The Nation

For example, when Thai car buyers started to look for smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles due to rising fuel prices, Nissan was the first company to offer an eco-car, introducing the March back in March 2010. It was also the first auto-maker in the country to launch a second eco-car, the Almera sedan (a rebadged Sunny N17), that followed later in October 2011.

Both the March and Almera come with a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder engine and CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) offering fuel economy of 20 km per litre. Both cars have grown into a major dough earner for Nissan in Thailand, and they combine to make Nissan the largest retailer of eco-cars in the country.

The auto-maker doesn’t have a vehicle in the B-segment (sub-compact), as the Almera offers more interior space than sub-compacts on the market, but Nissan is very much present in the C-segment (compact) with its Sylphy sedan and Pulsar hatchback.

Okay, so a pulsar is a highly magnetised, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. But the Pulsar we’re referring to is a car – one that I had mixed feelings about after driving version 1.8 V around for several days. The mixed feelings, I must add, were mainly due to preconceptions. In the past, the Pulsar badge usually…

Full story from The Nation at http://goo.gl/9BVnE

Travel Daily Media

‘Plan Bee’, as the programme is known, will roll-out beekeeping initiatives at two of Onyx’s properties in Bangkok – the Oriental Residence Bangkok and Shama Sukhumvit Bangkok.

“Honeybees are key pollinators in the environment today. It is estimated that one-third of all the food plants we eat depend specifically on bees for pollination. In spite of the important role bees play in the global food chain and ecosystem, honeybees… have come under threat due to a number of factors, including the use of pesticides and planting of genetically-engineered crops, loss of habitat and biodiversity, increases in various pests and diseases due to changing weather conditions, pollution and poor husbandry techniques,” the company said in a statement.

To revive the fortunes of the Asian honeybee, Oriental Residence Bangkok has partnered with Raitong Organics Farm to ensure the successful delivery of this programme. Apiculturists (bee experts) will visit the…

Full story from Travel Daily Media at http://goo.gl/TfK31

Bangkok Post

Its present value is pegged at 3 billion baht.

Industry veterans believe music streaming and downloading will gain momentum and replace the declining ringtone business.

Nadda Buranasiri, the managing director of Warner Music (Thailand), said high-speed 3G has opened a new window of opportunity for the digital music industry and subsequent downloading and streaming services. Music artists with songs on Deezer.com will receive a share of the revenue, he said.

They will also be able to promote themselves via social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter without having to bear the high cost burden of mainstream media.

“This is an open sales channel for indie artists and music labels to export their music to the world,” said Mr Nadda.

“This will also help to attract users away from pirating music through illegal…

Full story from Bangkok Post at http://goo.gl/H1EjI

The Nation

At the ministry’s meeting yesterday with 65 Thai trade counsellors posted overseas, private-sector representatives and the Bank of Thailand, the consensus was that the baht’s strength and sluggish global trading would make it more difficult to achieve the high export target this year.

Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom, who chaired the meeting, announced a revision to the growth forecast for exports to 7-7.5 per cent this year to between US$245 billion and $246 billion (Bt7.30 trillion to Bt7.33 trillion), down from the previous projection of 8-9 per cent.

Shipments to China, Latin America and South Korea have been hit the hardest by the baht’s appreciation.

Representatives of the private sector questioned the government’s plan to tame the baht after the Bank of Thailand proposed four measures to curb its rise, but no concrete…

Full story from The Nation at http://goo.gl/9bXQq

Bangkok Post

The Jakarta-based airline is setting up a subsidiary airline, Thai Lion Air, and has already started recruiting pilots, cabin attendants and ground staff.

Thai Lion Air intends to start its operation strongly with the deployment of up to six single-aisle twin-jet Boeing 737-800s and by using Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport as its base, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Woradej Harnprasert, director-general of the Civil Aviation Department, yesterday confirmed Lion Air is launching a Thai subsidiary, although the department has not yet received an application for air operator’s certificate.

