The SOS+ initiative was conceived to help participating businesses connect with world-class e-marketplaces around the globe.

Under the collaboration, Alibaba Group’s Tmall e-marketplace, China’s largest third-party platform for brands and retailers, supports the initiative to help Thai businesses tap opportunities outside their home market.

Through Tmall Global, an extension of Tmall that serves overseas brands and retailers without physical operations in China, Thai SMEs can gain access to the massive Chinese e-commerce market. Thai companies can join over 16,400 international brands from 68 countries and regions to offer products and services to more than 500 million annual active consumers (as of December 31, 2017) on Alibaba Group’s China retail marketplaces.

Rex Cheuk, business development director for Tmall Global, said that with an estimated 40 per cent of online consumers already purchasing foreign and imported goods, Tmall Global opens up new possibilities for Thai SMEs.

Moreover, Tmall Global offers merchants the ability to build their brand in China through a wide range of mechanics for consumer engagement, ranging from special deals on selected items and exclusive in-app promotions to participation in interactive games or even celebrity-led livestreaming sessions.

Tmall Global also operates 17 market-specific pavilions dedicated to showcasing the quality products of each partner country/region – including a Thailand pavilion at https://thailand.tmall.com/.

Activities under the SOS+ initiative are being held in 3 provinces across Thailand, starting with the launch of the programme in Bangkok followed by further sessions in Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen later in March.

Alibaba Group offers entrepreneurs in Thailand a range of activities and partnerships across the public and private sectors.

In 2016, the company signed a letter of intent with the Commerce Ministry to engage in SME training programmes designed to drive e-commerce and logistics capabilities.

The Chinese company has since brought its expertise in e-commerce to Thailand in the Alibaba Global Course programme, which seeks to equip local SMEs with a deeper understanding of global and local market trends as well as advice in business and human resource development.

Late last year, Tmall built upon its partnership with Thai businesses with the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Asia Golden Rice, Thailand’s number-one rice exporter and owner of the Benjarong brand. The agreement will see jasmine rice production expand in Ubon Ratchathani for sale on Tmall as well as the Alibaba-owned Hema chain of smart supermarkets in China.

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ cameras are built with a super-speed dual pixel sensor with dedicated processing power and memory to take shots with high photo quality.

The Galaxy S9 and S9+’s camera features include low light camera with dual aperture lens (F1.5 / F2.4) which work like a human’s eye by automatically letting in more light when it’s dark and less light when it’s too bright.

Samsung says the AR emoji shares users’ real-life emotions not only in video but also with a range of stickers, and uses a standard AGIF file format so users can share their emojis across most third-party messaging platforms. Galaxy S9 and S9+ come in Samsung’s latest colour, lilac purple.

In fact, Surface Book 2 is up to five times more powerful than the original.

For those seeking flexibility in the way they use their device, the Surface Book 2 supports four different modes: studio mode, laptop mode, view mode, and even tablet mode, by simply detaching the screen.

The Surface Book 2 will be available in 13.5-inch and 15-inch options, and boasts an impressive 17-hour battery life for marathon productivity sessions. Microsoft claims that from running software such as Adobe Creative Cloud and Autodesk, to playing great games such as Forza Motorsport 7 or Gears of War at 1080p, 60fps, it is more than prepared to support users’ workload for work or for play.

The latest crisis laying siege to the leading online social network has raised the specter that he has lost control of his creation and been naive about the unintended consequences of people sharing so much about themselves.

“If Facebook was a typical company, and Zuckerberg was the founder, he would probably be gone,” said tech industry analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.

“He looks like a guy who really doesn’t know what he is doing. He is not the hero that a lot of people had viewed him as; his reputation and image are badly damaged.”

Facebook has prospered on digital advertising that benefits from being able to use what people share about themselves to target ads.

If Facebook was betting on people’s better natures when it came to truthfully sharing, respecting others, and being able to connect with anyone, it wasn’t always a winning wager.

The California-based social network has been a flashpoint for controversies about bullying, harassment, free speech, extremist propaganda, election meddling, privacy, and more.

“They don’t put enough effort into making sure the user is protected and the experience is assured,” analyst Enderle said.

“They only care about the advertisers, and the user is basically a digital slave.”

Dropout to billionaire

A public apology by Zuckerberg failed to quell outrage over the hijacking of personal data from millions of people, as critics demanded that the social media giant go much further to protect user privacy.

