Banpu NEXT and PlanetComm team up to expand smart safety platform
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 08, 2022
Smart energy provider Banpu NEXT has signed a memorandum of understanding with digital technology provider PlanetComm to jointly expand its smart safety platform.
The platform provides data analytics and energy management solutions and numerous other features to help businesses improve security and performance. It also provides users with swift updates about developments in Thailand’s digital economy.
Thailand has seen an increase in both Thai and international tourists following the country’s reopening starting from the middle of this year.
At the same time, the country is heading towards the development of Smart City. Recently, the government has approved a total of 30 locations in 23 provinces as designated Smart Cities and is pushing for Smart City development, resulting in the rising demands for smart city technology and solutions. These technology and solutions are key for 7 Smart City development areas which are Smart Environment, Smart Energy, Smart Economy, Smart Living, Smart Governance, Smart People and Smart Mobility.
Banpu NEXT and PlanetComm are therefore committed to driving forward the use of digital platform for city management especially in terms of safety, not to mention making the city more livable and boosting the country’s economy
Mr. Sinon Vongkusolkit, Chief Executive Officer of Banpu NEXT Co., Ltd., said, “Banpu NEXT and PlanetComm share a similar business vision to use high-performance solutions and expertise from each organization in support of Thailand’s Smart City development and to promote digital economy.
The success of Phuket Smart City is a solid proof of a long-term strategic partnership between Banpu NEXT and PlanetComm in response to the expansion of Smart City across the country. The collaboration will enhance the capability of each organization to offer good and helpful solutions for people in the society and to serve as a much-needed assistance for the sustainable development of Smart City.”
“With that said, Banpu NEXT introduces “Smart Safety Platform”, an end-to-end security solution that connects and allows seamless operations between hardware, software, and digital platform. Importantly, data collected by the Smart Safety Platform will be analyzed and processed by AI and IoT and will be sent to War Room in real-time for officials’ planning and management via both website and mobile application.
Mr. Prapat Rathlertkarn, Chief Executive Officer of Planet Communications Asia PLC., said “PlanetComm has offered technology and hardware system in support of city development in various areas. One of the flagship projects is Phuket Smart City which is carried out in partnership with Banpu NEXT. We incorporated our safety devices and Banpu NEXT’s Smart Safety Platform for the improvement of Thalang Road and Rommanee Alley, Phuket City Municipality and Laem Phromthep to be safer and much more livable.
“We are confident that the platform will help with the development of smart city in various locations given its customizable features and ability to fix pain points”. Mr. Sinon concluded.
Festive Feast in the City at Avani Sukhumvit Bangkok
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 08, 2022
Bangkok, December 6, 2022: Make Christmas & New Year’s festivities a breeze by taking the families and loved ones out for a festive feed. Check in and be merry with us at the Greenhouse Restaurant and Terrace of the Avani Sukhumvit Bangkok Hotel (directly accessible from BTS On Nut station exit 3).
Nothing beats a great Christmas meal with great drink. Our culinary delights and many delectable festively inspired desserts awaits you. A roasted turkey, an oyster bar, fresh seafood on ice, a wide selection of meat and seafood, and live cooking station are among them. A live band and Christmas carols are planned to round out your special evening.
Continue to welcome those who are looking forward to enhancing the end-of-year celebration with delectable cuisine. An oyster bar, pan-seared foie gras, fresh seafood on ice, a cheese and coldcuts selection, a BBQ on the terrace with lamb, beef, and seafood, and a live cooking station with BBQ duck, soft shell crab curry, steamed black crab, and sweet treats are among the delectable dishes created by our Executive Chef. Your dinner will be complete with an entertaining live band and DJ.
As the countdown begins, toast to a new beginning on the sky-high terrace with our free-flow drinks. Share joy and best wishes with loved ones for a fantastic start to the new year. Come and enjoy the magic of the season with your family and friends over delicious food and a wide range of exciting events, sparkling entertainment, and fun things to do all throughout the holiday season, no matter what your holiday traditions are or what kind of food you like. We promise to make your Christmas and New Year’s Eve unforgettable.
The choice of time and price for each celebration is shown below.
Christmas Eve Dinner December 24, 2022 – : 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. -THB 1,250++ per person for buffet dinner* -THB 1,850++ per person for buffet dinner with free-flow drinks*
Christmas Day Lunch December 25, 2022: Noon – 3:00 p.m. – THB 1,150++ per person for buffet lunch* – THB 1,750++ per person for buffet lunch with free flow drinks*
New Year’s Eve Dinner Saturday, December 31, 2022: 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. – THB 1,850++ per person for buffet dinner* – THB 2,450++ per person for buffet dinner with free flow drinks*
New Year’s Eve Countdown Saturday, December 31, 2022: 10:00 PM – Midnight -THB 999++ per person for 2-hour free flow drinks*
Remark: *The rates are subject to a 10% service charge and applicable 7% government tax
Children under the age of 12 receive a 50% discount. Get a 20% discount on food only for groups of six or more (excluding children). Early bookings and payments received before December 18, 2022 will receive a 20% discount off the original price!
