Beware of strangers asking for gifts from far away

If you have a frequent flyer regime you must read this, it might suit you suite.

That legacy of ridicule from friends when you've failed to complete their objectives during your business trip.

The balancing act of biz and pleasure during travel requires the performance of business Driod and a decathlon athlete.

They're fitted with a roll up of Loyalty membership cards and password decoders. Pockets bursting with multi-lingual business cards.   Secret compartments holster neatly folded retractable cables, conversion plugs and the latest swiss army knife.

 Efficient models are programmed to tolerate extended rhetorical conversations in noisy bars; advanced models sleep with their eyes open.

Such attributes were characterized in the movie “up in the air” with George Clooney.

George, as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing expert whose cherished life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles when he mets the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams...

Was it her or those 3rd party priority shopping lists.

Ryan reluctantly breached routine to get a 1mtr cardboard cut out of his sister and brother-in-law to be to popular tourist destinations to collect photo illusions of them on holidays.  What the!

AustCham Thailand Members are Populating in Longdo

Australian Commerce has a substantial presence in Thailand.

It's why so many Australian owned/managed venues are populating across the Longdo Map
click on the photo expand

Reporter:  Phill Smith

It wasn't until we were introduced to AustCham Thailand that we discover the prominence of Australia, as Business owners and/or Managers. So with the help of the ever enthusiastic people of Longdo we embarked on a "Joint venture project" to populate Aussie Venues on Thailands Longdo Map.

Finding Aussie Venues became a "Needle in a haystack"

All known Aussie Govt., agencies we approached but they had no interest in the concept (most drew the curtain of "privacy laws"?  What the !  where talking about Business not Facebook!

We got tired of submitting writing requests (no one reads the content) and receiving the standard template response ... refer this (faulty website).  So what's is the job satisfaction?  "mai ben rai"

Fortunately we had some good luck, we found AustCham Thailand.

I had not idea just how substantial Australian Busines in Thailand is until I glanced at the AustCham Thailand website.

Their Key Features:

Promotion of business between Australia and Thailand

Representation and dialogue between AustCham, Thai Government and other business groups

Providing a dynamic networking, social and sponsorship platform

Community Services

The AustCham Management and staff have been a constant source of energy and synergy. Whether your a visitor on Business or Social their DOORS ARE OPEN. It's a productive culture and the reason I became a member. 

The highlight has been the AustCham's people network, it's quite remarkable! The monthly sundowners are the talk of Business Bangkok, it's a must do event.

The opportunity to meet the Expat community on a quality social platform is a credit to the organisers, it's clear evidence of their success. 

Bangkok's Burning Question - howz our Risk Management and Insurance

AustCham Thailand event

Landmark Hotel, Bangkok

July 6th 2010

Guest Speakers:

KHUN SORACHON BOONSONG, Principal of Baker & McKenzie

and

ROBIN ARMSTRONG - Chief Executive Officer, Marsh PB Co., Ltd.

AusWaThai reporter Janis

Recent events in Thailand have demonstrated the  significance of robust risk management and insurance programs in helping your business get back on its feet quickly. They have also highlighted the importance of considering the events that your insurance will cover. It is then paramount to understand the implications regarding insurance contracts and how they operate in such events.

The Guests speakers delivered an overview of insurance contracts and how you can best protect your business for the future. Khun Sorachon Boonsong covered the significant legal issues, whilst Robin Armstrong cover gave intricate insight into the relevant business issues. 

Khun Sorachon is a Principal at Baker & McKenzie Bangkok.

Khun Sorachon has become well-recognised for providing advice and legal assistance to a variety of clients, wide ranging from domestic clients to large multinational corporations. His vast array of expertise has served clients in a broad range of commercial transactions, including mergers & acquisitions, with numerous high profile and landmark insurance company; in his portfolio; power/renewable energy projects; real estate, hotel/resort and property development; environmental law; as well as his foremost specialty, being insurance law and insurance regulatory matters. Khun Sorachon kindly provides a PDF version of his slide presentation at this page.  The PDF provides the fundamentals from prospective of law where Khun Robin sliced and diced the Insurance policy.

