Kingdom gearing up for big healthcare holiday sales

Thai authorities have stepped up preparing for healthcare tourists expected to flock into the Kingdom from this year to 2005, especially elderly Japanese who seek retirement abroad. Meetings have been organized by the Ministry of Public Health to speed up preparation within the sectors concerned, which include hotels, resorts, private hospitals, tour operators, and a few other ministries.

Under the scheme, healthcare tourists would be granted with a visa for a one-month stay in the Kingdom for recuperating, medical treatment, or medical checkup.

Many Japanese tourists are expected to come to Thailand for long stays through their retirement period, living on pensions. These kinds of tourists would need effective security services, officials said.

According to one statistic, Japan will be a ‘super age society’ in which senior citizens make up 20% of the population. Tour operators have already launched ‘Seven Day in Thailand for Your Health’ packages to foreign tourists. The Kingdom will compete with the Philippines and Malaysia’s Penang state in wooing healthcare tourists.

Top distiller urges whisky tax reduction

The Diaggio Group, distillers of Johnnie Walker scotch, said the Thai government should stop double taxation and cut the high tax rate immediately to attract investors in the highly lucrative whisky industry. Diaggio Chairman, Sir Anthony Greener said the British distiller was interested in moving a bottling facility here and using Thailand as an export hub for Johnnie Walker whisky in Asia.

Sir Anthony said Diego will continue to look for new locations in Asia to set up the bottling facility for the Asian market in case Thailand fails to bow to demands. Diego has convinced the Thai government that the Johnnie Walker plant would bring into the Kingdom huge investment capital and help create thousands of jobs, which would contribute to the economic development.

Whisky importers currently pay the government 60% import duties, 100% excise tax and 7% VAT.

Sales of Johnnie Walker Black Label are expected to reach the levels they were three years ago before sales fell sharply over the past two years when combined imports nearly halved from 43.87 million bottles in 1997.

Hairdressers go World Wide Web

For many modern hairdressers, owning a homepage on the World Wide Web is as important a matter as owning a hair studio itself, and more Bangkok hair studios are going on-line. Chalachol recently constructed its first homepage, ‘chalachol’, to promote sales, while another is under way. Somsak Chalachol said owning a Website means starting to sell to the rest of the world.

Chamnarn Phakdisuk of Fly Now by Chamnarn, Nagara’s Samroeng Sampantharak, and Patchatri Pornnimit of Greyhound, all said they plan to operate sales and services on the Net. Samreong said his fashion house has been using Jim Thomson’s Website to expose products to the outside world. The designer said he was approaching full e-commerce.

Homepages enable local designers to meet with international colleagues in the fashion world.

Chalachol said expansion plans were blocked by lack of skilled hair stylists; however, the chain plans to open three or four more branches in 2000, to add to the three branches presently in Bangkok.

Grand Prix spends Baht 250 million on next Bangkok Motor Show

Grand Prix International, publisher of Grand Prix magazine and organizer of the acclaimed annual auto exhibition fair, Bangkok Motor Show, has spent Baht 250 million in preparing for one of the country’s largest car exhibition events, which is to take place next April. Moreover, 26 carmakers, 4 motorcycle makers and traders in the industry have booked all the exhibition space.

Prachin Eamlumnow, chairman of Grand Prix International, said exhibitors will spend about Baht 3 billion in all, or even more, in building and decorating their respective exhibition booths. About 4,000 cars were booked in the 20th Bangkok Motor Show last year - but no sales target had been set during the upcoming auto exhibition event.

There will also be exhibitions on several other subjects during the motor show at Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Center on Bangna-Trad Road from April 1-9. The admission fee will be hiked from Baht 50 to Baht 80.

General Motors Co. is expected to launch its first Thai-made vehicle, the Zafira minivan, during this motor show.

Fast-food restaurants fast to tap from millennium woes

Many fast-food services stayed open overnight on December 31, cashing in on the thousands of Bangkok office workers and residents who stayed alert to cope with the millennium bug, which was feared would bite into businesses just after midnight. Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizzeria restaurants were amongst those that stayed open until 1:00 a.m. on January 1, 2000.

S&P restaurant management said telephone orders doubled on this New Year’s occasion as thousands were celebrating the millennium holidays. Home delivery services definitely increased on the night of December 31, said Pravesvuth Raiwa, assistant managing director for marketing, S&P Syndicate Plc. While phone orders turned up, the number of diners to the restaurant did not turn down, Pravesvuth said.