The creation of Thai Lion Air comes in the form of joint venture with Thai entities, which are required by law to have a minimum 51% holding.

However, the identities of the entities remain a mystery.

Reports suggest Phuket Airlines, which used to operate scheduled domestic and international flights nearly a decade…

Full story from Bangkok Post at http://goo.gl/dO6SQ

The Nation

Since introducing the Mirage hatchback in March last year, Mitsubishi had sold 56,500 units up to the end of last month, and the model makes up as much as half of the company’s sales in Thailand.

The new car, the Attrage, will compete directly against eco-car sedans such as the Honda Brio Amaze and Nissan Almera.

The Attrage will be built at Mitsubishi’s third assembly plant at the Laem Chabang Industrial Estate in Chon Buri province. The facility has recently been granted eco-car privileges by the government.

Nobuyuki Murahashi, president of Mitsubishi Motors Thailand, yesterday said the Attrage had one of the lightest body weights in the eco-car segment, thanks to the use of high-tensile steel, which also enables it to achieve an average…

Full story from The Nation at http://goo.gl/4h6JJ

Bangkok Post

The move is aimed at putting emerging high-tech applications on its Android gadgets to serve its 4G mobile broadband service.

Suphachai Chearavanont, chief executive of True Move, said the company is spending 30 million baht to promote True Beyond smartphones and tablets, using popular Korean band Girls Generation as brand ambassador.

The company rolled out three models: a 3G Android handset priced at 6,590 baht; a 4G phone for 9,990 baht; and a…

Full story from Bangkok Post at http://goo.gl/vdGCT

The Nation

Krungthep Turakij, in collaboration with Dhurakij Pundit University Research Centre, asked 409 CEOs from April 29 to May 12 about their companies’ performances and their expectations for the overall business and economic situations.

About 82 per cent said the baht’s appreciation affected their business, while 18 per cent did not feel any impact. Among those affected, 15 per cent said the impacts were more than anticipated, 44 per cent said they were about what was as anticipated and 23 per cent said less than anticipated.

To cope with the impacts, 42 per cent look for new overseas markets, 41 per cent put more effort in the domestic market, 35 per cent try to cut either production costs or the cost of doing business, 33 per cent scale back long-term investment, 26 per cent outsource, 25 per cent trim business processes, 22 per cent focus more on marketing, and 15 per cent opt for other measures such as downsizing and substituting…

Full story from The Nation at http://goo.gl/QuPNu

Bangkok Post

Leigh Scott-Kemmis, the Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce’s new president, said many businesses could enter these areas in resource-rich Myanmar if Thailand acted as a facilitator for eager Australian firms.

Apart from the two countries’ closeness to each other, the Thai government and Thai companies have established connections with their Myanmar counterparts.

“Thailand is the perfect hub for a number of reasons. Thailand has a strategic location to initiate investment projects in Myanmar. Thai corporations also have a healthy relationship with Myanmar, so sometimes the best way to invest there is…

Full story from Bangkok Post at http://goo.gl/K2ZNd

The Nation

The government and the National Economic and Social Development Board are apparently upset with Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairat-vorakul’s comments this week about the NESDB’s consumption figures being “much lower” than central bank estimates.

Weaker consumption exacerbated economic conditions in the first quarter, as the export sector is suffering from a weak global demand.

But PM Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday that the official think-tank’s figures were not being used to press for a rate cut. The NESDB was merely doing its job in revising downward the full-year growth forecast, and the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) still has full independence in reaching a decision on the policy interest rate, she said.

However, she favoured a rate cut to spur the economy.

At yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, she also instructed the Finance Ministry and other key agencies such as the Commerce and Industry ministries to closely monitor economic activity.

Weaker-than-expected growth in the first quarter, leading to the revision of the NESDB’s full-year forecast…

Full story from The Nation at http://goo.gl/QC12W