Photo right  .. 
May 19 Bangkok

The photo is from a collection from
our forum article about

"Together We care".

The article incldues a video showing the genuine character of Community.. the article is detailed here 

THAI HOSPITALITY SECTOR REMAINS POSITIVE IN THE FACE OF CHALLENGES

Among the many businesses and individuals affected by the recent protests in Thailand, the hospitality sector, especially in Bangkok, was one of the hardest hit. A number of major hotels close to the turmoil were even forced to close for a period while others remained open albeit with extremely low occupancies. Travel warnings issued by some countries led tourists to cancel their trips while some companies doing business in Thailand instructed their staff to avoid visiting the Kingdom as their insurance did not cover travel during periods of civil unrest.

Report courtesy of AustCham Thailand

The Tourism Council of Thailand cut its forecast for foreign tourist arrivals in 2010 from 16 million to between 12.7 million and 14 million and the Rajprasong Square Trade Association estimated losses to 2088 businesses in the area of Bt 11.275 billion affecting some 30,661workers.

Thailand and her people have always been regarded as peaceful and welcoming so to most potential tourists and previous visitors, the recent events came as a surprise and has certainly affected Thailand’s image among this core market.

Overcoming this wave of negative publicity presents a formidable challenge to the hospitality industry in the short term, however most key players contacted for this article expressed optimism that, in the medium to long term, the sector will bounce back from this latest setback as it has done before.

 Gathering together comments from major hotel operators in Thailand, particularly Bangkok which was most affected, the predictions and actions undertaken generally concur. In the face of these challenges it is encouraging to note that for the most part hoteliers present a united front together with the strategic efforts of the Government, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thai Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Thai Hotels Association and various other bodies such as PATA.

Let’s try to keep this positive. We know that tourism in Thailand is resilient and will definitely bounce back but let’s look at what actions need to be taken to lessen the damage. First off, the good news is that a number of major city hotels say that their “on the books” business for the traditional peak winter period, is still looking very healthy, for some even better than for the same period last year. They say there have been no major cancellations so far for later in the year. Clearly visitors expect the situation to calm down and still want to come to Thailand, so they are not being hasty in their actions. Excellent news indeed!

A necessary short term action taken by hotels is to offer Destination Management Companies discounted rates for a limited period, primarily in order to encourage people to return. However, it is to be stressed that this is a merely a short term action plan. As Thailand has traditionally been an inexpensive destination, hopefully these initiatives are a stop gap measure until the expected bounce back occurs. In the meantime hoteliers have to be creative to make sure their staff does not suffer too much during this lull, or worse still lose valuable trained employees due to retrenchments.

A couple of hotels cleverly went ahead with their planned Wedding Fairs, and one hotel in particular did extremely well, taking more bookings and deposits on the spot than they had done in previous buoyant years. Others are conducting strong food and beverage promotions with attractively priced menus.

On the other hand, there have been a couple of hasty moves, including one prominent hotel deciding to dramatically slash its rates. It is questionable what this will achieve except putting pressure on other hotels to follow suite for limited short term gains. Most will resist this knee jerk reaction as they know that although it may bring in a few locals to stay for a night or two there will be no substantial benefit. Actions like these have the potential to create animosity between hotels at the very moment they need to pull together and focus on combined efforts to revitalize the sector with the help of the TAT and other associations.

More positive efforts are being initiated to bring Travel Agents and International/Regional Media, into the country and to re-ignite the efforts of TCEB to encourage Conference and Incentive business.

Taking a long term view it is encouraging to note that many international hotel groups still intend to proceed with their plans to open new hotels in Bangkok and are will complete those that are presently under construction.

Wayne Buckingham, Regional Vice President Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore for Starwood Hotels and Resorts is of the opinion that stability and security is the greatest challenge of all as this is what is required get tourism and business to return to the country.

 “The result of the difficulties we are facing is creating downward pressure for pricing in the hospitality sector, especially in wholesale markets,” he says. “As business demand declines there is a tendency towards price cutting to generate cash flow and this will put downward pressure on yields, which will take some time to return to pre crisis levels.” In addition he believes that over the next two years there will be a surplus supply of rooms due to new hotels being opened in Bangkok which will exacerbate the problem.

