In Chiang Rai, new art exhibit shows life is all about light
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 09, 2022
A new exhibit at the Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park in Chiang Rai focuses on the restorative power of light, while aiming to raise the northern city’s profile.
The exhibit of installation art – “Light of Life” – showcases 20 pieces from six artists. It is organised by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, which is trying to promote tourism beyond major cities and develop Chiang Rai as a destination for art tourists.
The exhibit also marks the debut of light-focused installation art at the art and cultural park operated by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation.
Artist Pol Huiprasert said that the lights in the exhibit cast off a range of temperatures, adding: “From the temperature of light bulbs to the sunlight’s temperature, the warmth of light creates human life and helps us move forward.”
Mom Luang Panadda Diskul, CEO of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation, said Chiang Rai has extensive natural and cultural heritage. The exhibit aims to help people see the city and its surroundings in a new light, the CEO added.
The exhibition is open to the public from 4pm to 10pm, Tuesdays till Sundays until January 29. For more information visit the Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/maefahluangartandculturalpark) or call 053-716 -6057.
Tesla sees swift sales in Thailand as consumers snap up over 5,000 units in 3 days
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2022
American electric vehicle maker Tesla has had a swift start in Thailand, with consumers reserving more than 5,000 units of the two models it is selling here within three days of their debut last week, the company announced on its Thai website on Saturday.
It has been inundated with reservations and questions since opening its website for reservations on December 7 for its Model Y and Model 3 vehicles, said executives at the Thai unit of the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) maker by market capitalisation.
Tesla Thailand also made headlines this week by announcing it would only require a 4,000-baht deposit for each model. The company also confirmed that the first batch of 1,500 units will be delivered from February.
Tesla Model Y has three types, with prices ranging from 1.95 to 2.5 million baht. The more affordable Model 3 also has three types, priced from 1.75 to 2.3 million baht.
Tesla has yet to officially join the government’s EV subsidy programme, although the Excise Department said on Friday that it is in talks with Tesla about the programme.
Under the scheme, EV automakers are entitled to subsidies and cuts on import duties of up to 150,000 baht per vehicle priced below 2 million baht, and up to 800,000 baht per vehicle selling for more than 2 million baht.
Department director-general Ekniti Nitithanprapas said on Friday that more than 25,000 EVs will be sold in Thailand this year thanks to the subsidy programme, which has already distributed 81 million baht from its total budget of 2.9 billion baht.
Thailand 2nd biggest market for Porsche in the world
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 09, 2022
Thailand has proved to be the “second biggest” market after Norway when it comes to Porsche’s electrified Cayenne models.
Last year, 70% of the 1,500 Porsche vehicles sold in Thailand were hybrid-powered CayenneSUVs, a huge jump from the 670 Porsche vehicles sold here in 2020.
Asked to comment on how Porsche, once regarded as a high-end supercar manufacturer with a handful number of sales in Thailand each year, rocketed to become a household name, Peter Rohwer, managing director of Porsche Thailand, attributed the success to modern technology.
“In the past Porsches might have been expensive sports cars to buy, but today new technology such as hybrids and EVs has helped to bring the prices down (due to special tax breaks),” he said, adding that offering engine sizes of no larger than three litres also help in minimizing retail prices.
Rohwer said Thailand is Porsche’s largest market in Southeast Asia and is the “second best market in the world for electrified Porsche Cayenne vehicles, which is a big achievement.”
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic or the semi-conductor crisis, Porsche has been enjoying increased sales globally. Last year it delivered 301,915 vehicles worldwide, an increase of 11 per cent, while sales in Asia-Pacific markets surged by a record 51 per cent, with strong sales coming from the Taycan EV.
Earlier this year the company also started CKD assembly of the Cayenne in Malaysia, which has helped to lower retail pricing by up to 30 % in Malaysia.
Rohwer says that Porsche is seriously looking at the South East Asian countries, which promise a large customer base as well as investment opportunities, particularly in resources needed for manufacturing EV batteries.
According to Rohwer, who has been working in Thailand for 28 years, today Porsche customers in Thailand are getting younger, with as much as 35 per cent of buyers being female.
“In the past, the average age of Porsche buyers was 55 years old but today it has dropped to 42, which means that there are a lot more customers out there,” he said. “Entrepreneurs are becoming younger and they like a strong image when it comes to the cars they drive.”
That explains a large number of visitors to the Porsche booth at the ongoing Thailand International Motor Expo. A total of 11 Porsche models are being displayed and sold at the event, which goes on until December 12 at Challenger IMPACT Muangthong Thani. But in fact, first-time Porsche buyers need not even go for new cars, Rohwer said.
