The three-day Bangkok Film Festival 2023 will open at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre on Rama I Road in Pathumwan district for the weekend of January 20-22.
The festival is part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s “Colourful Bangkok” campaign, which promises 12 art and culture festivals throughout the year to promote the city as a creative destination.
The highlight will be daily screenings of three award-winning films – “Legend of Suriyothai”, “Bad Genius”, and “Blue Again” – at the open-air style theatre in front of the centre.
The festival will include the seminar “Bangkok: The Creative City”, a workshop on film directing, editing, and screenwriting by experts, and a competition of short documentary films under the theme “Connecting Bangkok 2030”. The competition offers prizes totalling 200,000 baht.
Film buffs will also be treated to live music performances by six youth bands as well as a shopping bonanza of bargains on products unique to each of Bangkok’s 50 districts.
Government urged to make Thai stock market more investor friendly, as new trading app launched
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023
Jarupong Krisanaraj
Thailand’s stock market should be improved to attract more investors, investment gurus said on Thursday.
The remarks were made during a press conference at the launch of “Liberator”, a stock trading application, at The Athenee Hotel in Bangkok.
The application, which does not charge any stock trading fees and offers access to a community for exchange of knowledge, was launched by Liberator Securities.
Nonarit Bisonyabut, a senior research fellow at Thailand Development Research Institute, said the people’s demand for savings had increased amid uncertainty over the ageing society.
The majority of the elderly say they do not have enough savings to be used during their retirement, he said.
He pointed out that more people were turning to gambling in order to make money. He added that around 800,000 people on average were turning to gambling annually.
“On the other side, 2.3 million people had opened their account for investment, but only 400,000 to 600,000 investors were still active,” he said.
Nonarit said the government’s move to levy a financial transaction tax on stock trades from April 1 this year barred investors from speculating for profit.
Instead, he said Thailand’s stock market should be improved to attract more investors. He suggested including the Liberator application in schools in a bid to create awareness among students.
Meanwhile, Thai Value Investor Association chairman Chalermdej Leewongcharoen said zero stock trading fee should have been introduced a long time ago.
He pointed out that the decline in the number of stock investors had happened as some of them were not aware of this investment.
“However, investment in stocks has changed, thanks to several investors sharing their knowledge on the internet,” he said, adding that most of these investors were teenagers.
Echoing Nonarit, Chalermdej slammed the government’s move to levy a financial transaction tax on stock trades. Instead, he advised the government to make the stock market more transparent, especially on regulations related to fees.
He pointed out that Thailand’s stock market was not fair, as large investors paid less in fees than retail investors.
“Levying a financial transaction tax on stock trades will affect market sentiment,” he said.
Both gurus praised Liberator Securities for launching an application that is able to tackle the stock market’s pain points effectively.
According to Liberator Securities, stock investors had to pay 0.08% in commission fee while trading stocks. For instance, investors have to pay 800 baht in fee for trading stocks worth 1 million baht.
Courier company sees chance to increase business from live selling online
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023
Nongluck Ajanapanya
Singapore-based Ninja Van is moving to grab a bigger share of deliveries from merchants who frequently use young female models to sell low-end products live online in its six key markets in Southeast Asia.
The company released a report saying live selling has become one of the most popular e-commerce trends in the countries where it offers courier services: Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
The report – “Live Selling in Southeast Asia (SEA)” – says it uses data gleaned from more than 1,000 of its e-commerce customers in the six countries.
Winston Seow, the company’s chief marketing officer, described live selling as “an intriguing marketing tactic” in a press release on Thursday.
“It’s the only tactic that can fast-track shoppers’ purchase journeys from awareness straight to conversion,” Seow explained. “Live selling also enables e-commerce sellers to build large-scale relationships with their customers, both new and old,” he added, without elaborating.
One in three of its e-commerce clients surveyed is now using up to six hours a week of live selling to boost sales.
Most early adopters of live selling sold clothing, beauty and personal care products, food and beverages and things for use at home, the report says.
According to the survey of 1,000 or so clients of Ninja Van, three online platforms are the most popular in the region: Shopee (27.0%), Facebook (25.5%), and TikTok (22.5%).
Seow said it was possible that e-commerce sellers might use two channels for live selling to expand their reach. In Thailand, Facebook is the most popular social media platform for live sellers, with 37.9%, followed by TikTok, with 26.9%, and Shopee, with 19.8%, according to the report.
Fashion and beauty products dominate live sales in Thailand, the report said.
The report says that online merchants can benefit from live selling, but they also face hurdles that Ninja Van can help solve.
New PTT Oil and Retail chief vows green policies for sustainable growth
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023
The new CEO of PTT Oil and Retail Business Plc (OR) on Thursday pledged to pursue a green business strategy and provide opportunities to local communities to ensure sustainable growth for the company.
CEO Disathat Panyarachun said he would follow the vision of “Empowering Al towards Inclusive Growth” and will use the “Rise OR” strategy to push for sustainable growth of PTT OR. “Rise” stands for result, intelligence, synergy and entrepreneurship.
