Tag: Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand – Thailand-based innovation centre, KX Knowledge Xchange, has partnered with TechNode Global, a tech platform that offers tech news, events, and tailor-made marketing solutions, aimed at building a thriving startup ecosystem in Thailand.

The partnership will support Thai startups by offering them access to funding opportunities, networks, technology, knowledge sharing, and resource exchanges. It will also help promote and upgrade the innovation ecosystem in the country to expand into APAC.

Moreover, the partnership will support the Innovation Ecosystem of KX Knowledge Xchange. This will be achieved through the exchange of valuable information, promotion of cooperation in innovation and entrepreneurial activities, and public relations campaigns, as well as joint planning, to support startups through an efficient innovation ecosystem, amongst others.

Dr. Gang Lu, TechNode Group’s founder and CEO, noted that TechNode Global’s partnership with KX Knowledge Xchange seeks to build a stronger and wider startup ecosystem with the support of the Techbite incubator program starting from the early stage of entrepreneurship.

“Serving as the connector between the Chinese startup ecosystem with the rest of Asia, we look forward to working with more institutes of higher learning to equip a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators, offering them access to real-time market knowledge, industry-leading international events and conferences. Be it serving entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, or other partners, we hope to be part of this exciting journey,” said Lu.

Meanwhile, Dr. Booncharoen Sirinaovakul, KX Knowledge Xchange’s CEO, said, “This year, we are so grateful to have meaningful collaboration with TechNode Global. This will be a springboard for entrepreneurs and startups in our ecosystem to have more international exposure and experience necessary for expanding their business.”

Bangkok, Thailand – Credit card brand First Choice in Thailand together with creative agency Leo Burnett Thailand has launched a new campaign titled ‘Mafia of Digital World’, a futuristic tale that promotes the ‘XU by First Choice’ credit card to a generation of digital natives.

The campaign is directed by Bhakpong Skonvitayanon at B1 Films and stars Ink Warunthone, one of Thailands popular female artist. It is set in a surreal world ruled by a demanding mafia boss who has a penchant for ‘collabs’ and unboxing. When her excessive demands exceed her budget, she faces an army of budget cutters, and the chaos begins.

Athip Sinpagekan, EVP head of marketing at First Choice, said that as natives of the digital world, Gen Z can control their whole world with just their fingertips. 

“Many of their demands or desires occur totally on digital platforms – they have so much freedom of thought and independence, which is why we launched ‘XU by First Choice’ – a credit card that makes it easy for younger generations to connect with new lifestyles online,” Sinpagekan said.

The agency said that XU by First Choice is a credit card that targets young and digital-savvy audience. The benefits it offers ranging from 0% interest for online purchases for up to 6 months to monthly e-coupons that can be redeemed online, cash back of up to 18% for online shopping, plus online purchase protection and spending alerts.

Meanwhile, Sarut Yungcharoen, group creative director at Leo Burnett Thailand, commented, To get Gen Z’s attention, we created a fantastical world that’s ruled by an all-powerful mafia boss, played by one of the most famous female artists in Thailand, especially for Gen Z.”

“It’s an unconventional approach from a brand that is passionate about tailoring its products to the needs of a younger audience, and isn’t afraid to break category norms to get their attention,” Yungcharoen added.

The ‘Mafia of Digital World’ follows the recent launch of ‘Metaverrrrrr’, a parody of making the world’s first metaverse commercial to promote First Choice credit cards.

Bangkok, Thailand – Thailand-based digital car insurance broker EasyCompare has launched a new reward scheme, EasyRewards, which offers lifestyle rewards worth up to THB9,390 (about $273) to motorists who buy or renew their car insurance with the service.

The rewards scheme is aimed at attracting new business as well as retaining existing customers, and with this, the Bangkok-based broker eyes to partner with leading car insurance brands in Thailand. 

Alisa Apaivongse, country head of EasyCompare, said, “The incentives we are offering will really help take our business to a whole new level. Customers can be excited that they’ll get a chance to receive benefits such as first-class round-the-clock health care, emergency home repair services and 24/7 car repair and assistance. Not only that, but our customers can continue to enjoy these benefits for as long as they’re insured through us. These are really added value for anyone buying car insurance from us and we’re very happy to be able to offer rewards that will make life easier for our customers.”

Having been in operation for five years, the insurance firm said it is keen to further leverage its success within the market, particularly at a time when Thailand’s digital business is seeing rapid transformation, in part due to the pandemic.