For more information about the food and beverage menu, as well as reservations, visit https://mhg.to/zmgm7 or call 02-079-7555.
Blue by Alain Ducasse celebrates third anniversary and third consecutive Michelin star in style with presence of the legend “Alain Ducasse”
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2022
It was double celebration for Blue by Alain Ducasse. Renowned for its culinary finesse, award-winning dining room and iconic river views, the contemporary French restaurant by the legendary mentor chef celebrated its third anniversary and followed it up by receiving its 3rd consecutive one-star rating in the Michelin Guide Thailand 2023 edition.
Located in ICONLUXE, ICONSIAM, on the banks of the historic Chao Phraya River, Blue is the first restaurant in Thailand by the legendary Alain Ducasse. The award-winning restaurant showcases ICONSIAM’s core value of creating a synergy between the best of Thailand and the best of the world.
On Wednesday, 23 November, Blue celebrated its third year in business. The invite-only gala party was attended by the city’s high society, media, and Alain Ducasse, who flew in for the event. “A Touch of Blue” was the evening’s theme. The path to the restaurant was dressed in the signature blue, and stilt walkers welcomed the over 700 guests, who added glamour to the festivities with their fashion-forward outfits in various shades of blue. Invitees sipped the exclusive Champagne Alain Ducasse as well as one of the legend’s favourite drinks – AD Negroni (Negroni with Champagne). They also enjoyed a fantastic selection of delectable canapes served by Executive Chef Wilfrid Hocquet, in addition to an oyster bar and caviar station. There was plenty of entertainment throughout the evening, including a mini concert by superstars PP and Bilkin.
The celebrations continued the next day, Thursday, 24 November, at the Michelin Guide Thailand 2023 star revelation ceremony held in The Athenee Hotel Bangkok. Blue by Alain Ducasse retained its star for the 3rd consecutive year, underlining the restaurant’s extraordinary multi-sensory journey of French cuisine rooted in a culinary vision of tradition and modernity, complemented by warm, friendly service and an exceptional wine cellar.
Bangkok foodies were in for an exclusive treat on Friday, 25 November, when the mentor and mentee curated a special four-hands lunch and dinner. The six-course menu included the rare opportunity for a meet-and-greet session with the culinary legend. The meal featured Chef Ducasse’s signature cookpot of Brittany Blue Lobster and Poulette de Bresse with white truffle from Alba and Albufera sauce. It also included Chef Wilfrid’s creation of Alaskan King Crab with gold caviar and Pigeon Pithiviers a la Monegasque.
This year has been a good year for Blue by Alain Ducasse. Earlier in January 2022, it was awarded the prestigious Le French Design 100 by Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic. Le French Design 100 is the only design prize in France that honours the international actions of its designers for their design projects around the world. In addition, in March, the restaurant was ranked No. 25 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022, sponsored by San Pellegrino & Acqua Panna.
Champagne sailing conditions greet sailors on second day of Phuket King’s Cup
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2022
Blue skies, warm water and nice breeze greeted sailors today as they gathered off of Cape Promthep to compete in the second day of sailing at the 34th Phuket King’s Cup Regatta.
While the International Dinghy Classes finished four days or racing today, it was the second day of racing for the keelboats and multihulls. Race Officer Simon James sent the IRC Zero, and IRC One classes on a windward-leeward for their first race and a coastal race for their second while sending the IRC Premier Cruising, Charter Cruising and the Multihull classes off on a separate passage race.
The two TP52s (Team Hollywood and THA 72) are staging their own mini-Super Series in this regatta as Ray Roberts’ boat sailed to two victories today giving it five points and a one-point lead over Kevin Whitcraft’s THA 72 going into race day three. Windsikher managed a second in the first race but trails the TP52s with eleven points overall. Sarab Singh and Nick Burns’ crew seem to be feeling the effects of victory euphoria as they won and dominated the Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta just over a week ago.
The IRC One class had Garry Holt’s Let’s Get It On and Kazuki Kihara’s Char Chan flip flop first and second place in the two races the class sailed today. As such Let’s Get It On and Craig Douglas’ Ramrod sit tied at the top of the leader board with eight points with Char Chan trailing by a point. Morten Jakobsen’s smallish VXOne Hanuman XXXIX is holding its own against the bigger boats and sits in fourth spot with 10 points. Fifth place belongs to Matti Sepp’s Judy (19pts) with Craig Nichols Alright in last spot (25pts) as they did not finish the first race of the day.
The Thai vessel Pine Pacific expertly skipped by Ithinai Yingsiri won the Premier Cruising class narrowly beating Peter Cremers Shatoosh by less than two minutes on corrected time with Simon Piff’s Firstlight coming in 45 minutes later on corrected time. Pine Pacific and Shatoosh are tied for the lead in this class with three points followed by Firstlight with seven. Firstlight along with Ramrod and Windshihker made the trip up from Langkawi to compete in this regatta after recently sailing in Malaysia’s Raja Muda regatta, which is annually held two weeks before the Phuket King’s Cup.
