ADVANCE ~ February 2010

A MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE AUSTRALIAN-THAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AUSTRALIA THAILAND BUSINESS COUNCIL www.austchamthailand.com February 2010

The Thai Property Market Trends in 2010 IN THIS EDITION

Expatriates and Thais at Work: “Same-Same” or “So Different” and Why? Business Awards 2009 embassy news Recipient of AustCham Education The ‘SwimSafe Thailand’ and Human Development Award Project

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community services Voluntary English Teaching 12 December 2009

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chamber events Tri Nations Barbeque at The Sukhothai, 19 January 2010

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Contents

AustCham Thailand Business Award 2009 06 Andrew Biggs Academy

20 The Australian Economy down

the Gum Tree?

22 Is Your Business Reliant on You?

Business Briefs 08 Expatriates & Thais at Work: “Same-Same” or “So Different” and Why? 12 The Thai Property Market

Trends in 2010 19 From the Headhunter’s Desk:

Is Hiring Top Talent Important

in Your Organisation?

EMBASSY NEWS 24 The ‘SwimSafe Thailand’ Project 26 Thammasat to Act as Australian Information Gateway

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COMMUNITY SERVICES Voluntary English Teaching 12 December 2009 Building the Basics

PATRON His Excellency Paul Grigson Australian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand PRESIDENT Andrew Durieux Coverage Portfolio: Key Links VICE-PRESIDENTS Sutipong Ittipong Siam City Bank Portfolio: Community Services John Anderson Meinhardt Portfolio: Strategic Reviews; AFL TREASURER Nigel McKinnon Boral Thailand Portfolio: Treasury DIRECTORS David Armstrong Post Publishing Portfolio: Marketing and PR; SME Services Achara Boonyahansa Grant Thornton Portfolio: Alumni Amanda Canavan Energi Design Asia Portfolio: Business Awards; Australia Day Ball

16 chamber Events 30 Breakfast Briefing,

14 January 2010 30 Luncheon Meeting,

20 January 2010

M.L. Laksasubha Kridakon Baan Laksasubha Resort Hua Hin Portfolio: Sponsorship; Alumni

32 JFCCT Christmas ESB Networking Event on

11 December 2009 34 Tri Nations Barbeque at The Sukhothai, 19 January 2010

New Members 36 New Members and Changes

Members’ offers 37 AustCham Members’ Offers

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From the Chamber

Office 38 Message from the ED

Cover Photo: View of the city from the tallest building in Thailand, Baiyoke Tower II.

Anne Lewinski AL Consultancy Portfolio: Sundowners Bangkok Belinda Skinner TopTalentAsia Portfolio: Communications Ben Yong Baker & McKenzie Portfolio: Governance; JFCCT and Policies Saeed Zaki dwp Portfolio: Industry Groups; Regional Sundowners Ex Officio Maurine Lam Trade Commissioner, Austrade

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From the Board

COORDINATORS Paul Whyte ESB Coordinator Email: esb@austchamthailand.com Paul Wilkinson AGS Four Winds International Moving ESB Coordinator Email: esb@austchamthailand.com Steve Brajak Raimon Land Phuket Coordinator Email: phuket@austchamthailand.com Harry Usher Lady Pie Phuket Coordinator Email: phuket@austchamthailand.com Executive Director Brett Gannaway Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce 20th Floor, Thai CC Tower 889 South Sathorn Road Bangkok 10120 Tel.: +66 2 210 0216 Fax: +66 2 675 6696 execdirector@austchamthailand.com www.austchamthailand.com

Editorial Committee Belinda Skinner, David Armstrong, Robert Taylor, Josh Hyland, Gregers Moller, Gary Woollacott Marketing & Production Scand-Media Corp., Ltd. 4/41-42 Moo 3, Thanyakarn Village Ramintra Soi 14, Bangkok Tel.: +66 2 943-7166/8 Fax: +66 2 943-7169 scandmedia@scandmedia.com Advertising Finn Balslev Email: finn@scandmedia.com Contributions to Advance magazine are welcome. Please submit content to josh@austchamthailand.com by the first day of the month for publication in the following month’s magazine.

Opinions expressed in Advance do not necessarily reflect the views AustChamThailand Advance of the Chamber.

Happy New Year

W

elcome back. I hope that everyone had a refreshing break and some time to recharge their batteries. Is this the year that politics in Thailand gets sorted out? I hope so, but I fear it won’t be.

On 3 March, prior to Sundowners, we will have the AGM to review last year’s performance and elect the board of directors for next year. I urge everyone who is available to come along. This is a great chance to see all of AustCham’s activities summarised.

The current board are, if re-elected, looking forward to being part of AustCham again next year, but for personal reasons a few have to stand down. This means there is a chance for others to become involved. Any representative of any member company may nominate and stand for the election. If you are interested in getting more involved, please contact the office as soon as possible about nominating and discuss the role with myself or any of the other directors (past and present). Being a director carries some responsibility and will require some time and effort, but for most it is a very rewarding experience.

2010 gets started with the world economy seeming to have avoided the depression that was almost inevitable. Employment is on the rise in a number of countries, and indeed, Australia has already started the interest rate rises to control inflation which is a sign that things are going well.

In Thailand, there are pockets of good news, but unfortunately politics and point scoring seem to be the main focus. It seems almost certain now that there is more trouble ahead as a result of something that many within the expat community have been encouraging the country of Thailand to do for many years – enforce laws.

