Advertising revenue rises for most Thai media for first 10 months of 2022
MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022
Businesses in Thailand have spent more than 98 billion baht on advertising in the first 10 months of this year, marking a 10.48% increase year on year.
Nielsen Holdings, an American information, data and market measurement company, said all types of media, with the exception of print, saw their revenue from advertising rise from January to October.
Companies spent as much as 9.91 billion baht on advertising in October, or 6.09% more compared to last year. Nielsen said advertising revenue of all media except television rose in October. Advertising revenue for television stations contracted by 4.94% against the same month last year.
Ad revenue for the first 10 months can be categorised as:
• Television: 52.65 billion baht (+0.41%)
• Outdoor and mobile media: 11.17 billion (+42.44%)
• Theatres: 6.14 billion (+168.91%)
• Radio: 2.77 billion (3.78%)
• Print: 2.51 billion (-1.72%)
• Shopping mall media: 727 million (+33.39%)
• Online media: 22.09 billion (+8.15%).
Nielsen said food and beverage manufacturers were the biggest spenders, allocating 15.7 billion baht to advertising or 3% more compared to last year.
This was followed by media and marketing businesses, who spent 5.27 billion baht on advertising, up by 19%.
The medical industry was the third biggest spender, with 4.93 billion baht or 5% more year on year.
The top three companies that spent the most on advertising are Unilever Thai Holding (3.15 billion baht, -20%), Nestlé (Thai) (2.25 billion baht, -10%), and Procter & Gamble Trading (Thailand) (2 billion baht, +5%).
A face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday led to minor injuries “to a few personnel” from both sides, sources said on Monday and noted that both sides immediately disengaged from the area.
The Indian troops deployed in the area of face-off on Friday in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector gave a befitting response to the Chinese troops and the number of Chinese soldiers injured in the clash is more than the Indian soldiers, sources said on Monday.
China announced on Monday that a digital tool to track cross-city travel will go out of service starting Tuesday.
Jobs Philippines PH vows to save seafarers’ jobs in EU | Inquirer President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday night said the government was doing everything it could for the Philippines to pass the European Maritime Safety Agency’s (Emsa) evaluation, which the country has failed since 2006, to avert possible job losses for some 50,000 Filipino seafarers deployed on European Union (EU)-flagged vessels.
South Korea asked China to step up efforts to bring North Korea back to denuclearization talks at a videoconference Monday held between their respective foreign ministers, as the two countries seek to better ties that have been strained by their divergent views on Pyongyang and the escalating US-China rivalry.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday called on China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) to make joint efforts to maintain the stability and smooth flows of regional and global industrial and supply chains.
President Xi Jinping has called for concrete steps to protect China’s intangible cultural heritage in a systematic way and promote Chinese culture around the world.
The special income tax for reconstruction, tobacco tax and corporate tax are being eyed to fund a planned increase in defense spending, according to sources.
When President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo told his diehard supporters to vote for a candidate with “forehead wrinkles” and “white hair” in the 2024 presidential election, almost everyone concluded that he was referring to Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, whom all surveys put as one of three most popular public figures to succeed him.
Business sentiment among major Japanese companies improved in October-December, with the recovery led by nonmanufacturers, a government survey showed Monday.
The overall business confidence in Pakistan fell to minus four per cent, according to a survey of the Overseas Investors Chambers of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) conducted during September-October 2022.
Soon Ent. is South Korea’s top TikTok creator management firm, home to over 140 creators whose total number of followers amounts to 940 million. This includes the nation’s No. 2 creator WonJeong, who recently surpassed 50 million followers. He is the only South Korean to reach the milestone other than K-pop supergroup BTS.
For the first time since lawmakers filed a bill seeking to create the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) two weeks ago, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. broke his silence on Sunday night and publicly expressed support for the proposed sovereign wealth fund.
Russia’s McDonald’s successor replacing Big Mac with ‘Big Hit’
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2022
Starved of Big Macs since McDonald’s Corp MCD.N closed its Russian restaurants in March, Russians will from next year be treated to an alternative from the burger chain’s successor – the “Big Hit.”
Russian fast food chain Vkusno & tochka, or “Tasty & that’s it,” on Monday said the Big Hit, complete with a new signature sauce, will be available in February and a similar product to the McDonald’s Happy Meal will be making a comeback as “Kids’ Combo.”
McDonald’s closed its Russian restaurants soon after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February, eventually selling to a local licensee, Alexander Govor, who unveiled the new brand in June.
Vkusno & tochka CEO Oleg Paroev said the company has overcome supply chain issues and was growing its share in a market traditionally dominated by foreign chains.