The Charter Cruising Class saw a repeat placing of day one with Torben Kristensen’s Kinnon winning the race and leading the class with two points. Jakod Handte’s Fei Jian was second and remains in second overall with four points. Masami Yamashita’s Sunsail Inlova was third and stays in third with six points.
The Multihull OMR class saw Hermann Schwarz’ 2Fast4you win again beating Hang Chen’s ZOE by close to six minutes on corrected time, so 2Fast4you leads the class by two points.
A veteran of many King’s Cup campaigns, Sydney-based Craig Douglas, the co-owner of Ramrod, a Farr 40, reflects on what sets the Phuket King’s Cup apart from other sailing competitions: “It’s a fantastic event and very competitive. All the other regattas are like a rally: people are there for the journey, hotels and the food. But at King’s Cup, the sailors really thrash it out and take it to the next level. It’s a badge of honour to win it.
“The regatta is also very challenging: you can’t come into it in cruising mode because the handicap and the IRC rating will get you. If you are having a bad day, it’s not forgiving, you are either on good pace, or you will get punished. You need to race with a good and experienced crew.
“And the conditions: you usually get good wind, and if get splashed by water, it’s 25-28 degrees. If it rains, the rain is warm and you dry quickly. Once you hit the shore, you walk fifty metres up the beach to your hotel and you are surrounded by great food and people. Not many places can say that, it’s a great formula.”
Craig’s co-owner Gordon Ketelby owns another Farr 40 called Zen, which he keeps at the Middle Harbour Yacht Club in Sydney. The idea being to seamlessly swap sails, parts and crew between the two and it’s worked.
The International Dinghy Classes (Optimist Boys, Optimist Girls, Open ILCA4, ILCA6, ILCA 7, 420, 470, Skiff Boat and Open Skiff) finished racing today as 182 dinghies from Thailand, United Kingdom, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and China saw action with an awards ceremony taking place at the north end of Kata Beach in the evening.
Thais did very well in the dinghy competitions as Chanatip Tongglum won the Optimist Boys and Prin Subying won the Optimist Girls class. In the Skiff Boat class Narisara Satta and Nichapa Waiwai of Thailand lead the pack. The Open ILCA4 was won by Kenan Tan of Singapore with fellow countrymen Khoo Zachary taking the Open ILCA6 division. The Open ILCA 7 saw Thai national Prakasit Hongpradab win with fellow Thais Paliga Poonpat and Chakkaphat Wiriyakitti winning the 420 class. The 470 class was captured by Navee Thamsoontorn and Panida Suksomporn of Thailand and the Open Skiff championship went to Anandi Chandavarkar of Indonesia.
The return of the King’s Cup has been a breath of fresh ocean air to the Kata Beach business community who perennially depend on Thai and foreign sailors to boost the local economy every December. But it’s been three long years since that happened so hotels, restaurants and shop owners are ecstatic to see sailors of Asia’s most prestigious regatta roaming the streets and cruising the waterways again.
Keelboats and multihulls spread over five classes are competing in the Asia’s longest-running and most prestigious regatta, held over five days racing through scenic courses amidst the beautiful Andaman Sea islands.
The Royal Awards Ceremony will be on December 10, 2022, at Beyond Resort Kata, Kata Beach, Phuket.
Sponsors of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta include Kata Group, RMA Group, Haad Thip Pcl. and Workforce International.
8 best SEO agencies in Thailand with the best result and ROI
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2022
These days, SEO is one of the most popular online marketing practices that many marketers are interested in. SEO especially helps increase higher ranking rates organically and that is the most effective way that drives traffic into websites.
There is a saying that SEO is not too hard to understand from a scratch of knowledge, but there is a lot more to practice and to develop during each and every milestone of SEO in the making. Therefore, business owners and many marketers should be looking for the Best SEO Agency Bangkok to help the website and business grow to the fullest.
What is SEO?
SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. It means any practice and process that you do to improve your website to be compatible for search engines such as Google, Bing, etc. and most importantly, for users’ experience. One more thing not to be missed, SEO is a non-paid practice!
The practice includes the big picture of what is called SEO Soup – which are great contents, technical stuff and quality link building (internal and external). However, there is a lot more to learn and apply for.
What is the goal of SEO?
The goal of SEO is to make your website visible and easily accessible to users from the search result page. To be honest, everyone that is evolved with SEO, a hundred percent, would want to have their website rank in the first position. According to the report from SmartInsight dated August 29, 2022, any contents with the first place ranking probably earn, on average, 39.6% of traffic while the second and third come up with only 18.4% and 10.1%. That means the rest have to share less than 32% of traffic! The number can be different across industries, but what a surprising fact!
Advantages of SEO for Business
When your website is shown on a higher rank of the search result page, especially on the first page, it will gradually open many doors of opportunity to your website and business.