As I write there are three big issues, with many underlying and related matters, where the law seems to have opened up a can of worms.

The first is Map Ta Phut and the issue surrounding the Constitutionally required independent environmental review committee.

Companies, including some AustCham members directly and indirectly, followed what they thought were the rules. Someone asked a question of the courts, the laws were then enforced by the courts, projects shut down and a lot of confusion created.

There is no short term answer in sight, as the constitution is clear about the need for the independent review committee – which does not yet exist. This enforcement of the law, and protection of the environment is supported by AustCham.

The second matter is about land encroachment and the tricky issue of land that has been sold two or three times despite early land titles that were created forbidding onsales. The law seems to be being enforced and it seems certain that land will be returned to the original owners. However, tricky issues include the question of who authorised the land transfers in the first place? AustCham supports the law enforcement, but sees the need to further improve and clarify many issues surrounding land ownership and transfers. Obviously some people don’t like that these laws have been enforced. This will likely create problems later in the year.

The third big issue is corruption, and this is an area that could do with some more enforcement. The key area at the moment is the Health Department. Resignations have been accepted. While this is a big step forward, it would be encouraging for investors to see some charges being laid and sentences served. Unfortunately, the Map Ta Phut cases have actually opened the door for more corruption.

Through the Joint Foreign Chambers and the Board of Trade, AustCham is being more active than ever in trying to propose solutions in all these areas for the benefit of our members and for the overall good of Thailand and its wonderful people. Please contact us if you would like to get more involved in these or any of AustChams activities.

Andrew Durieux President, AustCham Thailand www.austchamthailand.com February 2010

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AustCham Thailand Business Award 2009

Andrew Biggs Academy Congratulations to Andrew Biggs Academy, recipient of the AustCham Education and Human Development Award, plus the People’s Choice Award.

A

ndrew Biggs Academy was founded in 2006 as a language institute specialising in communicative English.

Its classes and courses stress spoken English as opposed to a more traditional grammatical approach. It offers courses for corporate clients, children and adults and is located at Major Cineplex Ekamai opposite the Planetarium. The school is certified by the Ministry of Education.

FORMULA FOR SUCCESS The school stresses spoken language in a relaxed and friendly environment with a topic-based curriculum that reflects the real lives of the students instead of learning from generic textbooks.

Corporate courses are tailor-made based on the companies, products and services, and goals of the students.

There is an emphasis on pronunciation and presentations for all levels of proficiency. For children, the curriculum is activity based.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES The school is run by Andrew Biggs, wellknown to Thais through TV and radio shows as well as many books in the Learn English market. His aim in life is

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February 2010

CURRENT MARKET POSITION AND FUTURE PLANS When the economy crashed in late 2008 it was clear language schools would have to adapt to survive, since most businesses immediately slashed their training budgets. At Andrew Biggs Academy the school realised diversification was key to survival, and thus branched out into video learning as well as the traditional classroom-based services. Andrew Biggs Academy made learn-English videos for many well-known companies including Hewlett-Packard, and offered speaking tours to companies such as the Minor Group. Andrew Biggs Academy has future plans to expand into mobile phone content in 2010 as well as opening new branches upcountry.

CLEAR COMMUNICATION

to have the whole of Thailand speaking English with a Queensland accent similar to his own.

The school also offers services that are injected with humour and a less-conservative approach to language learning which goes down well with Thais, creating a more holistic approach. As of 2009 these services are still considered “niche” in Thailand, where students invariably learn English from tutors and via the rules of grammar.

Andrew Biggs Academy has worked with the Thai Government and private sector, Ministry of Education and Thai television networks in providing English education to the whole Thai community in a way that is both interesting and fun.

WINNING CONCEPT Every Andrew Biggs Academy student must be (a) speaking and (b) having fun. This is Andrew Biggs Academy’s simple philosophy which attempts to break down the two prime impediments of any Thai learning English.

AustChamThailand Advance

Business Brief

Expatriates and Thais at Work: “Same-Same” or “So Different” and Why? 13 months is how long expatriates need on average to become fully effective in the Thai workplace. 1-2-WIN Executive Coaching and chambers of commerce polled 300 executives from 120 companies and interviewed 28 Thai and foreign business leaders to gather insights and provide foreign managers and Thais with practical insight and advice to work most effectively together.

In this article, Jean clarifies critical differences between Thai & Western leadership models and core-value systems, shares tips for the first 100 days of here and proposes a fun “to-do list” for expatriates.

By Jean-Francois Cousin

D

id you hear stories like Martin’s, who arrived in Thailand two years ago, came with the best of intentions, and yet had a horrendous first year at work here? By the end of it, half of his team had resigned and the performance of his department had gone dramatically down… yet, Martin had been working really hard and leveraged those managerial skills which had served him well in his previous assignments: resultsfocused, participative, politely straightforward and active problem solving…

Is that a recipe for failure in Thailand?...

Obviously not, but key-ingredients are missing for success…

The good news is that when expatriates add them in, rewards can surpass their expectations. Alan Miu and Hanno Kroemer, respectively Country General 8

February 2010

Manager and former Finance Director for TNT in Thailand commented: “Thai employees in general are very hardworking, willing to contribute and do the best they can. When you have them on board, basically everything is possible; you can make tremendous speed and achieve results a lot faster than what you would expect”. Other expatriates added “Thais can be incredibly loyal, are eager to learn, good fun to work with, have a can-do attitude and don’t hesitate for occasional sacrifice (such as holidays or over-time).”