Belatedly speaking out about the harvesting of Facebook user data by a British firm linked to President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, Zuckerberg admitted Wednesday to betraying the trust of its more than two billion users, and promised to “step up.”

Vowing to stop data leaking to application makers and to give users more control over their information, he also said he was ready to testify before US lawmakers following — which a powerful congressional committee promptly asked him to do.

Zuckerberg has grown from a Harvard dropout who changed what it means to be social into a billionaire philanthropist bent on shaping a better world for his daughters.

Zuckerberg and his doctor wife, Priscilla Chan, have pledged to give away their Facebook fortune to make the world a healthier, happier place for children.

“Having kids changes a lot,” Zuckerberg said this week in an interview with CNN.

“I used to think that the most important thing to me by far was having the greatest impact across the world as I can; now I just really care about building something my girls are going to grow up and be proud of me for.”

Zuckerberg cemented his fortune, and a place in Silicon Valley history, by leading Facebook to a historic Wall Street debut in 2012.

The $16 billion IPO was structured to keep control of Facebook in the hands of Zuckerberg, who has been Time’s “Person of the Year” and cracked the Forbes list of 20 richest people in the world.

The hoodie-wearing 33-year-old, depicted in the Hollywood drama “The Social Network” as a socially challenged computer geek, has evolved into a confident chief executive.

Zuckerberg still favors t-shirts, jeans and sneakers, topped off by his trademark hooded sweatshirt and a mop of curly hair.

He is known for setting annual goals, which have included wearing ties every day; only eating meat of animals he kills himself; and learning to speak Chinese.

His personal goal this year is to fix Facebook, making sure it fosters real-world community.

‘Thefacebook’

Born on May 14, 1984, Zuckerberg was raised in Dobbs Ferry outside New York, one of four children of a dentist father and a psychiatrist mother.

He began writing computer programs at the age of 11, including one said to resemble Pandora’s musical taste program which reportedly drew the interest of AOL and Microsoft.

He went to high school at the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy, where he was captain of the fencing team, before entering elite Harvard University.

Zuckerberg launched Thefacebook.com, as it was then known, from his dorm room on February 4, 2004 with some of his roommates and classmates.

Facebook’s early years were not without controversy, however.

In 2008, a $65 million settlement was reached with three Harvard classmates — twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra — over their charges that Zuckerberg had stolen the idea for Facebook from them.

The conflict was at the heart of “The Social Network,” the Oscar-winning film written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher.

Zuckerberg left Harvard in May 2004 for Silicon Valley, where he received his first major funding — $500,000 — from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

He has been referred to by some as being struck in the mold of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Zuckerberg has praised Jobs as a friend and a role model.

Around 18 enforcement agents from the office of Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham entered the company’s London headquarters to execute the warrant.

Britain’s High Court granted the raid request just hours earlier, as Denham investigates claims that Cambridge Analytica may have illegally harvested Facebook data for political ends.

A full explanation of the legal ruling will be issued on Tuesday, according to the court.

“We’re pleased with the decision of the judge,” Denham’s office said on Twitter following the decision, noting it planned to begin searching “shortly”.

“This is just one part of a larger investigation into the use of personal data and analytics for political purposes,” it added in a statement.

“As you will expect, we will now need to collect, assess and consider the evidence before coming to any conclusions.”

The data watchdog’s probe comes amid whistleblower accusations that CA, hired by Donald Trump during his primary campaign, illegally mined tens of millions of users’ Facebook data and then used it to target potential voters.

Its chief executive Alexander Nix has been suspended following the revelations and a further sting by Britain’s Channel 4 News in which he boasts about entrapping politicians and secretly operating in elections around the world through shadowy front companies.

He has been called to reappear before British lawmakers to explain “inconsistencies” in past testimony about the firm’s use of the data.

Meanwhile Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been forced to issue a statement outlining his firm’s role in the scandal and apologised Wednesday to its billions of users for the breach.

The company has seen its stock market value plunge by around $75 million this week, as shares closed Friday down 13 percent — its worst week since July 2012.

Cambridge Analytica denies any wrongdoing, and said Friday it was undertaking an independent third-party audit to verify that it no longer holds any of the mined data.

“As anyone who is familiar with our staff and work can testify, we in no way resemble the politically-motivated and unethical company that some have sought to portray,” acting CEO Alexander Tayler said in a statement.

He apologised for the firm’s involvement, but said it had licensed the data from a research company that “had not received consent from most respondents”.