The new reward scheme will provide ‘unbeatable incentives’ for new and existing customers who will be given a choice of benefits worth up to THB9,390 (about $273) from the lifestyle categories of health, motoring, and home.

The firm also said that it will soon move towards digitising its online purchase process, kicking off with the launch of a full online quote and buy journey for a small number of its insurance partners before eventually rolling it out for all policies.

Apaivongse believes this smooth quote and buy process together with cheaper premiums, first-class customer service and the launch of their customer incentives package will appeal to Thailand’s motorists who are keen to get better value car insurance.

“When we launched five years ago our aim was to lead the way and shake up the Thai insurance industry, giving motorists a better deal all round. And today we can proudly say that we’re achieving that goal,” said Apaivongse. 

Bangkok, Thailand – Famous American fast-food brand Shake Shack will be opening 15 branches in Thailand by 2032, targeting the first flagship to open in Bangkok in 2023. The opening comes on the back of the expanded partnership with licensee Maxim’s Caterers Limited. 

According to Shake Shack, in keeping with Shake Shack’s fine dining heritage and commitment to thoughtful ingredient sourcing, quality, and hospitality, the menu will feature ShackBurger®, Chicken Shack and Chicken Bites, crinkle-cut fries, ShackMeister beer, Shack Red and Shack White wine, Shack-made lemonade and freshly spun frozen custard ice cream. 

Aligned with its mission to ‘Stand for Something Good’, Shake Shack will also partner with local producers, purveyors and artists to reflect and support the Thailand community.

Michael Kark, chief global licensing officer of Shake Shack, said that Shake Shack was born in New York, and Bangkok is another fantastic city with vibrant energy, friendly people and rich culinary traditions, and they can’t wait to serve Thailand their first ShackBurgers soon. 

“Our partner, Maxim’s, has set the bar high and we are thrilled to continue our partnership with them and bring our mutual commitment to quality ingredients and hospitality to our Thai guests,” Kark said.

Michael Wu, chairman & managing director of Maxim’s Caterers Ltd., commented, “We have been humbled by Shake Shack’s fans in Asia as well as the warm reception of Maxim’s in Thailand.” 

Wu added, “Maxim’s and Shake Shack have built a trusted partnership and we are excited to carry the relationship forward to Thailand.”

Bangkok, Thailand – Local blockchain startup Athena Mentor has introduced its cryptocurrency-based ‘mentor-to-earn’ platform, where users can transform their contributed wisdom in the platform into crypto tokens, with the goal of distributing skills and experience from mentors to mentees worldwide.

To build the wisdom mining protocol, Athena constructed a one-on-one video conference platform that rewards those who participate with our new Athena tokens. Anyone can use the platform and it is free to get started. The company plans to reach 100,000 users by the year end and a million by the end of next year.

Paramee Intarachumnum, product lead at Athena Mentor, says, “Research on mentorships from Sun Microsystems indicates that those who have mentors are promoted five times faster than those who don’t. Nevertheless, workers face two major obstacles to establishing a fruitful mentorship experience: access and sustainability. Not only will we help solve the problem of mentor access, but we also ensure sustainability via the use of tokenomics. Ultimately, the exchange of skills, knowledge, and wisdom that Athena enables will help democratise wisdom worldwide.”

Meanwhile, Viriya Reungwai, technology lead at Athena Mentor, commented, “Athena Mentor is only the starting point of our whole vision to democratise wisdom across the planet. Our long-term goal is to democratise wisdom across many areas, including hiring and coaching. Right now, however, our focus is on building the platform infrastructure, which is a blockchain-based economy allowing us to serve as the bridge from Web2 to Web3.”

Reungwai added, “First, users who hold and stake our Athena tokens will be able to access premium services and events exclusive only to token holders. Second, the mentoring fee will be lowered for token holders. Lastly, to fulfil the promise of mentor-to-earn, we will partner with other entities to enable the exchange of Athena tokens for fiat currencies, other cryptocurrencies, and goods and services.”

To celebrate the launch of the world’s first mentor-to-earn platform, users who join Athena will receive three times the usual number of Athena tokens on all their activities from today until 31 May.

Bangkok, Thailand – ​The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), together with the provinces of Chanthaburi, Rayong, and Si Sa Ket, has launched the ‘Amazing Thailand Metaverse: Amazing Durian’ project, a new virtual travel experience specially created to attract a new sector of tourists especially durian lovers, cryptocurrency enthusiasts, and high-disposable income tourists to the country.