For sure, expatriates and Thais share the same desire to succeed, learn and have a good time in the workplace.

However, their preferred ways are dissimilar. Foreigners should acknowledge that at work, what matters most for them is quite different from what matters most for their Thai colleagues. In the

survey Thais and foreigners ranked 49 managerial and interpersonal skills by importance. Only four skills appear in both Thais’ and foreigners’ top-10 ‘most important skills’. In other words, six of the most important skills for Thais are not so valued by foreigners, and viceversa. Being assertive, saying what you think, managing priorities effectively, taking initiative are much more important to foreigners than to Thais, whereas recognition of achievements, being appreciated, emotional stability and ability to motivate, carry more weight for Thais than for foreigners.

Clearly, expatriates and Thais are on a different time-frame. Foreign managers expect to stay for three to five years only and are under intense pressure to deliver solid results quickly. But this asymmetry in time-horizon does not explain it all. Our interviews have AustChamThailand Advance

Business Brief

exposed the major differences between Thai and Western core-value systems and leadership models and the impact they have on expectations from hierarchy, engagement, communication and conflict-management at work.

for his power and care. Khun Patara Yongvanich, the Managing Director of SAP for Thailand and the Philippines shared this great insight: “In Thailand, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”.

The profound differences between corevalue systems are a complex and intricate subject. To summarise, one may say that achievement is probably the most important value at work for expatriates in Thailand, whereas nurturing good relationships is what Thais care for the most, in and out of the office.

Whilst the Western boss is usually not perceived as that much higher above other employees, the Thai boss normally will be.

In our survey, it was made clear that foreigners tend to be goal-oriented and accountable, analytical, critical, creative, straightforward, assertive, occasionally aggressive, take initiative and strive for effectiveness and efficiency.

On their side, Thais – while also striving to get things done – will usually lay the utmost importance on caring for each other, saving face, avoiding conflict, staying humble and composed, showing respect (especially to hierarchy and senior people) and shall be content if work offers them the feeling of an “extended family”.

To go into more depth, we recommend reading an overview of eminent Thai professor Komin’s authoritative study identifying the “9 fundamental traits of the Thai National character” http://lox1. loxinfo.co.th/%7Esniphon/. The first four traits are (1) ego/face, (2) gratitude (3) smooth interpersonal relationships and (4) flexibility and adjustment.

How about differences between Thai and Western leadership models? In yet another simplification, one could describe the prevailing Western leader as mostly participative, regarded for vision, knowledge and results, and exercising authority on the basis of rules and regulations. In comparison, the ‘traditional Thai boss’ is usually depicted as rather directive and truly caring, exercising a mix of ‘Phradet’ (authority and decision-making) and ‘Prakhun’ (rewarding and ensuring the well-being of employees’ families), with an authority based on relationships and seniority.

Where a good Western-style leader gets respect, a good Thai leader gets loyalty

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February 2010

Communication-wise, most Westerners come out as assertive in business meetings while Thais often appear more reserved. Our survey gathered several barriers – some of them specific for a Thai person to communicate his or her ideas to a foreigner: • Clarity of thoughts (have I clarified my ideas enough yet to communicate them?); • English fluency (can I translate properly what I want to say?); • Self-confidence (am I sure my input is that worthwhile for the others?); • Respect for seniority (am I in a highenough position here to express myself?); • Humility (shall others perceive me as arrogant or too over self-assured?); • Perception of urgency (can I wait for a more comfortable moment?); • Fear of rejection; and • Risk to intrude or embarrass.

Hence, “to speak out or not to speak” is quite an important question for a Thai professional!

Other differences between Western countries and Thailand have a significant impact in the workplace, for example: number of job-openings, education systems focus, information about the ‘outside World’, conflict management styles, etc.

In ‘Amazing Thailand’, the first 100 days can be quite a maze for expatriates.

The ‘high-achiever, self-reliant’ profile is most at risk. As Rajesh Sethi, President and CEO of ING Life, confirms: “A lot of high-flyers who have achieved a lot elsewhere in the West come here with a different attitude ‘let’s-get-things-donefast’ and then they find they hit a wall”.

How can a foreign manager make a good start then?

Khun Prakorn Makjumroen, Chairman and CEO of Philips suggests that “when you start your new job here, have one-on-one sessions with your direct reports, not so much on work, but rather to understand each person, what is their background, what they like, what they don’t like, what they find interesting in their job, what they think the company should do; after a week, you will understand much more about your team and your priorities for the first 100 days”.

Khun Patara Yongvanich, Managing Director of SAP in Thailand and the Philippines, advises: “Understand the true core-value system of Thais, how they are motivated, raised as individuals, how they are taught to behave as adults”, and concurs that “to manage effectively in a Thai business environment, you have to understand that most of your team members have a strong concept of family, which means that you really have to emphasise relationships, getting to know each of your team-members on a one-to-one basis, how they are doing, how their family is doing, what pets they have, what their hobbies are; those are the things that will help you bridge the cultural gap from being a foreign manager to working very effectively in a Thai company”.

