The company collaborated with IMAX Corporation and Advanced Info Service (AIS) on the centre, which became the seventh of its kind in the world.

With screening beginning today at Paragon Cineplex, the virtual reality centre has been launched to “meet the demand of the digital generation who love new exciting technologies with exclusive content”, the company said.

The IMAX VR features what the company calls premium technology and world-class content that lets users see, feel, move and play in new worlds in an immersive and realistic way, much like IMAX cinemas offer moviegoers a differentiated film experience.

Equipped with VR headset technology, 360-degree sound and sophisticated room tracking, players will be instantly transported into new virtual worlds that are more realistic than anything imaginable. IMAX VR leverages industry-leading VR headsets for its performance – including the StarVR, HTC Vive and Oculus.

The IMAX VR centre consists of eight pods, designed and optimised for virtualised environments and be able to adapt to the experience of each content. It is available for single- and multi-user.

Of special interest is Glostation, pod 3, a new hyper reality escape room VR experience that allows up to four players at a time to compete as a unit with free-roam mobility.

“Being a leader in the lifestyle entertainment business, we are constantly developing and bringing new cinema innovations to Thailand,” said Vicha Poolvaraluk, chairman of Major Cineplex Group. “We want customers to experience the new and modern entertainment continuously, including IMAX, 4DX, Screen X, Projector Laser for sound system and image, and LED Cinema Screen is coming soon at Paragon Cineplex.”

The primary target groups of IMAX VR are those interested in innovative technology such as teenagers, first jobbers and tourists. Other than that, the increasing number of gamers are also eyed.

“The IMAX theatre is widely recognised for its sound system and large screen. Nowadays, technology keeps developing including virtual reality. IMAX, best known as a pioneer of immersive, high-fidelity movies, is pushing into virtual reality in the name of ‘IMAX VR,” said John M Schreiner, senior vice president of IMAX Corporation.

Schreiner said that the potential of IMAX in Southeast Asia is very strong.

“There are markets, which are under penetrated, not only from an IMAX perspective but from a movie going perspective. Countries like Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia and Indonesia are the market that I expected to see growth in the coming years,” he said.

“Our goal  for the next three years remains the same in terms of global expansion. We are now operating in 75 countries, installing more than a hundred new theatres a year. We continue to grow at a fast pace.  In Southeast Asia, the market are very active right now in places such as  Singapore, and we are expanding with Major in Cambodia, and expect  to have more IMAX theatres in Vietnam and the Philippines, and possibly in Indonesia. There are lot of opportunites in the region,” added Schreiner.

He said that the outstanding point of IMAX VR is its content. John Wick Chronicles and Justice League are two of the offerings that have been specially made for IMAX VR.

“IMAX gives a priority to its content and they are working with many content developers including distributors and studios from Hollywood to create the high quality VR experience at their centre around the world. IMAX VR AIS at Paragon Cineplex will be providing new interactive experiences for players, with each experience lasting around seven to 30 minutes,” he said. IMAX spends more than US$50 million to keep developing the VR content.

The company said IMAX aims to stimulate the VR industry by developing VR content with high quality, with up to 25 content offerings planned within three years. Computer manufacturer Acer is also an investor.

IMAX also plans to develop a 360-degree camera with movie quality for VR images, this project is under development with Google.

Funding for the project will come from Acer, a  major player in the computer industry. IMAX is also developing  a 360-degree camera with the same quality as cinema movies for VR images in collaboration with Google.

Pratthana Leelapanang, chief consumer business officer of AIS, said the company is focused on all aspect of technological developments.

“We have been studying how to grow hydroponics plants at our closed-end plant since last year,” said Vanchai in an interview with The Nation recently. “We will start our investment in the hydroponics plant this year with the Bt20 million budget as we target health-conscious consumers.”

The plant will be established on a site of about 10 rai near the company’s solar farm in Pathum Thani’s Klong 4 district

Vanchai, 61, established his own business 20 years ago with registered capital of Bt1 million when he saw an opportunity in the garment industry.

“I drew on my experience as a worker in the textile industry and had learnt enough to realise that I could open my own business,” he said. “So I made the switch from being an employee to an entrepreneur by using the equity in my house to get a loan to start the business.”

After getting the textile business under way, Vanchai branched out into making signs for companies. That started when a friend told him about a foreign company that needed a supplier to produce signs for its business in Thailand and asked him whether he could take that on.

“I learned how to do signage and then accepted the proposal,” Vanchai said. “This was a big change for my business and I started out at a time of strong demand for corporate signs 20 years ago.

“My sale revenue increased from an average of Bt150 million a year to Bt300 million. My customers include auto firms, petrol stations, transport companies and the like.”

