88 Sandbox shakes up Thai start-up industry by launching a special investors’ club
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 07, 2022
88 Sandbox hosted its second “88 Match and Mentor: Smart People Smart Society” event to promote Thai start-ups on September 17 at Thammasat University.
The aim of the event was to provide motivation and emphasise the importance of human development through innovation and technology.
Driven by the idea of a society that has developed the wisdom of start-ups, 88 Sandbox also launched the 88 Sandbox VC Club and the 88 NFT membership for people interested in investing in start-ups. The Token X portal showcased Thai start-up Series A+, which ended with a “finding stars” activity called the 88 Sandbox Final Pitching, in which start-ups put forward ideas in front of mentors and potential investors.
The event opened with a speech from Assoc Prof Dr Pipob Udorn, vice president for Thammasat University’s academic affairs as well as a co-founder of 88 Sandbox.
Also speaking at the event were Nithee Siprae, deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and Jittinan Chatisiharat, chief executive officer of Token X.
As part of the “Club for Investors”, 88 Sandbox will serve as an intermediary between investors and start-ups. The company will help facilitate funding for start-up teams that investors see potential in. There will be no minimum investment or any limit to the support wanted by start-ups.
The 88 Sandbox will also hold workshops for investors to get advice and learn more about the start-up they may be eyeing.
The Token X platform, meanwhile, is collaborating with 88 Sandbox to launch 88 NFT via the Collex platform, through which it handed out tokens as souvenirs for those who attended the event.
The event also saw Thai start-ups scaling up to become unicorns, who were presented with the 88 Rising Unicorns award.
Also featured at the event was a competition between young start-ups, especially in the arenas of EdTech, marketing, media, entertainment, metaverse, gaming, commerce, lifestyle, smart city, proptech, etc.
Each team pitched their ideas in front of 88 Sandbox founders, mentors and investors, and the winners of the competition won a commitment for capital.
State agency working to make industrial estates eco-friendly and help Thailand achieve carbon neutrality
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 01, 2022
THE NATION
The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) is striving to make industrial estates nationwide eco-friendly in a bid to enable Thailand achieve its carbon neutral target.
The assistant to the IEAT governor, Buppha Kawinvasin, said the move aims to improve industrial estates’ efficiency and boost confidence among locals living near industrial estates as climate change is affecting people worldwide.
She added that this move is in line with the IEAT’s vision to promote investment in industrial estates and improve services to meet international standards and become eco-friendly.
“The IEAT is developing industrial estates in six aspects: circular economy, economic growth, green industry, renewable water, renewable energy and social responsibility,” she explained.
She said the IEAT is cooperating with several agencies on this issue, such as the Board of Investment, on promoting smart industry among entrepreneurs, and with PEA Encom International Co Ltd, an electrical/electronic manufacturing company, on the development of smart grids.
She added that the IEAT’s project to set up solar rooftops in 13 industrial estates had helped reduce 2,482 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from 2020-22.
“The IEAT will continue on this mission to improve people’s quality of life and enable Thailand to achieve carbon neutrality,” she added.
Thailand is going green, with ambitions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065.
5 tech tools used in power generation will help Thailand fulfil its net-zero dreams
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2022
THE NATION
Five technologies play a key role in Thailand’s power generation sector as it works towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and net-zero emissions by 2065.
The independent power producer, Electricity Generating Pcl (EGCO) said these technologies have been developed to make power generation environmentally friendly as well as allow consumers to play a part in energy management.
The five technologies are:
• Blockchain: Apart from playing a key role in cryptocurrency trading, blockchain also facilitates trade in power generation by opening the door to purchase agreements between parties.
• Machine learning: This technology helps consumers learn how much electricity has been used and power distributors can provide information and launch promotions to engage consumers.
• Data analytics: This helps power distributors to predict consumption, so they can build infrastructure and create maintenance plans to generate higher revenue.
• Smart grids: Data analytics, energy storage and management can be integrated with this technology to enhance electricity distributors’ business operations.
• Artificial intelligence (AI): This technology can detect abnormalities in electricity distribution, such as electricity theft which caused damages worth US$96 billion worldwide.
New investment makes LINE MAN Wongnai Thailand’s largest tech startup
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2022
Led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and LINE Corporation, LINE MAN Wongnai Raises US$265M in Series-B Funding,
LINE MAN Wongnai announced today that it has raised US$265 million in a Series-B investment round led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, and LINE Corporation. This fundraising round was also joined by BRV Capital Management, PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Company Limited (OR), Bualuang Ventures and Taiwan Mobile.
