Chong said in an interview that the clinic has partnered with Sea Lion Group, a leading medical referral service in Myanmar, to introduce preventive medical services to enhance health and wellness of people in Thailand’s neighbouring country.

“The rising interest of Myanmar people in preventive medicine is music to our ears, as we have expertise and the capability to follow this new healthcare trend,” he said.

“It is perfect timing, with preventive medicine emerging as a new healthcare trend for people nowadays to adjust their lifestyle to avoid getting chronic diseases. Previously, the hospital business used to be based on the traditional healthcare model of curing unhealthy people.”

Chong said BWC decided to choose Sea Lion Group as its strategic partner for Myanmar due to the latter’s deep understanding of the market and local customer behaviour. Other factors included its long-time relationship with Bangkok Hospital, a major hospital of the BDMS Group.

“They are keen on the market, and have dedicated teams for medical consultancy and customer service. Having a good command of knowledge regarding medical terms and procedures is really important, and they have a comprehensive background in the healthcare industry, medical products and services. Their performance has led us to a strong partnership,” Chong said.

“In this cooperative venture, both of us have the same goal – we would like to see Myanmar people remain healthy, to live long and happy lives, by adopting the new health care concept that puts the emphasis on disease prevention.”

Chong expects to receive more customers from Myanmar thanks to the partnership that has been strengthened since signing a pact in late January.

“With our expertise, extensive network and services combining Sea Lion as a medical referral hub in Myanmar, we will be able to take care of Myanmar people through that channel,” he said.

According to Chong, the partnership ensures one-stop service and convenience for Myanmar people who want to go to Bangkok for medical check-ups and treatment. With its extensive local client base, Sea Lion will provide comprehensive medical tourism services, including air tickets, limousines and health services in response to customer needs.

“Currently, our plan is targeting the referral model to refer Myanmar customers to Thailand for high-quality medical services. Since BWC was established with a full range of premier preventative care facilities and international standards in wellness, we want Myanmar people to experience the sophisticated services we provide,” he said.

Though BWC currently has no plans to build a hospital in Myanmar yet, it will train Sea Lion’s medical team on regenerative medicine later this year. Both parties will also introduce wellness medicine to medical practitioners and local people in Myanmar.

“We foresee positive outcomes from preventive medicine in Myanmar by 2020 and beyond,” said Chong.

However, the TRA said, this concession process must be open, transparent and not monopolistic. It also said that average concession fees should comply with the international standard of 30 to 40 per cent, instead of the current 15 to 18 per cent, as it will help earn greater revenue for the country.

On Wednesday, the AOT board of directors passed a resolution on the terms of reference (TOR) and approved the guidelines for granting concessions at airports.

It also approved in principle the selection of duty-free and commercial operators, though no actual details of the TOR have been released.

Worawoot Ounjai, TRA president, said the association was pleased that the AOT board listened to its suggestions and agreed to improve the methods of granting commercial rights at airports.

“However, we want to propose that duty-free concessions should no longer be a monopoly, but be open to many players.

“TRA wishes to reassert that strongly disagrees with the ‘master concession’ system announced by the AOT management for the duty-free concession at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. TRA has always proposed the advantages of dividing concessions by category, such as fragrances and cosmetics, fashion and apparel, liquor and tobacco, and electrical appliances. It had even submitted a letter to the prime minister, requesting careful consideration of the proposals. TRA will continue to maintain the facts proposed to the general public and all relevant stakeholders about the advantage of concessions by category, which is the most suitable system for Suvarnabhumi Airport,” he said.

Worawoot explained that Suvarnabhumi is a large international airport with masses of passengers passing through, so there should be transparency and efficiency. He said this will also boost growth in the tourism sector, as people will find it easier to find their favourite products.

“We also believe that categorising will bring as much as Bt50 billion into the country every year, in relation to increased per capita tourist spending and more arrivals. Also, Thais will do their duty-free shopping in Thailand,” Worawoot said.

“Airports in other countries have many duty-free operators, while Suvarnabhumi is dominated by just one,” he said, citing Incheon Airport, which has 12 operators. Similarly, duty-free at Hong Kong International Airport is run by four companies, three in Singapore’s Changi Airport, and four in Tokyo’s Narita.

Even Phnom Penh airport has three duty-free operators even though it relatively small, he said.

“In Thailand, we have three-times more tourist arrivals than South Korea, yet duty-free sales in Thailand is six-times less than in South Korea,” Worawoot pointed out.