● Save Cost
SEO not only helps your website invisible to users, but it also helps growing business while shrinking costs. When it comes to SEO, it is all about organic practices and organic results. It helps your website rank on top of the page without bidding for position. Money is saved!
● Form Brand Awareness
SEO opens your business door to your customers directly without forcing them. SEO aims to spread knowledge and information as much as possible across your customers’ curiosities, pain points and queries.
● Create a Competitive Advantage for You Business
SEO benefits your website and business more and more, compared to others in the market. When your SEO is on fire, in other words – your website is showing on top of the page non-paid, it gives more credibility to your brand. Most users tend to trust the first one that ranks more than any other.
● Open More Windows of Opportunity
SEO creates more opportunities and leads more sales to your business. According to the benefits above, SEO helps create brand awareness that leads to trustworthiness and eventually, what else if not sales!
● Reach More Customers
SEO helps spread your brand through any areas of your customers as mentioned above. Together with carefully crafted contents, SEO easily catches the attention of prospective and existing customers and converts them into real customers, and soon or later.
The 5 Problems In-House SEO Faces
As stated, SEO is not hard to learn but in the making it can be problematic if not in the right hands of experts like the best SEO agencies (listed below) who spend days and nights resolving various issues. Because to build credibility to your brand, maximize your website’s potential and cope with the change of algorithm updates takes a lot of effort and requires a lot of experience, if not, there are the problems you may face as in-house.
1. A Problem with Website’s Structure
Note that a website’s structure is one of the most crucial parts because it is a core you use to organize your website. It involves the url structure, paths, categories and many more that you want them to be on your website, first to serve the business purpose, then the search engine preference and last but not least, customers’ journey. Messing up with your website’s structure with the lack of experience can affect ranking badly.
2. No Specialists to Handle the Works
A lot of in-houses may have their works flooded over their desks and SEO is a work that needs time and details. It may be a burden to your team to create meaningful and in-detailed contents with beautiful images and helpful videos altogether. The result is predictable, low quality contents that decrease the reliability of your website and brand.
3. Waste of (Team’s) Energy, Time and Money
It is true that SEO is an organic practice that results in an organic performance (non-paid result) but in the process, it requires many specialists to do their own jobs – basically, writer specialists, seo specialists, technical specialists, website developers, graphic designers for example. Not to mention SEO tools where some are free but some are not, under various conditions.
4. Take a Lot of Time
It is no mistake when most SEO experts say, SEO is about time. More than the effort to spend, there is quite a big gap of time when you need to wait until you see the result. Because competing in the SEO field, you need to compete with at least 90 websites or maybe webpages to appear on the first page with no guarantee! But with experts from the Best SEO Agencies, it might take less!
5. It Is a Basic Requirement to Catch Up with Changes, All the Time!
SEO is in an area of digital marketing practice which, of course, can be changed overnight! In-houses may not have time to learn and catch up with tons of changes and that will definitely affect your performance badly. You will never know when you violate the rules if you can’t keep up with SEO news.
Benefits of Hiring an SEO Agency
From every issue in-houses face in every area of business, hiring the best SEO agency seems to be a very interesting choice. SEO agencies not only have enough manpower and useful tools, but they also tend to solve every problem in no time according to their experiences and practices.
Here are the reasons you need to go through whether or not to hire an SEO agency.
• Get the Job Done by Experts
The best SEO agencies mostly have their teams for a complete-loop job awaiting for your business. Having experts do their work together with you in-houses who know well about your business would make it a plus!
• Cut the Losses!
Hiring an SEO agency helps you cut unnecessary expenses such as hiring too many copywriters or even wasting your money on a bunch of tools, so that you can focus on other parts effectively.
• Increase Business Growth
A team of experts can easily help you and your business achieve your goals faster since their job is to beat the time. Therefore, all your concerns and needs can be accomplished earlier so your business’ growth can be a lot better.
• Performance Guaranteed
Working with an SEO Agency, all the performances are guaranteed and can be tracked, so you will never miss the reports of growth. Moreover, you can get free consultation from experts to make your business go the right way.
• Help is at Your Reach
Just at your reach, the specialists of all teams are willing to help you and your business. SEO agencies will monitor every change made by search engines and transform your website into the same direction, so that your business can get more chances of sales and growth.
8 Best SEO Agencies That Can Drive Your Business into the 1st Place on Google
To accomplish business goals and climb to the top of the market, SEO is the outstanding key to success. Here, we gather all of the best SEO agencies in Bangkok, Thailand who help spread the wings of business opportunities for many companies. What’s more? Let’s take a look.
1. Minimice Group
Minimice Group is 1 out of 8 agencies we recommend as the Best SEO Agency. There, they gather the best of experts in the SEO field in order to help each and every client’s business grow sustainably. You will get an insight consultant from the very first step onward. To make your business grow seamlessly, Minimice Group offers a full service – building websites from scratch to producing high quality contents for your Ads and SEO. Guaranteed and trusted by leading companies.
