Under the MoU, the two medical-service giants will exchange their experienced medical resources and world-class brand offerings, introducing a fast track for Chinese patients through building a comprehensive medical service system.

Established in 1969, BDMS is the largest medical group in Thailand and one of the most prestigious hospital networks in the Asia-Pacific.

The company owns 46 hospitals located in major cities and scenic locations in Thailand and Cambodia, serving Thai patients and foreign patients from the US, Europe, China, Japan, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and elsewhere.

Seventeen hospitals in the BDMS network have been awarded JCI (Joint Commission International) certificates.

Over 10,000 qualified doctors and 8,000 nurses work for BDMS’s professional teams, and many of them are experts in the group’s Centres of Excellence, which specialise in cancer, heart disease, brain disease, trauma and orthopaedics.

The cooperation between BDMS and Ping An Good Doctor represents crucial progress in providing overseas medical services and reflects the advancement of the partners’ pace in globalisation, they said.

It also helps PAGD to find all possible solutions of Internet healthcare, improves the international service network, and establishes a global medical eco-system with partners.

At the same time, PAGD will assist BDMS to deeply engage in the China market by using its huge traffic and rich resources – and as a result, brand trust and equity will rise.

The alliance means Chinese patients can benefit from accurate information to choose a rational medical plan by using PAGD.

More significantly, PAGD said, the cooperation offers opportunities for Chinese patients and introduces premium medical tourism to middle-income patients.

Thus, the cooperation will bring about overseas advanced medical technology to true “no border” resources.

As of June, PAGD was China’s top mobile medical app in terms of penetration rate.

It had reached 228 million registered users, and 48.6 million medical assessment units.

The brand is now available at all Boots stores nationwide.

The value of Thailand’s beauty and personal care market is currently worth about Bt198 billion, and products worth up to Bt64 billion are being sold at supermarkets and hypermarts. This market is growing continuously at 4 per cent per year.

The top five most popular personal care products in Thailand are: skincare (39 per cent), hair care (15 per cent), cosmetics (12 per cent), oral care (11 per cent), and bath and shower products (10 per cent).

“With the incredible success of Boots beginning over a century ago, it’s time to revolutionise this iconic brand through an exciting new chapter. We understand exactly what people want and have developed Boots Brand products based on the needs of our consumers. We found that they want to use personal care products that represent quality together with affordable pricing,” Gerda Lerchner, senior brand manager for Boots Retail (Thailand) said.

“The heart of Boots Brand is ‘Made, Tested, Loved’, which embodies product innovations together with the best quality for consumers at great prices. We are offering over 600 products under the Boots Brand at prices starting at Bt39 across eight product ranges: skincare, hair care, washing and bathing, deodorants and body sprays, depilatories, men’s products, lip-care, and tissue and handy wipes.

“A quality-control laboratory makes Boots Brand stand out. The heart logo is our new seal of approval. It’s a promise to our customers that every innovative product was made to serve their needs.

“We also have plans to launch a variety of new products in the next fiscal year to keep up the momentum and to continue to generate excitement among customers,” she added.

Built on 10 rai of land, the mall will be open all days of the week, giving regular Chatuchak weekend shoppers – both Thais and tourists – a new shopping experience with 700 retail shops spread over 60,000 square metres, its developer Siam Piriya Development Co Ltd said.

Mixt Chatuchak is designed to serve customer demand by maintaining the unique style of the famous Chatuchak market with enhanced facilities under one roof, Siam Piriya said. The mall will provide parking space for 700 cars.

The opening of the mall next year is expected to strengthen SME operators in line with government policy. Interested business operators and retailers can book space in the project. The outlook for the retail industry is very positive, with 97 per cent of customers still shopping in offline stores and shopping malls. In addition, Omni-Channel strategies, providing a unique experience and personalisation also offer good opportunities for the retail industry, the company said.

Miporn Chaiyupatumpa, executive director of Siam Piriya Development Co Ltd, said the company is developing Mixt Chatuchak as the only mall in the heart of Chatuchak Weekend Market. TripAdvisor has named the market as the top shopping spot in Bangkok and it also holds the record as the world’s biggest weekend market.

“We believe the opening of “Mixt Chatuchak” will be well received, as it will complement and strengthen the position of Chatuchak Weekend Market, which is already a globally popular shopping spot. Although consumers are increasingly turning to online shopping, which has seen 8.5 per cent growth in 2018, according to ETDA, the information on consumer spending from Statista and PwC indicate that the majority of shoppers still prefer offline stores – 97 per cent in Thailand, 91 per cent in the United States and 83 per cent in China.

We also see new opportunities for retail business in the digital era that are Omni-Channel, blending shopping in a physical store with the online world, providing a unique experience, and personalisation that meets customers’ demands. We will have SME shops from Chatuchak market in our mall and they’ll be offering a wide range of unique products, which will be accessible everyday, as our shopping mall will be open seven days a week,” said Miporn. Miporn added that Mixt Chatuchak also plans to join hands with startups in the retail industry to offer an Omni-channel experience to keep up with technology in the future.

Sirichai Praphanturakij, executive adviser to the management of Mixt Chatuchak of Siam Piriya Development Co Ltd, said that Mixt Chatuchak would be a five-storey building on 10 rai, with total space of 60,000 square metres. The mall will also have space for holding major events, an area for 300 temporary sales stalls and a food court.

