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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40023961

Nation Group revises ethics guidelines to fully cover digital and social media

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2023

The Nation Group has launched a revised version of “Nation Way” – a long-held bible of media ethics for reporters under the news corporation.

President and CEO Shine Bunnag said on Thursday that the improvement and revision of “Nation Way” was necessary to better reflect the current context of society and technology.

“An important duty of a media organisation is to uphold ideal principles and perform its duty with respect to media ethics in a careful and complete manner,” he said.

The ethics guidelines are meant to serve as a standard for all media outlets within the group, while ensuring freedom for covering news.

The group’s top executive said that over the past 52 years of its existence, Nation Group has been determined to maintain its credibility as a media institution despite many crises and disruptions during a time of constant change in the industry.

“Throughout repeated technological changes and economic crises, Nation Group has adapted and developed continuously. Our main goal is to make our reports valuable and accessible for everyone,” Shine said.

The revised Nation Way has 13 chapters of guidelines for news professionals covering all media platforms, including the latest ones, he said.

“We aim to maintain the credibility and public faith in the Nation Group. [Nation Way] serves as our commitment to society, which all media outlets and employees of all levels at the Nation Group will strictly follow,” Shine explained.

Nation Group Editor Weerasak Pongaksorn said that all news professionals in the group – whether they are reporters, news announcers, photographers, producers, or others – have strictly followed media ethics, which has resulted in continued credibility and public faith.

He said the revised Nation Way contains detailed guidelines covering all media platforms. They include guidelines covering topics such as criminal offenders, suicide, sexual assault victims, children and women, gender diversity, occult beliefs, gambling, and sports.
The new definition of “media” includes digital and social media, he said.

The revised Nation Way clearly defines the difference between a “reporter” and a “content creator” in order to prevent confusion, Weerasak said.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40023958

Pet industry sitting on a gold mine as nearly 50% of Thais don’t want children: survey

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

Thailand’s pet industry outlook has strong potential to expand exponentially among “petsumers”, as more than 49% of Thais currently prefer to adopt pets over having children, a recent survey by the College of Management Mahidol University (CMMU) revealed.

The report defines “petsumers” as a new type of customers who are willing to pay as long as it can pamper their pets. The term has been introduced to assist marketers in pleasing high-spending pet lovers.

The findings, made public on Wednesday, are part of a survey of Thailand’s pet business trend, which is booming since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pacharapun Thiensiri, a CMMU student and the study team leader, revealed that 49% of the sample group considered their pets to be surrogate children, a practice known as pet parenting, followed by pet prestige for social status (34%), and pet healing (18%).

Dogs continue to be the most popular pet, preferred by 40.4%, followed by cats (37.1%) and other exotic animals (22.6%).

Additionally, 39.3% of respondents are willing to spend an average of 10,000 to 20,000 baht per pet annually.

This corresponds to the dog-cat registration database’s domestication rate in Thailand, which has increased significantly year after year.

He said that the average annual cost of caring for a puppy is 14,200 baht per animal for both dogs and cats. Bathing and haircutting are the most frequently used services by pet owners, accounting for up to 61% of all services.

“The study aimed to understand more petlovers’ behaviour in depth so that marketers can communicate with and win the hearts of these consumers,” Pacharapun explained.

Despite the economic downturn caused by Covid-19, Asst Prof Boonying Kongarchapatara, chair of the marketing programme at CMMU, pointed out that the pet business industry is rapidly developing.

Euromonitor predicts that the global pet market will be worth up to US$217.615 billion in 2026, representing a 7.2% annual growth rate.

In Thailand, the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Business Development estimates that the Thai pet market will grow at an average annual rate of 8.4% to 66.748 billion baht in 2026.

At a seminar session titled “Petsumer Marketing: Acquiring insights to catch high spending and committed pet owners”, Boonying said that currently many businesses are using a pet marketing strategy to engage with pet owners.

Pets are used in brand identity to communicate with target audiences and create a memorable brand image, as well as for other marketing purposes, he said.

Advertisements that include both animals and products have a 43.82% influence on purchase decisions because animals capture the attention of customers.

“It’s not necessary to make a hard sale. It’s a technique to capitalise on the cuteness of pets. This ‘Pet Influencer’ technique implies that pets can deliver marketing benefits, such as assisting in the promotion of products or services, while also entertaining followers. Furthermore, the cuteness of pets will help attract fans from all around the world, resulting in a huge source of revenue,” Boonying noted.

