People interested in buying into the GHB saving lottery can open a saving account with Bt500 from today until August 15. The bank will randomly select savers on August 19, 2019. The lottery saving scheme has a total of 27,000 units, the bank’s president Chatchai Sirilai said on Monday.

He added that bookings for the lottery saving must not exceed five units per person.

The three-years saving lottery offers an interest rate 1.4 per cent a year and entry into a lucky draw on the 16th  every month over 36 months for a prize of Bt200,000.

Reservations can be made from today until September 15 for travel until September 30, 2019.

Set to open in mid-2021, it is only 50-minutes’ drive from Phuket International Airport and a 10-minute walk to Patong Beach and the bustling Bangla Walking Street.

X2 Vibe Phuket Patong Center will offers 323 guestrooms, all-day dining restaurants, café and bar, meeting room and fitness facilities. Key features include specially designed family rooms, a state-of-the-art kids club and a large adult swimming pool with sunken DJ Bar, underwater speakers, relaxing music and cocktails.

The announcement follows the debut of X2 Vibe Phuket Patong in September 2018 and the signing of Away Phuket Le Coral in May 2019.

Cross Hotels & Resorts chief executive Peter Lucas said the company was very pleased to be signing a contract for its third hotel in Phuket.

“It is a significant milestone to be adding X2 Vibe Phuket Patong Center to our growing portfolio of hotels in Phuket – officially recognised as one of Asia’s and indeed the world’s best places to visit,’’ Lucas said.

“Phuket has been clearly identified as a key target destination for Cross Hotels & Resorts now and into the future,’’ he said.

“We operate distinct and aspirational brands for scalable and sustainable growth and have a strong pipeline of future acquisitions in place. The signing of our third hotel in Phuket is very exciting and only the beginning of what we have in store for this thriving global destination,” he said.

Cross Hotels & Resorts currently operates 25 hotels across three distinct brands –X2, X2 Vibe and Away in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

The Thai Vietjet representative and Captain Sanong Mingcharoen, Leader of the Thai Pilots Association, held a media conference at The Grand Fourwings Convention Hotel.

“Vietjet is delighted and honoured to support the activity for aviation people in Thailand, which shows our lively spirit to contribute to the community,” the Thai Vietjet representative said. He said the league will be held on August 20 at Grand Soccer Pro fields on Kaset Nawamin Road from 8am to 6pm. Twenty teams from 12 airlines and aviation institutes in Thailand are taking part this year.

THAIPA Airline Pilot League aims to create and strengthen relations among Thai pilots, and harmonise the pilots association with related organisations. The league kicked off in 2014, with different airlines taking turns to host the annual event.

Bank of Ayudhya saw its net profit surge to Bt19.7 billion for the first half, a 58 per cent growth YoY. CIMB Thai recorded a net profit of Bt430 million for the first half, up 19.44 per cent YoY while Krungthai Bank had a net profit of Bt15.4 billion in the first half, up 6.73 per cent YoY.

Kiatnakin Bank reported a net profit of Bt2.69 billion in the first half, down 11.91 per cent YoY. Siam Commercial Bank reported a net profit Bt20.1 billion, down 10.43 per cent YoY while Kasikornbank reported net profit of Bt19.9 billion in the first half, down 7.88 per cent YoY.

Ronadol Numnonda, Bank of Thailand deputy governor for finance institutions’ stability, blamed the slow economic growth, lower demand for loans and reduction in fee income due to increasing use of digital banking by customers for the decline in profits of some commercial banks.

He, however, added that the performance of these banks may recover in the second half when the new government launches measures to lift the economy. In addition, a recovery in the global markets may boost the country’s exports.

Located on a 28-rai plot of land on Bangna Trad Road’s KM 27, the logistics centre is divided into two warehousing facilities.

The first warehouse, occupying 14,000 square metres, has been operating since July last year, while the second 9,700sqm warehouse began operating in April this year.

Susumu Tanaka, president and chief executive of Yusen Logistics Thailand (YLTH), said that due to the ever-changing landscape of the international logistics industry, YLTH has positioned itself as an optimised one-stop shop for air, ocean-freight forwarding, warehousing and contract logistics distribution service.