“Used Porsches are also available for 2-3 million Baht, such as the Macan or Cayenne,” he said. “The 718 is the entry model and if you can afford a used one, it will be your entry into the Porsche world.” AAS Autoservice co. ltd offers 15 years Porsche factory pre-owned warranty.
Rohwer says the typical Porsche customer doesn’t have just one, but two to three Porsches.
“They love cars, love driving,” he said. “And we sell dreams, dreams that come true. Good dreams.”
Qatar Airways to add more flights to Bangkok, manager for Indochina says
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2022
Nongluck Ajanapanya
Qatar Airways will continue to add more direct flights from Bangkok to Doha, as well as other prime destinations worldwide, as the aviation industry gradually recovers from the pandemic, according to Bennet Stephens, the carrier’s newly appointed regional manager for Indochina.
Qatar Airways will add one more direct flight between Doha and Bangkok on Thursday, raising the number of direct flights per day to four, Stephens said. (Before the pandemic, Qatar Airways operated seven daily flights on the route.)
Stephens said Qatar Airways would continue recovering next year and then enter a growth phase.
“We see our airline recovering 50% this year and expect to recover 70% next year,” Stephens said.
Demand for international travel is rising significantly with reservations increasing, particularly for the Christmas and New Year holiday season.
Stephens said Qatar Airways is optimistic about the industry’s future, agreeing with a forecast by the International Air Transport Association that the global airline industry could return to profitability in 2023.
The association forecasts that airlines will make a small net profit of $4.7 billion in 2023 – the first profit since 2019, when the industry earned $26.4 billion.
Although the airline industry as a whole is doing well, Stephens said issues of concern remain. First, fuel prices have risen from $60 to around $120 per barrel of oil. This can affect some carriers, but is within the range Qatar Airways can handle, Stephens said.
Travel restrictions are the second issue, Stephens said, adding that some countries may suddenly tighten border controls due to covid-19.
Stephens said he was confident that Qatar Airways’ span – 150 destinations – young fleet and premium services would keep it among the world’s top carriers.
AirAsia back to growth phase with the launch of a new low-cost airline in Cambodia
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 09, 2022
AirAsia Aviation Group Limited (AAAGL), the aviation arm of Capital A Berhad, today signed a Joint Venture (JV) agreement with Sivilai Asia to establish AirAsia Cambodia, a new low-cost airline in the Kingdom of Wonder.
The new airline will further cement AirAsia’s brand in Cambodia and Indochina, providing AirAsia with greater access to its domestic market and most importantly connecting it to the international markets across Asean, North Asia and beyond.
This new airline will allow AAAGL to operate in the various existing markets where it already has presence and operations to build scale, network connectivity and further reduce the cost of operations. AirAsia Cambodia aims to further stimulate the Cambodian aviation and tourism industries, launch exciting new destinations, create jobs and bring a truly low-cost operation to the country.
The JV was signed by Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A and Vissoth Nam, Director of Sivilai Asia at Rosewood Phnom Penh on Friday
Subject to obtaining the relevant regulatory approvals, the JV is expected to commence operations in late 2023.
Tony Fernandes said: “Capital A continues to focus on Asean where we know best and our brand is the strongest. Cambodia is the fifth Asean country where we are continuing our march of being the region’s number one mover of people and cargo, and providing a linchpin of economic growth for Asean countries. The value of AirAsia’s network is an insurmountable asset; it will be another flag of extensive connectivity in Cambodia and into the region, namely China, India and North Asia.”
Vissoth Nam said: “As one of the first countries to open up international travel with no quarantine in November 2021, Cambodia has led the way in Asean’s air travel recovery journey post-Covid, with the rest of countries in the region following suit. Today, we are proud to be the catalyst for a new low-cost airline operating from Cambodia.
Bo Lingam, Group CEO of AAAGL said setting up a majority-controlled JV in Cambodia is a natural step for the Group as AAAGL is the largest foreign airline and the second largest airline group overall operating in Cambodia in terms of capacity. Pre-pandemic, AirAsia operated 90 weekly flights from Malaysia and Thailand and is currently flying about 49 weekly flights to Cambodia.
AAAGL operates five routes to Cambodia from Kuala Lumpur to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, from Penang to Phnom Penh (starting 23 January 2023) as well as from Bangkok (Don Mueang) to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.
Since entering the Cambodian market in 2005, AirAsia has carried over 10 million guests to and from Cambodia.
Russian opposition politician sentenced to 8.5 years in prison on ‘fake news’ charges
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2022
Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced in court to eight-and-a-half years in prison on Friday on charges of spreading “false information” about the army.
Yashin, 39, was tried over a YouTube video released in April in which he discussed evidence uncovered by Western journalists of Russian atrocities in Bucha, near Kyiv, and cast doubt on the official Moscow version that such reports had been fabricated as a “provocation” against Russia.