With this investment, LINE MAN Wongnai has achieved a valuation of over US$1 billion, making it Thailand’s largest tech startup by valuation.
The funding will be used to strengthen LINE MAN Wongnai’s strong position in the food delivery market, expand new service categories, recruit tech talent and improve tech infrastructure. LINE MAN Wongnai aims to be employing more than 450 talented tech professionals by the end of 2022.
LINE MAN Wongnai was established in 2020 from the merger of LINE MAN, Thailand’s No. 1 on-demand assistant app, and Wongnai, a restaurant review platform. The company aims to be the most innovative e-commerce platform for services in Thailand with diverse business portfolios:
● On-Demand Businesses – LINE MAN services include food delivery, grocery delivery, messenger and taxi. The number of orders made each month through the food delivery service grew by more than 15 times between January 2020 and August 2022, making it the fastest-growing food delivery platform in the country. Now LINE MAN operates in all 77 provinces in Thailand, offering delivery options to 700,000 restaurants, the most among food delivery service providers.
● Merchant Solutions – Wongnai connects close to 1 million merchants to users nationwide through search and reviews. In addition, Wongnai POS has become the No. 1 point-of-sale solution in the food & beverage industry with over 50,000 merchants.
● Value-Added Services – Utilizing a large base of customers, riders, and restaurants, LINE MAN Wongnai offers advertising and financial services, among others, to incrementally add value to the stakeholders in the ecosystem.
Yod Chinsupakul, CEO, LINE MAN Wongnai, said “Today’s announcement marks a remarkable milestone for LINE MAN Wongnai. I am grateful to GIC, LINE and other investors who gave us the opportunity to create large-scale impacts and to become a national champion for Food Delivery. Food has been our passion since I co-founded Wongnai and now to be able to connect millions of users with the biggest pool of restaurants we have is a dream come true. We are also proud to create over 100,000 jobs for the riders, most of whom earn more than twice the minimum wage. We are committed to driving Thailand forward. Today, we promise to bring best-in-class and tailor-made products and services to help Thai people live better.”
In Young Chung, Chief Financial Officer, LINE MAN Wongnai, said “The announcement opens the next chapter for LINE MAN Wongnai to grow from a local Thai start-up to a regional tech platform. We thank LINE for embracing us into its deep mobile ecosystem and providing ongoing support for our journey. We also thank GIC for not only giving us the trust and capital but also guidance and insight from its global presence and BRV for its continuous support since the Series A lead investment. Our LINE MAN Wongnai team will strive to become the most inspiring tech company through IPO and beyond in coming years, for our society and young generations.”
Eunjung Lee, CEO, LINE Plus Corporation, said “LINE MAN is one of the great success cases, highlighting LINE’s dedication to creating services tailored to the local needs of each market. With this fundraising, LINE MAN Wongnai solidifies a foundation for its future growth, creating a better, more convenient daily life for Thai users.”
EV board changes gear to promote the use of electric vehicles
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2022
THE NATION
The government is working on measures to promote the use of electric vehicles (EV), Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said after the EV board meeting on Friday.
The government’s EV incentive campaign had led to bookings for 17,068 electric cars and motorcycles, he said.
Thailand currently has 869 EV charging stations with 2,572 chargers. The EV board is looking at rapidly increasing the number of charging stations nationwide.
“The EV board is ready to promote Thailand as an EV production base, as well as boost the confidence among EV users,” he said.
He said the board has tasked the Industry Ministry with proposing guidelines to promote the use of EVs as public vehicles, starting with EV tuk-tuk.
He added that related agencies had been appointed to publicise setting up EV charging stations in condominiums and residences.
Supattanapong explained that the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, the Provincial Electricity Authority, PTT Oil and Retail Business, and Energy Absolute had launched an application to help EV users find charging stations.
He said the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved the use of a second electricity meter in residences to promote the use of EVs, adding that the ERC is preparing proposals and announcements related to EV-charging stations, such as electricity price at 2.9162 baht per unit.
He explained that the Thai Industrial Standards Institute has set up 123 standards related to EV components, such as battery, charger and inverter.
He added that the EV board has told the Excise Department to consider guidelines to support manufacture of batteries in Thailand.
“In addition, the board has also told related agencies to publicise EV-related measures in October in a bid to gain the confidence of the people,” he added.
DITP launches new AI tool to evaluate Thailand’s trade prospects
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2022
THE NATION
The Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) has launched a new tool to evaluate opportunities and risks in international trade.