“We provide customised services in freight forwarding, warehousing and other distribution functions that support customer requirements. Yusen Logistics’ warehousing services are available in most major cities in Thailand with over 300,000sqm of space,” he said.

Tanaka said BLC was established in 1989 on Bangna Trad because of its proximity to Bangkok’s commercial zones and major freight points such as the Suvarnabhumi International Airport and the Laem Chabang and Klong Toey ports.

“As part of the ‘Bangna Core Project’, this newly reconstructed and strategically located full-service warehouse has the advantage of immediate connection to Thailand’s transport network and infrastructure to facilitate business growth and future expansions,” he noted.

“The BLC complex will facilitate Yusen’s capability to stock products based on international security standards. It is in line with our commitment to keep developing ourselves and our logistical facilities to cater and satisfy the requirements of our customers,” Tanaka added.

He said that with consumers’ changing behaviour, the logistics sector has emerged to support the growth of B2B (business to business) customers, covering both manufacturers and traders. It will also support the company’s growth target of 5 to 10 per cent this year.

Peangporn Sroiraya, an executive at YLTH, said the local logistics industry has enjoyed continuous growth in line with the expansion of e-commerce and online shopping in Thailand.

“Thailand will become an ageing society in 10 years. Elderly consumers have high spending power and are quite health conscious. Hence, they tend to buy products that are good for their health. This is quite different from 50 years ago, when Thailand entered the industrialisation era,” Peangporn said.

Ahead of the sale day, Pampers has activated its Baby Treasure Hunt on Lazada – a month-long activity designed to provide baby play opportunities to parents and their young children.

“We are excited to be rolling out our annual Pampers Super Brand Day on LazMall for the second year in a row. Lazada is the one reliable platform through which Pampers can connect with our customers across all six countries in Southeast Asia simultaneously, and engage this region’s parents around the importance of play for a child’s development,” said, Pampers Thailand-Myanmar-Laos new business development and brand operation leader Nitayanan Na Chiangmai.

LazMall is Southeast Asia’s biggest virtual mall andt provides shoppers across the region access to brands and products and services. It is home to over 1,500 brands, of which 150 are global mother and baby brands, including names like Pampers.

“Digitally-savvy parents of babies and young children in Thailand are increasingly researching and seeking out baby-related product purchases online, yet will not compromise on the authenticity of such products. LazMall will continue to provide the highest quality online shopping experience with international mother and baby brands like Pampers, to give busy parents peace of mind when shopping for their young children,” said Lazada Thailand chief marketing officer Thanida Suiwatana.

In the lead up to Pampers Super Brand Day, parents can log on to the Thailand Asian Parent application to participate in the online Baby Treasure Hunt to collect Lazada vouchers that can be applied at checkout on launch day.

Selected young parents will be engaged in an exclusive closed-door event at Power Kids Gym, organized by Pampers to share tips and tricks for baby play development. They will get to meet DJ Bo Thanakaorn and also an influencer for mothers and babies from the Rocky Journey Facebook page.

On July 26, shoppers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam can access the brand’s full collection of nappies for new-borns, babies and toddlers.

Parents can enjoy promotions of up to 35 per cent off and co-partnership privileges from Enfagrow, Johnson & Johnson Baby and Hasbro which includes freebies and vouchers y on Pampers Super Brand Day at LazMall. Parents who purchase from Pampers on Super Brand Day will also stand a chance to win one-year’ worth of diaper supplies.

“Parents create amazing memories with their child in their formative years by bringing their children out to experience the world. Our diapers are designed to give babies more comfort and freedom to move, and we are committed to providing experiences ideal for parent-child bonding and learning,” said Nitayanan.

For the first half of this year, the bank earned Bt15.471 billion in net profit, up 6.7 per cent, with the gain driven by the growth in credit granted by the bank. For the first six months, the net interest margin (NIM), which excludes income from the auction of mortgaged properties, also increased from the same period of last year.

