HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

Cabinet nods for retail business bill

Thailand’s meetings industry goes Hollywood

Banks don’t respond fully to BoT’s move to cut policy interest rate

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Cabinet nods for retail business bill

The Cabinet last week gave a green light to a draft bill on retail business which, if passed into law, would require hypermarket operators to seek permission from the authority before opening new branches - a move aimed at creating fair trade competition between transnational hypermarkets and locally-owned businesses.
Director General Yanyong Phuangrach of the Internal Trade Department said the draft bill stipulates that hypermarket giants like Makro, Tesco Lotus, Carrefour and Big C, must seek permission before opening a new branch on an area exceeding 1,000 square metres and with sales volume of over one billion baht.
The bill also covers small outlets of hypermarkets like Lotus Express.
The stipulations would not be retroactive but operators have to inform the authority of any new branch under construction.
After the bill is passed into law and enforced, the Commerce Ministry will issue a ministerial regulation outlining relevant details including the distance of a hypermarket from a city centre and its business hours.
The bill authorises a central body on retail business policy to set the regulations and issuance of licences to hypermarket operators.
Small retailers have repeatedly called on the government’s intervention after their businesses have been hurt by the rapid expansion of hypermarkets throughout the country. (TNA)
 

Thailand’s meetings industry goes Hollywood

Leaders from the meetings industry in Asia will use Hollywood movie themes to boost Thailand’s meetings industry, which has been in a downturn for a year.
The “Big Picture” workshop taking pace this Friday, October 26 in Bangkok, aims to enhance Thailand’s meetings industry skills. Expert practitioners will analyze best practice case studies with a view to upgrading skills among Thailand’s event organisers, marketers and destination management companies.
The event, organised by the Pacific Asia Travel Association Thailand Chapter, will give practical tips and motivation to a sector that the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau estimates will bring in about 56 billion baht in foreign exchange this year. The Bureau estimates that some 814,000 “MICE” - meetings, incentives, convention and exhibition - delegates will visit Thailand this year.
The global medical, automotive, fashion, jewellery and agriculture industries often spend lavishly on events in Thailand. Normally, Thailand also attracts thousands of corporate incentive visitors, many of them on motivational or reward trips paid for by their companies.
“For political and perception reasons some overseas event and meetings organisers have been unsure about Thailand in the last year or so,” said Bob James, chairman of the PATA Thailand Chapter. “Our objective is to upgrade meetings industry marketing and operational skills so that when the political situation improves our meetings sector will be well placed to aggressively win back market share from other Asian destinations.”
The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau, the Thailand Incentive & Convention Association, the Society of Incentive & Travel Executives, and Diethelm Events are all playing a major role in the Big Picture. One of Thailand’s newest meeting venues, the Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre at Central World, will hold the event.
Meeting industry buyers from Singapore, India and China will explain what meetings industry buyers in those markets are looking for in a session called. “Close Encounters”. Other Hollywood “Big Picture” sessions are: “Casino Royale - hit the jackpot with 007 upselling shots”, “Mission Impossible - The Perfect Event?” and “The Oscars of the Incentive Industry - three case studies of outstanding events that are worthy of an Oscar”. Speakers from UK, South Africa and Australia will also attend the workshop.
David Barrett, executive manager at Diethelm Events (Thailand) said meetings industry professionals, like sales people, needed to hit their targets. “We are expected to out-perform, out-sell and provide outstanding service as never before. Our aim on October 26 is to provide the industry in Thailand with the tools do so.”