As one of the best SEO agencies, Minimice Group strives to help their customers cope with digital transformation challenges better by working closely with them and prioritizes the core value of an outstanding campaign comes from building your brand and increasing leads and revenue to achieve goals.
For more information and details, please contact via Address : 63 Pridi Banomyong 14 Alley, Phra Khanong Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110 Call : 02-258-5515, 065-426-6499 LINE : @Minimicegroup Facebook : Minimice Group
2. Elevate
Elevate is one of the leading agencies with expertise in areas of SEO, marketing, and online marketing such as branding and revamping e-commerce business plans aligned with the current market trends. Elevate can help you and your business with brand awareness via potential tools and SEO, to help your business reach its audience better.
For more information and details, please contact via Address : 17 On Nut Soi 37, On Nut Road, Suan Luang, Bangkok 10250 Call : 02-002-6177 LINE : – Facebook : Elevate Co., Ltd.
3. CMYKSEO Agency
CMYKSEO Agency is an SEO agency that gives you and your business a transparent consultant from Keyword Research, to help your brand attribute quality contents to the market and reach your potential customers, until the end of the process to help your business achieve its goal.
For more information and details, please contact via Address : O.P. Garden Mall, Soi Charoen Krung 36, Charoen Krung Road, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500 (BY APPOINTMENT ONLY) Call : 08-7802-6408, 09-8268-4865 LINE : – Facebook : –
4. Ariomarketing
Ariomarketing is one of the best seo agencies in Bangkok, Thailand with more than 10 years of experience. With a team of experts, you can relax and still have your business run on the right track towards achievement.
For more information and details, please contact via Address : Likid Building, Room 6/2, Floor 6th, Lat Phrao Soi 23, Chan Kasem, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900 Call : 02-026-3302 LINE : @ArioMarketing Facebook : ArioMarketing
5. Convertdigital
Convert Digital is a leading agency that specializes in keyword analysis and technical SEO to optimize your website to the fullest potential.
For more information and details, please contact via Address : 20/247 Grand Canal Prachachun Rd. Pakkred district, Nonthaburi, Thailand, 11120 Call : 08-6888-6689 LINE : – Facebook : Convert Digital
6. CSME Thailand
CSME Thailand is a potential SEO agency that comes with various services concerning SEO, backlinks, Social Media Ads etc. At CSME, you’ll get an absolute consultant to help your business reach its potential customers and lead more sales.
For more information and details, please contact via Address : 567 Soi Pratcha Songkhro 2, Asoke – Dindaeng Rd, Din Dang, Bangkok 10400 Call : 02-107-2505 LINE : – Facebook : CSME Marketing
7. Yesweb
Yesweb is another leading SEO Agency to be looking forward to. More than SEO services, they also offer many other services that answer every need such as basic online marketing – branding and design, to advance the level of SEO to help your business beat other competitors.
For more information and details, please contact via Address : 17th Floor, Wittayakit Building, Phayathai Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330 Call : 096-879-5445 LINE : – Facebook : Yes Web Design Studio I Web Design Company Bangkok
8. SEO Bangkok Here comes to the last but not least, SEO Bangkok. The leading agency comes with a full team of experts who will help you in every step of the making and help your business be on top of the market.
For more information and details, please contact via Address : The Prime, Khlong Toei Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Call : 080-211-8767 LINE : – Facebook : SEO Bangkok
Here is the list of the Best SEO Agencies we recommend. If there is a website for your business and you want to grow it to attract more potential customers, don’t forget to connect your brand with these specialists. The goal is not too far, and the way to it can be a lot more efficient with the Best SEO Agency.
Thailand holds global education conference “Forum for World Education 2022” for the first time
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 06, 2022
FWE joins CP Group in sessions with business and educational experts to advance and transform education to satisfy business demands in the 5.0 era. CP senior president believes that education may help a nation develop.
Forum for World Education (FWE) in collaboration with Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) held a summit “Forum for World Education 2022” for leaders in education from public and private sectors around the world under the theme of “Shaping the Future of Education to Match Global Economic Trends” on December 1st -2nd, 2022 at the C.P. Leadership Institute, Pak Chong District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand.
More than 400 education professionals from different countries collaborate with international business leaders who are concerned with human development and education to come up with a model for education that will serve both the requirements of the future and businesses all over the world.
The discussion at the forum will cover a variety of subjects, including “Strategies for Shaping the Future of Education in Line with Global Economic Trends” and “Educational Transformation & Human Capital Readiness to The World 5.0.” with the goal of transforming education and constructing a strong human resource base for the future global economy in the 5.0 era.
World-class business leaders who value human development and education, as well as educational leaders from different nations, attended Forum for World Education 2022, including Dr. Cheng Yan Davis, co-founder and secretary-general of FWE, Mr. Anek Laothammathat, Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Dr. Tan See Leng, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Singapore, Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont, senior president of Charoen Pokphand Group, Khunying Kalaya Sophonpanich, Deputy Minister of Education, Assoc. Prof. Dr.Khunying Sumonta Promboon, Andreas Schleicher, director of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mr. Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg News and former Mayor of New York City, Mr. Vikram Rao, Head of Enterprise, ASEAN from Amazon, Dr. Inoue Mitsuteru, Senior Executive Director, Kosen Institute, Japan, Mr. Collin Marson, Director of Education, Google Asia Pacific and Mr. Li Kai Chen, Senior Partner and Managing Partner, Mackenzie.
