There’s nothing quite like the buzz and excitement of an auction, especially when two or more people are bidding against each other for the same item. This spans from watches, to cuckoo clocks, cabinets, motorbikes, cars and even property.

Every Saturday at Collingbourne Auctions in Pattaya, the above items and more come under the hammer and now the man behind this popular auction house: John Collingbourne has teamed up with multi media specialist Paul Strachan to create the city’s first multi developer property auction.

Pattaya Property Auctions fills a much needed niches in the city, a city where there are over 30,000 units to choose from if you have a couple of million baht to spend.

What makes Pattaya Property Auctions different is that they are only looking to feature properties that are completed or are in the final stages of completion. This gives potential buyers a great deal of confidence as they can view property prior to making a commitment.

The first auction is on the Sunday the 16th of June at the Holiday Inn and buyers are guaranteed not just genuine bargains but also have a choice of town houses, land and condos from private individuals and from four of the major developers in town, namely The Nova Group, Matrix, Powerhouse Development and Global Top Group.

Go to www.pattayapropertyauctions.com for more information and to arrange a viewing.

To register, click the  link below & a registration pop-up will appear. Once you are registered you can view all our listings in detail including photographs, developer information, property specifications and development videos.

Note: Unit numbers are locked until 25th May.

Local venture foodpanda launches new partnership with Scoozi the home of the Original Italian Pizza.

Foodpanda co.th MD Mark Cleaver with Scoozi Pizza Director Darunee Ua-Ananchai

We have secured yet another corporate partnership with everybody’s favorite Italian Pizza Scoozi, already well known across the globe we look forward to bringing our online expertise to continue to grow their food delivery business in Bangkok.

Scoozi Italian Restaurant Director Darunee Ua-Ananchai says “Scoozi is very pleased to do business with foodpanda the best online food delivery website in Thailand. Having our business opportunities in the food sector growing fast foodpanda’s well constructed website and professional team has already attracted customer interest in Scoozi a well respected Italian restaurant. I am very satisfied to work with foodpanda Thailand.“

Scoozi was established in 2000 to provide high quality authentic Italian food, soon after launching they decided to add a more comprehensive variety of food items to the menu including not only their signature authentic wood-fired Napoletana pizzas but a plethora of gourmet Italian foods including Pastas, Antipastas, Salads, Ice-Creams, Cakes & Wines, all products are of the highest quality using only authentic Italian ingredients at reasonable prices.

The word “Scusi” means “Sorry” in Italian and they modified it into “Scoozi” as the well know brand name we know today, the original Scoozi restaurant can be found in a century old building on the Surawong Road, Silom, Bangkok. At the moment Scoozi Pizza has 24 wine and dine restaurants dotted across the city and they plan to expand more in the future.

Scoozi differentiates itself as a Gourmet Pizza restaurant; its food recipes were created in 1970 and received special recognition from the VPN (Vera Pizza Napoletana Association) in 2009 becoming its first member in Thailand. This certifies, Scoozi home of the original pizza made from Napoli, Italy, favorites include the Parma Ham Pizza, Salmon Carbonara and the delicious Tiramisu.

We bought the best food delivery platform to Asia, in March 2012 foodpanda.co.th introduced a convenient food ordering service for their customers in Bangkok, closely followed by Pattaya City & recently Chiang Mai providing a greater variety of culinary choices online.

Apart from the awesome Scoozi Restaurants across Bangkok hungry customers can now order at www.foodpanda.co.th and via iOS and Android apps from over 240+ restaurants at prices to suit all budgets, every month we offer discounts to attract the hungry hordes with names like Subway, Baan Ying, Coffee Club, CoCo Ichibanya, Tony Roma’s, Beirut, Hong Kong Noodle, Sunrise Tacos, Piri Piri, Somtumder headlining our top ten list. Other vendors in the top 20 are Angel City Diner, Konaya, Kampai Japanese and Le Lapin.

Look us up at:

Website: www.foodpanda.co.th

Facebook: facebook.com/FoodPanda.co.th

Bangkok Post

The rejig begins with the founding of KinKabTan Co at a cost of 50 million baht.

The new company will oversee all Japanese food brands of the group, including Melt Me Hokkaido Chocolate & Healthy Gelato, Ramen Champions, Tan Tan Izakaya Buffet, Tokiya and Sushi Otaru.

Ichitan will oversee all drink brands under the group, including Ichitan, Double Drink and Yen Yen.

Mr Tan, president and chief executive of Ichitan Group, said his wife, Eng Passakornnatee, will oversee day-to-day operations and marketing at KinKabTan while he will act as an adviser.

The move is to separate management of food and drinks before listing Ichitan Group on the Stock Exchange of Thailand by the end of the year.

After listing the drinks business, Mr Tan plans to add new segments such as dairy and fruit juice to…

Full story from Bangkok Post at http://goo.gl/ZKL2X

The Nation

On the third floor of the third tower of Singapore’s Marina Bay Financial Centre, the pilot branch is a working example of what clients can expect in the world of future retail banking. At the bank’s entrance is a big interactive screen that clients can direct with hand movements to get all the bank’s information – ranging from services and products to hosted activities.