PTT OR under his leadership would push for tangible results of its operations and would make prudent decisions, embrace synergy with all agencies of PTT and would operate in a spirit of entrepreneurship, he said.
Disathat said that PTT OR under his leadership would focus on three main policies:
Synchronisation for ecosystem: The company will synchronise its energy businesses and lifestyle to strengthen the OR ecosystem.
Synergy for impact: PTT OR will have synergy with all businesses of PTT to make it more positive for all stake holders so that they can grow together.
Sustainability for the future: PTT will use three measures — “Small”, “Diversified”, and “Green” — to pursue sustainable growth.
Under “Small”, the company will provide opportunities to communities near PTT OR’s outlets to improve their quality of life, Disathat explained.
“Diversified” will explore growth opportunities, including seeking more partners and innovating new products and services.
“Green” will involve a push for low carbon business areas through all businesses of OR so that it could reach the goal of carbon neutrality by 2030 and net zero by 2050, Disathat said.
He added that PTT OR under his leadership would also develop an ecosystem for electric vehicles, which is the future trend.
Deputy director Kirati picked to take over as next AOT chief
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2023
Airports of Thailand (AOT) Plc deputy director Kirati Kitmanawat has been selected as the new director, a source said on Wednesday.
Kirati, an AOT deputy director in charge of engineering and construction, will replace Nitinai as AOT chief when he completes his term on April 24.
The source said a subcommittee in charge of salary negotiation will negotiate with Kirati on his salary and perks before his contract is sent to the State Enterprise Policy Office for approval.
The employment contract would be signed by next month, the source added.
According to the source, Kirati was picked because he had the highest score among four candidates with 95 points, while the next best candidate had 91 points.
Kirati got his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University. He later got his Masters and doctorate degrees in engineering from Tokyo University.
Thai court orders Malaysian allegedly behind scams to be deported to China
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023
A Thai court has issued an order for a wanted Malaysian businessman to be extradited to China to face charges in connection with fraud, Bernama news agency reported on Wednesday.
The court through a virtual hearing on Wednesday said Tedy Teow Wooi Huat, Penang-born founder of the Mobility Beyond Imagination Group (MBI), can appeal against the verdict within 30 days.
Both China and Malaysia have requested his repatriation, after being allegedly linked to a slew of scams.
Teow, wearing a brown prison uniform and a surgical face mask, appeared on camera from the Bangkok Remand Prison, accompanied by prison officers, Bernama reported.
He was calm throughout the hearing and after the judge read the verdict asked, “Can I appeal?”, the news agency said.
Malaysian media has reported that Beijing police wanted Teow for questioning after 400 investors in China filed a suit in a bid to recover investments worth some RM100 million ( 765 million baht, S$31 million).
In 2019, some 100 Chinese nationals allegedly cheated by the MBI’s group online pyramid scheme staged a protest outside the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Last year, Malaysian police smashed a syndicate involved in a Macau scam said to be linked to Teow and his two sons, the media reported.
The group was believed to have set up shell companies to launder ill-gotten gains before using the money to buy high-end properties in Malaysia and Thailand, and invest in cryptocurrencies totalling more than RM336 million ( 2.57 billion baht ), The Star reported.
Teow was arrested in a police raid at MBI’s office in Dannok, Sadao near the Thai-Perlis border on July 22 last year.
Is time up for feasts for ghosts of Korea’s patriarchal past?
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023
The Korean tradition of ancestral rites has been passed down through generations for thousands of years. But it may be only a matter of time before the ritual disappears for good.
The lighting of incense, circling of rice wine and bowing before a table of assorted food items offered to one’s dead ancestors are called “charye” on major holidays like Seollal (New Year’s Day) and Chuseok, and “jesa” on their death anniversaries.
The tradition itself means well. By performing jesa to honour their forefathers, Koreans believed the souls of those who brought them to the world protected them. It’s also an occasion that brings together extended family members to share memories of deceased parents or grandparents.
But the way jesa is prepared manifests some archaic traits in the strictly divided duties and hierarchy between men and women.
As if to symbolize the vestige of traditional gender roles still lodged somewhere in Koreans’ minds, men play the external, ceremonial roles in jesa, while women do most of the actual work.
As the host of the jesa ceremony called “jeju,” the male head of the family begins the ritual by kneeling before the altar to light a stick of incense, which invites the ancestors to the table.
His helper, usually the next man in lines like the jeju’s younger brother or son, pours the wine into a cup for the jeju to circle it over the incense three times. Then the jeju kneels and bows twice. A few other men do the same.
Ceremonial details vary across families, but in some households, women, despite having toiled away from dawn to prepare food for the charye table, are not allowed to bow at all.
Ki Seo-kyung in her mid-40s remembers the shock she felt as a child when her paternal grandmother told her to move over so her grandsons could bow during charye.
“I grew up with my maternal grandparents who treated sons and daughters equally. … It was the first time I was told to step aside because I was a girl,” Ki said.
Many women who grew up without facing palpable gender discrimination, at least at home, say the first Seollal, Chuseok or jesa at their in-laws’ was a jarring experience.