The key to success in business is to do what customers want, he said, and then keep learning how to develop and improve products that match with customers’ demand and keep up with environmental changes.

With his success in the signage business, Vanchai expanded his investment to Bt100 million to start the solar farm after his company gained a licence from the Energy Ministry in 2016. The company built the solar farm with a capacity of 1.75 megawatts on a 20-rai plot in Klong 4 district of Pathumthani. The total site covers 30 rai.

The solar farm began operating in 2017 and generated sales of Bt25 million that year.

“We estimate a return on our Bt100 million investment in the solar farm will come in about seven years,”

Vanchai also landscaped the area around the solar farm and it is now has a solar track for people to enjoy cycling.

As for the hydroponics plant, Vanchai is looking forward to making a start on the investment this year and also plans to open a restaurant that serves nutritious food in |catering to health-conscious consumers.

“We believe that people are increasingly concerned about their health and the environment and we see a good opportunity to go with this trend in the market,” he said.

Heat technology producer Stiebel Eltron has reported the highest turnover in the company’s 93-year history. The German group of companies, headquartered in Holzminden, has broken through the 500-million-euro mark for the first time.

“This is a fantastic success of which we are proud of ,” said managing director Dr Nicholas Matten. “Half a billion had become almost a magical threshold, which we have finally exceeded as we near the end of last year. I want to thank all our employees, who made it possible,” added Dr Kai Schiefelbein.

The company’s former record turnover was 483 million euros in 2012, its second highest turnover was 478 million euros in 2016. The increase last year was based on growth in all relevant business units: the renewable energy division with heat-pump heating systems and air-conditioning systems, and the water-heating division with instantaneous water heaters, small and floor-standing storage heaters. “What’s more, we experienced growth in both our home market in Germany and internationally,” said Dr Matten. The final balance of accounts for 2017 will be confirmed at the end of the first quarter of 2018.

Stiebel Eltron Asia closed 2017 with a 8-per cent sales growth and a 11 per cent increase in the amounts of units sold. The continuous growth is in line with the company’s target to double their turnover in the next five years. In 2018, Stiebel Eltron will continue to strengthen brand recognition amongst consumers and expanding their sales channels nationwide.

40 DOT volunteers to serve foreign visitors

The Department of Tourism will provide 40 volunteers with foreign language skills to assist visitors at the popular Un Ai Rak Khlai Khwam Nao winter festival at the Royal Plaza.

Anan Wongbenjarat, Director General of the Department of Tourism (DOT), Ministry of Tourism and Sports, noted that the spectacular festival at the Royal Plaza and Sanam Sua Pa has been attracting not only Thais but also a large number of foreign tourists through the years. .

In collaboration with the Public Relations Department, DOT is providing 40 volunteers to assist all visitors.

Equipped with foreign language skills, they will able to assist international visitors in fully enjoying various activities at the festival, said Anan. The volunteers wil be stationed at the information counter on February 9, 15, 21 , 27, and March 5 11.

To provide all-day assistance, the first group of 20 volunteers will be on duty between 9 am and 4 pm. The second group will be at work from 4 pm to 9 pm. On Fridays and Saturdays, service hours are extended to 10 pm.

The “Un Ai Rak Khlai Khwam Nao” is a new royal festival to showcase Thai identity through the beauty and charms of traditional Thai way of life and traditions. The festival runs until March 11, 2018. It features spectacular flower and fountain gardens, exhibitions on the royal works of King Chulalongkorn and the late HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, as well as various activities to showcase traditional Thai way of life in the past.

Push for tourism with ‘Hula Hula with Coca-Cola’

Coca-Cola is putting a new face on its products sold in Thailand in time for the summer season.

The soft-drink giant’s new campaign, “Hula Hula with Coca-Cola this summer”, will feature 24 new package designs, TV commercials, out-of-home media advertising, a “very uplifting summer anthem” videos and other content.

“Our starting point for this ‘Coke for Summer ‘idea came from the realisation that so many of the world’s best summer destinations are in Thailand, and that we often forget just how special they are,” said Claudia Navarro, Marketing Director of Coca-Cola (Thailand) Ltd.

“We therefore chose 24 of the most popular spots and developed designs that relate to iconic symbols from each of these places. We are hoping Thais will have fun collecting them, or finding the one that means the most to them and sharing it with someone special back home.”

Thai power industry invited to India

An Indian electrical exhibition has reached out to particularly invite the Thai power industry to this year’s annual exhibition in Delhi, highlighting the trade opportunities in electricity-associated industries for both countries.

“Thailand will need to invest significantly in its energy system over the coming two decades as it has set a new renewable energy target of 30 per cent of total final energy consumption by 2036,” said Harish Agarwal, vice president of the Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA), which organises Elecrama 2018, one of the world’s largest electrical exhibitions.