The ‘Amazing Thailand Metaverse: Amazing Durian’ uses Web 3.0 technology and the application of digital assets to promote tourism to connect the virtual world and the real world together. It aims to help business operators such as Thailand reopen, and to upgrade technical capabilities in the tourism industry.

TAT said that durian was chosen as the pilot focus for the project due to the fruit’s international fame, and the fact that it is currently durian season in Thailand with Chanthaburi, Rayong, and Si Sa Ket is widely known for their production of the fruit. 

Participating orchards in the project include Suan Arun Burapha and KP Garden in Chanthaburi, Lamai Garden and Suphattra Land Park in Rayong, and Ing Than Park in Si Sa Ket, with more orchards expected to join. These orchards are well-known for producing many different Thai durian varieties, including the popular ones – Monthong and Chanee – and the local ones – volcanic and long lap lae, as well as the durian glycemic index (GI), which will all be available for tourists to explore in the virtual garden.

Moreover, TAT, in cooperation with the participating durian orchards and selected NFT creators, has created the NFT Collection Amazing Durian in Metaverse, for which tourists can purchase and collect within this durian season in Thailand until 31 August 2022. Aside from this special collection, tourists can also enjoy gamification whereby they can use tokens or items to upgrade their avatar’s abilities, and redeem e-vouchers for accommodation, tourism products, and services in the real world.

Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT’s governor, believes that the metaverse is a new era of the digital world, and TAT has identified world trends and consumer behaviour in line with this as an opportunity to increase the competitiveness of the Thai tourism industry. 

“It is an exciting way to resume business as Thailand reopens to foreign tourism in a sustainable manner, which is a key objective of the ‘Visit Thailand Year 2022: Amazing New Chapters’ campaign. Tourists will be encouraged to visit Thailand after enjoying their virtual experience,” said Supasorn.

The new project can be experienced by visiting www.amazingthailandmetaverse.com, where tourists can create their own avatar to explore a virtual durian garden that is designed based on an actual durian orchard without the need for any VR headsets.

Bangkok, Thailand – IMAX Corporation and Major Cineplex, operator of movie theatres in Thailand, have announced plans to expand their partnership with the signing of an agreement for three new IMAX® with Laser systems in Thailand. The agreement is a big step forward for IMAX and Major Cineplex, Thailand’s exhibitor with a growing regional presence, and will boost IMAX’s overall presence in Thailand to seven screens.

Two of the three installations are upgrades in central Bangkok locations with one at the relatively new Icon Cineconic at shopping mall Iconsiam. The other upgrade is at Siam Paragon, where Major’s Paragon Cineplex is currently one of the largest and most visited multiplexes in the country.

Meanwhile, the third screen is a new build at the Mega Cineplex, an existing multiplex at the huge Mega Bang Na retail and entertainment complex in Eastern Bangkok, between the city centre and Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Vicha Poolvaraluck, CEO of Major Cineplex, shared that as part of their long, successful cooperation with IMAX, they are pleased to deliver these new systems into Bangkok’s iconic shopping and entertainment complexes.

“I look forward to experiencing the latest blockbuster films in one of the most immersive, high-quality theatre systems around. With the continuous evolution of Thailand’s film market, the premium movie experience represented by IMAX has become a driving force to attract audiences back to the box office and support the industry’s post-pandemic recovery,” Poolvaraluck said.

The newly renovated venues will feature IMAX with Laser, IMAX’s theatre experience. The 4K laser projection system features a new optical engine, custom-designed lenses, and a suite of proprietary technology that delivers brighter images with increased resolution, deeper contrast, and the widest range of colours exclusively to IMAX screens.

Meanwhile, Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX, commented, “From our increasing number of screens to growing box office returns, Thailand is an emerging market for IMAX and this agreement marks a big step forward in capturing the opportunity at hand.” 

Gelfond added, “We are excited to expand our partnership with Major Cineplex, and look forward to further growing the IMAX brand in Thailand and around the globe as a premier destination for entertainment and events.”

Bangkok, Thailand – Global hotel chain Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has expanded its presence in Thailand with four new hotels in the capital city of Bangkok. They are Ramada By Wyndham Bangkok Sukhumvit 87 and Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Bangkok Sukhumvit 48 and two hotels located in the heart of Bangkok’s central business district – Wyndham Bangkok Queen Convention Centre and Wyndham Garden Bangkok Sukhumvit 42.