Entering the spacious lounge, decorated in a red theme to match the bank’s logo colours, clients are given a queue number. While relaxing on a couch, they can fill in their requests using an electronic device. Wi-Fi-ready iPads are available on which they can read e-newspapers and magazines. There are even games for children to play. Within less than five minutes, customers are served by a banking officer, who can act immediately on their request. For simple requests and services they are escorted to small table, but for personal consultations, customers are led to one of more than 10 egg-shaped cubicles located around the lounge. Hidden out of view behind the cubicles is a multi-purpose machine that scans and electronically stores documents. Banknotes can also be counted…

Full story from The Nation at http://goo.gl/hmp14

Bangkok Post

Managing director Atip Bijanonda said several factors drew the company to the eastern provinces for the first time. One is the mix of housing demand between those looking for a resort home and those working in industrial estates.

“Chon Buri-Rayong is an economic zone with over seven industrial estates where over 100,000 people work,” said Mr Atip. “Housing demand is not only from local people but also non-local people who relocate to work there.”

Rayong province has 89,834 blue-collar workers, 59,127 white-collar workers, 47,944 executives and 107,720 people working on manufacturing lines.

As of the third quarter of 2012, there were 1,520 condo units launched in the province and 1,183 acquired, according to the Real Estate Information Centre (REIC).

In Rayong, Supalai plans to launch two projects in the Muang district by the fourth quarter this year: a single-house project worth 1 billion baht with 200 units priced at 4-5 million baht each, and a condo project worth…

Full story from Bangkok Post at http://goo.gl/hpB1j

The Nation

After the fifth adjustment at 4.53pm, gold bar is sold at Bt19,150 per baht weight while gold ornament is sold at Bt19,550.

Gold has tumbled 20 per cent this year, falling into a bear market last month, as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value and equities rallied on confidence that the US economy is…

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

Bangkok Post

Under the licence requirement, operators are obliged to deliver 3G services at a minimum download speed of 345 kilobits per second and 153 Kbps for uploads.

The criticism came after the panel received a deluge of consumer complaints about poor service after operators this month launched 3G commercial services.

Saree Ong-somwang, chairwoman of the NBTC’s consumer protection panel, said the panel will raise the issue to the NBTC’s board.

She said customer complaints about poor 3G speed is heavy even as operators committed to lower their 3G service packages by 15-20% from existing 2G service rates as of last Dec 7 to comply with the NBTC’s requirements.

Some complaints pointed out certain 3G promotional packages offered lower speeds of data downloading than 2G.

“We suggest consumers file complaints with us. This could press operators to further reduce their service…

Full story from Bangkok Post at http://goo.gl/9FoZ6

The Nation

Companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand reported a combined net profit 12.80 per cent higher than the same period last year. The financials industry and those relating to domestic consumption showed significant increases in sales and net profits.

The five companies with the highest net profit, in descending order, were PTT, PTT Exploration and Production, SCB, PTT Global Chemical and KBank.

By industry group, the top three performers with highest net profit in the first quarter were property and construction, financials, and services, in descending order.

By sector, energy and utilities, banking, and information and communication technology (ICT) were the top three profit makers in terms of absolute amounts, with a combined Bt144.38 billion, accounting for combined 59.76 per cent of total net profits and combined 55.12 per cent of total sales.

Chanitr Charnchainarong, SET executive vice president, said: “Aggregate earnings were compiled from 448 listed firms, or 92.18 per cent of the total 486 companies on SET – excluding those in the non-compliance and…

Full story from The Nation at http://goo.gl/klgo6

Bangkok Post

“We are worried about the economic growth in the third and the fourth quarters,” Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, secretary general to the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), said yesterday.

“Global economic uncertainties remain high and the baht continues to stay strong. More importantly, domestic consumption is expected to become much lower in the absence of the first-time car buyer scheme.”

The economy has shown signs of a slowdown, so using interest rates should help, he said. Monetary policy will also be the fastest way to curb inflows, he said, adding that a 25-basis-point reduction would be too small, and any cut would have an impact.

The NESDB yesterday lowered export growth for the year from 11% to 7.6% based on an exchange rate of 28.8-29.8 baht per dollar.

The forecast cut seems to be in contrast to the projection of the Commerce Ministry, which called a meeting yesterday with its 62 trade centres worldwide to evaluate the export target that stays adamant on its forecast for the country’s…

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

The Nation

The six small-scale solar-power plants will deliver a combined capacity of 30 megawatts to the national grid.

Under the deal, the private-equity fund will invest capital into Symbior Solar Siam’s wholly owned subsidiary Symbior Elements, which holds development and operating rights for the solar projects including land-ownership rights, in return for a 60-per-cent equity interest.

The investment is the first from the newly established Armstrong fund focused on clean-energy infrastructure in Southeast Asia’s emerging markets.

The projects in the portfolio comprise an operational 1MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Northeast and five solar PV power plants in late-stage development totalling 29MW located in the central provinces of Chachoengsao, Prachin Buri and Nakhon Sawan.

The US$150-million (Bt4.5-billion) Armstrong South East Asia Clean Energy Fund, which is scheduled for final close…

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