Since Russia sent thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24 in what it calls its “special military operation”, it has intensified its clampdown on public dissent, with most prominent opposition figures either in jail or exile.
The legislation was passed days later, providing for jail terms of up to 15 years for disseminating “false information” about the military.
In a defiant post on his Telegram channel, Yashin urged his supporters to continue opposing the military operation.
“With this hysterical verdict, the authorities want to intimidate us all but, in fact, it only shows their weakness. Strong leaders are calm and confident. Only weaklings try to shut everybody up and scorch any kind of dissent,” he wrote.
“We have no reason to be sad – you and I have won this trial, friends …
“We told the truth about war crimes and called for the bloodshed to stop … Today, I can only repeat what I said on the day of my arrest: I am not afraid, and you must not be afraid. Changes are just around the corner.”
Jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny slammed the verdict as “shameless and lawless” in a post on his Twitter account, which is managed by his team in exile.
“Ilya Yashin, we are all proud of you. Russia will be free and so will you,” Navalny wrote.
Yashin, a longtime friend and ally of Navalny, rose to prominence during a wave of anti-Kremlin protests in 2011-12 and was elected head of a Moscow district council in 2017. He has been repeatedly blocked from standing for higher office.
As supporters chanted “Freedom for political prisoners!” outside the courtroom, Yashin’s lawyers told them he would appeal.
In his final statement to the court this week, Yashin had appealed directly to President Vladimir Putin, describing him as “the person responsible for this slaughter” and asking him to “look at the consequences of this monstrous war” and “stop this madness.”
“The words ‘death’ and ‘destruction’ are now firmly associated with your name,” he said.
“You have brought terrible misfortune to the Ukrainian people, who will probably never forgive us.”
China’s newly-delivered C919 passenger jet sees 1,000 delivery orders
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2022
China has seen more than 1,000 orders on its first self-developed C919 passenger jet from 32 airline companies so far.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) delivered the first C919 large passenger aircraft to China Eastern Airlines in Shanghai on Friday morning.
The aircraft features a 164-seat configuration with a two-class cabin layout, including eight business class seats and 156 economy class seats. Cabin interiors, passenger seats, onboard entertainment systems and aircraft exterior livery are custom-designed.
China Eastern Airlines will carry out more than 100 hours of testing flights on this new aircraft to verify and confirm the operational safety, maintenance reliability and various operational support capabilities. The aircraft is expected to get an official operation license if all results and data of the testing flight meet the requirements of the China Civil Aviation Administration.
The plane conducted its successful maiden flight in 2017. It obtained the type certificate in late September, which indicates that the C919’s design meets airworthiness standards and environmental requirements.
The aircraft delivered on Friday is the basic type of the C919 series, and development on C919 aircraft will be continued in the future.
Asean and South Korea pledge closer cooperation on vaccine security
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 09, 2022
Neena M.L.
South Korea has pledged to contribute towards vaccine security in Southeast Asia as part of the South Korea – Asean partnership in the Indo-Pacific Region through cooperation and collectively responding to the challenges of Covid-19 and other diseases.
The South Korea – Asean solidarity initiative has been launched to expand the relationship not only for political, economic and social issues, but also to tackle global challenges such as the pandemic, health security and climate change.
Speaking at the the 2nd Vaccine Cooperation Forum in the Indo-Pacific Region, held in Seoul on December 7, South Korean Vice Foreign Affairs Minister Cho Hyun-dong said, “Over the past three years, we have experienced first-hand the importance of united action against the common threat of Covid-19. We have learned the effectiveness of joint response and the importance of equitable access to vaccines and treatments.”
Southeast Asia acted quickly and launched the Asean Covid-19 Response Fund and the Regional Reserve of Medical Supplies, making a rapid region-wide response possible. Asean also took leadership in the region’s recovery by adopting the Asean Comprehensive Recovery Framework. However, the South Korean vice minister stressed: “Further cooperation is still critical to deal effectively with possible future outbreaks. South Korea has provided strong support to Asean members for vaccine security, providing US$6 million [208 million baht] to strengthen detection capabilities. South Korea recognised the importance of sustained financing to prepare for future pandemics by pledging to donate $30 million to the World Bank’s Finance Intermediary Fund.”
Despite many countries currently treating the Covid-19 as an endemic, it continues to disrupt the world with its many variants and sub-variants. Dr Tore Godal, the founding CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance & Special Adviser to the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), emphasised that developing effective and safe vaccines that can tackle the issues is important in terms of sustainability and security, especially in the Indo-Pacific Region to prevent and protect against not just Covid-19 but other diseases that may arise.