“Chatuchak is very accessible as it can be reached by bus, car and train – both from BTS [Mo Chit station] and MRT [Chatuchak station]. The area has high potential, as Bang Sue is being developed as a railway hub. Bang Sue Grand Station will draw a number of people in the area.

The mall aims to attract customers with a strong mix of retail products divided into 12 different zones comprising women’s shopping, young mothers, kids’ fashion, vintage, accessories, arts, home decor, souvenir and crafts, soaps and spa, leather goods, food & cafe and a marketing events zone with 300 temporary shops,” said Sirichai. Construction is now 80 per cent complete and open for bookings.

The upcoming election will help boost the local economy well into 2019 and RS is not affected by the slowdown in China’s economy. Channel 8’s rating is among the highest in Thailand and an attraction to advertising agencies, the company said. RS CEO Surachai Chetchotisak said the company posted revenue of Bt2.76 billion for the first nine months of the year, which yielded a net profit of Bt381 million.

For the current quarter, the company is confident in the potential of the MPC business, thanks to it being the high season of the year as well as the impending election spending.

Meanwhile, the company is not negatively affected by external factors such as China’s economy and international trade, as the company’s main target is the domestic market.

Telesales

Its call centre 1781 has a strong team of telesales who can close deals quickly and effectively, while Channel 8 enjoys top rating among Thailand’s TV channels. advertising agencies, RS claimed.

RS said t uses four strategies to promote its MPC business: 1) Improve efficiency in the management of its customer database, which has more than a million users and is expected to increase to 1.5 million by the end of this year;

2) Developing new SKUs in skincare category under the Magique brand, haircare category under the Revive brand, and food supplement category under the SOM brand. This December, two new products will be launched, targeting 30-plus customers, namely Magique Herblisse The Radiance Cream and Magique Herblisse The Renewal Serum;

3) New business partners will help introduce new products in the lifestyle category such as home appliances, household utensils, clothes and accessories to add diversity and increase business opportunities. Around the end of this year, a womens wear brand from Japan, HANA, will be imported to Thailand and is expected to be well-received by female customers;

4) Developing new advantageous channels to increase customer base using the 1781 call centre to offer instant shopping, free delivery and cash-on-delivery option, as well as advertising through RS’s own channels such as Channel 8, satellite TV channels and COOL radio station which are superior to competitors and enjoy direct engagement with 15 million customers a day.

The company believes that next year is going to be great for business and is also ready to push Thai movies to the international stage. The company plans to open at least 74 more cineplexes locally as well as in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Vicha Poolvaraluk, chairman of Major Cineplex Group Plc, said Major has opened 94 cineplexes in Thailand and 2 cineplexes internationally – in Aeon Mall 2, Cambodia and another at ITEC Mall, Laos.

Currently, Major Cineplex has 160 branches, 771 halls with 176,435 seats in total, of which 43 branches with 349 halls, and 79,003 seats are in Bangkok and the outer areas; 110 branches with 385 halls and 89,402 seats are upcountry; and seven branches with 37 halls and 8,030 seats are in overseas markets.

In 2018, Major Cineplex screened 313 films: 270 international films and 43 Thai films. In the last quarter of 2018, Major expects revenue boost from many international blockbusters such as “Venom”, “Fantastic Beast 2”, “Wreck-it Ralph 2”, “Aquaman”, and “Bumblebee” Also, Thai films have made a huge contribution this year – “Nakee 2”, for instance, earned Bt450 million while other Thai films like “Homestay” and “Gravity of Love” also were high grossers.

“Although many people see the cinema business as one that will be disrupted by the digital march, the numbers in large markets like the US and Canada show that their business saw more than 10 per cent growth year on year, and the industry surpassed US$11 billion revenue,” Vicha said.

The business is booming even from the low-season of the movie, when there are many top grossing this year are not debut in the summer for example, Black Panther, Venom, A Star is Born. As a result, movie business this year is on the path the hit US$12 billion domestically and should be more than US$41 billion globally,” he said.

Vicha said that Major does not think the digital disruption will impact the business in terms of losing revenue. He said the company has always integrated new technology into its businesses such as 3D, 4DX, Screen X, IMAX VR, and the latest – the first eSports cineplex worldwide.

The digital disruption can help the business boost up their potential and make their company to be closer to consumer than ever, just like the new service Movie on Demand which allow consumers to pick and choose the movie they would like to watch and change from ‘Showtime’ to be ‘Your time’.

Recently Major Cineplex Group was awarded the “Cineconic Technology and Innovator of The Year”, which will be handed over at the CineAsia event in Hong Kong from December 10-13.

Vicha said the company plans to open more cineplexes both locally and internationally in 2019. The company also plans to take more Thai films to the international market.

Considering the Thai population, the number of cineplexes are a mismatch compared to other countries like China, which has 51,000 halls, India has 11,000 halls, Japan has 3,000 and South Korea 2,000 halls.

In 2019, Major plans to open 74 more cineplexes and is targeting a total of 1,000 halls in 2020. The company will screen around 320 films: 270 international films such as “Avenger 4”, “Captain Marvel”, “Spiderman: Far From Home”; and 50 Thai films – 23 of them made by M Pictures, the company under Major Cineplex Group.