For a bit of fun, we would like to suggest that expatriates try this ‘to-do’ list: 1. Ask your Thai colleagues and friends to explain ‘Sam Ruam’, ‘Nam Jai’, ‘Kreng Jai’, ‘Hai Kiat’ and ‘Bun Khun’ to you; 2. Ask them to teach you the different ‘Wais’ and when to use them; 3. Ask your Thai colleagues to rate you of scale from one (poor) to five (excellent) on ‘Phra Det’ and ‘Pra Khun’…

Should you get a four, request ideas to hit the five next month; 4. Invest at least one-hour a month in oneon-one with your key-subordinates, focusing on skills development, and learn as much as you teach them; and 5. Plan at least one really good time per month with your team!

Jean-Francois Cousin 1-2-WIN Co., Ltd, Tel: 08 799 60 679 Email: jfc@1-2-win.net

AustChamThailand Advance

Business Brief

The Thai Property Market Trends in 2010 2009 was a challenging year for the Thai property market, but CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) sees positive signs for 2010. Whilst 2009 was a tough year, it was not as bad as many expected.

By Khun Aliwassa Pathnadabutr

T

he year 2010 has begun with a more positive market sentiment.

The improving economic outlook globally and perception of Thailand’s political situation, together with low market prices compared to other mature property markets, have had a positive impact on consumer confidence in property investment in Thailand.

Following the economic crisis, the supply of new office, retail and industrial space is at an all-time low. These sectors are expected to improve this year, in line with the global and local economic recovery.

Thailand’s residential market in 2009 was primarily driven by local demand.

This year, CBRE believes that local demand will continue to be strong and that individual foreign property investors will start to return to the market. Thai condominium prices remain attractive compared to other cities in the region, such as Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore where prices have risen sharply in the last six months.

However, there are continuing concerns about Thailand’s political stability and the strength of the global economy. If Thailand’s economy and politics are stable in 2010, the residential sector will see consistent positive growth.

Government Policy The Government stimulus package will expire in March 2010 and it remains uncertain whether it will be extended.

CBRE believes the extension of this package will benefit buyers and developers of large condominium projects launched during the crisis which are due for com-

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February 2010

Sathorn Square – the only new grade A office building to be completed in 2010.

AustChamThailand Advance

Open House Invitation

09:30 Registration and snacks 10:00 Presentations start 11:00 School tours 12:30 Application for academic scholarships

Sunday March 7, 2010

Join us at KIS International School's spacious green campus to learn about the differences in international schools' curricula (IB, British, American, Other) We provide an academically strong, well-balanced international education through the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum for students aged 2½ to 18.

Academic Scholarships available for 2010-2011: t *# %JQMPNB TDIPMBSTIJQ XPSUI 0OF .JMMJPO #BIU GPS POF TUVEFOU t 'VMM TDIPMBSTIJQ GPS POF (SBEF TUVEFOU For further details please contact the admissions department

PO "QQMZ F %BZ PVT 0QFO )

KIS International School 999/124 Kesinee Ville, Pracha-Utit Road, Huay Kwang, Bangkok 10320, Thailand Tel: +66 (0) 2274 3444 Fax: +66 (0) 2274 3452 Web: www.kis.ac.th Email: info@kis.ac.th

Business Brief

pletion and transfer within this year.

The initiative of this government to reform property and land taxation with a view to creating fairness sounds positive, but it will only be possible to determine the effect on the property market once the details of the proposed legislation have been finalised. “So long as the new tax legislation is on a fair basis and the tax rate not so excessively high as to discourage investment, CBRE sees this reform as beneficial for the market,�

Khun Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, Managing Director of CBRE Thailand said. An additional measure that CBRE urges the government to consider is the extension of the long lease term from the current 30 years up to a maximum of 90 years.

This will help improve the market mechanism and make large-scale commercial projects viable which would not be feasible if such developments were freehold due to the high land cost or if they were on a 30-year lease due to the limits on lease terms. The extension of the lease term will also have a direct benefit for resort destinations such as Phuket and Samui where the property markets are primarily driven by foreign demand.

Looking at 2010 and beyond, environmental issues are a key consideration for all industries including the property market. There will be more restrictions which may increase the cost for developers. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process is one of the key concerns and risks for developers as there are uncertainties in the details and timing required to obtain such a permit. This is one of the factors which are likely to delay the emergence of new supply.

Any additional incentives that would attract foreign direct investment in both manufacturing and the service industries would be welcomed, in order to enable Thailand to compete with rival destinations.

Office: The Market Should Improve in 2010 Bright future due to limited new supply In 2010, there will be very limited new supply in the office sector. Only 78,380 sq.m. are due to be completed, including Sathorn Square (72,500 sq.m.) and Sivatel Wireless Road (5,880 sq.m.).

CBRE sees the limited increase in new

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February 2010

Average Price of Luxury Residential Units in the Region (Baht per sq.m.)

City

2008

2009

%Change y-o-y

Shanghai

176,032

189,659

7.7

Hong Kong

622,549

722,376

16.3

Singapore

479,327

555,481

12.8

Bangkok

117,875

124,539

5.6

Source: CBRE Research

Average Grade A CBD Office Rents in the Region (Baht per sq.m.)

City

2008

2009

%Change y-o-y

Hong Kong

4,107

2,255

-49.09%

Singapore

4,041

1,913

-52.66%

Bangkok

744

690

-7.26%

Source: CBRE Research

supply as a positive indicator for the office market because any increase in take-up will reduce vacancy rates and lead to rental increases. At the end of 2009 the vacancy rate stood at 12%.

Even though net demand in 2009 dropped by more than 50% to only 52,000 sq.m., average grade A CBD office rents fell by 7.26% to Baht 690 per sq.m while grade B CBD office rents fell by 12% to Baht 509 per sq.m. This is considerably better than in other markets. Rents fell by 52.6% in Singapore and 49.9% in Hong Kong in 2009.

