Managing director Kridchanok Patamasatayasonthi said the company’s overseas expansion was in line with its vision to be the No 1 player in Southeast Asia in terms of brand awareness in this segment.

She said that in Thailand, Index Living Mall had opened a new branch in Nakhon Pathom in February with 7,500 square metres of retail space. Another store will be opened in Chachoengsao in June with 5,500sqm of space.

“We also plan to open another Index Living Mall store in Bangkok in January next year,” she said.

Outside Thailand, Index Living Mall has opened home-furnishing stores in Malaysia and Vietnam. The first store in Malaysia is in IOI City Mall in Putrajaya. The company opened another store at Aeon Mall in Shah Alam in March, and at Aeon Mall in Kota Bahru last month.

The expansion in Malaysia is via a joint venture with Japan’s Aeon Group. The fourth Index Living Mall store will be opened in Johor Bahru next year.

In Vietnam, the company has appointed a local franchisee to expand its retail network. The first Index Living Mall in Vietnam, at Vincom Mega Mall in Ho Chi Minh City, opened in January, and the second one last month at Vincom Mega Mall in Hanoi.

“We are negotiating with a potential joint-venture partner in the Philippines and a potential franchisee in Indonesia for partnership deals that are expected to be finalised next year,” Kridchanok said.

Index Living Mall posted Bt2.5 billion in sales revenue in the first quarter of this year, a 10-per-cent increase compared with the same quarter last year.

The company targets Bt10 billion in sales this year, up 10 per cent over 2015.

The company has also opened a concept store at Don Mueang International Airport, “Sky Living by Index Living Mall”, with 400sqm of retail space, which showcases its home-furnishing products and accessories to potential buyers, both Thais and foreigners.

After the official opening of the airport’s new Terminal 2 building, which was recently renovated byAirports of Thailand to accommodate the growing number of domestic passengers, Index Living Mall aims to create direct customer experiences by providing a premier passenger lounge designed around a wide variety of room settings, as well as a Kids’ Zone that offers a play area for young children.

Customers can also place an order and make payments onsite, and their products will be delivered to their preferred address by a professional service team.

“Sky Living by Index Living Mall boasts Thailand’s first home-furnishings and accessories store in an airport, and this new marketing initiative reflects Index Living Mall’s commitment to drive the furniture retail sector forward,” Kridchanok said.

Last year, passenger arrivals at Don Mueang International Airport increased by 40 per cent over 2014 to more than 28.5 million, of whom 20 million were domestic passengers and 8.5 million international. It is anticipated that the reopened Terminal 2 building will serve 20 million passengers each year.

She said Index Living Mall continued to develop its retail network, from the first store that opened its doors more than 20 years ago, to the first standalone speciality store in Thailand, to its current 26 retail locations nationwide, spanning 270,000 sqm of retail space.

The company has established footprints in major tourist destinations including Chiang Mai, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, Hat Yai and Phuket.

“And Pattaraphon Boonchai, a mechanical and aerospace engineering student at King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, is the first qualified Thai student to represent Thailand’s young entrepreneur in ente ring the semi-finals,” said Sasamon Sanguansin, president of Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Thailand.

Since 2006, the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) has been organising the GSEA programme to support student entrepreneurs who require mentoring, recognition |and connections to take their businesses to the next level of success.

It is aimed at giving student entrepreneurs the opportunity to accelerate their success, challenge the status quo, connect to an instrumental peer group and make the greatest impact in their community.

In the past, only undergraduates who owned and had operated a business for at least six months were eligible to compete.

However, the Thai chapter asked the global EO to skip that criterion to give more opportunities for students to submit their work without doing business.

From the 50 candidates competing in the semi-finals, only five will be selected for the Global Finals Competition on May 12 at the Centara Grand at CentralWorld hotel.

The grand prize is Bt700,000.

Pattaraphon said that, inspired by his 94-year old grandmother with Alzheimer’s disease, he wanted to invent a rescue robot for the elderly and disabled who cannot walk.

This robot’s arm is fixed with four cameras and was designed to flexible and to prop up the robot’s body, thanks to an auto-motion-detection system.

“This rescue robot offers great mobility, so it can be further developed for various purposes,” he said.

“In the future, I want to carry on the project with the aim [of making] a robot chair for the disabled, such as people with myasthenia gravis,” a neuromuscular disease.

EO Thailand will also host the Global Leadership Conference for the first time, gathering 1,500 EO members to share best business practices.

Founded in 1987, EO is a global peer-to-peer network of more than 20,000 influential business owners with 158 chapters in 50 countries.

EO is a platform that enables entrepreneurs to learn and grow from one another, leading to greater business success and an enriched personal life, it says.

EO provides members access to mentors, offers customised learning programmes and gives them the chance to attend global networking events.

Sasamon said EO Thailand was founded 20 years ago with one chapter and 110 members.

All of them are entrepreneurs from a range of business types.

The member entrepreneurs |can take home value through learning events and in-depth sharing forums.

One of Vichai’s key ambitions has been to develop Leicester City’s fan base internationally and particularly in Asia, while boosting Thailand’s global reputation and capabilities through the management of the club.

Through training with the club’s soon-to-be-implemented local education and coaching programme, he also hopes to put Thai footballers on the world map.

Sugree Sithivanich, deputy governor for marketing communications at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said the agency had begun sponsoring Leicester City four years ago, when the team were in the second-tier Championship.

The club has, however, since moved up rapidly, clinching the Premier League crown earlier this week.

“The TAT decided to sponsor this team because we were confident that they would help raise Thailand’s tourism awareness among their fans in Europe. Moreover, Leicester is a big city, from which the TAT should be able to claim more potential tourists,” he said.

