The campaign, in which all commission and fees will be waived from April 15 to May 15, is applicable to existing Lazada partners as well as new ones, chief marketing officer Paradee Sinthawanarong said.

The businesses will also be allowed access to other Lazada services such as the live streaming application LazLive.

The e-commerce platform also launched the YesICan campaign in the beginning of this month to encourage entrepreneurs to switch to selling online.

With people having to stay at home to prevent the spread of the virus, up to 60 per cent more customers are visiting Lazada, and are spending at least 11 minutes browsing the website on average.

Over the past month, up to 26,000 new businesses have joined Lazada, bringing the total number of businesses showcasing their products on the website up to 200,000.

“Lazada has experienced overall growth from mid-March to mid-April,” Paradee said, adding that Lazada orders rose by 100 per cent while the trading value increased by 130 per cent compared to February and March. The best-selling products are electric appliances, kitchenware and toys.

Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said on Thursday (April 16) that the new discounts will run from today until June 30.

The products in the list include rice, palm oil, instant noodles, milk, frozen food, condiments, toilet paper, talcum powder, toothpaste, toothbrush, sanitary napkins, soap, shampoo, face cleansers, detergent and dishwashing liquid among others.

Wattanasak Sur-iam, deputy director-general of the Department of Internal Trade, said the drop in petrol price has not contributed to the discounts, because logistics cost has only dropped by between 1 and 3 per cent.

“It is our intention to alleviate people’s hardship during this period and help the public. The price of petrol is not related to this,” he said.

IsWhere is a combination of Google maps and Facebook works by location-based which allows Merchants to update information and promotions by themselves directed to customers near the business vicinity. IsWhere.com just recently launched the Digital Temple Thailand to help 40,000 temples to reach Buddhists near them. Customers can select from categories such as F&B, Services, Shopping, Entertainment and Temples and quickly find information and deals and communicate quickly to the business to get the products and services. This is extremely important during this crisis.

Covid Business Recovery Project has already gained commitment from, and is working with AIS Business, Teleinfo Media, Office of National Buddhism (ONAB), including Ministry of Commerce (Nakhon Pathom), Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG), Thai Coffee Association to invite all merchant members to use IsWhere to promote their business. We welcome more organisations to join this project.

Terence Mak, CEO and Founder said: From Covid-19 situation that happened to retailers over the world, all merchants need to go digital in order to survive and continue their business. IsWhere platform is designed to help retailers of all sizes to promote their product and services. Businesses with many locations can create different promotions to cater to the location demographic. Merchants can register for free and be listed on the platform to let consumers discover them. For unlimited promotions per month, merchants only need to pay a low fixed fee beginning from 500 baht. However, to help merchants during this crisis from now until end of June merchants can use all the features of the system including unlimited promotions for free. There are no other fees payable. Consumers can download our app on Google Play & IOS App store.

IsWhere is now open for merchants from F&B, Service, Shopping, Entertainment and Temple categories to join, other categories will be opened soon. Merchants can register for free here at iswhere.com/signup or call 02-262-8855 or email: iswhere@teleinfomedia.co.th

“Increasing the temperature of devices during summer affects people’s usage of electrical appliances, such as using air-conditioners and electric fans for long hours, or opening refrigerators more often,” she added. “We advise users to maintain electrical appliances in good condition to make them safe for heavier usage and to save on power bills.”

Phasuk further added that the optimal power efficient temperature of an air-conditioner during summer is 26 degrees Celsius or higher. “If you feel that is not cool enough, try turning on an electric fan towards the persons in the room,” she said. “An electric fan will create more airflow and increase wind velocity, which will help you feel as cool as 24 degrees without lowering the setting on the air-conditioner.”

She suggested that air-conditioners be cleaned at least twice a year to reduce accumulated dust that could lower maximum efficiency, besides sanitation reason especially when respiratory diseases are the main public concern at the moment.

“Make sure to check electrical wires for any damage, install a ground wire if you haven’t already done so. Also, unplug your appliances when you finish using them or when you are away to save on power bill and prevent electrical fire.”

For further information on safe and efficient electricity usage, visit MEA’s Facebook page, Line: @meathailand and Twitter: @mea_news or contact MEA call centre on 1130 at any time. Users can also download the MEA Smart Life mobile application via App Store and Google Play Store to get access to a variety of services of MEA.

Boonchai Chokwatana, chairman of Saha Pathanapibul, said the masks will be delivered to the ministry in several lots and are being produced by businesses under the Saha Group banner.

The contribution, aimed to help medical personnel combat the spread of Covid-19, will be divided among Chulalongkorn Hospital, Siriraj Hospital, Ramathidodi Hospital, Rajavithi Hospital, Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute and the Thai Red Cross Society.

