They are Pla Kulao Khem Tak Bai (salted fish) from Narathiwat province and beef from Phon Yang Kham in Sakon Nakhon province.
Deputy Commerce Minister Suvit Maesincee said giving the products a GI rating would boost their sales as they are certified as good quality.
“Another 16 products are waiting to get the GI certification. The Commerce Ministry’s Intellectual Property Department is inspecting those products and is expected to approve more new products for its GI list soon,” he said.
To date, 71 Thai products from 51 provinces requesting GI certification have been approved. The department is expected to award GI certification to another 10 Thai products so all 77 provinces have at least one GI product next year.
The targeted provinces are Bangkok, Krabi, Kanchanaburi, Ranong, Satun, Samut Sakhon, Sa Kaew, Sing Buri, Nakhon Sawan and Kamphaeng Phet.
Suvit said the producers of GI items might benefit from the products having an enhanced reputation because of where they come from.
“GI products are not only worth protecting because of their connection to quality, tradition and reputation, they also make a very big contribution to sustainable rural development,” Suvit said. He added that products with a GI certification offered more opportunity for increased sales, as consumers were willing to pay more for premium products.
Pla Kulao Khem Tak Bai is known as the king of salted fish. It has a good smell and is not too salty. It is fished from the Gulf of Thailand near the Tak Bai River and the Sungai Kolok River.
The fish is priced between Bt1,200 and Bt1,500 per kilogram.
Phon Yang Kham beef is kept in cold storage and has proper fat. It is priced between Bt1,100 and Bt1,200 per kilogram.

The two organisations signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday to collaborate on the education and training of MICE professionals and strengthening of business platforms for the development of the MICE industry in South Korea and Thailand. Eung Su Kim, president of the KMA, and Sumate Sudasna, president of TICA, said they would collaborate for the growth of the MICE industry in the two countries with the aim of contributing to their respective economies and the enhancement of international goodwill and cooperation.
They will assist education and training of MICE professionals by inviting members of each other’s association to attend respective educational meetings and sessions, promoting both associations’ internship programmes, and accepting interns to the maximum extent possible.
Furthermore, the two parties will send speakers to each other’s events for MICE meetings organised, sponsored or supported by KMA and/or TICA, coordinate and develop further details for the execution of this MoU, and carry out additional activities where appropriate.
“TICA is honoured to expand our core belief in professional industry education and regional accreditation with the KMA,” Sumate said.
“Education and knowledge are vital to forming a sustainable industry, and our members in Thailand have gained from our education programmes over the years. More and more countries see the benefits from the economic impact that business events bring. TICA will ensure to stay and … help the industry to gain more respect through professional development.”
Kim said: “This MoU is a good start for more efficient networking between Korea and Thailand.
“This MoU allows both countries to leverage on our knowledge and experience to gain further insights in service excellence on an international level. Business events will continue to have a strong impact for any country, especially among Asia-Pacific countries.”
The KMA was established in 2003 to work with Korean and foreign organisations for growth and development of its partners as well as the MICE industry.
KMA members are convention and visitors bureaux, destination marketing organisations, convention and exhibition centres, professional convention and exhibition organisers, MICE service providers, travel agencies, hotels and resorts, airlines, educational institutions and other companies related to the MICE industry.
TICA was established in 1984 jointly by the government and private sector comprising key practitioners in the business-events industry. TICA’s main functions are to promote and market Thailand as a leading business-events destination in the world and to develop expertise for member organisations in servicing planners and |organisers.