Following the recovery of the global economic, CBRE believes that companies will be less cost conscious and that 2010 will be a good time to take advantage of the low rents to relocate to newer buildings.

Condominium: The Most Exciting and the Most Competitive Supply outlook: more competitive market in 2010 The total supply of downtown condominiums increased to 61,522 units by the end of Q3 2009, up 14% year-on-year.

In total, there are 17,664 units under construction in downtown Bangkok, of which 78% of which have been reportedly sold, leaving 3,879 units being marketed (completed and under construction).

In 2009, there were 3,912 units in 15 projects launched in the downtown area, with the majority being one-bedroom unit types. In 2010 CBRE expects a much more competitive market, with an increasing number of project launches as there is pent-up supply from developers who have delayed their projects since the onset of the economic crisis in late 2008 and also new supply from large developers who acquire plots of land for new developments.

Demand outlook: demand continues to be strong CBRE sees a growing demand for condominiums driven primarily by a change in lifestyle which has led to the need to own a first or second home in the CBD or near mass transit routes to reduce the need to commute. From an investment perspective, investors also increasingly recognise condominium purchases as an appreciating long-term investment asset. In the past, there were few Thai investors in the market. However, with lower interest rates and proven returns, investing in condominiums has become a popular investment choice for many Thais. It is also considered a safe and secure investment compared to the equities market which is much more volatile.

New trends: good locations, small furnished units with affordable prices From the development side, developers need to ensure they are ahead of

AustChamThailand Advance

Business Brief

Newly Launched Condominium Projects* Broken Down by Unit Type

Year

Studio

1 B/R

2 B/R

3 B/R

4 B/R

PH

Total

2008

243

2,270

1,090

194

19

10

3,826

2009

54

1,284

694

10

0

0

2,042

Total

297

3,554

1,784

204

19

10

5,868

Source: CBRE Research * Include 18 selected projects in 2008 and 11 selected projects in 2009 as of Q3 2009.

the game in trying to predict future location trends. The danger is that a popular location can quickly become saturated with new supply. The key to success is either to be the first to launch in an upcoming location, or to find a location with high barriers to entry.

New supply especially for the middle income market will focus on smaller units at affordable prices. In a competitive market with experienced buyers, products must offer quality as well as innovative and functional design in order to be successful. The reliability and reputation of the developer is another key consideration for buyers.

Luxury and super luxury segments: limited future supply The luxury and super luxury condominium segment is expected to slowly recover and develop into a niche market.

Prime downtown land is rarely available for sale and prices will remain high, CBRE, therefore, does not expect many new launches for luxury condominiums in prime downtown locations.

With a wave of new launches focusing on smaller one-bedroom units along mass transit routes with prices ranging from Baht three to eight million, the majority of unsold two to three-bedroom units priced at over Baht 15 million and developed before the crisis should soon be absorbed. There will then be a shortage of two-bedroom units in the luxury market especially in prime locations.

Short-term investors will speculate on one-bedroom units whereas long-term investors will focus on two and three bedroom units which are in demand among expatriates in the rental market, while smaller units are driven by local demand. With a limited supply of newly launched larger units CBRE believes the

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February 2010

existing supply of such grade-A units in prime locations will continue to appreciate in value.

2010 Pricing trends: completed prime condo prices on the rise In terms of price movement, CBRE sees no significant increase in prices per sq.m for mid-market condominiums as the economic recovery is still underway with the prevailing political problems which continue to concern buyers. The best selling segment is priced at Baht 50,000-80,000 per sq.m in mid-town locations or within 15 kilometres of the CBD. Prices in this segment are unlikely to increase as the purchasing power of the target market is limited. The developers have to compete on cost control and pricing.

Prices for completed high-end and luxury downtown condominium have increased slightly by 5.6% from Baht 117,875 per sq.m from Q4 2008 to Baht 124,539 per sq.m in Q3 2009 and CBRE believes that the prices of completed buildings in prime locations will continue to rise in 2010.

Prices of the future supply of high-end and luxury downtown condominium in 2009 fell slightly by 6.3% from Baht 142,133 per sq.m in Q4 2008 to Baht 133,134 per sq.m in Q3, 2009 due to the slow market conditions. New launches in 2010 are likely to see an increase in price per sq.m due to the higher construction costs but, as unit sizes are smaller, total unit prices will be on par with current levels.

Retail: More Focus Improvement expected following return of consumer confidence In the first three quarters of 2009, the

supply of retail space grew by 6.6% or 327,125 sq.m. Whilst occupancy was stable throughout the year, rents were flat and even fell in some cases during the earlier part of 2009. The fourth quarter showed signs of consumer confidence and spending returning.

The trend for new retail centres in Bangkok is evolving from one-stop mega shopping complexes to more focused community malls and medium-sized lifestyle and entertainment complexes such as Esplanade Rattanathibet.

The major players in the retail market are Central, The Mall, Siam Future and Major Cineplex. Retail developments to note this year are Terminal 21 which is currently under construction and located in Sukhumvit at the Asoke junction, Central Rama 9 and Mega Bangna which will house Thailand’s first IKEA store.

Serviced Apartments: Highly Competitive Occupancy rates are likely to be flat and downward pressure on rents The serviced apartment sector, which partially depends on tourists and business travellers as well as expatriates working in Bangkok, has suffered from growing supply which led to an overall drop in occupancy and rates in 2009.