Phusit Rattanakul Seriroengrit, DITP’s director general, said on Friday that the DITP Business AI tool can analyse products in five categories, including agriculture, food, lifestyle and fashion, health and beauty, and industrial sectors.
He said the system features a global trade analytics option which predicts export trends in the short term (three months) and long term (12 months).
The system can also analyse news reports related to international trade to evaluate the business sentiment, while its market insight option can analyse buyers’ demands via e-commerce platforms.
“DITP Business AI can also evaluate situations that may have an impact on international trade and offers guidelines on evaluating trade partners’ potential,” he explained.
“The system can also analyse competitors to evaluate risks that may trigger Thailand’s loss of market share.”
He said DITP Business AI can help the department monitor consumer trends, such as products related to the bio-circular-green (BCG) economy model, future foods, ageing society and soft power.
“This information can help boost Thailand’s competitiveness and give local businesses access to the international market,” he said.
He added that DITP is cooperating with the Digital Economy Promotion Agency on applying digital innovations to international trade to maximise Thailand’s potential.
“We are confident the DITP Business AI will help Thai manufacturers and exporters set up production plans in line with global trends and cope with export risks,” he added.
‘CircularOne’ Thailand’s first AI-enabled reversed vending machine
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
CircularOne is the result of collaboration between SUSTAINTECH and Tencent Cloud to improve the sorting and management of used containers in response to the circular economy trend.
SUSTAINTECH, a sustainable tech startup, announces the launch of “CircularOne”, Thailand’s first AI-Enabled Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) innovated by the Thai people.
The CircularOne machine leverages different cloud and AI technologies from Tencent Cloud – the cloud business of global technology company Tencent to handle and store glass bottles in their perfect condition for autonomous reuse or reversed vending to check the material quality and to sort all deposited containers that range from PET bottles, aluminium cans and “glass bottles”.
The solutions from Tencent Cloud allow CircularOne to operate more precisely and ensures effective recycling, reuse, and return to the system in response to the Circular Economy trend as well as the need to alleviate waste-management issues, make people’s lives better and solve the global warming crisis.
Chirawat Tangkitchaiwat, Founder and CEO of SUSTAINTECH, said “The world today is facing air and natural resource crisis, a result of manufacturing, consuming, and managing misbehaviours that subsequently, lead to increased pollution and greenhouse gas. According to data from the World Bank Group (Market study for Thailand: Plastics circularity opportunities and barriers) Thailand ranked sixth among countries responsible for plastic leakage into marine environments.”
The country only recycled 616,000 tons — an equivalent to only 17.6 per cent — of the 3.49 million tons of plastics it consumed yearly. With that being said, it is paramount to create a Circular Economy system to alleviate waste management issues, improve people’s quality of life and help with the global warming crisis.
Consequently, the company has developed CircularOne to sort beverage containers in order to reduce the volume of containers to be recreated and promote reuse.
CircularOne is also SUSTAINTECH’s first Reversed Vending Machine that enables used bottles to be automatically reused and recycled. The deposit machine accepts PET bottles, aluminium cans and ‘glass bottles and is the first of its kind from SUSTAINTECH in Thailand.
SUSTAINTECH is considered the first company to have invented and developed an automatically used container the deposit machine that is able to handle glass bottles in their original condition. The machine also incorporates cloud-AI solutions from Tencent Cloud in response to the rising demand for used container storage and sorting technology. The machine also has its own container-sorting as well as quality-checking systems.
With the use of CircularOne, SUSTAINTECH is also determined to promote Circular Economy engagement among all parties from operators of the beverage business, container business, recycling business, real estate business, and garbage collectors to consumers as a means to enhance the efficiency of waste management for the sustainable future.
Chang Foo, Chief Operating Officer of Tencent (Thailand) Co., Ltd., expressed that “Tencent Cloud is pleased to be part of an effort to improve the management and return of waste into the system through the recycling process. Tencent Cloud’s solutions work together to categorize used bottles and enhance the operation and precision of CircularOne.”
Apart from sorting used containers, such solutions can also detect and eject broken or damaged glass bottles and send notifications which consume less time and make the sorting process more effective.
“The collaboration is a significant milestone that reflects Tencent Cloud’s determination to support Thai businesses of all sizes from various industries through over 400 diversified cloud solutions that respond to different needs. By combining our extensive industry expertise with our infrastructure strength, which includes two data centres in Thailand, the company will continue to develop solutions in response to various stakeholder requirements and become a driving force in making the circular economy principle a reality.”