CMMU has developed a petsumer strategy for marketers to use to delight high-spending pet owners, such as personalisation, accessibility, trustworthiness, uniqueness, mental support, and animal rights based on data from committed pet lovers.

CMMU surveyed through a questionnaire 1,046 people and conducted in-depth interviews with 100 of them. Of the respondents, 66.8% were women, 22.3% men, and 10.9% other sexual orientations. Up to 77.3% of the sample group was in the age group 24-41.

Nongluck Ajanapanya

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40023957

Thailand clarifies all measures to control Covid as tourism surges

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2023

The National Communicable Diseases Committee on Thursday approved the government’s revised measures for controlling Covid-19, including tests on arriving tourists with obvious symptoms of the disease, and charging fees for vaccinating tourists who voluntarily request shots.

The decisions were made at the committee’s first meeting of the year, which was chaired by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

It followed an earlier decision by the government to reimpose proof of vaccination for all foreign tourists ahead of the imminent return of tourists from China. That decision was, however, quickly scrapped. Some confusion resulted, so the committee provided a detailed list of its preparations for ensuring Covid-19 remains under control as tourism surges.

Anutin, who also serves as deputy prime minister, told reporters after the meeting that the committee approved three major sets of measures to control Covid-19. They are 1) monitoring of arrivals and insurance, 2) vaccines for tourists, and 3) creating a sub-committee for a coordinated response to Covid-19 issues related to tourism.

Monitoring of arrivals and insurance

Firstly, Anutin said, the committee approved three revisions for arriving tourists. Officials will monitor arrivals for signs or respiratory symptoms. Foreign arrivals who have obvious respiratory symptoms must undergo ATK or RT-PCR tests. The Disease Control Department will report the number of these cases on its website, Anutin said.

Officials will also monitor wastewater from airplanes for new Covid variants, the committee decided.

Regarding the issue of insurance for foreign tourists, those from countries that require RT-PCR tests before they return, or China and India, must have health insurance of at least US$ 10,000 that covers Covid-19 treatment throughout their entire stay in Thailand as well as an additional seven days.

Airline crew members and students who have certification from their schools are exempt from the insurance requirement as they can use their work or school certification instead.

Airport staff will randomly check for insurance policies on tourists from countries requiring RT-PCR tests before they return. If the tourists do not have insurance they will be required to buy policies before entering Thailand.

Tourism operators and workers must receive at least four shots protecting them against Covid-10. Members of the public will also be encouraged to receive at least four shots of Covid-19 vaccines.

Vaccines for tourists

Anutin said the committee also approved providing Covid-19 vaccines to foreign tourists who want them. The tourists will be charged a service fee and the cost of the vaccine, he said. Covid vaccines for foreign tourists will be available at the following locations in four provinces:

– Bangkok: The Institute of Dermatology of Thailand, Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital, Lerdsin Hospital, Rajavithi Hospital, Bang Rak Medical Centre, Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute, and the Institute of Urban Disease Control and Prevention.

– Chiang Mai: Prasart Chiang Mai Hospital

– Chon Buri: Pattayarak Medical Centre

– Phuket – Service centres of the Phuket Public Health Office

Sub-committee for a coordinated response

Anutin said the committee will set up a sub-committee to oversee all Covid-19 issues related to foreign arrivals. This will allow all government agencies to seamlessly coordinate their responses to Covid-19. Opas Karnkawinpong, permanent secretary for Public Health, will chair the subcommittee, Anutin said.

Anutin said the Covid situation in Thailand had improved and the government had eased control measures. The hospitalisation rate of severe Covid patients was still low and the government would try to speed up administering booster shots to elderly people and those with eight types of comorbidities.

Tares Krassanairawiwong, director-general of the Disease Control Department, said each foreign tourist would be charged 380 baht as a service fee plus 1,000 baht for a Pfizer vaccine or 800 baht for an AstraZeneca vaccine.

Tares said tourists who have obvious respiratory symptoms would receive a test for Covid-19 at no cost and their test would be sampled for DNA at no cost.

Sopon Iamsirithaworn, deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department, said the Public Health Ministry would this year focus on vaccinating about 2 million elderly people who have yet to receive a single shot.

The ministry will also step up efforts to administer vaccines to at-risk groups, he said.