TRA also believes that combining the TOR for duty-free stores in Suvarnabhumi with the airports of Chiang Mai, Hat Yai and Phuket is inappropriate, as each airport is different. The three provincial airports are only 1,000 to 1,200 square metres in size, so a master-concession system for them would be more suitable, he said.

Located in downtown Bangkok, LGT will offer a unique set of investment and wealth management services to high net worth individuals and corporates in the country.

Commenting on the announcement, HSH. Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, CEO LGT said, “We are delighted to start operations in Thailand and look forward to offering full-fledged wealth management services to high net worth individuals, their families and corporates here in Bangkok. We see Thailand as an important growth market, and the establishment of an onshore presence reflects our ambition to continue our growth path in Asia.”

According to the press statement, headquartered in Vaduz/Liechtenstein, LGT is the largest private banking and asset management group in the world that is wholly-owned by an entrepreneurial family, the Princely House of Liechtenstein. As per mid-2018, LGT managed assets under management of USD 207.5 billion on behalf of wealthy private individuals and institutional clients. In Asia, LGT is ranked the 12th largest Private Bank with over USD 60 billion assets under management.

HSH Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein added: “Our stable ownership structure, our international network, personal approach, as well as our advisors’ comprehensive experience in managing substantial family assets, is what distinguishes LGT. Our clients can invest like the Princely Family, and thus benefit from our investment expertise. This results in a natural alignment of interests between ourselves and our clients.”

LGT’s subsidiary in Thailand will be known as LGT Securities (Thailand) Limited. A team of investment consultants and investment planners will provide investment and wealth management services to Thai clients from the Bangkok office and complement LGT’s existing private banking efforts in Hong Kong and Singapore.

“The opening of our office in Bangkok is another strategic milestone for our steady development in Asia,” commented Henri Leimer, CEO LGT Private Banking Asia. “We have recorded very pleasing growth in recent years in the region and significantly increased our assets under management. Thailand is a rapidly growing market with extremely interesting opportunities. With our local presence in Bangkok, we can now advise and support our Thai customers even better on-the-ground.”

LGT’s Thai market expansion is overseen by industry veteran Karn Karuhadej, who has close to 20 years’ experience in private banking. The local office in Thailand will be led by CEO, Ekkapob Makeguljai, a homegrown career banker who has over 16 years’ experience in financial services and wealth management. The team will consist of experienced local and international wealth managers.

The company said in a press release on Thursday that the factory will focus on manufacturing sanitary wares and also assembling washlet for supporting high-end market.

The factory began construction of the new factory began in May, 2017, and is expected to start operating in April this year. It is expected to operate 24 hours, six days per week with a production capacity is 420,000 pieces per year.

​Located beside the first factory in Nong Khae, Saraburi, the no.2 factory area is 68,000 square meters. The advanced production machines are accurate and effective, with high pressure casting machines which make the casting process more stable than the conventional process.

TOTO group said it expects Thailand to be the largest sources of production in Asean with high quality products from the factory that will be accepted both quality and world standard concerned every step.

In addition, they must be passed TOTO standardisation that is more difficult than any standard around the world, under deep control and verification especially TOTO products checking 100 per cent of every single piece.

Based on the TOTO Global Environmental Vision, will realise a Green Factory that is environmentally friendly, utilising the most advanced technologies and knowledge of the TOTO Group, making efforts to achieve zero industrial drainage by using reclaimed wastewater, installing sensor LED lights activated by human movement to save electric power, installing a cutting-edge tunnel kiln that is highly energy efficient, increasing burning rate by using remained heat from tunnel kiln, and installing the gas scrubber used for the treatment of waste gas pollution.

In Thailand, there is no law enforcement to install the gas scrubber, but this installing is according to TOTO group policy. All of these can guarantee that TOTO group aims to continuously invent and develop environmentally friendly products.

​Takayasu Shimada, vice president of TOTO (Thailand), said the group has a desire to revolutionise the sanitary world. Elegant design is harmoniously combined with intelligent functions and advanced innovations. TOTO group releases new Neorest series – luxury and smart toilet series – which is equipped with advanced technologies to provide users the greatest comfort.

“TOTO is confident that Thailand’s potential is continuously growing. In 2018, TOTO group’s global sales is Bt174 billion. Sales proportion is; Japan Bt125 billion, overseas Bt40 billion, and new business domains Bt8 billion. In 2019, TOTO Thailand targets to grow not less than 20 per cent per annum,” said Hiroyuki.

