Business
Sound advice on retiring rich and young

PHUKET: This last weekend I had the pleasure of attending a seminar from one of my business partners whom most Thai readers would be familiar with.
They may not know, however, the extent of the business success that Paul Pattrapon has had outside of the limelight of being a Thai superstar.
On top of singing, modeling, acting in soaps, hosting television shows and being one of the highest paid event MCs in the country; Paul has also been a successful entrepreneur, investor and best-selling author.
His seminar, Retire Rich and Young, was held in conjunction with Mr Nu from Boat Development Company Ltd, one of the most successful developers on the island.
Paul mentioned that he is asked frequently by childhood friends to help them sell things, but the reason he jumped at this opportunity was that he was asked to help educate people rather than simply hype up a project.
That being said, the houses and villas I saw looked extremely nice and the location the company is developing should be extremely desirable in the future.
In his section, Paul went over the many ways he earned active income in his career before explaining, that to really retire happily, we need passive income. As I have written many times, there is a big difference between being rich and being financially free. He also highlighted the need for free time while we still have our health.
Paul explained the six main types of passive income that we can develop to achieve this, but unlike most of us, he actually has all six and is thus able to contrast and compare from his own experience.
Many are out of reach for the majority of us due to the high capital cost required to achieve a large passive income via financial investments or the limits of our capabilities to create intellectual assets, like world-wide best-selling books.
Even though Paul has the number one best-selling personal finance book in Thailand, the market is too small to provide a lasting and large enough income to retire on.
Real estate is one asset class where, due to leverage, most people can begin building up a passive income early on in life if they acquire the knowledge and experience to do so.
Paul let the expert, Mr Nu, explain the specific details of this asset class, mainly highlighting the need to get the most important part of the equation correct – location, location, location.
As you have surely heard many times, this is one area where following the lead of an established developer who is able to affect trends can help you get it right.
The event drew a pretty large crowd and laid out a very straightforward path to achieving financial freedom in a short period of time.
The main conclusion was to start now. Everybody has a day one, but if we never get started there will never come the day where we can retire with 100 per cent freedom to use our lives in the manner that allows us to follow our own unique passions.
Paul’s book is available in both Thai and English and you can pick up the English version under the title Retired by Forty at Asia Books or order it online. The Thai version is available at B2S.
— David Mayes
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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.
Keep in contact with The Thaiger by following our Facebook page.
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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