There are restrictions on the colours and products that Vkusno & tochka can use. It can no longer serve Big Macs, nor use the McDonald’s-style sauce, Paroev explained.
“(The Big Hit) has its own sauce and a slightly different composition, a different layout of ingredients, but in terms of quality and taste it is very good,” Paroev said.
“We hope Russian consumers will appreciate the Big Hit and that it will become as much of a symbol of Vkusno & tochka as the Big Mac is a symbol of McDonald’s.
Since acquiring Russia’s McDonald’s restaurants, Govor has snapped up Finnish packaging company Huhtamaki’s HUH1V.HE Russian business and a logistics firm, set to be renamed “Logistics & that’s it.”
On Monday, he said Vkusno & tochka may try to find a partner to produce children’s toys for the Kids’ Combo, which currently includes a free book, but that his M&A appetite had been satisfied for now.
Vkusno & tochka and meat producer Miratorg on Monday said they had agreed to build a factory in 2023 to supply the chain with chips and potato wedges. Some Vkusno & tochka restaurants had to take fries off the menu this year when faced with a potato shortage.
“We were simply forced to do this,” Govor said. “We were looking for partners because some of our suppliers, including of potatoes, have doubled their prices from February to today.”
New Report Reveals Biosecurity Risks of Donkey Skin Trade
MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022
Findings from The Donkey Sanctuary details the possibility of another incident in Thailand like the 2020 AHS outbreak due to the unregulated, unsanitary, and often illegal trade in donkey skins used in traditional Chinese medicine
Around the world, over 4.8 million donkeys are traded and slaughtered for their skins each year.
The demand for donkey skins is driven by the production of ejiao, or donkey-hide gelatin, a traditional Chinese remedy believed by some with no scientific basis to have medicinal properties.
A new report from The Donkey Sanctuary reveals the trade is also contributing significant and previously unrecognised risks to international biosecurity, including in Thailand, a common waypoint for donkey skins.
The import of donkey skins into Thailand is currently legal. However, Thailand is not a major market for donkey skins. Rather, donkey skin traders circumvent and undermine recipient country safeguards on biosecurity controls by shipping to ports in Thailand (or others such as Hong Kong) first before shipping to China.
The most recent FAO data, from 2018, shows the total number of horses in Thailand as 6,069, while just 30 donkeys were reported.
However, the donkeys’ locations were uncertain and it is likely they were underreported due to the unregulated nature of the trade.
Donkeys can easily play a role in outbreaks of African horse sickness (AHS), as they can spread the disease without displaying severe clinical signs. AHS is spread by biting and feeding on the blood of horses and donkeys.
A 2020 outbreak of AHS in Thailand, likely due to the importation of live equids (the group that includes horses, donkeys, and zebras), saw infection across six provinces before an equine movement lockdown curtailed its progress.
It infected 610 horses in 17 provinces, 568 of which died, including both high-value sports horses and working equids who support hundreds of thousands of people’s livelihoods.
No new cases have been found ever since a surveillance programme for animal diseases was initiated, but the unregulated trade of live donkeys and donkey skins could change that.
The report Biosecurity Risks and Implications for Human & Animal Health on a Global Scale contain the findings of donkey skin testing conducted by The Donkey Sanctuary and the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya (ILRI).
This testing identified multiple specimens contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) and African horse sickness (AHS). In the case of S.aureus contaminated skins, 44 of 108 tested were found to be carrying the drug-resistant MRSA variant, and three of the positive samples were carrying the PVL-toxin – known to cause invasive necrotising diseases in humans.
Donkeys are generally susceptible to the same infectious diseases as horses, many of which can also infect humans via ingestion, inhalation and skin contact. Close contact with sick equids puts people at risk, as does eating, inhaling, or touching infectious by-products.
Diseases vary in severity and impacts on human health can range from mild conditions such as ringworm to potentially deadly diseases like rabies and glanders.
These are occupational hazards for farm workers, abattoir staff and any person involved in the transport and handling of donkeys or the processing, packing, haulage and shipping of donkey skins.
Diseases that are endemic in source countries may not be present at all in transit or destination countries, leading to potential outbreaks of diseases in local, naïve equine populations.
This is what happened with AHS in Thailand in 2020, as the disease’s prior absence in the country made the outbreak more difficult to contain.
Worryingly, the donkey skin trade currently operates without adequate veterinary and biosecurity protocols. The unregulated and clandestine nature of much of the trade also means that shipments are often impossible to track, and contaminated skins therefore unable to be traced.
However, even skins processed in licenced slaughterhouses constitute a biosecurity risk.