Dr. Cheng Yan Davis, co-founder of the Forum for World Education (FWE) and secretary-general of the Global Council for Education, said that the FWE has existed for more than three years as a forum for businesses who believe that education may spur economic progress.
“Today, we invite global educational leaders to a discussion focused on the future, both online and offline. FWE will make every effort to assist on research and education since we think education will advance commerce. Because of the pandemic we are currently experiencing, we would like to encourage everyone to utilize the potential of education to shape the global economy,” she said.
The senior president of Charoen Pokphand Group, Dhanin Chearavanont, stated that the forum’s main issues were education and human development. Education is the key to human progress and determines how much a nation can develop. There won’t be a CEO if a strong organization doesn’t generate leaders with broad expertise. In the past, out of a fear that other organizations would take them away, we only created people to operate in silos. But at CP, we develop owners who are familiar with every aspect of the business—profits, accounts, losses, human resources, public relations, etc.—and we have no fear that they will leave the company. Instead, we believe that we have produced individuals for the nation and for society.
“Selfish people will never become excellent leaders, so if we want to build leaders, we must create leaders who are appreciative, know how to give, to learn, and able to be disadvantaged. Charoen Pokphand Group has six core values: Three Benefits, Speed with Quality, Simplification, Accept Change, Innovation, and the most important thing is Integrity. You have to be a good person who understands how to return favors to the land, show gratitude to parents, love your family, love the organization, and love your coworkers to be good leaders,” he said.
The FWE meeting today is a preparation for continuing workforce development to satisfy of an increasingly complicated and unstable world, according to Dr. Tan See Leng, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Singapore. Singapore places a high priority on effectively developing its human resources from an early age. In particular, the development of 21st century values and capacities, world knowledge, skills, and cultural distinctions, which have become incredibly relevant in the modern world.
“The pandemic crisis taught us to understand the importance of lifelong learning, which enables our workforce to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. Singapore continues to invest in lifelong learning and aiding those who have lost their employment by motivating them to be resilient and effective at work, especially through training and skill enhancement, along with future economic and technological progress,” he said.
Mr. Andreas Schleicher, director of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), revealed that the most important thing that affects the quality of education is student and teacher attitude in supporting learning.
“Learning attitudes play a critical role in determining how the next generation will develop. Children will create a learning and creative environment if they are not scared to make mistakes, dare to make decisions, and brave enough to take risks,” he said. “Also, if we provide everyone the chance to discover their aptitude and talent, they will be able to improve both individually and qualitatively. Additionally, the most crucial element in the process of learning and building a successful educational system is the teacher. The challenge is that there aren’t enough competent teachers. How do we encourage teachers of the new generation to go beyond the classroom? How can we recruit more qualified individuals to work as teachers in the system?”
The Forum for World Education (FWE) is a non-profit world organization with its headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America. In order to influence and change the education system to suit the rapidly shifting global society and economic backdrop, FWE aspires to connect the education system with businesses and provide corporate opinions on educational management.
The “Forum for World Education” symposium, which annually hosted by FWE was first held in Paris, France, in 2019. The CP Group and Concordian International School collaborated to make this year’s Forum for World Education 2022 possible in Thailand on December 1 and 2, 2022, at the C.P. Leadership Institute in the Pak Chong District of Nakhon Ratchasima Province.
Climate change is one of the most significant storm clouds hovering over the global consciousness, and despite persistent warnings, it isn’t going away.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently described our position as “on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator…We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing”.
This is a scary prospect, but fear can sometimes be a great motivator for change, and there’s no doubt that we need to ramp up the changes we are implementing if we are to have any chance of averting climate disaster. This change must come from all stakeholders, but consumers have an important role in taking us off the highway to climate hell and onto greener pastures.
Consumer engagement
Consumer engagement in sustainability has undoubtedly deepened as environmental concerns escalated in recent years. Whilst this is encouraging, it doesn’t solve all of our problems.
The biggest challenge is turning this heightened engagement into actual action by consumers. We need to prove to them that climate change threatens their health and costs them money and convince them of the personal – not just the global, altruistic – benefits of being more responsible. We need to sell ethics and eco-action – to paraphrase John Lennon – and sell it like people sell soap or soft drinks.
Climate and inequality
Like many negative influences, those most vulnerable tend to feel the consequences more keenly, and radical climate change is no different. The world’s richest 10% generated over half of the emissions between 1990 and 2015. Today, developing and poorer nations bear the brunt of the historic emissions of wealthy industrialised countries and their over-consumption.