Total supply increased to 12,392 units, up by 6.84% year-on-year, with a further 610 units expected to be completed by 2010 and approximately 2,000 units by 2013. Occupancy rates remained at 75% in Q3 2009. Occupancy was partly protected by a number of longterm contracts which are less volatile than the daily rate market. Average rates, however, fell by about 20% yearon-year.

AustChamThailand Advance

Business Brief

The biggest challenge faced by this sector is the volume of new supply targeting both long-stay expatriates and short-stay businessmen and tourists.

Serviced apartments compete against apartments and particularly small condominium units for rent in the long-stay market and the rapidly growing supply of hotels in the short-stay market. The influx of new supply of both serviced apartments and hotels will continue to exert a downward pressure on both rates and occupancy.

Expatriate Rental Apartments The total supply of expatriate-standard rental apartments in Bangkok increased to around 11,151 units, up by 4.5% yearon-year.

Occupancy remained high at 91%.

CBRE has not seen a dramatic drop in the number of expatriates in 2009 but,

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February 2010

since companies are trying to maintain or reduce costs, so CBRE does not expect any increase in housing allowances.

in demand will dampen any potential for overall rental growth.

New well-designed condominium and apartment buildings will continue to perform better than older buildings that have not been refurbished or redecorated.

Multinational companies continue to be cautious on their expansion plans given that the global economy is yet to fully recover. Thailand’s political problems are also an added factor which has restrained business expansion plans in Thailand.

About CB Richard Ellis

CBRE does not expect that there will be a significant increase in the number of expatriates in 2010. There will be increased competition from individual “buy-to-rent” condominium owners seeking to lease out units in recently completed developments. There are about 620 apartment units under construction but there are also 17,664 condominium units under construction and CBRE expects that up to 50% of the new condominiums have been bought by purchasers who want to lease out their units on completion. This increase in supply combined with little or no growth

CB Richard Ellis established an office in Bangkok in 1988, followed by a Phuket office in 2004, and Samui office in 2007. CB Richard Ellis (Thailand) Co., Ltd. has grown to be a leading real estate services provider, offering strategic advice and execution for sales and leasing for all types of property, property and facilities management, valuation and advisory, and research and consulting. CB Richard Ellis has been named a BusinessWeek 50 “best in class” company for three years in a row. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.cbre.co.th.

AustChamThailand Advance

Business Brief

From the Headhunter’s Desk:

Is Hiring Top Talent Important in Your Organisation?

By Tom Sorensen

I

f recruiting talented people is one of your top priorities (and it should be if you want to stay a top manager), then spending an hour of your time with your HR Department or your preferred Headhunter is critical to the success of the hiring process.

I’m always puzzled when executives don’t take this briefing more serious because it leaves your hiring partner (whether HR or Headhunter) with a lot of guessing to do. When your hiring partner is left to fill out the blanks with their own ideas on what the job really is, you probably have a better chance of winning in the lottery than getting the best candidate for the job.

Take an hour of your time to sit with the hiring team (HR or Headhunter) to clarify what success looks like in this role, tell them about your expectations, what it takes to be successful in this position (deliverables), what the challenges are and also why someone would come and work for you. From this session we can prepare a document (we call them Assignment Briefings and Competency Charts) that will help attract top people.

It will also save you 20 hours of inter-

viewing time because you will meet better candidates the first time.

If hiring top talent is not important to you, keep using traditional job descriptions that focus on skills requirements rather than challenges Are you great at assessing competency and closing top candidates? From our candidates we hear these complaints when they call us after meeting a client: • The interviewer was not trained in how to interview, was talking too much; • The interviewer did not “sell” the job and the company in the interview; • The interviewer did not have a clear idea of the type of person wanted.

If we hear “Just get me some candidates, I’ll know it when I see it”, we normally pass on these assignments.

Ask the caller to try another recruitment company. It is frustrating when the recruiter presents a top person but the hiring manager declines to proceed because the position was not positioned properly in the first place.

We work with an integrated recruiting and closing process, where meeting candidates is just one in a series of

steps designed to close top people.

If your company is not using a process that challenges and makes the job more attractive, you’re missing out on the best talent.

Why seven years of industry experience is not important. Many hiring managers believe that so many years of work experience and industry knowledge automatically translate to onthe-job results. And that a lack of any of these translates to a lack of candidate competency. Let me tell you that I have seen many people who matched the job posting but somehow did not deliver the results. On the other hand I have also seen top people who demonstrated that they could do the work even without the “seven years experience”. Here is the thing…

If they can do the work you need done, then they have the right mix of skills and experience. Whatever that mix is called.

So just define the job, then assess the candidates based on their ability to do the job. Voila’ Tom Sorensen is a Headhunter and Partner at Grant Thornton in Thailand.

Contact tom@gt-thai.com; learn more on www.grantthornton.co.th.

Find Your inner J.K. Rowling, Aravind Adiga or John Grisham AustCham seeks writers, journalists and coeditor to assist, on a voluntary basis, with the Chamber’s very successful monthly magazine, Advance. 3,500 copies are distributed monthly. If you have some free time each month to help then please contact:admin@austchamthailand.com Tel.: 02 210 0216

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February 2010

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Business Brief

The Australian Economy down the Gum Tree?