CP said the aim is to equip medical personnel so they can meet the standards when it comes to treating Covid-19 patients.

“Today we provided 2,000 protective suits worth Bt1.4 million and 40,000 face shields worth Bt1 million,” a CP official said.

CP’s senior chairman Dhanin Chearavanont had previously donated several sets of protective suits, including goggles and shoe covers, to doctors, nurses and other medical personnel at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital.

“CP and its associates want to provide encouragement to all medical personnel who are making sacrifices and putting themselves at risk to help people,” the official said. “The company is determined to provide assistance from all aspects and help Thailand overcome this crisis.”

This world-class technology will strengthen Thai medical staff capabilities to cope with COVID-19 pandemic effectively.

The AI-assisted solution based on HUAWEI CLOUD technology is co-developed by Huawei and HY Medical, a China enterprise that is a leading expert in the AI medical industry, focusing on medical imaging through artificial intelligence, with the technology of computer vision and deep learning. This technology leverages the computer vision and medical image analysis technologies to segment the multiple pulmonary ground glass opacities (GGOs) and lung consolidation and make quantitative evaluations through CTs of patients’ lungs. It can provide result of image analyzing as quick as 25 seconds per case, can help doctors more accurately distinguish between early, advanced, and severe stages of COVID-19. In addition, more than 20 hospitals in China has adopted this technology to handle the COVID-19 and after continues training and optimization, the solution has become more efficient with classification of accuracy rate at 96% and with DICE score higher than 85.

The 5G network will enhance effectiveness of medical service in hospital by guarantee quality of high-speed connection, high reliability and low latency. The healthcare system will benefit from improved response times with more 3-4 times uploaded efficiency compared to WiFi, patient monitoring, data collection and analytics, remote collaboration and resource allocation. It also sets an example for digitalized, data driven and Cloud-based innovative major public emergency response.

Recently, Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co., Ltd., provided the AI solution for COVID-19 diagnosis to Ramathibodi Hospital and delivered Huawei Telemedicine Video Conference Solution to Ministry of Public Health of Thailand, as part of its plans to help coping with COVID-19 situation. The solution is real-time and full-functional teleconference system that can facilitate Thai medical staff to work smoother, doctors can monitor and diagnose patients from everywhere through their own smart devices. More importantly, this reduces risk of infection for Thai medical team.

Charvanin Bunditkitsada, JWD’s executive committee chairman and CEO, said due to the pandemic, consumers are becoming more careful about their health and safety, which is why JWD hired an expert in integrated disease control to find a way to eradicate all viruses, bacteria and mould at its facilities. The newly employed automatic intelligent UVC robot can accurately and completely kill viruses, bacteria and mould in five to seven minutes through UVC rays. This technology is normally used in operating theatres, sterile rooms, water- and air-treatment plants to name a few.

As for reports that the rate of storage has risen two to three-fold since February, JWD said that there is more demand from online businesses that require additional storage space in downtown Bangkok.

It also said that a large number of contracts have been signed for its Thien Ruammit and Ramintra branches, while its fifth branch on Rama IX will be open for business in June.

The Siam branch of JWD Store It is open 24 hours, while Art Space, which apart from providing space for storage also provides integrated logistics for art works, is open until 7pm and located near the National Stadium BTS station.

The MEA has prepared a plan to support electricity distribution during the period of increasing electricity usage in residences. The MEA is working to manage electricity systems to be stable, sufficient, safe and continuous.

In preparation for the high electricity usage, the MEA has maintained and Inspected electrical equipment including change of equipment on electricity poles and other related operations. Also, the MEA has a project to move the aerial electrical system underground, which is ongoing. A project is also being implemented to increase electricity distribution via high-voltage power lines to support the demand for electricity in key business areas that are constantly expanding, help stabilise the electricity distribution system, reduce the physical risks that may occur to high voltage electrical lines on the ground such as accidents, as well as reduce the effects of seasonal storms while having backup electrical systems installed in important locations, Phasuk said

The MEA’s power management system uses SCADA technology and DMS systems to automate power supply, helping to manage, inspect, analyse and operate pressure control systems and provide efficient and safe electricity distribution. In addition, FFM (Field Force Management) is also installed to resolve power failure conveniently, quickly, and accurately, Phasuk said.

People can report power outages through the MEA Smart Life Application that can take pictures, mark location on the map, and coordinates with staff who standby 24 hours, making MEA’s electricity distribution systems efficient, secure, and fully prepared for any situation.

For further information, visit https://www.mea.or.th/content/detail/87/5323 or contact MEA Call Centre 1130 or Line @meanews.