Norman Gaw, managing director of Kuron Co Ltd, said that Jason was founded in 2004 from a unit within the company responsible for selling small fitness equipment. However, in 2012, the company became more serious about that sector. The importer and distributor rebranded and extended its portfolio from fitness gloves to other highlighted products.

“According to our brand vision, we would like to see our customers have good health, stay fit and firm and be happy,” said Gaw.

“Another achievement we would to add is related to our mission, ‘Jason is where your fitness journey starts’. We want to Jason to be a top-of-mind brand whenever a customer want to start their fitness journey.”

The sector offers a lot of potential.

“The biggest growth sector is health and beauty – every year this segment grows by two digits. The key driving factors are influencers and celebrities, and these two groups have great impact on our trends. Consumer behaviour has changed a lot over the years. We started from just a ‘sport trend’ then we moved to an ‘exercise and fitness trend’ and now with influences from celebrities and key opinion leaders, to ‘sport and fitness brands’. We are now moving to the era of ‘exercise lifestyle’,” he said.

Gaw said that the big challenge now facing Jason is growth of the online market, where many Chinese product have penetrated the market with a strong cost leader model. That has resulted in a price war in the online marketplace, he said.

“Our key strategy to overcome such challenges is to embed ‘value added’ aspects into our product. That is why we are focusing heavily on developing our fitness communities, providing product how-to, fitness knowledge, nutrition guides and motivations,” Gaw said.

“We have a plan to spread the Jason business beyond Thailand. We have already explored Vietnam market. And if we can penetrate that market, we will look further to adjacent countries of Thailand.

Gaw said that Kuron is strongly expected to see growth of 45 per cent on its Jason business this year, largely due to their success in launching the new product, the XST (Jason X-Shape Trainer).

Krit Sakulpanich, the chief executive of DEX, said that compared to Japanese customers who are slow in adjusting to any changes affecting their daily life and culture, Thais are much more adaptable.

Thais find it easier to accept or import innovation into their lives. The number of Facebook and Line members in Thailand indicate the trend well as Thai members are in the top five globally.

Japanese still conform to “catch-up TV behaviour” by recording TV programmes and watching it on weekends or during free time whereas Thai people use the latest technology such as real-time simulcasting or “30 minutes later” catch up TV streaming through Internet after terrestrial TV broadcasting, Krit said.

This national trend has made DEX partner the latest Internet streaming application platform “Flixer”. Currently, more than 300,000 Thai audiences are able to watch thousands of episodes of Japanese TV programmes, not only from Thai TV stations but also from Japanese TV broadcasts.

“We carefully monitor both terrestrial broadcasting as well as Internet streaming platform. Apart from partnering Flixer apps, we will continue broadcasting Japanese high-rated animation and live action programmes for kids in ONE31 digital terrestrial TV slot every Saturday and Sunday. Advertising income will come from synchronising off line and on line media. The income stream in the next five years would be split 50:50 online versus terrestrial TV, while DVD would diminish to zero,” said Krit.

Krit said that DEX plans to release in cinema the latest Crayon Shinchan movie in December and consecutively downstream the movie on free TV and Internet streaming platform. More than five animation and live action movies are being lined up for 2019 including a couple of “Fate Stay Night” sequels. Gundam Narrative, the movie, will also be there for the niche market devoted to robot hobby models.

For TV series, the company will continue broadcasting the latest Gundam Build Diver TV series, Masked Rider Build, Ultraman Geed, and Love Live through weekend slots on digital and satellite TV.

“We expect to have 20 per cent annual revenue growth from the media exposure business unit. Within a couple of years, we believe our TV timeslot in Thailand will be broadcasting the same episodes as on Japan TV. In other words, Thailand and Japan will broadcast the same programme on the same day but dubbed into Thai language in advance of post-production,” he said.

Krit said that under the digital borderless business atmosphere, the Thai market will be catching up with Japan organically and the company would fully benefit by having Japan as the driving force for global marketing.

“Fortunately, our target group are the young generation. They are very familiar with technology gadgets. We just have to shift fast our asset and communication from analog to the digital path. Technology is out there. It is our employees, staff, managers who have to learn how to benefit by utilising these gadgets wisely,” said Krit. “In parallel, we are providing more products and services for our fans on the alternative digital platform. There are still a couple of confidential projects to be released in 2019,” he added.

Krit said the company is conducting research at this moment about penetrating the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam market.

The mobile-service provider will therefore use the full time-line to continue its feasibility study.

The study will be submitted to the board of directors for approval, in line with dtac’s internal process and governance procedures, it said.

The listed company is confident that all necessary steps will be completed for dtac to take the final decision within the NBTC’s submission deadline of October 16.

Rajiv Bawa, the company’s chief corporate affairs and business development officer, said: “We are in the process of a comprehensive feasibility study of the criteria and procedures for the licence. This ensures that our final decision benefits all stakeholders, including shareholders, customers and employees, in the long term.

“Our process is key to maintaining the company’s competitive edge and long-term business value. dtac wishes to thank the NBTC for their understanding and support with this process.”

At the same time, Moody’s affirmed on Monday the bank’s “ba2” baseline credit assessment (BCA) and assigned an adjusted BCA of “ba2”.

Moody’s has also affirmed EXIM Thailand’s counterparty risk assessment of “Baa1(cr)/P-2(cr)” and its local and foreign currency counterparty risk rating of “Baa1/P-2”.

The outlook on the bank is stable.

Proceeds from AEONTS’s issuance will be used for general corporate purposes and refinancing.

The rating is based on the listed firm’s national long-term rating of “A-(tha)”, as the notes represent its senior unsecured obligations, Fitch said on Monday.

TCRB offers innovative products and services designed to meet the needs of small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the country under its vision of being “The Best Micro Bank in Thailand”, chief executive officer Winyou Chaiyawan said on Monday.

Managing director Roy Agustinus Gunara said TCRB was now gearing up for greater growth by reaching out to even more underserved customers across Thailand who can benefit from the bank’s approach.

TCRB currently has more than 300 branches and will expand its network to more than 500 by the end of next year.

All the bank’s relationship managers will be ready to serve the expanded operations, Gunara added.

AIS added that this decision would not affect the company’s competitive advantage as the management has reviewed all possible consequences carefully and thoroughly.

AIS is currently the leader in telecom services and digital technology and possesses the most bandwidth in the industry granted by the NBTC. With the roaming bandwidth from TOT, AIS’s total spectrum amounts to 120 MHz (60 MHz x 2). Its 1800 MHz yields the widest bandwidth at 40 MHz (20 MHz x 2), enabling more than 40 million AIS subscribers to benefit from superior data service at the highest efficiency while also allowing for future growth.

AIS also said that the current amount of bandwidth aligns with the company’s strategic planning in preparation for 5G technology.

The IPO period runs from today (October 8) until Wednesday (October 10).

The company will be listed on the Market for Alternative Investment or MAI on October 19.