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ASEAN to organize
“Visit ASEAN 2002”
The 10 members of ASEAN have agreed to jointly together
work on an ASEAN tourism promotional plan under the name “Visit ASEAN
2002” - aiming to make ASEAN a single destination for all tourists.
“Visit ASEAN” will mainly concentrate on marketing,
with cooperation from the private sector and airlines. Projects like the
ASEAN Fair will call on those in the tourism business in the private
sector to join together to set promotional plans. The campaign will be
conducted under one group logo.
ASEAN countries have long been cooperating towards promoting tourism in
the region. Country members organize a forum every year to discuss their
plans and solve problems together. “Visit ASEAN 2002” is a new plan
that the group will be working together under the same marketing strategy.
Thailand acts against
dumping from Indonesia and India
The Ministry of Commerce announced they will increase
the import tax on glass products from Indonesia, from 14.21% and 18.54% of
the C.I.F. price to 39.96% of the C.I.F. price. The new tax rate is being
levied against Indonesia for their dumping of glass products onto the Thai
market, which is creating problems for Thai glass producers.
Hydrogen peroxide imported from India is another
product type that is on the Thai antidumping list. Hydrogen peroxide that
has India as its country of origin has been levied 30% import tax at the
F.O.B. price for the past 5 years. The Ministry of Commerce decided to
extend the antidumping period on this product to prevent a return of the
same behavior.
The Antidumping Law is activated in accordance with WTO’s antidumping
agreement, to help local producers compete in the marketplace with
imported products.
AsiaNet with City Bank
to provide payment gateway services
Suttichai Chuenchoo-silp, Managing Director of Asia
Infonet, said that the company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU)
with City Bank under a primary agreement to cooperate in developing
“payment gateway” ญ an online bill payment service.
Initially, the service can be used to pay AsiaNet
internet bills and Telecom Asia phone bills, but services will be
continually expanded to cover other types of bill payments. Online payment
will offer many alternative methods, such as payment through credit or
debit card, and by deduction from users’ bank accounts. Details are now
under discussion.
Recently, Asia Net launched a new service called Virtual Private
Network through ISDN cable. At the moment, company is working on high
speed internet through cable modem. Testing on cable modem usage has been
conducted on 80 home users to study all possible problems before
officially providing the service.
FPD conducts
marketing research on Thai tourism and hotels
FPD Savills announced the results of its marketing
research regarding hotel and tourism in Thailand, saying that, “the
overall picture is good and the number of tourists tends to be
increasing.”
Popular tourist spots are still Phuket and Samui
Island, while Northern Thailand will draw in fewer tourists. Hotels in
Bangkok will have high competition in price and services.
Research indicated that the highest growth in the hotel
industry is in Phuket, which is competing with Bali. However, tourists
tend to spend a longer time in Samui than Phuket, and are interested in
staying in bungalows and 1-2 stars hotels. Research also mentioned that
Pattaya and Rayong still do not have a nice reputation.
This year it is expected that the number of tourists coming to Thailand
will increase by 8.2%, or about 9.3 million tourists. Last year Thailand
earned 800 million baht in revenue from tourism, which is 15% of GDP.
Bright future for
Thai rice exported to Iraq
The United Nations provides financial aid to Iraq for
the country to buy agricultural products for its own consumption, under
the project name “Oil For Food”. The program is valued at US$6
billion, divided into 3 years, or about US$2 billion each year.
Thai rice exporters expect the financial aid provided
to Iraq will help increase rice imported by Iraq. Increasing oil prices in
the world market are also expected to increase Iraq’s revenue and
purchasing power, as the country is a leading oil exporter.
Iraq imports a large amount of Thai agricultural products each year.
Rice imported from Thailand amounts to 30% of total rice imported into
Iraq, about 220,000 MT annually. Rice exports from Thailand to Iraq are
expected to increase to 140,000 MT per year. Thailand’s biggest
competitors are China and Vietnam.
Isuzu has
confidence in double-cab pickup truck market
Tri-Petch Isuzu Sales ญ assembling manufacturer
and distributor of Isuzu pickup trucks in Thailand ญ is confident
that the company will be successful in the double-cab pickup truck market,
for the reason that Isuzu pickup trucks are popular and well accepted
among Thai users. Isuzu has been the leader in the pickup truck market in
Thailand for the past 17 years.
Isuzu is now ready with parts and components for
assembling double-cab pickup trucks, while some production lines are being
adjusted to be compatible with the Thai market. The double-cab pickup
truck will be ready to enter the market soon.
New tax practice will result in more competition in the pickup truck
market. However, Isuzu sales in December 1999 and January 2000 have been
growing, resulting from Thailand’s improving economy.
High competition
forces 3-star hotels to find foreign partners
Daniel Nelson, Director of First Pacific Davies, a
multi-international property consultant company, said that due to high
competition in the hotel industry, 3-star hotels need to seriously adapt
themselves in order to meet international standards.
The practical alternatives to deal with this market
change can be that these hotels seek business partners from both locally
and abroad, or buy into an international hotel chain and adopt
professional management in order to gain guests’ confidence.
There is not only high competition amongst hotels within Thailand, but
there is also fierce competition from other countries. Thailand’s
neighbor’s, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, which are important
competitors, are increasingly paying more attention to the tourism
business. Thailand’s stronger point over its competitors is its better
political stability. However, the weak point is that it has a less variety
of tourist spots.
Copyright 2000 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: ptymail@loxinfo.co.th
Updated by Chinnaporn Sangwanlek, assisted
by Boonsiri Suansuk. |
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