The growth of Starwood is still strong, with 16 hotels currently under development across the region, Wayne is still positive about the future. Admittedly he acknowledges that future development will unfortunately slow down somewhat in Thailand after recent events. However they are still keen to look for opportunities within Thailand such as Phuket and Samui or strengthen their brand in places like Vietnam and developing resort areas.

In the short-term he says they are looking at India, the Middle East and China to replace business lost from traditional markets and putting greater emphasis on driving domestic business from Thais and expatriates living in Thailand.

 

Duncan Webb, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, ONYX Hospitality Group echoes many of these sentiments. He says that Thailand as a destination has weathered many storms in the past, both domestic and international and is confident it will do so again. “Thailand's hospitality industry must now evaluate the damage caused to the reputation of the country and specifically Bangkok as a result of the recent civil unrest,” he said. “In the eyes of the international media, it seemed the entire country was impacted but the situation is more complex. The resort destinations in the south continued to welcome clients who bypassed Bangkok, flying directly to their chosen beach. Whilst many nations issued the highest level of travel advisory against Thailand, some markets such as India and Russia continued to generate business even during the most critical period of the troubles.”

He anticipates the recovery will vary by segment and market. “A critical challenge for all of us in the hospitality industry is how to re-activate the MICE segment as international corporations planning an overseas meeting later this year may be hesitant to consider Bangkok as an option. As an industry we need to work together with the relevant industry bodies to project positive messages about Bangkok,” he said.

 ONYX has activated a series of initiatives aiming at creating positive messages about the destination and the Amari brand in key source markets. In the last week, we have already welcomed media groups from UK and Germany and the sales team is seeking out short term business opportunities in order to maintain occupancy.

Tosten Pinter, GM of Swisshotel Nailert Park estimates that recovery will take a bit longer than from the last political unrest, probably 6-9 months this time if there are no further incidents. In the meantime he is focusing on promotions for Asia Pacific and local guests to replace those from traditional markets.

“With seven restaurants in the hotel we are making F&B a focus of our activity rather than cutting rates,” he says. In his opinion reducing prices will not automatically increase occupancy rates and may even have a negative impact on regular guests as the customer segmentation changes with lower rates.

Francis Zimmerman, General Manager of Marriot Resort and Spa also expressed the belief that Thailand will bounce back although it may take a bit longer this time. “It is very important right now to make direct communications to guests, partners and other parties that Thailand remains very safe, stable and a great destination to visit,” he said. In his opinion, offering big discounts across the board is very counter productive as Thailand is already rated as one of the top tourist destinations globally for value for money.

Ken Scott, Managing Director, ScottAsia Communications and PR Chairman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Thailand Chapter says that although the fiscal cost of the damage is high it is the reputation of Thailand as a destination that has taken a knock. “Leisure tourists' decision making is very sensitive and they cancel or switch their destinations quickly. The Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Singaporean and Hong Kong markets tend to react fastest and pay more attention to their government's travel advisories,” he noted.

“On a more positive note, during the unrest, places such as Phuket and Samui and Krabi were operating as normal. The challenge is to get that message across to travel agents and consumers overseas,” he added.

Samir Wildemann, General Manager, Radisson Hotel Bangkok, Sathorn also feels that the sector will bounce back as it has in the past but he feels that the recent situation calls for a unique joint action between the Government and the private sector. “There should be a short term immediate recovery plan as well as a long term sustainable development plan that will aid hotel properties foresee a positive future for our business,” he said.

Radisson Hotels are focusing their efforts on key markets who can quickly decide re a trip to Thailand as well as those planning for the high season later this year. “Fortunately, we didn't have to close our (Sathorn) hotel at the time of the protests, instead, our team used that time for additional training, strategic planning and collaborative actions re-adjusting our sales, marketing and public relation activities while we continued to develop and polish our hotel operations, amenities and facilities.” he said.

All in all the vast majority of comments reflect the same positive attitude and all agree that we have to be focused and work strategically in order to see short and long term goals fulfilled. There is no doubt, that unless we have another dramatic incident, we should soon see this bustling metropolis active again with both tourists and corporate visitors from all over the world. As a result, not only will the hospitality and tourism industry recover, but businesses reliant on the continuing support of both regional and international guests will see the return of their valued customers.

