“Regarding our route expansion plan for 2019, we will continue to focus on expanding our network to cover the most important destinations throughout the CLMV region in order to support our passengers and our code-share partners,” Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president of Bangkok Airways Plc, yesterday told a press conference.

The plan builds on successes from last year.

“In 2018, we had up to 30 flights per day from airports in Thailand to CLMV countries,” said Varong Israsena na Ayudhya, vice president of the Bangkok Airways sales department.

The airline plans to strengthen its presence at Chiang Mai Airport as a key transportation hub, and will add two new routes this year: Chiang Mai-Krabi and Chiang Mai-Luang Prabang. They will start running from March 31 and April 2 respectively, Puttipong said.

There will be three flights per week on the Chiang Mai-Krabi route starting March 31, with the flight frequency increasing to one flight daily from May 1. Meanwhile, there will be three flights per week on the Chiang Mai-Luang Prabang (Laos) route, according to the firm’s president.

This year, Bangkok Airways will also increase its flight frequency to popular destinations from Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi Airport), starting with the Bangkok-Danang (Vietnam) route, which will increase from seven flights per week to 14 flights starting March 1. As well, the Krabi-Bangkok route will see flights increased from 21 per week to 28 flights, starting from March 31, he added.

The Chiang Mai-Krabi flight will be one way, while the remainder of routes will offer two-way trips.

“Moreover, we will increase the number of our code-share partners. To date, Bangkok Airways is in partnership with 27 airlines around the world, including our latest partner, Philippines Airlines. In 2019, we expect to sign more agreements with two to three more carriers,” Puttipong said.

Apart from expanding flight routes, Bangkok Airways also plans to invest in new aircraft, airport extensions and IT system improvements.

“This year, the company has a total budget of Bt1.815 billion to purchase two ATR72-600 aircraft and aircraft spare parts,” Puttipong said.

The airline will also be adding an additional 20 aircraft to its roster over the next 10 years, he said, not revealing the investment budget needed.

“Newer aircraft have better technology that consumes less oil, lowering our costs in the long-run,” he told reporters.

“We will also renovate the Sukhothai and Trat airports as well as expand their runways, investing Bt958 million and Bt334 million, respectively,” he said, adding that the expansion and renovation are expected to be completed by 2020.

The airline also has IT projects, involving the improvement of passenger service systems and organisation development systems, with an investment budget of Bt193 million, Puttipong added.

In 2018, the company’s total revenue stood at Bt28.746 billion, with net profit at Bt249.26 million, down from last year’s net profit of Bt787.91 million, according from the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

Marketing president Prote Setsuwan said the airline’s strategy of targeting high potential markets in the CLMV region and launching various marketing campaigns through digital outlets, would likely reverse the negative trend seen last year, with positive results expected to show in the fourth quarter of this year.

In 2019, Bangkok Airways aims to increase its passenger numbers by 3 per cent, and revenue from passenger bookings by 3.5 per cent, said Puttipong.

“Passenger bookings make up 74 per cent of total revenue, with other revenue sources coming from the company’s other ventures such as the airport ground services and the catering business,” he said

The Government Savings Bank (GSB) aims to provide Bt5 billion in loans to about 50,000 street-food operators this year, the bank’s president and chief executive officer, Chatchai Phayuhanaveechai, said yesterday.

The easy access to credit will help street-food operators improve their business and reduce non-performing loans in the segment, he said.

According to the bank’s survey, the market value of street foods in the country is worth about Bt40 billion a year.

Under the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox, the technology enables an upgrade of the bank’s verification process and accuracy toward international standards. Now available for customers at Krungsri branches, the facial recognition for e-KYC will also be deployed when customers open their passbook via mobile application by the end of the second quarter.

The breakthrough technology reflects the bank’s commitment as a leader in digital banking and innovation development for ultimate customer satisfaction, said Phonganant Thanattrai, Krungsri head of retail banking and distribution group.

The identity proofing process using facial comparison will enhance the security of identity verification, reduce risk of mistakes in the proofing process, and prevent identity theft and fraudulent transactions, while maintaining a convenient and speedy process for account opening, said Phonganant.

In its initial state, the facial recognition technology will be adopted when customers open a deposit account by matching the cardholder’s face to the photo on their citizen ID card as presented at the branch.

Krungsri staff will use the comparison result to when considering allowing a passbook account to be opened.

Meanwhile, Krungsri is planning extensive use of facial recognition technology for opening an account via a mobile application within the second quarter of 2019, Phonganant said.

The funding will enable Horganice to accelerate customer acquisition as well as adding new services to digitise rental properties, propelling Thailand into a digital era, according to Beacon.

Thanapong Na Ranong, managing director of Beacon VC, announced that the seed-financing investment on Tuesday. Horganice is a startup that provides rental properties management technology for apartments, dormitories and markets. The investment sum was not disclosed.

Beacon VC’s investment provides an opportunity for Horganice to build technical capability as well as to collaborate with KBank in order to acquire new customers and leverage innovative financial services. Those services, such as payment systems, can “provide fast, efficient, and convenient product offerings to Horganice’s customers, especially those outside of Bangkok which are Horganice’s target market,” said Thanapong in a release.

Horganice represents the seventh direct investment and the first seed round investment by Beacon VC. Its most recent investments include Thailand-based wealthtech company Jitta, Southeast Asia’s leading cross-border payment company InstaReM, and ride-hailing and financial services unicorn Grab.

The partnership with KBANK will enable Horganice to offer seamless financial services to tenants, property managers and property owners, and thus leveraging KBank’s leadership in digital banking. Collaborative initiatives that have already gone live this past year include online bill payments and new loan offerings.

KBANK and Horganice have also been working closely together to bring knowledge on smart property management in the digital era to small and medium businesses (SMBs) across Thailand.

Horganice has had great reception from the market and is now serving around 3,000 properties, covering more than 130,000 rooms across almost every province in Thailand, according to the release.

The company was founded by a group of aspiring young entrepreneurs and has received many national awards from notable organisations, such as the Winner Award of Startup Thailand Pitching Challenge Chiang Mai in 2017.

The company initially started out providing management software to university dorm owners before extending their product offerings to include cloud-based internet of things (IoT) hardware solutions, and expanding coverage to wider customer segments including hospital dorms and markets.

Established in 2015, Horganice offers both smart property management software and hardware-based automation products that reduce management costs and allow dorm owners to run their businesses easily and efficiently.

Passengers can travel from March 3 – May 31 for domestic routes and from Marhc 3 March – June 30 for international routes.

In addition, THAI Smile passengers will be provided with food on board, right to reserve seats in advance and free baggage allowance for weight up to 40 kg. For more information, call 1181 or 02-118-8888.