By John Sheehan

“L

eading indicators show Australia has not only avoided recession, but is leading the world recovery” thus says an Australian bank-sponsored economic index, applauded loudly by the Reserve Bank and enthusiastically cheered on by the sound of pre-electoral self-congratulatory back-slapping from Government!

Yet on the same November day on the other side of the world a leading French bank tells clients how to prepare for “global collapse” In a report entitled “Worst case debt scenario,” the banks assets team said state rescue packages over the last year have merely transferred private liabilities onto sagging sovereign shoulders creating a fresh set of problems that may plunge the global economy into a catastrophic double dip in 2010.

“As yet nobody can say with any certainty whether we have in fact escaped the prospect of a global economic collapse.” Governments have already shot their fiscal bolts, public debt is at an all time historical high and aging western populations will make it harder to erode debt through growth. “High public debt looks unsustainable in the long run.

We have almost reached a point of no return.” The current crisis displays “compelling similarities” with Japan during its lost decade with a big difference: Japan stayed afloat by exporting into a robust global economy and by letting the yen fall. It is just not feasible for half the world to follow this same strategy simultaneously!

How can it be that two respected institutions on other sides of the world can have such divergent views? Whilst one is predicting global equities to return to March 2009 lows, for property prices to tumble and for oil to fall back to AUD $50 in 2010, the other claims that strong government spending and the economic impetus of China has already brought Australia out of the recession-

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February 2010

ary woods! Perhaps they are both right, at least partly, but to get to the bottom of this maybe we need to take a step back and look at the crisis from everyone’s perspective.

Starting with the world situation, the 2008 crisis has exposed a fundamental structural flaw: a global market, under the control of individual national governments and regulators. Economic problems are being exacerbated by different jurisdictions now scrambling over one another to save their own individual economy in the wake of the crash, oblivious as to whether they are working against each other. This recession is not a once in decade downturn. This recession has occurred at the end of a 30-year long period of gradually reducing interest rates which have served to continuously lower the cost of credit and thereby boost productivity and drive up wealth. Now we are at the end of the road; interest rates are close to zero and cannot drop any further in order to stimulate markets. Governments worldwide are flailing about hopelessly in their efforts within their own jurisdictions, with neither recognition nor capacity to grasp that what we have just experienced may be the beginning of a major global shift that may ultimately end up fundamentally challenging and transforming the western democratic economic model that has boomed since the fall of the Berlin Wall. In both the US and the EU, production is down, and unemployment continues to rise. Public spending, already at an unprecedented level before the crisis, looks set to double in some jurisdictions, which is likely to have a negative impact upon taxation for the next generation and will continue to adversely pressure currencies.

When people or corporations are concerned about money they choose to delay purchases and borrowing, hold cash, distrust others and cautiously wait for new information to glean direction and motivation. Western banks started 2009 effectively paralyzed, unable to lend money. By the middle of the year

when things had improved they discovered that market appetite for borrowing had diminished. By the final quarter of the year banks were aggressively stockpiling cash and capital reserves in anticipation of worse things to come. All these actions are rational acts of self-preservation that not only give a disturbingly negative view of the future, but ultimately worsen an already bad situation.

In the US President Obama may have thought that the only good thing about this crisis was that it was not his fault.

Rather than be disconcerted by the huge size of the predicament, the pragmatist would see it as an opportunity to blame someone else for everything, whilst the scale of the problem affords a good reason to continue this approach for a number of years. Obama is therefore not under any great pressure to act quickly which is why he may have already missed a marvellous opportunity to craft significant change that would have fixed systemic problems. For now, additional regulation may hamper recovery of the financial markets, whilst a laissez faire approach may well be economically beneficial in the short term even though it is blatantly wrong and is likely to cause further long term damage. The ultimate losers in this game will likely be US society’s poorest and weakest at the foot of the food-chain- those for whom President Obama was elected as their champion. If the financial crisis ends up robbing him of the budget necessary to deliver social reforms promised champion. If the financial crisis ends up robbing him of the budget necessary to deliver social reforms promised at the time of his election, there is a real risk that those that put him into power may ultimately turn against him.

Another political U turn in the 2012 presidential election would then only create additional confusion, foster uncertainty and further derail economic recovery.

The only good economic news in the world since 2008 has emanated from those Far Eastern economies that have

AustChamThailand Advance

Business Brief

weathered this storm much better than their western trading partners. They have achieved this by adopting a savings mentality in response to their harsh experiences of the 1997 Asian Crisis and have stockpiled currency reserves and restricted domestic credit. In 2009 China has embarked upon an aggressive fiscal stimulus and domestic credit expansion program which has enabled its economy to grow and has boosted production and exports within other Asian jurisdictions and Africa. As a result of its stimulus program China has not only managed to largely avoid recession but has become the main global engine for growth in the past year. Using retail sales during this period as an example, in the US sales have crashed whilst retail sales in China have doubled!

Australia has significantly increased its trading ties with Asia since the 1997 Asian crisis, which has enabled it to benefit from growth within Asia and create additional domestic employment.

In the past decade exports from Australia to the Americas have increased by 39%, by 73% to the EU, and to a staggering 182% to East Asia. 75% of all Australian exports now go to East Asia with 75% of the East Asian total going to China, Japan and South Korea. China has replaced Japan as Australia’s largest individual trading partner in 2009 and the Chinese market is now its main driver of exports. This export resilience has been a major contributor to Australia’s wealth in 2009 and has been a crucial factor in avoiding recession, albeit at the risk of putting all ones eggs in one basket. The Australian government believes its markets will be back to their historic growth trend in 2010 as a result of which they have been one of the first jurisdictions in the world to take their foot off the monetary stimulus accelerator and increase interest rates. The Reserve Bank stated when implementing this that “the risk of serious economic contraction in Australia had now passed” and the authorities clearly feel confident in the global market and the risk of growth contraction in their domestic market as stimulus fades.

