Business
Phuket’s Autoexpress remains in driving seat

PHUKET: Demand on the island for imported luxury cars does not look like it will subside any time soon. Saksri Kerdphol, GM of Autoexpress, Phuket’s premier foreign automobile dealership and service provider, gives a brief update about local market trends. This is followed by some customer testimonials.
Phuket Gazette: What is the current state of the auto luxury import market in Phuket, Thailand and overall?
Saksri Kerdphol: The market in Phuket, as in the rest of the world, has been affected by the [global] economic crisis. We still have good sales figures but they have dropped compared to 2011 and 2012.
Can you describe your customer base, in terms of demographics?
Our customers are mostly from Phang-Nga, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Krabi and Phuket. Our clientele include successful Thais who desire an up-scale automobile to reflect their success. Our expat client nationalities range from Russian and Swedish to British and Americans.
What is your current best seller? Why?
The Mercedes Benz is the most popular car for both local and expat customers. I think Mercedes has always had a reputation for fine quality and for being a sign of success.
Can you outline Autoexpress’ future plans, campaigns or activities
Our future plans are to expand our current customer base throughout Southern Thailand, by offering customers a comprehensive sales, service, and post-sales experience. We also plan to get even more involved in the sponsorship of events and charities throughout Southern Thailand to express our thanks to our community for their support.
CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS
“I prefer to keep my business in Phuket and Autoexpress were the first company to offer the type of car I’m interested in. My first impression of the company was positive. They were very professional and I felt that I could trust them. As for my expectations of a car dealership, I think there should be a back-up and service package offered to customers. My experience with Autoexpress has been all good so far.
I chose a Porsche Cayenne Hybrid. It’s a perfect car for Phuket driving conditions, and since it’s a hybrid, it is better value and [sold] at a lower tax [rate].”
– Peter Joseph Wood, expat
“I purchased a Mercedes CLS 250 from Auto Express… I wanted a sports sedan that was simple to maintain. I am a long-standing client of a sales representative who was at one of their other show rooms before moving to Phuket.
I was impressed with the sales team and confident in their advice, as well as post-sale service. I expect a dealership to have a diverse offering, service center and be accessible when I want advice or assistance. Autoexpress met my expectations well.”
– Fanprot Yukongpan, real estate business executive
“I bought a Benz C 220 CDI, and chose Autoexpress for its convenience in providing service. I was impressed with their product diversity and personal manner of the owners. I value post-sales service the most, and Autoexpress met my expectations.
– Wanida Witayanurak, self employed
“I bought a Benz E 250 CGI from Auto-express. I knew I wanted a sport vehicle, and Autoexpress staff gave me good advice. They’re trustworthy and their staff provided me with information that was in line with my needs.
– Nanthariwal Phromtai, real estate executive
“Even though some of the cars are also available elsewhere, I chose AutoExpress because of the service and knowledgeable team who were ready to solve problems and offer support and assistant at will. The ability to provide information is really important, as is post-sale service, in which I have confidence in this company.
– Dungsiman Karittkamchai, hotel executive
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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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