services out of Don Mueang to Hong Kong, using 2 Boeing 737-300s. 2 Boeing 737-800s were added to its fleet in late 2015. It expanded by adding Zhengzhou and Guangzhou in China to its network in early 2015. In late 2015, the airline launched flights to Macau and Singapore. In 2017, the airline ceased all operations.
But according to an article in the Bangkok Post, the carrier operates a number of scheduled and charter flights from Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport. The Post reports that, as Chawengsak signs the company’s legal paperwork, all legal matters concerning the airline fall to him.
The Metropolitan Police Bureau says the executive has admitted to ignoring a 30 day notice issued by the labour inspector and ordering the payment of wages to 150 workers. It’s understood he is also wanted in relation to 7 other cases.
The authorities sought Chawengsak’s arrest following complaints from employees who say they haven’t received their wages for 2 months. It’s understood the airline had previously deferred salary payments for over 8 months. 150 workers filed an official complaint with Don Mueang police and also approached media outlets, asking them to pressure the airline into paying the money owed.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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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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