Poomporn Thamsatitdej, director of business incubation and assistant dean for corporate communication at Mahidol University’s College of Management, said that from the society point of view, those who are close to young people, notably their parents and other family members, very often discourage children by raising |concern over what they see as the impossibility of their business initiatives.
The country’s educational system has also not encouraged students to create new business ideas and initiatives, he said. “We have seen many success and failure factors in regard to start-up initiatives all around the world. However, we do not really have any channel that local start-ups can learn from,” he said.
Thai society has not been teaching people to become what he termed “path-breakers”, leaving them uncertain and not daring to make decisions.
Meanwhile, the government should develop local mechanisms, such as taxation policy and measures, financial support and a migration system to attract inbound talent, which in turn would encourage the creation of start-ups, he suggested.
“Human capital should be provided with suitable channels so that they [creative individuals] can be developed with higher skills and knowledge. That can be done through schools, universities and government offices. They should provide information that encourages people to develop ideas and business skills,” the academic stressed.
Poomporn said that only 5 per cent of today’s start-up projects being spun off could survive by themselves.
From the university’s point of view, start-ups in Thailand are not limited to just the digital and e-commerce field, as they can also apply to other broader platforms such as science, technology and creativity, he said.
“We identify a start-up as a new initiator, which has created a new business that is the first of its kind in the market place, both in terms of the business idea and the way it has been executed. Such new business initiatives can be in various sectors, including medical, food and services, and has to cater to the demand of today’s consumers as well as solving their day-to-day problems.
“It must be scalable for being commercialised or expanded in the future,” he explained.
Poomporn said the government, meanwhile, was continuing to promote start-ups as one of its key mechanisms to grow the economy, as such business initiators required new investments and resources.
Moreover, to compete with the newcomers, existing players have been forced to make strategic adjustments to their businesses, which would also boost the economy further, he added.
Foreign start-ups began to emerge around 1980, mainly in Silicon Valley in the United States, which was been promoted as a leading hub and start-up ecosystem for high-tech innovation and development, while start-ups emerged in Thailand in 1990 along with e-commerce businesses, he said.
“Normally, start-ups are mostly set up by individuals who have good initiative ideas for products and services. They also have good knowledge of how to do business, and a business model. However, to be successful, they each need to have a good partner, with strong talent and skilled in technology,” said the assistant dean.
The government should provide an environment that facilitates the development of local start-ups, which are crucial to future growth, he said, adding that relevant laws and regulations should be adapted to allow start-ups to raise funds from foreign investors more easily.
Usually, start-up initiators have to make a business pitch and propose their idea to foreign investors in order to persuade them to invest in the new business.

This is an effort by the BMTA to cut the Bt13-billion budget to buy 3,183 natural-gas-fuelled buses, which was approved by the Cabinet previously.
Under the revised plan, the BMTA is to buy 200 electric buses for Bt2.3 billion and improve nearly 700 existing buses.Ormsin said the National Economic and Social Development Board would consider the BMTA’s new bus-acquisition proposal on Wednesday before asking the Cabinet to review it.
“We expect the proposal to be submitted to the Cabinet” later this month, he said. BMTA director-general Surachai Eamvachirasakul said yesterday that the authority expected to open the bidding for the 200 electric buses with a budget of Bt2.3 billion by the end of this year. He said that after signing a contract with the winning bidder, delivery would be set for within 120 days thereafter so that the new buses would be in service by March or April next year.
“After conducting a market-sounding survey, [we found] there are about 10 private firms interested in taking part in the bid,” he said.
The BMTA yesterday also celebrated its 40th anniversary by signing a contract with Bestlin Group to purchase 489 natural-gas-powered buses as well as unveiling its new bus model.
Under the authority’s rehabilitation plan, it will also speed up improvements of 673 existing buses by installing Global Positioning System technology, free |Wi-Fi, and an e-ticketing system.

After the first meeting of the Thai-Chinese trade and investment sub-commission in Bangkok this week, Deputy Commerce Minister Suvit Maesincee said the Thailand and China already cooperated in 14 areas.
The new areas are basic infrastructure with technology, new industries, information technology and communications, science and technology, and alternative energy.
The working plans for the new areas are expected to be discussed in December during a meeting of officials from the two countries.
After Thailand and China agreed to continue the five-year economic development plan covering the original 14 areas from 2017-2021, they are tightening the cooperation through the five new additions.
They believe that driving the sectors by innovation and technology promotes sustainable development.
Suvit said that as the government had come up with the “Thailand 4.0” policy, the cooperation with China would help stimulate innovation and technology development here.
During the meeting in Bangkok, the two countries also discussed deepening trade and investment. Thailand urged China to import more crops, mainly rice and rubber, under a memorandum of understanding.
The Kingdom has also encouraged the Chinese government to allow the import of bird’s nests from Thailand.
The two countries discussed reducing tariff barriers to drive trade and investment for both countries.
China has shown a lot of interest in investing in Thailand’s proposed special economic zones and the Eastern Economic Corridor.
The other 14 areas of cooperation include trade facilitation, innovation and green technology, academic support, intellectual-property rights, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Some other areas are agriculture, industry (textiles and garments, machinery and electronics) and automobiles.