People living in coastal communities and increasingly hot, desertified, or melting ice sheet environments are displaced as migrants. Poorer people or those with disabilities are more exposed to the financial costs and health dangers of dependence on fossil fuels or extreme weather events. Rich countries and consumers have a moral duty to act politically and individually.
According to research by Mintel, air quality, climate change and deforestation are Thai consumers’ top three environmental concerns, and they are concerns that consumers can impact. 59% of the emission reductions we need to achieve net zero are linked at least indirectly to what they choose to do or buy.
Like everyone else, Thai consumers who care about these issues should strive to reduce the consumption of clothes, meat and dairy, ensure their packaging goes into a recycling scheme and select more responsible brands. They can also embrace micro-mobility options such as walking and cycling. When it comes to ensuring governments speed up the transition to renewables, it’s a case of voting for government programmes of action.
Accelerating momentum on a short timeline
Although we need consumers to be proactive, there are increasing levels of scepticism about the long-term effect their actions can have. In fact, the number of consumers who believe we still have time to save the planet if we act now has declined, and they’re right; we are running out of time. The previous COP commitments left us a long way off the target to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. Still, it’s not just consumers that need to step up: Governments and companies need to be honest about where they are and what needs to be achieved, take action and prove to consumers that their actions make them part of this journey.
We must reward consumers and excite them about environmental sustainability to increase and maintain their engagement. This means showing them how much money they’ve saved by renting instead of buying something or by installing home solar instead of gas, for example.
We also need to appeal to their sense of ego and individuality and let them show, share and even flaunt the fact that they’re taking small actions for good. The same marketing rules apply here as any other “product”: sell into them not just for the environmental benefit but for how they feel about themselves and look to their peers.
Mintel spokesperson: Richard Cope, Senior Trends Consultant
Firmenich announces Dragon Fruit as 2023 Flavour of the Year
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 06, 2022
Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, is excited to announce its 2023 Flavour of the Year, dragon fruit, celebrating consumers’ desire for exciting new ingredients and bold, adventurous flavour creation.
“This marks our 11th Flavor of the Year, which is something our customers have come to look forward to each year. Dragon fruit’s bold vibrancy is a perfect choice as we embark an exciting year of change,” said Maurizio Clementi, ad interim President, Firmenich’s Taste & Beyond division. “Our in-depth Human Insights have identified the strong shift towards well-being and sustainability in people’s food and beverage choices, as well as newly-emerging elevated expectations in terms of taste. As everything we do is rooted in nature and deep consumer understanding, this inspired us to choose a Flavor of the Year which captures both.”
Drawing Inspiration from Color & Trenz
This is the second consecutive year of a sensory partnership between Firmenich and Pantone. The global colour authority has just launched its 2023 Color of the Year, PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta, which it describes as a “brave and fearless, a pulsating colour whose exuberance promotes optimism and joy.” Mikel Cirkus, Global Creative Director for Taste & Beyond said: “In the same way that Pantone’s Color of the Year captures the emerging themes seen in the world around us, our choice for Flavor of the Year does so by translating new signals into positive sensory experiences. Our 2023 choice of dragon fruit reflects the global consumer’s increasingly adventurous palate and desire for the new or exotic when it comes to ingredients and taste.”
Jeff Schmoyer, Firmenich Global Head of Human Insights, said: “Dragon fruit’s subtle flavour creates a wonderful opportunity to bring the exceptional creativity and expertise of Firmenich’s Flavorists to the fore, providing the perfect canvas for them to dare to imagine bold, exciting and delicious new taste combinations.”
A Fruit by Any Other Name
Native to Central America, where it is known as Pitahaya, and thriving in tropical and subtropical climates across the world, dragon fruit’s flesh is rich in antioxidants and high in calcium. Dragon Fruit grows from a climbing cactus, making it a drought-resistant and naturally low water-use crop, requiring only a quarter of the water to grow compared to that of an avocado.
Much like the mystical creature that inspired its name, dragon fruit is fierce in appearance, with a scale-like skin in bold hues ranging from fiery yellow to bold magenta. However, its delicate flavour belies its imposing armour. With several different types varying in both colour and taste, dragon fruit ranges in flavour from milder melon and kiwi-like to slightly sweeter berry profiles with notes of beetroot.
Enter the Dragon Fruit
Part of its industry-leading Human Insights capability, Firmenich’s Trenz™ forecasting team spotted a post-Covid rise in dragon fruit across almost every major city in the world. While always popular within niche segments, the exotic fruit began showing up more universally across diverse markets and food service venues, as well as product applications, from the more intuitive juices and smoothies to less traditional formats like tea and cooked savoury dishes.
According to Mikel Cirkus, this is all part of a decade-long trend for boldness and discovery in food and drink. The pandemic increased the pace of this trend, with huge spikes in consumers broadening their palates for new seasoning. Notably, expenditures on spices & seasonings at home grew 27% CAGR[1], Trenz™ found. New product innovation has followed, with on-pack claims such as “bold” and “exotic” up by 38% since 2017, and the use of three- and four-way flavour combinations in products now cresting over 25% of all Food & Beverage launches.