“The company (CA) believed that the data had been obtained in line with Facebook’s terms of service and data protection laws,” Tayler said.

Aleksandr Kogan, a University of Cambridge psychologist, created a personality prediction app that harvested the data of 270,000 people who had downloaded it — as well as scooping up the information of their friends.

That was possible under Facebook’s rules at the time.

Kogan this week claimed he is being unfairly blamed.

“I’m being basically used as a scapegoat by both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica,” he said in interviews Wednesday.

“We thought we were acting perfectly appropriately.

“We were assured by Cambridge Analytica that everything was perfectly legal and within the terms of service” of Facebook, he added.

Speaking out for the first time about the harvesting of Facebook user data by a British firm linked to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, Zuckerberg admitted Wednesday to betraying the trust of its two billion users, and promised to “step up.”

Vowing to stop data leaking to outside developers and to give users more control over their information, Zuckerberg also said he was ready to testify before US lawmakers — which a powerful congressional committee promptly asked him to do.

With pressure ratcheting up on the 33-year-old CEO over a scandal that has wiped some $60 billion off Facebook’s value, the initial response suggested his promise of self-regulation had failed to convince.

“Frankly I don’t think those changes go far enough,” Britain’s culture and digital minister Matt Hancock told the BBC.

“It shouldn’t be for a company to decide what is the appropriate balance between privacy and innovation and use of data,” he said.

“The big tech companies need to abide by the law and we are strengthening the law.”

In Brussels, European leaders were sending the same message as they prepared to push for tougher safeguards on personal data online, while Israel became the latest country to launch an investigation into Facebook.

The data scandal erupted at the weekend when a whistleblower revealed that British consultant Cambridge Analytica (CA) had created psychological profiles on 50 million Facebook users via a personality prediction app, developed by a researcher named Aleksandr Kogan.

The app was downloaded by 270,000 people, but also scooped up their friends’ data without consent — as was possible under Facebook’s rules at the time.

– ‘Breach of trust’ –

Facebook says it discovered last week that Cambridge Analytica may not have deleted the data as it certified — although the British firm denies wrongdoing.

“This was a major breach of trust and I’m really sorry that this happened,” Zuckerberg said in an interview with CNN, after publishing a blog post outlining his response to the scandal.

“Our responsibility now is to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

With Facebook already under fire for allowing fake news to proliferate during the US election, Zuckerberg also said “we need to make sure that we up our game” ahead of midterm Congressional elections in November, in which American officials have warned Russia can be expected to meddle as it did two years ago.

Cambridge Analytica has maintained it did not use Facebook data in the Trump campaign, but its now-suspended CEO boasted in secret recordings that his company was deeply involved in the race.

And US special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race, is reportedly looking into the consultant’s role in the Trump effort.

‘Abused and misused’

Zuckerberg’s apology followed a days-long stream of damaging accusations against the world’s biggest social network, which now faces probes on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Washington on Thursday, leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee urged Zuckerberg to testify without delay, saying a briefing a day earlier by Facebook officials had left “many questions” unanswered.

“We believe, as CEO of Facebook, he is the right witness to provide answers to the American people,” said a statement from the panel, calling for a hearing “in the near future.”

America’s Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating Facebook over the scandal, while Britain’s information commissioner is seeking to determine whether it did enough to secure its data.

On Thursday, Israel’s privacy protection agency said it had informed Facebook of a probe into the Cambridge Analytica revelations, and was looking into “the possibility of other infringements of the privacy law regarding Israelis.”

Meanwhile, EU leaders were due to press digital giants “to guarantee transparent practices and full protection of citizens’ privacy and personal data,” according to a draft summit statement obtained by AFP.

A movement to quit the social network has already gathered momentum — with the co-founder of the WhatsApp messaging service among those vowing to #deletefacebook — while a handful of lawsuits risk turning into class actions in a costly distraction for the company.

World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee described it as a “serious moment for the web’s future”.

“I can imagine Mark Zuckerberg is devastated that his creation has been abused and misused,” tweeted the British scientist.

“I would say to him: You can fix it. It won’t be easy but if companies work with governments, activists, academics and web users we can make sure platforms serve humanity.”

Shares in the San Francisco-based technology firm are to begin trading with ring of the bell opening the market on Friday, with a goal of raising some $750 million.

Strong expected demand shows not all tech companies have been hit by the events of this week, when big players, especially in social media, have seen their shares dive following reports that a data analysis firm hired by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign misused personal information of some 50 million Facebook users.