It can be their first encounter with strange or unpleasant relatives, the amount of kitchen work the women of her husband’s family do while the men rest in the living room, or difficulty understanding why the senior women are not willing to change anything. Even if the in-laws don’t perform ancestral rites because they are protestants, they still gather and feast on Seollal and Chuseok.
Korean women have been making strides in professional spheres over the past decades, but women still feel pressured, often by themselves, to keep excelling at their domestic jobs as mothers, wives and daughters-in-law at the same time.
It is partly because they grew up being influenced by their parent’s generation who had more clearly divided gender roles, in which the women took care of the kids as well as her and her husband’s families so that the men could focus on their careers.
The asymmetric strain on women has its roots in agrarian and Confucian Korea of the past where a son-in-law was treated like “a guest forever” — as the old Korean saying goes — while the role of a daughter-in-law was to carry on the family line or work like a servant, as some older women bitterly recall.
Young couples nowadays often share domestic responsibilities, but on Seollal and Chuseok, they’re shoved into a time machine headed back to the 1960s.
At these ironically festive occasions of large family gatherings, the new brides feel obliged to follow the unspoken but visible rules of the clans they married into — the wider the gap with her family by birth in terms of gender equality, the greater the displeasure.
“Even if they say ‘you don’t have to do anything,’ you can’t just sit idly when your husband’s aunt in her 60s is washing tons of dishes,” said Cha Ah-young in her 30s.
As for the numerous septuagenarian women who have stuck by the tradition of jesa for decades, some of them actually believe in spirits, or that honouring the ancestors is the reason their family are doing well.
“My mother-in-law told me, as if she’s doing me a great favour, that when it’s my turn to host jesa, we should do it without inviting the aunts and uncles,” said Oh Young-mi in her 40s.
“It’s like she wants me to promise to give her jesa when she passes away. From her point of view, it’s been really scaled down from decades ago when there was a jesa almost every month because they did it for everyone up to great great grandfathers.”
Oh and most of her peers say they don’t want their children to perform jesa for them.
In a poll of 847 adults conducted by job search website Incruit last year, 94.3 % said the charye table menu should be simplified, a view that Sungkyunkwan, an authority on jesa, has also shared.
A proposal for the eldest women of households that can’t let go of “proper” jesa: Please be fair in distributing the work, and ask your sons and other able-bodied men to help.
Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel runs aground in Niigata
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023
A Japan Coast Guard vessel ran aground in shallow waters off the coast of Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, on Wednesday morning, according to the Niigata coast guard office.
No injuries were reported among the 43 crew members aboard the Echigo patrol ship and there was no danger of it sinking. However, water flooded part of the vessel and oil leaked into the sea.
The Niigata coast guard office said at around 6:35 a.m. the vessel struck a hidden reef about 1.1 kilometres northwest of Shiiyahana Lighthouse, whose light was off at the time.
According to the office, the wind speed was about 10 meters per second, so the vessel might have drifted onto the reef.
“Such a situation is unthinkable under normal circumstances. It may have been caused by human error,” a coast guard official said.
The Japan Coast Guard released a statement saying, “It is extremely regrettable that such an accident has occurred.”
On Jan. 10, a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer struck a rock in waters off the island of Suo-Oshima in Yamaguchi Prefecture and was unable to navigate following the accident.
Ancient Maya cities, ‘super highways’ revealed in latest survey
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023
A new high-tech study has revealed nearly 1,000 ancient Maya settlements, including 417 previously unknown cities linked by what may be the world’s first highway network and hidden for millennia by the dense jungles of northern Guatemala and southern Mexico.
It is the latest discovery of roughly 3,000-year-old Maya centres and related infrastructure, according to a statement on Monday (January 16) from a team from Guatemala’s FARES anthropological research foundation overseeing the so-called LiDAR studies.
The findings were first published last month in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica.
All of the newly-identified structures were built centuries before the largest Maya city-states emerged, ushering in major human achievements in math and writing.
LiDAR technology uses planes to shoot pulses of light into the dense forests, allowing researchers to peel away vegetation and map ancient structures below.
Among the details revealed in the latest analysis are the ancient world’s first-ever extensive system of stone “highways or super-highways,” according to the researchers.
Around 110 miles (177 km) of spacious roadways have been revealed so far, with some measuring around 130 feet (40 meters) wide and elevated off the ground by as much as 16 feet (5 meters).
As part of the Cuenca Karstica Mirador-Calakmul study, which extends from northern Guatemala’s Peten jungle to southern Mexico’s Campeche state, researchers have also identified pyramids, ball game courts plus significant water engineering, including reservoirs, dams and irrigation canals.
This discovery shows that the cultural complexity within the Calakmul region is larger than what experts thought it was, an archaeologist, working at the site Josue Garcia said.
The latest finds date to the so-called middle to late pre-classic Maya era, from around 1,000-350 BC, with many of the settlements believed to be controlled by the metropolis known today as El Mirador. That was more than five centuries before the civilization’s classical peak when dozens of major urban centres thrived across present-day Mexico and Central America.
According to the source, Kirati was picked because he had the highest score among four candidates with 95 points, while the next best candidate had 91 points.
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