The coverage ratio of the bank’s financial budget, on June 30, increased by 132.83 per cent compared to the end of last year.

Payong Srivanich, president of Krungthai Bank, said that the bank’s NIM increased to 3.24 per cent, up from the 3.1 per cent posted in the same quarter last year. The increase in NIM is result of the bank’s ability to reduce its costs.

For the first six months of this year, Krungthai Bank earned Bt63.635 billion from operational revenue, up 8 per cent from the same period of last year. The bank recorded lending growth of 2 per cent in the first six months compared with the end of last year, with loans to big businesses and smaller firms, as well as finance extended for personal and property loans. Net interest income increased by 12.4 per cent, driven by the auction of the bank’s mortgaged properties, while revenue from other operations increased by 5.5 per cent.

The bank’s non-interest revenue dropped by 2.3 per cent as a result of declining income from bank fees and services. Operational expenses increased 15.7 per cent from the impairment of properties foreclosed.

The increase was largely attributable to robust net interest income (NII) growth.

Strong operating profit translated into a 19.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase in net profit to Bt11 billion in the second quarter (based on unaudited consolidated financial statements), although net profit fell slightly by 1.2 per cent year on year. For the first half of 2019, net profit stood at Bt20.1 billion.

NII in the second quarter rose to Bt25.5 billion, an increase of 7.1 per cent year on year. Strong NII growth was mainly driven by portfolio re-balancing towards high margin lending in addition to total loan growth of around 3 per cent year on year.

Non-NII increased 0.1 per cent year on year to Bt10.5 billion despite a decline in SCB Life’s insurance business. In addition, Non-NII increased 6.6 per cent quarter on quarter as a result of improved recurring fee income as well as higher income from net trading and foreign exchange income and net gain on investments.

Expense growth had decelerated in the second quarter largely due to the absence of the one-off provisions to comply with the new labour law. Moreover, the transformation programme is nearing completion and thus bringing an end to the high investment cycle.

Non-performing loans (NPL) ratio remained stable at 2.77 per cent at the end of June. In the second quarter of 2019, the bank set aside Bt5.9 billion of provisions or 110 basis points in credit cost, bringing NPL coverage ratio to 153 per cent. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio also remained strong at 17.1 per cent.

This hub will be offered as a managed service that will enable the faster delivery of new and innovative real-time payments services, responding to the needs of banks, businesses and consumers across the Asia Pacific. This aligns with the Thai government’s ambitious Thailand 4.0 vision and the Bank of Thailand’s Payment Systems Roadmap, both of which prioritise the establishment of interoperable digital payments infrastructure.

As part of its commitment, MasterCard has announced that it will continue to extend innovative payments applications and value-added services such as Pay by Account, which will enable consumers to make payments directly from their accounts at eligible domestic and international MasterCard contactless and QR acceptance points.

Pay by Account helps banks enhance services offered through digital banking, providing consumers with choice and convenience, including for small everyday payments, underpinned by the trust and security offered by the bank and MasterCard.

MasterCard has a long track record of providing payments services in Asia Pacific, and now, through its acquisition of Vocalink, it provides account-based real-time payments infrastructure to multiple markets in the region. In Singapore, Vocalink has provided the technology behind FAST since 2014, and in Thailand, it has licensed its technology to Thailand’s local switch company, National Interbank Transaction Management and Exchange (ITMX), and was also a strategic partner for the launch of PromptPay in 2017.

PromptPay enables users to pay directly from their bank account using the recipient’s mobile phone number or national ID. According to the latest figures from the Bank of Thailand, PromptPay has had 48 million registrations since its launch. In February 2019, MasterCard also became the first company to partner with the National ITMX to widen the e-commerce acceptance of Thai debit cards in Thailand.

Real-time payments have become increasingly popular around the world for both businesses and consumers, offering an effective, secure and efficient way to send and receive money. As funds are immediately available once the transaction is approved, real-time payments help to improve cash flow, deliver operational improvements, data transparency and accuracy. A global MasterCard survey showed that 85 per cent of financial institutions see real-time payments as a solution to improving efficiencies in the payment system