“If deals with all seven firms are finalised by the end of this year, an investment of approximately US$50 million [Bt1.5 billion] will be required,” Sam Tanskul, managing director of Krungsri Finnovate, said.

“This year, our goal is to become the best banking corporate venture capital [CVC] firm in Asean, with a focus on AI and data analytic startups,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

So far, a deal has already been sealed with one of the new firms – a Singapore-based start-up called Silot, which develops QR code-payment systems and is developing AI to help banks streamline their operations. Silot has already developed a QR code-payment system for Krungsri Bank, he said, adding that Krungsri Finnovate has invested $2 million in the company so far.

“Between $1 million and $5 million will be invested in each of the five new firms, while investment in startups that are already in Krungsri Finnovate’s portfolio could be worth more than $5 million,” Sam said.

He said Krungsri Finnovate’s investment budget from mid-2017 to date stands at $30 million and if all the deals are finalised this year, he will have to ask the board of directors for more capital.

“We expect negotiations to be finalised by the second quarter, which means investment capital requests will have to be handed in to the board of directors by the third quarter,” Sam added.

Krungsri Finnovate will also hold roadshows in 12 cities this year, including Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore and Seoul, to seek collaborations with high-potential startups.

“Our priority has always been to focus on Thai start-ups, but now there are fewer high-potential startups here. This is why we are looking in the Asean and Asia-Pacific regions to find potential new tech firms to partner up with,” Sam said after the press conference.

Krungsri Finnovate will, however, continue to empower the Thai start-up ecosystem via its Krungsri Uni Start-up project, he said. This year, it will work with Abac University to launch the “Krungsri Uni Start-up Abac Hackathon”, focusing on deep technology such as AI, blockchain and data analytics.

“Investing in tech-startups is beneficial because they can help banks streamline their operations and in turn, lower their operating costs,” he explained.

It wants to increase the number of startups moving from seed funding to series A financing and on to series B funding. It believes that with this support, some startups of unicorn status will emerge in the next three to five years.

Startups under the A Academy programme of dtac accelerate are in line to receive funding from Google, 500 Startups and venture capital funds in Asia.

The programme helps startups to gain the chance to secure US$100 million in funding, with the support enabling one of them to become the first Thai unicorn.

Sompoat Chansomboon, managing director of dtac accelerate, said the prospect of increased investments in startups would be a game changer. “If there are a lot more series A and series B startups in Thailand it will make a greater impact for the benefit of the country’s economy,” said Sompoat.

Less than 10 per cent of Thai startups have moved on from seed funding to a series A round. “But 25 per cent of dtac accelerate startups have made this progression,” said Sompoat.

The A Academy programme will help create opportunities for Thai startups that are stuck in the Series A bottleneck, said Sompoat. Now, they can get closer to funding sources in Asia and other parts of the world.

The A Academy will help these startups reach the series A round of financing by focusing on their preparations for a mega-funding round, connections with customers, and the adoption of advanced technologies, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), in their operations.

In this programme, the leading venture capital companies of Asia – including 500 Tuktuks, Golden Gate Ventures, Line Ventures, KK Fund, and Monk’s Hill Ventures – are invited to share their knowledge about fundraising, financial management, and other matters.

With the collaboration with Google Launchpad Accelerator, the programme makes use of Google’s executive workshop called the Leaders Lab to provide training for startup teams. Experts in machine learning and AI from Amazon Web Service and Google Cloud will also contribute.

Elsewhere in dtac’s startup efforts, the dtac accelerate batch 7 offers a course called Incubator Track, for startups that have ideas but have not progressed to operations, and another called Accelerator Track, which is aimed at startups seeking rapid growth.

The goal of dtac accelerate batch 7 is to look for businesses that adopt technologies to develop solutions for a variety of industries, such as healthcare, agriculture, real estate, energy, e-commerce, tourism and insurance.

Alexandra Reich, chief executive officer of Total Access Communication PLC (dtac). said dtac accelerate is the key to dtac’s mission to go beyond connectivity and build strong industry ecosystems that can support 5G sustainably.

“As startups constitute critical building blocks to the industry verticals we are invested in, such as smart farming and smart vehicles, dtac accelerate also supports our internal transformation very directly, providing mentorship for our employees to embrace more agile ways of work,” said Reich.