Ms Anne Lewinski is Managing Director for AL Consultancy Hotel Solutions Ltd. www.alconsultancy.com

Contact: anne@alconsultancy.com.

Anne has worked in the Travel, International Airline and Hospitality industries for over 37 years during which time she has specialized in Sales and Marketing. Her responsibilities have included both property/product specific and also regional roles, in the Asia/Pacific region. Her last role in Thailand was with The Sukhothai Bangkok where she spent 4.5 years as Director of Marketing and Sales.

She formed her company late 2008 and now provides small and large hotels and hotel management companies with support services - specializing in sales and marketing strategies, planning, training, audits, advertising, website and creative assistance. She served on the Board of Directors for AustCham Thailand in 2008 and 2009.

AustCham Thailand's Commonwealth Sundowner in Bangkok shows business is back on track

The Pan Pacific Hotel turned on their glowing charm, providing an excellent environment for AustCham's  Sundowner which has grown to great status in social success and tonight was no exception! 

Mission: The Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce (AustCham Thailand) was the first Australian Chamber to be formed in theASEAN region. It was established in 1977 with the charter to promote business relations between Australia and Thailand.

The Chamber acts as a contact and information point for Australian businesses in Thailand, Australian businesses wishing to trade with or invest in Thailand and similarly for Thai enterprises interested in doing business with or in Australia.

AustCham Thailand aims to provide quality and constructive input into the formulation of policies impacting on business (both by the Thai and Australian Governments), and their administration, and to contribute to the development of relations between the two countries.

Welcome address by President Andrew

Andrew Durieux is a director of Coverage Ltd, a leading Business Consulting and IT software and services provider, and owner of Infocomm Software in Australia. Read more about Andrew here

Building links, network and business benchmarking is the name of the game

Pictured left

AustCham President Andrew Durieux

Auswathai Director Phill Smith

AustCham Executive Director Brett Gannaway

Bangkok Rocks - Social Ambassador Billy Cove

Pictured below Khun Meow

Showing the might of the British EmpireKhun Meow provided the touch of glamor and dazzle that set the flashes popping on the cameras.

Khun Meow is an excellent example of developing business skills under direction of her Western Employer. Khun Meow demonstrates enthusiasm and dedication at her new found career and has risen to Manager level at Bangkok Rocks. She may not complain of the perils of the job but and it's certainly aa challenge infusing the staff Thai Culture with Western (Farang) business disciplines and of course there are the Patrons.

Last month the world seemed to be coming to an end in her beloved city. From her Inner city apartment the view down Sukhimvit showed the horror. Buildings ablaze, black smoke billowing from what was the city's shopping Icon. Now it's about the challenge of rebuilding, presenting confidence and re assurance to International patrons, that Bangkok is once again the Dynamic and city that welcomes all.

Proud sponsors of the event

Founded in Australia in 1938, HASSELL is a private, single ownership design practice with a network of 13 design studios throughout mainland Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. Each has the flexibility and autonomy to service local clients, and the advantages of access to our integrated culture, combined resources and collective experience.

As a multidisciplinary design practice, we are structured around the key disciplines of architecture, interior

design, landscape architecture and planning, with integrated sustainability and urban design capabilities.

Recognition of our sustained and diverse output is illustrated by the more than 450 design awards thatHASSELL has received from peer groups and industry bodies... read more

Pictured below we introduce Khun Arwee

Thai National Arwee Manigluck, employee of Auswathai. Arwee's has the awesome job P.A. Services to Exec tour clients from Perth West Australia. Next week she will make her maiden visit to Perth, West Australia to begin another extension of her job Description. Arwee will attend International Language school and produce a travel report to be used to Promote Study Visa WA to Thailand.

Pictured left

AustCham Director Belinda Skinner

Originally from Western Australia, Belinda Skinner is a consultant and senior member of the management team of Top Talent Asia (formerly Talent Plus and part of The Capstone Recruitment and Consulting Group).