Energy storage systems critical for Thailand in years ahead
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
THE NATION
Energy storage is important for Thailand’s energy transition, a senior researcher said at a seminar on Thursday.
National Energy Technology Centre’s Energy Storage Technology Research Team leader Pimpa Limthongkul made the remark during the seminar on “Advancement in energy storage systems” at Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre in Bangna district.
The seminar was a part of the event “Solar+Storage Asia 2022” organised by MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) organiser GAT International.
She said many energy storage technologies exist nowadays, such as pumped hydro, compressed air, flywheel, batteries, solar fuels and hydrogen.
She also pointed out that energy storage can help Thailand in various aspects, such as electricity generation, renewable energy, system operation, and energy transmission and distribution.
“Thailand has a variety of energy storage technologies until 2040,” she said.
Meanwhile, Thai Photovoltaic Industries Association chairman Dusit Kruangam expected the sales of solar cells in Thailand to soar due to the clean energy trend.
He made this remark during the seminar “Trends on using solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage technologies in Thailand and Asean”.
He said up to 100,000 megawatts of solar cells were installed in many countries worldwide each year, adding that up to 500MW of solar cells would be installed in Thailand next year.
“According to the financial institution’s report, Thailand has installed 1,100MW of solar roofs, accounting for investment value of around 40 billion baht,” he said.
He also expected the sales value of solar cells in Thailand to jump from 10 billion baht in 2023, to 20 billion baht in 2024, and 30 billion baht in 2025.
“The solar cell market in Thailand is really big,” he added.
However, Dusit said solar cell technology is now trending in the commercial sector more than the public sector due to expensive installation costs.
He also pointed out that solar cells have not received a good response among residents as the government has not launched incentives on this technology, and its regulations are very complicated.
“It takes many months for residents to request permission for installing solar cells in their houses,” he said, adding that the government is improving regulations on this issue to make it easier for residents.
He also invited residents to install solar cells in their houses as it can reduce electricity bills for five to six years.
Separately, an energy solutions provider, Solar D Corporation, unveiled “Tesla Powerwall”, which it said could be the last missing piece to Thailand’s energy independence.
Tesla Powerwall is a solar storage system that can work in harmony with solar cells and electric vehicle charger, the company’s director, Sumrit Sitthiwaranuwong, said
The solar storage system features a system that can store excess electricity during the daytime and tackle unexpected situations, such as blackouts.
Tesla Powerwall also comes with an application that allows users to check and adjust energy storage in their houses.
“This technology can meet the change in people’s lifestyle effectively,” Sumrit added.
Kaspersky reveals external cybersecurity loopholes in Southeast Asia
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
Cybercriminals hunt for unpatched software, one-day vulnerabilities, and compromised remote protocols in the region
Cyberattacks can be prevented before an attacker is inside the internal network. Threat monitoring allows organisations to take action and properly neutralise a threat before it can exploit any existing vulnerabilities and affect the target institutions.
Kaspersky unveils the results of its Digital Footprint Intelligence (DFI) report covering the external threats for a selection of countries from the Asia Pacific (APAC) region in 2021, including the six key countries in Southeast Asia (SEA).
The report’s sole purpose is to create awareness about security threats and demonstrate effective approaches to risk mitigation for widespread attacks with high business impact.
Cybercriminals’ exploitation capabilities The rapidly growing share of adversaries’ initial access approach is the exploitation of 1-day vulnerabilities. Complicated business processes are forced to leave services on the perimeter, which in turn increases the external attack surface.
With the help of public sources and specialised search engines, Kaspersky collected information on 390,497 services available from public networks and analysed them for key security issues and vulnerabilities.
Analysis revealed that in 2021, almost every fifth of the vulnerable services contained more than one vulnerability, thereby increasing the chances of an attacker performing a successful attack.
All industry sectors, analysed in the report, in all countries have issues with the application of security updates for publicly available services.
Government institutions (major personally identifiable information (PII) processors and providers of critical services for citizens) are potential incident-generators by a huge margin.
Singapore has a low number of vulnerabilities and an outstanding low ratio between the number of services and the sum of vulnerabilities in them, while Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have the highest ratio among SEA countries
Figure 1. Distribution of vulnerable services
In terms of the share of vulnerabilities with publicly available exploits, 3 countries out of TOP-5 are located in Southeast Asia (SEA) – these are Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
From Kaspersky’s practice in incident response handled by Global Emergency Response Team (GERT) and CISA advisory adversaries use a well-known list of vulnerabilities to exploit organisation defences. While researching the security problems of companies from the Apac region, Kaspersky experts observed a number of commonly used vulnerabilities dubbed ProxyShell and ProxyLogon. Exploits for these vulnerabilities are easily available on the Internet, therefore, they can be easily exploited by even a low-skilled attacker.