Godal, the keynote speaker at the forum, said South Korea and Asean have high potential in this area. “South Korea has a lot to offer. The country has its unique vaccine institutes and companies that are internationally recognised, such as the KBIOHealth [Osong Medical Innovation Foundation] and SK Bioscience; Global Innovative Vaccine and Biotech Company. Both are internationally oriented. While, Asean is very active, for example, Indonesia has Biofarma, Thailand contributes and delivers with high commitment towards research while Vietnam also offers capacities as a good vaccine production base.”
Thailand, as a member of the forum, raised important issues in the global challenges on why vaccine security is crucial and how Asean and South Korea can create a sustained framework.
The representative from Thailand, Dr Sunate Chuenkitmongkol, deputy director of the National Vaccine Institute (NVI), talked about the importance of vaccine and immunisation that is well recognised as one of the most cost-effective public health measures in prevention and control of severe infectious diseases. The Covid-19 pandemic, which took millions of lives in the past three years, has raised the demand for vaccines while the world faces vaccine shortages.
Speaking on the issue of vaccine security, Sunate said that it must be conducted in a sustained and uninterrupted way to smoothly supply and ensure the quality of the vaccine.
“It doesn’t mean that every country has to produce vaccines on its own, but every country should be able to access the vaccine whenever it is in demand,” she said.
Thailand’s perspective on ensuring vaccine security involves several key factors:
Work on vaccine policy in the country
Strengthen research and development, infrastructure in the country
Act as information and integrated vaccine knowledge and management centre in the country
Networking and training vaccine experts
Among regional initiatives, Asean adopted the Leaders’ Declaration on Asean Vaccine Security and Self-Reliance on November 2, 2019, two months before the Covid-19 pandemic began. This initiative aims to integrate and develop collaboration on vaccine security amongst Asean members.
She said that during the pandemic, the demand far exceeded supplies. She said high-income countries are in a better position to access vaccines than middle- or lower-income countries.
Regarding implementation of the AVSSR Strategic and Action Plans 2021 – 2025, she said the NVI had received financial support last year from the Republic of Korea Mission to Asean and the Asean Secretariat to organise an “Asean-ROK Vaccine Webinar to support Regional Priorities and Advocacy on AVSSR” to find a constructive direction, solution for vaccine security and improve research in a sustained way so as to be prepared for future global challenges.
Japan, UK, Italy get together to develop new fighter aircraft
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 09, 2022
Japan, the United Kingdom and Italy plan to jointly develop a fighter jet for their air forces with the aim of deploying it around 2035. A joint statement was expected on Friday.
Japan’s aim is to introduce a successor to its F-2 fighter in the mid-2030s when the aircraft will be retired, and the UK plans to deploy the Tempest, successor to its mainstay Eurofighter Typhoon, in actual combat by 2035.
Since Japan and Britain have almost the same performance requirements, such as stealth features and high-performance radar, and their development periods overlap, governments decided to make final arrangements for joint development. The UK is joining hands with Italy to develop the Tempest.
The development team is expected to be led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd and BAE Systems, a major British aerospace and defence company. The team will oversee the overall design of the aircraft and system development, and the Japanese side has been able to secure the flexibility in modifications that they had been emphasising. Italy is expected to have Leonardo, another major aerospace and defence company, participate in the project, along with other companies.
The three countries aim to procure a total of about 300 aircraft for themselves and to export the finished product overseas.
In Japan, the Three Principles of Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology and operational guidelines have been a stumbling block to exports, and the government and ruling parties have been in close talks to review them.
Prayut promises to free Thailand of corruption, introduce transparency
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 09, 2022
The government is placing greater emphasis on fighting corruption to ensure Thailand’s development is smooth.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha made this declaration at an event marking International Anti-Corruption Day on Friday at the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)’s headquarters in Nonthaburi.
December 9 has been earmarked as International Anti-Corruption Day by the United Nations in a bid to boost awareness among people and fight graft in many countries.
Prayut said Thailand’s economy, society and politics are mired in corruption, adding that the country’s weaknesses are horse-trading for power, bribery, legal loopholes and non-transparent budget allocation.
“Corruption is a threat to the country,” he said. “We cannot allow the younger generation to inherit these sins.”
He said the battle against corruption has been included in his government’s 20-year national strategy, and that the authorities are working hard to ensure all operations are transparent.
“I am paying close attention to punishing all wrongdoers, no matter whether they are in government or are influential people,” he said, adding that a delay in legal action equals injustice.
He also vowed that the government will cooperate with several agencies to wipe out corruption so the country’s development can run smoothly.
“The public has to be determined to avoid receiving wrongful benefits,” he said. “We will have to eliminate corruption as it deteriorates the country’s development.”
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