KFC extended home delivery services until 1 a.m. January 1, from its 10:00 p.m. normal closing time. Orders to Narai Pizzeria increased from 300 to more than 400 deliveries a day. Pizza Hut also extended its opening time to midnight on December 31. Central Department Store stayed open until 10:00 p.m., 1 hour longer than normal.

Consumer products: Sales start to pick up after two years

Things are finally looking up after two years of slumping sales in the consumer market. However, even though sales are getting better this year, Kannikar Chalit-arporn, vice-chairperson and director for personal care products of Unilever Thai Holding Co., says she “does not anticipate any fantasy in this local consumer product market.”

Though the economic crisis in Thailand started in 1997, it was not until 1998 when the consumer market felt the heat. Industries that were highly sensitive to the crisis, including the auto industry, were the first to get hit, and were the first to recover, Ms Kannikar said. Most consumer products have already enjoyed increased sales and a small growth rate is anticipated next year. However, insiders predict it will take years before sales growth reaches the 8% to 10% level it experienced three to five years ago.

Producers and distributors are expected to intensify their advertising in the first quarter of 2000, but more products will come out in the middle of the year.

Consumers have changed their buying behavior, and price is no longer the key factor to direct decision making.

ABN AMRO Asia reigns as biggest yearend bonus payer

The hybrid bank ABN AMRO Asia is this year paying the highest yearend bonus to its employees of any of Thailand’s banks - equal to 4.5 months worth of salaries. Most other major Thai banks are paying only 2-2.5 months bonuses at most.

Krung Thai Bank is rumored to be paying 4 months of salaries in bonuses, yet employees of other state-owned banks - Bank Thai Bank, Siam City Bank and Bangkok First City Bank - will not receive any bonuses at all.

During the boom times, major banks would pay employees bonuses of 5-6 months salaries. “But,” Chartsiri Soponpanich, executive chairman of Bangkok Bank Plc, said, “the bank (Bangkok Bank) was still running in the red this year and was not in a position to give away any bonuses. However, as a good will gesture from the management, a 1-month bonus has been tended for approval from the board,” he said.

BBL pays mid-year ‘special allowances’ equaling 1 month’s worth of salary to every employee, while a 1-month bonus is most likely at the end of the year. Thai Farmers Bank pays a 1.5-month’s bonus to employees twice a year. Muang Thai Insurance gives away a bonus of 2-month salaries, while AIA leads the sector giving away a wide-range of bonuses in accordance with working years.

TH-Microsoft negotiations roll on

Telecom Holding Co. said negotiations with the world’s software giant, Microsoft, are continuing, as the company plans to start integrating all services into a one-stop high speed multimedia service system. Similar talks have been underway with a few other software developers over a plan to produce a set-top box that would turn TVs into multimedia receivers at home.

Dr Wallop Vimolvanich, executive chairman of TH, a subsidiary of the CP Group’s TelecomAsia Corp Plc., said its Internet service ‘Asia Infonet’ will merge with the only cable TV network in Thailand, Universal Broadcasting Co. (UBC) and a high-speed multimedia highway network, so that a new network could become a center for all multimedia services for the first time in Thailand.

Notes: The price of a set-top box could start at about US$90, or Baht 3,420. E-commerce is also included in the multimedia service plan. Asia Infonet, one of some 16 Internet service providers in Thailand by TH, began being profitable in August. UBC is expected to make a turn-around this year despite high costs.

Major retailing players go e-commerce

Major players in the department store market have started to go e-commerce, bringing retailing competition into Cyber space. More is expected to follow in 2000. Department stores, spearheaded by the Central Group, seem to be feeling the heat from discount store chains where sales have been experiencing unlimited surges over the past few years.

Industry sources said the launch of the ZeenZone Website by Central Chidlom last week set off a signal that most major department stores would soon move to join the new retailing channel - the Web. ZeenZone was aimed at teens, who, over the past few years, are proving to be a very strong consumer group with strong buying power.

Meanwhile, Tesco Lotus has begun home shopping service trials in Phuket and Surat Thani, where households can make orders by phone. Tops Supermarket has announced a plan to cooperate with the Singapore-based Global Grocer to set up a Web-based retail service here. Tang Hua Seng launched gift baskets on the Web during the New Year occasion.

Copyright 1999 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, Chonburi 20260, Thailand 
Tel.66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax:66-38 427 596; e-mail: [email protected]