In this company she is the Team Leader for both the Consumer?FMCG/Pharmaceutical and Human Resources sectors for executive search and recruitment. Read more about Belinda here

The Sundowner certainly has a comfortable networking culture. I was surprised AND PLEASED that so many people came forward to make acquaintance. I now have a bundle of Business cards and memory of brief chats which I will soon convert into stronger links for work and friendship.

If your an AustCham member please send me your Business Card to add to our new database - click here and we will gladly arrange a free listing in the popular Longdo Map Thailand

LINKS -
Photo Gallery Map AustCham Members Thailand

Other AustCham articles - click here
====================================================================

AustCham Members populate Thailand

We have embarked on a Major Service to promote Australian Business Community in Thailand to Business Community World Wide.

The project would not be possible if not for the enormous enthusiasm by the creators of Longdo Map Thailand

Soon you will see all AustCham Members populated across the face of Thailand's most popular mapping Service "Longdo Maps"


The benefits are significant for Bilateral Business, Community and Travel. At a glance you can see all the members, search by Members, members names or their Product or Business category, view their location details or link directly to their website.

We are very Grateful to the enthusiam and flexible work ehthic of our Joint venture friends at Longdo Maps.We have placed a lot of pressure on the Management and the developemt Team at Longdo and they have stepped up to every request and shown they have the synergy of a winning Team.

The Project started in September 2009 with the initial expression fo interest and visions concepts.

The overwhelming interest shown by the JV team made it an easy challenge.  Within a few meetings the infrastructure was in draft and tests were under way.

The next obstacle was Communication challenges between our vision and their technology which is most friendly in Thai. Losts of phone calls and supporting emails have moved us to the next stage.

The current obstacle is the training the staff. In December 2009 AusWaThai decided to fund the cost of bringing our Thai employee to Perth WA for training on the process and assist in the development of a manual that can be used for new staff as they are introduced to the system.

Unfortunately the Australian Immigration office in Bangkok has blocked the visa siting they are not satsified there is a need for the employee to visit in regard to this project. Ironcially we are trying to Promote Australian Business in Thailand and our Australian Immigration office has stalled the process. The Thailand employee is also requried to help promote other Australian icons but is fell on deaf ears.. we will continue the struggle

Our Projects to Promote Australia in Thailand are displayed on this Page
We see great opportunity to introduce this model to SME business that do no have a website, Longdo have modified the system to allow the Registered business to pay a nominal cost to Lock their page and claim Name rights. The concept has been designed to include other Australian Business ie.., Non AustCham Members so that we can get all of Australia in Thailand on display to the World.

If you are not an AustCham Member... you should be, there Network Culture is second to none and the staff are enthusiastic and well guided by the Executive Brett Gannaway (from WA)

If your an Aussie Venue in Thailand (and not in the AustCham Directory) please let us know so we can register you in Longdo Map

Recent Media articlesLongdo Maps JV with AusWaThai

AustCham - Brett Gannaway

AustCham Thailand - Connecting Australia with Thailand

During the October visit Bangkok I decided to update contact with AustCham Thailand.

A brief email was dispensed, it was not long before an email came back to say hello from a fellow Sandgroper.  To my surprise the new Executive Director, Brett Gannaway is product of W.A. The connection triggered a volley of emails and a phone call.  Brett’s enthusiastic invitation was all I needed and a meeting was set.

The enthusiasm increased when Brett mentioned their office is on the BTS line. The BTS (skytrain) is an incredibly efficient "Train in the sky" (you'd say mono rail) in the heart of Bangkok. The BTS almost takes you to the door of their offices.

When you disembark at station Surasak make sure you check the correct exist (it’s a long walk back up and over). Look  over the side and spot the famous is “Blue Elephant” Restaurant, it’s feature is a Century old building and immediately behind is AustCham office in the Thai CC Tower.

The website picture of the Blue Elephant is a slight mystery; it's surrounded by blue sky whereas in reality it's shadowed by the 20+ storey building (Thai CC Tower).

We created a map link to AustCham on Thailand’s ever popular Longdo Map service – click here. To know more about the BTS skytrain system refer to our Travel Thailand website – click here

So, for about about 30 baht and 20 minutes to journey to BTS station Surasak (form BTS Asoke) then a very brief walk past the “Blue Elephant”, a fast elevator ride to the 20th floor to AustCham Thailand office.