The authority has spent millions of baht on sponsoring the team since the inception of the deal, with the rate paid remaining the same throughout the period.

Even now, despite the rapid growth in the club’s popularity during its fairy-tale success season, there are still no negotiations being held on a new sponsorship rate, he added.

Sugree said the TAT was continuing to gain high marketing value from its sponsorship, because the team allowed it to organise events outside the King Power Stadium, as well facilitating its marquee Thai tourism campaign, “Amazing Thailand”, inside the stadium.

“Each year, Thailand is promoted about 20 times during the team’s home matches,” he said.

The deputy governor also said the TAT had for years been pushing sports as a key tool to drive tourism and help build tourism awareness in both overseas and domestic markets.

The agency spends about Bt30 million annually on supporting a number of major as well as smaller events.

The TAT is planning to separate its sports marketing budget from other marketing for the first time, and expects to implement this “issue-based” approach from next year onwards.

Last year, Thailand welcomed 946,919 visitors from the United Kingdom, some 4.3 per cent higher than the 907,877 received in 2014.

Singha Beer, meanwhile, started sponsoring Leicester City in 2012, when they were in the Championship and two years before their promotion to the Premier League.

Singha last October extended the sponsorship deal with the club for a further three years at a cost of ฃ4.6 million (around Bt236 million). Under the deal, Singha will be an official club partner and sponsor of the Spion Kop Stand, and is the official club beer.

Singha now has partnerships with four Premier League teams – Leicester City, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.

Singha executive director Bhurit Bhirombhakdi said the deal with Leicester City was good for both sides, as the company was supporting a team fully owned by Thais.

“Thai football leagues are gaining in popularity among local audiences, mainly driven by improving performance of Thai national teams. This creates huge opportunities for advertisers and sponsors that want to publicise their brands through these events and local football clubs,” Rattakorn said.

The advertising industry looks like benefiting significantly from the Uefa European Championship from June 10 to July 10 and Summer Olympics from August 5 to 21.

The country’s second-largest TV station, Channel 3, will broadcast the 15th edition of Uefa Euro 2016, which will take place in France. Meanwhile, Channel 3 along with other main free-TV broadcasters including Channel 7, the Army’s TV5, MCOT’s Modernine TV and NBT channel will be co-broadcasters of the Summer Olympic Games, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Such world-class sporting events will boost related business including advertising investment, sport marketing and on-ground activities by at least double from normal periods,” he added.

Amid the economic slowdown, sport-related marketing is expected to play a key role in media industries. Bangkok Entertainment Company (BEC), the operator of Channel 3, agreed that it was also witnessing this growing trend.

“Live sports programmes will be one of the key drivers boosting ratings for Channel 3 and its affiliate networks this year,” Surin Krittiyaphongphun, executive vice president of BEC, said recently.

Apart from the Uefa Euro 2016, BEC plans to air big sports competitions such |as the FIVB Volleyball| World Grand Prix Final in July and MotoGP World Championship.

Bangkok Media and Broadcasting’s PPTV digital channel appears to be aggressively promoting its live sports content to boost its ratings and expand its audience base.

Kematat Paladesh, president of PPTV, said that from the second half of this year, the channel would show live the new seasons of major soccer leagues including the English Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga, Italian Series A, Uefa Champions League and Uefa Europa League, as well as leading soccer tournaments such as the International Champions Cup and Fifa Club World Cup.

Thales has been a partner to Thailand’s armed forces since the late 1990s and has provided the Navy with numerous solutions from sensors to integrated combat systems for various vessels of the fleet.

The company has been awarded the role of prime contractor for an extensive upgrade of two Bang Rachan-class mine hunters built in the late 1980s – HTMS Bang Rachan and HTMS Nong Sarai.

This marks Thales’s first success in the Thai market for underwater systems and sonar.

As prime contractor, Thales will be responsible for the revised vessel design, repairs and modernisation, procurement of equipment and platform integration.

The upgraded ship will be equipped with a machinery control system, navigation systems, upgraded communications capabilities, Sonar TSM 2022 Mk III with M-CUBE command and control and a multi-influence signature range to manage the Navy ships’ signatures.

Thales will work hand in hand with the local industry to manage the work.

The group says it will also provide training and integrated logistics support for the Navy to enjoy the best operational use of the vessels in the coming years.

Thales’ solution promises to extend the operational life of these ships by more than 15 years.

In 2009, Thales was chosen to supply the combat, navigation and communication suite for HTMS Krabi. The ship was commissioned in 2013 and has already completed more than 1,000 days at sea.

Last year, the Navy decided to launch a second vessel of the Krabi class. The vessel, to be built by Bangkok Dock, will be equipped with a Thales integrated solution that includes the Tacticos combat management system and an integrated bridge and navigation suite.

The sensors to be delivered are the Variant surveillance radar, Stir 1.2 EO Mk2 fire-control radar and Vigile electronic support measures with SKWS chaff launcher.

Thales will supply the tactical data links – Link RTN and Link-Y Mk2 – and all internal and external communication systems.

It will be responsible for all integration activities, including the 76-millimetre gun, 2x30mm gun and Harpoon SSM.

The ship is expected to be commissioned in the second half of this year.

By working together with its naval key industrial partner, Thales says it will be able to provide the best level of local training and service to the Navy and support Thailand’s goal of strengthening high-end local industrial capabilities.

Thales is a global technology leader for the aerospace, transport, defence and security markets. With 62,000 employees in 56 countries, Thales reported sales of 14 billion euros (Bt560 billion) last year.

Thales has been present in Thailand since the early 1990s, and today has numerous programmes and achievements to its name in both and civil and defence sectors.