“The Thai government has long recognised the importance of alternative, especially renewable, energy sources and the need to introduce programmes in support of renewable energy development and deployment,” he said on a recent trip to Bangkok sponsored by the Indian government.

“Additional efforts are being made for strengthening and expanding transmission infrastructure.”

Elecrama 2018 will cover the entire spectrum of electricity including generation, transmission, distribution, power electronics, renewables, electric transportation, power storage and automation.

It will be held in India March 10-14 20 at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida, Delhi.

JLL said the award was given in recognition for the firm’s strong overall performance, following in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research conducted by Frost & Sullivan’s analysts who then evaluated key benchmarking criteria including growth strategy, above-market growth, share of wallet, growth sustainability and customer ownership experience.

“This is the first year JLL in Thailand has participated in Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Awards programme and we are very pleased to have won the Thailand Facilities Management Growth Excellence Leadership Award,” says David Willcox, head of integrated facilities management at JLL Thailand.

“The award well reflects the continued growth of our facilities management business in Thailand. Today JLL is the Kingdom’s largest international facilities management service provider. We are managing approximately one million square metres of corporate facilities on behalf of many leading multi-national and Thai companies,”

The 2018 Frost & Sullivan Facilities Management Growth Excellence Leadership Award is the first industry recognition JLL in Thailand has received in 2018. Last year, the firm was named by Global Brands Magazine as Thailand’s best property management brand. In Euromoney Real Estate Survey 2017, JLL won top votes as Thailand’s number one overall real estate consultant for the seventh consecutive year and also top votes for research and valuation in the same survey. At Asia Pacific Property Awards 2017, JLL in Thailand was also named an award winner in the property consultancy category.

Globally, JLL has received a number of major recognitions this year. For instance, the firm was again named to Fortune magazine’s 2018 World’s Most Admired Companies list and has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the 2018 World’s Most Ethical Companies for the 11th consecutive year.

Summer Lasalle is a new low-rise office development under the theme office campus. There will be five campuses.

The completed project will consist of three areas including office campus, community mall and a three-star hotel. The project is located in Sukhumvit-Bangn area, near Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center (BITEC) and can be accessed from the Bangna and Bearing BTS stations within 20 minutes of Suvarnabhumi airport and Bangkok’s CBD.

The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2018. the company forecasts that will be completed in three to five years.

The team was selected in recognition of their work on the M-Stamp by 7Rewards loyalty campaign for 7-Eleven Thailand. The competition recognises the most innovative mobile experiences from companies across APAC. Some 150 campaigns were listed for the contest, featuring global brands including Samsung, MasterCard, KFC, Disney, Ford, Sony, Walls, Johnson & Johnson, Universal, Lego and Nike, to name a few. Of the 3 Thai campaigns shortlisted, 7-Eleven was the only one victorious.

The winners were selected by a panel of over 20 judges consisting of directors and digital leaders from brands including McDonald’s, AirAsia, Grab, L’Oreal, Sephora, Clarks, Porsche and Procter & Gamble.

The winning M-Stamp campaign digitized 7-Eleven’s popular stamp collection scheme. The campaign, which will return later this year, allowed users to collect stamps on their smartphone to enjoy a more gamified digital experience and more convenient way of collecting. This innovation effectively bridged the gap between the online and offline experience, enabling customers to maintain ongoing interaction with the brand both in and outside the store.

However, the rating is constrained by the company’s small business scale, geographical concentration, concerns over the age of its existing ferry fleet, and the possibility of a significant rise in financial leverage from its fleet expansion plan.

At the same time, TRIS Rating has assigned a rating of “A” to Ticon’s proposed issue of up to Bt6,000 million in senior unsecured debentures. The proceeds from the new debentures will be used to repay existing debentures and used for working capital needs.

The ratings reflect the company’s strengthened balance sheet following a sizeable capital increase through a private placement.

The ratings continue to reflect the company’s record in developing ready-built factories (RBFs) and warehouses for rent, plus the recurring cash flows it receives from rental contracts and its geographically diverse assets. The ratings also take into consideration the slow recovery in investment, which may reduce demand for industrial properties.

This addition to the UPS Worldwide Express package portfolio provides guaranteed, time-definite delivery for urgent, international palletized shipments over 150 lbs.

The company said delivery is door-to-door in as few as 1-3 days, with customs brokerage included.

“Our time-definite solutions allow UPS customers to be more efficient in meeting the needs of their customers across key trading lanes,” said Russell Reed, managing director of UPS Thailand.

“This expansion will help Thai businesses be more competitive by delivering market-leading service through UPS’ enhanced smart global logistics network.”