On entry you will see a patriotic Green and Gold colour scheme which is complimented by a ever so polite Thai smile and welcome at reception.

Adjacent to reception is the Boardroom, apart from it’s comfortable fit out is a hi-tech coffee machine. I always notice these machines because I have issues with the 2 in our offices in W.A., anyway don’t say no to a cupa because the aroma will haunt you.

Pictured Right

Phill Smith AusWaThai with Brett Gannaway Executive Director AustCham Thailand

Brett arrived, wearing an 8ft tall and 3 foot wide chassis, I thought he was the captain of the all blacks but he assured me he is a W.A. product.

We worked the afternoon meeting running through the usual protocol, but ever so different because of the W.A. connection. It does remind me of the value of an association, be it Geographical or a membership/club.

A brief recital
The Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce (AustCham Thailand) was the first Australian Chamber to be formed in the ASEAN region. It was established in 1977 with the charter to promote business relations between Australia and Thailand.

The Chamber acts as a contact and information point for Australian businesses in Thailand, Australian businesses wishing to trade with or invest in Thailand and similarly for Thai enterprises interested in doing business with or in Australia.

AustCham Thailand aims to provide quality and constructive input into the formulation of policies impacting on business (both by the Thai and Australian Governments), and their administration, and to contribute to the development of relations between the two countries. AustCham Thailand is a member of the Board of Trade of Thailand and its President is automatically a Director of the Board of Trade.

With over 30 years and over 400 member experiences to draw upon, AustCham Thailand has all of the resources and contacts any company needs to set up and do business in Thailand.

My observation

Company mission statement means a lot if it's lived by it’s people, the workers that represent the company.

I only met a few staff on arrival, however I met a few more later in day as they queued to bid farewell to Brett. Apart from the obviously politeness of the thai Culture the staff showed a culture and enthusiasm which flowed from the 1st contact with Brett. If this is culture of AustCham confirms what I hear about the Members monthly sundowners – "Charm" and the reason the Sundowner is a sellout.

AustCham Thailand offers significant Network opportunities into Thailand, it's a must do strategy for any Aussie genuine about entering the Thailand Business arena.

Dispel the myth:
1. Membership cost is not the rumoured 12,000 dollars it’s around 12,000 baht.
2. They DO have a close working relationship with the Aust Embassy and the Thai Government.

AustCham Focus
Promotion of business between Australia and Thailand
Representation and dialogue between AustCham,
Thai Government and other business groups
Providing a dynamic networking, social and sponsorship platform
Community Services

I hasten to repeat quotes from previous articles: Whatever you hear on the grapevine; Bar stool and comments by those that like to "thin kthey know"! PLEASE, if it’s important to you or your Business, visit the providers website or consult a Professional.

Now a word about Brett; a Dashing, Athletic, Brilliant, Charming, all round good guy (obvious W.A. features) he decided to go see the world when he was 21. When he was in transit in Thailand he kinda stayed or at least did not stay away for too long.

Over the past 15 years he worked for Thai and Chinese companies, self taught the language, got married (Thai) and started a family. He career path has included a variety of occupations facilitating contact with local and International custom predominately in the promotion and marketing Industry leading to his current position as Executive Director with AustCham Thailand.

I was so impressed by Brett’s energy and testament to the capacity of AustCham Thailand I have applied for membership and I recommend you do the same.

I look forward to meeting AustCham members in future trips.

AustCham Thailand office is conveniently located in the Thai CC Tower, 889 South Sathorn Road, Yannawa, Bangkok. This area is also home for The Australian Embassy.

The AustCham Sundowners are not members only however they do have priority. Entrance price is discounted for members, did I mention the value for money on the sundowner? Not only do you have the opportunity to benchmark and network with 200-400 people the food and beverages as 5 star never ending ... (say no more)

AusWaThai is an Independent Web service providing Links Between West Australia and Thailand for Community Travel and Business.

Our Business division is reviewing all Business Networking structures, visit us at http://www.austhai.biz/, we care!

Links
Other AustCham articles - click here
Our webpage about AustCham Thailand