Marianne Steele, Chief Executive of The Donkey Sanctuary said: “The global trade in donkey skins is cruel and inhumane, unregulated and unnecessary, which results in suffering for donkeys and donkey-dependent communities on a devastating scale. While many may choose to turn away from the direct impacts on animals and people, I would implore consumers, governments and the wider public to take notice of the risks to animal and human health.
“If nothing else, the recent lessons of Covid-19, and the current outbreak of avian flu, should make us sit up and take notice of the emerging threats that zoonotic diseases pose.”
Considering this high level of risk, The Donkey Sanctuary is calling on the governments of China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand to immediately stop the import of donkey skins, and on the national governments of exporting countries to take immediate steps to stop the trade in donkey skins.
Dr Faith Burden, Executive Director of Equine Operations at The Donkey Sanctuary, said: “The findings throughout the report are shocking, although not altogether surprising – the disease risks for animals and humans are obvious, with poor hygiene at all stages of the trade. The lack of traceability and basic biosecurity puts people and animals in general at significant risk. The skins tested were sourced from one slaughterhouse on one day, but it is likely that skins from other sources around the world if tested, would indicate the presence of dangerous pathogens such as glanders, equine influenza and African swine fever.”
Grab is launching a tuk-tuk service in Phuket after being granted a ride-hailing licence by the Department of Land Transport in September. The “GrabTukTuk” service in Phuket will be on hand to welcome the return of international tourists and support local job creation, the company said.
It expects to offer the new service through 100 tuk-tuk driver-partners by early 2023.
Grab, a leading super app in Southeast Asia, says the Phuket launch is part of the continued expansion of its mobility services.
Worachat Luxkanalode, Country Head of Grab Thailand, said, “we have seen consistent positive signals from the recovery of tourism industries. Since the beginning of this year, Thailand has welcomed more than 10 million international travellers so far. Ride-hailing applications have been one of the preferred travel options by foreign tourists, as they offer convenience and safety standards. Grab’s mobility service can support not only Phuket’s tourism sector but also the province’s overall economy through income opportunities for local communities.”
“As a leading platform, Grab is committed to raising the bar for ride-hailing service in Phuket, in terms of service quality, reasonable price and safety. We support the locals to use their personal vehicles to provide transportation services to earn extra income. Besides, we have encouraged those who provide public transportation services such as Tuk Tuk drivers, to use the Grab application as another channel of reaching passengers and increasing income opportunities,” added Worachat.
In addition, Grab Thailand has collaborated with government agencies and partners to ensure efficient preparation and build confidence for Grab driver-partners and public transportation operators in Phuket. These efforts reflect the goal of uplifting the service standards to create favourable impressions and travel experiences for international tourists, in response to the country’s reopening policy and Phuket’s measures in welcoming travellers and driving economic recovery.
Korat’s bright yellow sunflower field becomes latest social-media ‘check-in’ spot
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2022
A 100-rai field in covered in bright yellow sunflowers in Nakhon Ratchasima has become a brand new online “check-in” spot for local social media networkers.
The field, which is part of Rajabhat Nakhon Ratchasima University’s agricultural research centre, has been open to the public since December 9.
The campus is located in Muang district’s Chaimongkol area.
People can enter the field to take photographs or selfies with the tall bright yellow blossoms from 8am to 6pm daily until January 15.
The centre said the field has become very popular among tourists thanks to the cool temperatures and the bright vista. Visitors can also feed milk to baby goats frolicking in the field.
The temperature in Korat on Tuesday was chilly at 17 degrees Celsius.
Chiang Mai welcoming more tourists as flights start returning
MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022
Chiang Mai returned to its top spot as a favourite destination after the number of daily arrivals rose beyond 20,000 in December.
Nattawut Ta-inta, Chiang Mai Airport’s deputy director, recently said that the airport now welcomes between 18,000 to 20,000 passengers daily; of them, some 2,000 are international arrivals.
Some 130 domestic and about 20 international flights land in Chiang Mai daily. He said 11 international airlines have returned to their pre-pandemic schedule, including flights from Incheon and Busan in South Korea; Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam; Singapore; Luang Prabang in Cambodia; Taiwan capital Taipei; Hong Kong; Yangon in Myanmar; and the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
He said before Covid-19 arrived in 2019, Chiang Mai welcomed some 35,000 travellers daily, 30% of whom were foreigners and the remainder domestic.
Nattawut added that in the pre-Covid era, the airport saw 145 domestic flights and some 90 flights landing daily, including 14 from China alone.
“Chiang Mai Airport has the slots ready for all airlines to reinstate their flights. They just need to notify the airport and the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand,” he said.
“Recently, Myanmar Airlines began flying twice a week from Yangon and will increase its flights gradually,” he said.