All four hotels in Bangkok are signed under a licence agreement with Siamese and Kew Green Company Limited – a joint partnership between local property developer, Siamese Wealth Company Limited and international hotel management operator, Kew Green Hotels.

The addition of the four new hotels will bring the company’s total operating portfolio to 17 hotels in Thailand, located in Bangkok, Phuket, and Krabi.

Joon Aun Ooi, president for Asia-Pacific at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, said, “We are honoured by the trust and confidence that Siamese and Kew Green Company Limited have in us for Thailand. Today, I am thrilled to mark the official debut of our Wyndham, Wyndham Garden, Ramada by Wyndham, and Ramada Plaza by Wyndham brands in Bangkok through our partnership with Siamese and Kew Green Company Limited. Bangkok is an exceptional travel destination that is home to historical landmarks and world-class cuisines.”

Meanwhile, Khun Kajonsit Singasansern, CEO at Siamese Asset Company, commented, “We are confident in Thailand’s position as a world-class tourism destination and we look forward to delivering world-renowned Thai hospitality alongside our partners, leading international hotel management company, Kew Green Hotels. As a prominent and award-winning property developer, we look forward to bringing together our collective expertise with the launch of these exceptional properties.”

Bangkok, Thailand – Media investment company GroupM has appointed Pathamawan Sathaporn as its chief executive officer for Thailand, effective 1 May 2022. She assumes the portfolio held by Niklas Stalberg who will be leaving the network after a decade of service.

Pathamawan crosses over from her current position as CEO of Mindshare Thailand where she held various leadership roles for over one and a half decades. She will be reporting to Himanshu Shekhar, whose remit as CEO of GroupM Indonesia and Vietnam has been expanded to include Thailand. As CEO of GroupM Thailand, Indonesia & Vietnam, Shekhar will report to Ashutosh Srivastava, CEO of GroupM Asia-Pacific.

Speaking about her appointment, Sathaporn said, “I am honoured to embark on a journey that is both familiar and new – the purple blood running through my veins has now taken on a shade of blue. Growing alongside Mindshare the past 16 years, I feel privileged to have witnessed the dramatic evolution of the media landscape which sets us up for new adventures daily.”

She added, “At GroupM, I look forward to building pathways for our talents to flourish in their careers, accelerate our capabilities to continue doing great work for our clients, and bring to life our company’s aspiration to make advertising work better for people in Thailand.”

Having spent two decades within the GroupM network, Himanshu rose through the ranks in Mindshare managing the business in volume-heavy India as well as Indonesia. He was appointed CEO of Mindshare Southeast Asia from 2014 to 2018. 

Meanwhile, Shekhar commented, “The group’s strategy to cluster Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam under one unified leadership will strengthen market capabilities and network agility. Given the breadth and depth of resources across these three important markets, we will be able to scale our capabilities and solutions to deliver enhanced value for all our clients and partners. I am thrilled to partner with an illustrious leader like Pathamawan whose depth of field experience in Thailand will undoubtedly propel us into an even more glorious future.”

Bangkok, Thailand – South Korean webtoon production production company Contents Lab. Blue has announced the establishment of a local branch in Thailand to make webtoons solely for Thailand, as well as localising other existing webtoons.

In addition, they plan to develop new content and train artists. Based on their continuous successes within the Korean market, Contents Lab. Blue has founded the Thailand branch and is making the branch a foundation for an expansion into the global market.

Chanil Kim, director of the global division at Contents Lab. Blue said that they expect the founding of the Thailand branch would have a large effect on differentiating their webtoon production environment and process from others.

“With the assistance of this differentiation, we will maximise work efficiency and emphasise localisation works that are based on culture, language and sentimentality, and we plan to present content that is tailored solely for Thailand,” she added.

Furthermore, the company plans to diversify its content by means of launching various popular Korean webtoons and developing and securing foreign IPs. They have also proposed that they will lead the establishment of a global webtoon ecosystem by building infrastructure through active investments, promoting the discovery of content within Thailand and training amateur artists.

Meanwhile, Contents Lab. Blue’s CEO Youngto Go, added, “We have prepared a basic structure for international business expansion through the founding of Thailand and Japan branches. Based on this foothold, we will not only achieve outstanding results but also continuously extend our influence within the global market.”