While ProxyShell is quite common in China and in Vietnam, the countries most affected by ProxyLogon are: • In Government bodies – Thailand • In Financial – China • In Healthcare – Philippines • In Industrial – Indonesia
ProxyShell is a group of vulnerabilities for Microsoft Exchange servers – CVE-2021-31206, CVE-2021-31207 , CVE-2021-34473, and CVE-2021-34523. ProxyLogon group includes CVE-2021-26855, CVE-2021-26857, CVE-2021-26858, and CVE-2021-27065. The vulnerabilities from both groups enable an actor to bypass authentication and execute code as a privileged user.
The best defence against these vulnerabilities is to keep public-faced systems updated with the latest patches and product versions. Companies should also avoid direct access to Exchange Server from the Internet. Kaspersky products protect against vulnerabilities from both groups – ProxyShell and Proxy-logon. Credential brute force attacks
A great share of attackers’ initial accesses leading to cybersecurity incidents is related to services with remote access or management features. One of the best-known examples is RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). It is Microsoft’s proprietary protocol that enables a user to connect to another computer through a network of computers running Windows.
RDP is widely used by both system administrators and less-technical users to control servers and other PCs remotely but this tool is also what intruders exploit to penetrate the target computer that usually houses important corporate resources.
Last year, Kaspersky monitored 16,003 remote access and management services available for exploit. Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Vietnam provide the maximum facilities for an attacker to gain remote access.
Government institutions are serving more than 40% of the attack surface for brute force attacks and credential leak reuse.
“Clearly, cybercriminals are busy uncovering possible entry points in the region. From hunting for unpatched software, one-day vulnerabilities, and exploitable remote access and management services, malicious actors have a lot of options to infect lucrative industries. In short, a cyberattack is like a ticking bomb. While worrisome, reports such as our Digital Footprint Intelligence can be used as a tool to guide the cybersecurity capacity building of concerned organisations. If you know your weak areas, it’s easier to prioritise,” comments Chris Connell, Managing Director for the Asia Pacific at Kaspersky.
To protect your businesses from such threats, Kaspersky experts also recommend that you: • Regulate every major change to the network perimeter hosts, including services or applications launching, exposing new APIs, software installation and updating, network devices configuration and so on. All changes should be reviewed from the perspective of security impact.
• Develop and implement reliable procedures for identifying, installing, and verifying patches for products and systems.
• Focus your defence strategy on detecting lateral movements and data exfiltration to the internet. Pay special attention to outgoing traffic to detect cybercriminal connections. Back up data regularly. Make sure you can quickly access it in an emergency.
• Use solutions like Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response and the Kaspersky Managed Detection and Response service, which help to identify and stop the attack in the early stages, before the attackers achieve their goals.
• Use a reliable endpoint security solution, such as Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business (KESB) that is powered by exploit prevention, behaviour detection, and a remediation engine that is able to roll back malicious actions. KESB also has self-defence mechanisms that can prevent its removal by cyber criminals.
Boston-based General Electric (GE) is ready to support Thailand in all fields related to the energy transition, a senior company executive said.
Amol Mody, president of services at GE Gas Power Asia, said GE has played important role in Asia’s energy industry, including Thailand, for over a century.
He said GE has joint ventures with many government and private agencies in Thailand to meet their needs in development, such as the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) and Gulf Energy Development.
He added that GE provided support on infrastructure and technologies to help Thailand with decarbonisation as well.
“Wind turbines with 400 megawatts generation capacity and gas turbines generating approximately 61 gigawatts were installed in Thailand,” he explained.
He added that GE recently announced cooperation with Egat on boosting the efficiency of electricity generation in Bang Pakong to be more eco-friendly and meet consumers’ demand.
Despite challenges in balancing the three areas — ecology, economy and electricity supply — Thailand’s decision to invest in safe, clean and secure carbon-neutral technologies and capabilities for long-term sustainability deserves praise, he said.
He added that Thailand has many options in transition to clean energy, while GE can provide features to help the country on reducing carbon footprint and achieve its net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
“We are really excited to continue a partnership with countries across Southeast Asia and the rest of the world,” he added.
Thailand is going green, with ambitions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065.
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