He expects China to open its borders in March, which may encourage Chinese travellers to return to Chiang Mai. He also said he believes more airlines will start flying to Chiang Mai from January.
Prayut may reveal his political plans after Brussels trip
MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2022
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday hinted that he might spell out his political future after he returns from a trip to Brussels later this week.
Before he boarded an Air Force plane at the Don Mueang military airport for a trip to Brussels on Monday, reporters approached him for comments about his political future.
A reporter asked him whether he would officially announce his political future once he returns from Brussels, Prayut replied: “I’ll answer this question when I return.”
The prime minister is attending the Asean-European Union Summit in Brussels to mark the 45th anniversary of ties between the two groupings. He is scheduled to leave Brussels on Thursday.
It has been widely speculated that Prayut and a group of Palang Pracharath Party MPs would join the new Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party in a bid to enable him to continue as prime minister for two more years after the next general election.
The election is tentatively scheduled for May 7 subject to the House of Representatives not being dissolved before it completes its four-year term on March 22.
If Prayut wins the prime minister’s post again, he will be able to remain in office until 2025 in accordance with a ruling of the Constitutional Court.
A reporter asked Prayut to comment on a recent opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration that Ruam Thai Sang Chart has little chance of deciding the next coalition leader. Prayut replied: “I don’t know who carried out the survey and whom they interviewed.”
Asked whether the survey’s results would affect his political decision, Prayut shrugged his shoulders and said: “Not at all”.
When asked whether he had any concerns during his trip, Prayut replied that he had no worries because he had put in place a system for governance to proceed systematically and he has entrusted all policies to respective committees and ministries to carry out.
Factories using 3 chemicals have until Thursday to register for 2023 import quota
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2022
Factories using controlled chemicals are required to register and provide details on their production processes within this week, as the government tries to crack down on the production of narcotics.
Industry Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said on Tuesday that more than 140 factories have been found to use sodium cyanide, benzyl cyanide and benzyl chloride and they are required to provide details on their consumption of these chemicals.
The import and export of these chemicals was suspended on November 21 to ensure all control measures are in place to ensure they are not used to make methamphetamine, he said.
Jullapong Thaweesri, director-general of the Industrial Works Department, said that since import-export was suspended, his department has been working on finding the exact quantity that is available in the country.
He said from now on, the import of these three chemicals will be approved on a case-by-case basis once control measures have been drafted.
Jullapong said each factory will have to justify their stocks and purchase of the chemicals by providing details of exactly how much is used.
He said importers, exporters and end users of these three chemicals are also required to register and provide details of consumption on the department’s website by Thursday (December 15).
He added that his department should have the import quotas of these chemicals for 2023 approved and ready within next month.
However, factories that fail to meet the Thursday deadline can register later, but the department will take time to approve their import quota, Jullapong said.
27 Thai immigration police officers found to be aiding Chinese triads
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2022
Investigators believe at least 27 immigration police officers have made it possible for members of Chinese triads to stay illegally in Thailand.
Deputy National Police chief General Surachet Hakparn told the press on Sunday that investigators came to this conclusion after interrogating 27 suspects over the past two weeks.
He said some of the suspects broke down and admitted to their crimes due to overwhelming evidence.
“I believe more immigration police officers are involved,” he said, vowing to take strong action against these officers with no exceptions.
Police launched a nationwide investigation last month after former massage parlour tycoon and politician Chuwit Kamolvisit provided information on alleged Chinese triads operating in Thailand.
The tip-off quickly led to an arrest warrant being issued for alleged triad kingpin Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant.
Chaiyanat is married to a senior Thai police officer and has gained Thai citizenship through this marriage.
He surrendered to police on November 23 and has been denying all charges.
Police believe Chinese triads are operating in at least 18 provinces, including Bangkok, Chonburi, Chiang Mai, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani.
Surachet added that the case against Chaiyanat has made considerable progress and there is plenty of evidence to support money laundering charges. He said available evidence should help uproot Chaiyanat’s financial network that has been funding criminal operations in Thailand.
When asked about Chuwit’s concerns about the transparency of the investigation, Surachet said police are open to advise and will look into all evidence that turns up, including tips on social media.
“Investigation will be based on evidence and the witnesses we find, not on instincts alone,” he said.
He added that so far, more than 100 Chinese nationals have been arrested and are being questioned, while Chaiyanat has been denied bail and will remain behind bars until the investigation is over.
Asked whether the survey’s results would affect his political decision, Prayut shrugged his shoulders and said: “Not at all”.
He said from now on, the import of these three chemicals will be approved on a case-by-case basis once control measures have been drafted.
He added that his department should have the import quotas of these chemicals for 2023 approved and ready within next month.
SootinClaimon.Com 