Firmenich’s renowned Emotions360 consumer research offered a second clue. This proprietary in-depth study of natural ingredients identified that people are very excited about dragon fruit. In fact, Emotions360’s latest wave, which surveyed 18,670 consumers across eight countries around the world, indicated that 88% of consumers have heard of dragon fruit, and 56% have tasted it. In terms of consumer perceptions, dragon fruit triggers associations with adjectives like bold, exotic, exciting, impressive and fun. Given this positive association, it’s not surprising that the same consumers ranked dragon fruit in the 90% percentile among all ingredients with a high likelihood to rise in popularity in the future.
A Fiery Future
As much as dragon fruit is on fire in juice bars, markets, and street vendors around the world, the packaged Food & Beverage world was initially slow to innovate around this trend. However, this trend is changing, with product launches containing dragon fruit callouts now accelerating in all regions. In fact, dragon fruit use in CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) is growing more quickly in foods than beverages, where innovations typically appear first.
Jeff Schmoyer, Firmenich Global Head of Human Insights, commented: “Dragon fruit may be still a ‘rare’ fruit flavour for CPG food & beverage brands, but it is no longer rare to consumers. And in fact, this has translated to one of the fastest growth rates of any ingredient we’ve tracked in recent years. Given the small base and fast growth, it is certainly our boldest Flavor of the Year choice yet from a predictive foresight perspective. It’s possible that the initial lag in new product innovation is in part related to the challenge of realizing the flavour of dragon fruit. Our consumer research shows that the fruit can sometimes surprise people by not having the strong flavour to match its visual appearance. Instead, the taste is light, refreshing, sweet, and delicious.”
“For this reason, Firmenich believes that its flavour creativity will play a key role in amplifying the taste and celebrating combinations of dragon fruit with other flavours,” Schmoyer concluded.
Great Wall Motor Sponsors HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2022
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 04, 2022
Great Wall Motor (GWM) drives forward the sports sector as the official automotive partner of the world’s leading badminton tournament ‘HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2022’ to be held during December 7 – 11, 2022, at Nimibutr Stadium, National Stadium complex.
In addition, GWM will provide a fleet of the All New HAVAL H6 Hybrid SUVs and the All-New HAVAL JOLION Hybrid SUVs to deliver cutting-edge and convenient travel experiences to top badminton players and staff from around the world.
GWM will be the first Chinese automobile brand to sponsor the global badminton tournament in the Thai market, reinforcing its commitment to become the xEV Leader that is ready to collaborate with all sectors to uplift the company’s stature as the Global Intelligent Technology Company and develop the Thai badminton industry while driving Thailand’s economy and society in response to the post-Covid-19 recovery, restoring happiness to people in Thailand and across the world.
Elliot Zhang, President of Great Wall Motor ASEAN, said: “It is a terrific opportunity for Thailand to host one of the most prestigious badminton tournaments such as the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2022 which will bring over 60 top-ranked badminton players from around the globe to Thailand. GWM is thrilled and honoured to partake in developing and promoting Thailand and the world’s badminton – the sport that always brings joy to Thai fans. Sponsoring this global competition reaffirms our position as a global automotive brand that focuses on further improving this borderless sports industry.”
Join GWM in cheering for top Thai badminton players – Ratchanok Intanon, Busanan Ongbumrungphan, Jongkolphan Kititharakul, Rawinda Prajongjai, Nuntakarn Aamsaard, Benyapha Aamsaard, Dechaphon Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai – who will be competing for competition.
GWM also offers special activities for Thai badminton fans at all GWM partner stores, including online activities to win prizes such as free tickets, GWM points and many more.
In addition, consumers who participate in activities held at Great Wall Motor booth activities at the 39th Motor Expo 2022 and on GWM application will have a chance to win a ticket to watch the final match (limited number at 75 VIP passes & privilege tickets).
For more details, please visit GWM Thailand Facebook and GWM application from 1-11 December 2022.
This Father’s Day, we are honoring all those dad bods with prime ribs, seafood, and 2-hour free-flowing.
Hua Hin, Thailand — The Standard, Hua Hin, the Thai resort where chic beach vibes meet mid-century style, welcomes families to our one-of-a-kind Father’s Day celebration. This year, a heart-warming and delightful promotion is on the table at Lido as the sunset approaches.
No matter where you are from, bring your father to Lido on December 5 to enjoy two hours of free-flowing drinks when purchasing the set from our Father’s Day promotion. This once-in-a-year promotion will offer a one-kilogram prime rib for THB 4,000 net or THB 2,500 net to choose between whole snapper or sea bass that comes with tiger prawns to enjoy while looking over our magnificent pool and pristine beach.
Celebrate Father’s Day in style with us at Lido, an all-day Italian dining restaurant on December 5, 2022, from 6:00 – 10:00 pm. Reserve your tables at https://bit.ly/TheStandardHuaHin-Lido or call 032-535999.
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