Dropbox also plans a $100 million stock sale to the venture capital arm of Salesforce, according to an earlier filing.

Dropbox is one of a number of tech firms centered around the internet “cloud,” allowing users to store data for remote access by any internet-linked devices.

Storing digital data from music and films to documents, presentations and images has become big business with the lifestyle shift to accessing content and services online.

“This public-private partnership has marked the year of integration between the government and stakeholders in taking action against cyberbullying and it’s a good start to jointly address a social problem,” said Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj.

A survey by the National Statistical Office shows that youngsters (15-24 year-old) have the highest internet penetration rate of 89.8 per cent in 2017. Thais are also heavy users of social media, including 47 million Facebook accounts, 41 million Line accounts, 11 million Instagram accounts and 9 million Twitter accounts.

People are furious after it was discovered that the personal data of more than 50 million users has been compromised by a British company called Cambridge Analytica.

The firm had been allowed to harvest data from Facebook users since 2015. Facebook has even admitted that it knew the practice had been going.

That data was used in Donald Trump’s political campaign.

Needless to say, people aren’t happy, with #deletefacebook trending worldwide across social media.

On Tuesday, Twitter was flooded with screenshots from people who had deleted their Facebook account.

The trend even contributed to Facebook’s share price plummeting by 6 percent in 24 hours.

If the Cambridge Analytica revelations are the final straw, below you will find instructions on how to delete your Facebook account.

Be warned though. Facebook doesn’t make it easy!

And users should be aware that it can take up to 3 months for all your data to be permanently removed.

You can choose to ‘deactivate’ your account, but this means that Facebook still holds onto your data, even though your profile can not be viewed by others.

• Go to the ‘Settings’ option (located under the small arrow, next to the padlock in the top right hand corner of your screen)
• Click on the ‘Security’ tab
• Select “Deactivate your account”
• You will then be taken to a page where Facebook gives you a list of reasons why you should reconsider. Assuming that your mind is made up, click on the “Deactivate” button at the bottom of the page
• You have now switched off your account, NOT deactivated it – there are still 2 more steps to go
• It is advisable to download a copy of all your information. This is again done from the ‘Settings’ menu and selecting ‘Download a copy of your data’
• Click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/help/delete_account and finally click ‘Delete my account’ and everything is now complete

“Vulture Club,” which is in post-production, stars Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (“Dead Man Walking,” “Thelma and Louise”) as an emergency room nurse whose son is been kidnapped by terrorists.

Directed by Iranian-American Maryam Keshavarz (“Circumstance”), the thriller also stars Edie Falco (“The Sopranos,” “Nurse Jackie”) and Matt Bomer (“Magic Mike,” “American Horror Story: Hotel”).

“‘Vulture Club’ follows the singular journey of a woman abandoned by her government who finds community in the most unexpected places,” Keshavarz said in a statement.

“It’s an honor to work with Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco and Matt Bomer who are the incredible talents and an innovator like YouTube to tell this timely story.”

Online entertainment magazine IndieWire hailed the move by YouTube Red — the Google-owned company’s 10-a-month streaming service — as “a significant strategy shift.”

It moved into theatrical distribution with sci-fi comedy “Lazer Team” in January 2016, but that was a low-budget project with an unknown cast that failed to make a dent at the box office.

“Vulture Club,” with its all-star cast, belongs in a different league alongside two other recent YouTube Red acquisitions — Eminem’s satirical hip-hop drama “Bodied” and Morgan Spurlock’s “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!”

While the Eminem movie is also bound for theatrical release, YouTube dropped the Spurlock sequel after the filmmaker admitted to sexual misconduct and harassment in the past.

YouTube Red said principal photography on “Vulture Club” was complete, but gave few details on its theatrical release, other than confirming its big-screen debut would precede its streaming release.

Netflix has shown little regard for the perceived sanctity of cinema, annoying some filmmakers, notably Christopher Nolan, and sparking calls for bans from film festivals by debuting its movies online only or at the same time as in theaters.

Amazon Studios, on the other hand, has partnered with Bleecker Street, Lionsgate and other entertainment companies to give its original movies a theatrical window of several weeks ahead of their internet release.

The company is now accepted in the industry as a conventional movie studio, its back catalogue including Oscar nominees and winners such as “The Big Sick,” “Manchester by the Sea” and “The Salesman.”