Other indicators of economic health in Australia do not look so promising though and are generally in line with depressed western markets. Unemployment has risen by 45% within 18 months and has now surpassed the 1999 peak.

Consumer spending is dropping and

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private sector credit is contracting.

Conversely government borrowing has virtually doubled in the past 12 months.

These negative indicators tend to cast a shadow over Government’s decision to lower fiscal stimulus so early, and in this regard Australian policy is contrary to other western governments who are using their unemployment rate as a benchmark for phasing out economic stimulus.

One of the major challenges facing the world in the new IT age is managing globalisation. Individual jurisdictions are no longer in control of their own economic destiny, which creates a much more complicated situation than politicians and governments are used to dealing with, and is major contributing factor to the severity of the current downturn. This external control issue impacts Australia more than most of the large western nations given the relatively small size of its economy and its dependence on foreign flows as a net capital importer to its capital markets.

Whilst the Chinese economy has held up very well throughout the downturn there must be some doubt as to the continuing sustainability of its own domestic stimulus package. Given that the US consumer spends two times China and India’s combined GDP each year, the alarming condition of the depressed US economy must ultimately damage China’s production unless there is a sudden and unlikely return to growth in the USA. As an indication, world trade as measured by the Baltic Dry Index has increased this year, but is still less than half of its peak in 2008 and is more in line with 2002 levels.

The greatest threat to wealth in the global market now appears to be China decoupling from the US economy, but not its currency. China increasingly appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place. If it doesn’t float and revalue its currency it will almost certainly create a domestic inflationary bubble of catastrophic proportions when it bursts. On the other hand, if it does float its currency upwards against the dollar, the value of its US Government securities holdings will plummet and damage its reserves.

Meanwhile China continues to stockpile commodities and export its excess capacity to depressed western markets in the shape of underpriced manufactured goods which is exerting deflation-

ary pressures and prolonging recession.

China and the US seem increasingly at odds with one another over this issue and the longer this imbalance remains the greater the risk of globalisation going into reverse and the fuelling of protectionism.

Whilst all this is playing out the global market will be characterised by economic uncertainty and extreme currency volatility. Individual government responses to the crisis so far have typically seen the adoption of expensive quick fixes, and prayers for an early return to growth. If the global market does not resurrect quickly there is no plan B nor budget for a long drawn out recession. Politicians worldwide must get their heads up out of their own jurisdictions and realise that what is going on outside their boundaries impacts both their investment and trading partners and their own futures.

Until governments get to grips with this, the global economy will continue to wobble and national capital markets are reduced to a lottery. Nobody really knows what will happen next and the message for 2010 seems to be to expect the unexpected!

John Sheehan (See Luncheon Meeting, page 30) followed financial crisis around the world for a decade with former US investment bank Lehman Brothers, specialising in distressed debt acquisition & loan servicing, corporate restructuring, real estate investment & lending and structured finance.

He worked in Asia Pacific after the 1997 crisis until 2005 and thereafter in Europe and Latin America gaining global experience through transactions in twenty different jurisdictions.

Disenchanted with the approach adopted by Lehman, John left the firm in August 2008, one month before they declared bankruptcy. He returned to South East Asia and established Global Markets Asia in order to provide local businesses and institutions with a clearer understanding of what is occurring in the global market and how this may impact them.

From 2009 a number of presentations and articles have been published that draw upon John’s wide global experience and an insider’s view of the demise of Lehman, the resultant credit meltdown and global economic downturn.

February 2010

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Business Brief

Is Your Business Reliant on You? Source: RSM Prince and Partners – Trial Balance Newsletter Is Your Business Reliant on You? Are you really better than your employees at doing the things your business does? If you’re really honest there are probably a lot of things some of your employees would do better than you if you just gave them a chance to prove it! As for the rest, if you spend time with them showing them how to work well, motivating them, taking the time to understand them, you’ll find they can do parts of your job too. Why should they try if you’re going to do it for them anyway.

Even if you can perform at 100% all the time, how can you achieve as much as five employees working at 80% of your performance.

And if your employees can do your job 80% as well as you do, giving up some of your responsibilities will free you up to do the things you should be doing – putting that important marketing campaign together, visiting your top customers, working alongside your newest team member to show them how to do their job more efficiently (or even just explaining why it’s important that they do it).

Many of us are technically very good at doing the things our business does for our customers. But we aren’t good at handing on those technical skills to our team. In fact we’re so busy doing the things the business does all day that we either don’t get around to doing the important things for the business or we’re up all night doing them.

Successful business owners are those who no longer spend all their day serving customers, carrying out technical work, doing the books, doing the things the business does. Successful business

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February 2010

owners are getting their business to the point where it doesn’t rely on them. They are making sure there are efficient and productive processes within the business; that their team is well trained in running the business; that every customer is served well by someone else other than themselves; that they and their team understand exactly where the business is heading and what their role is in getting it there.

So, how can you achieve that when you’re still doing it, doing it, doing it … and worrying about it all night.

Start by taking a cold hard look at what you’re doing today. Decide on the things you’re going to give to someone else to do. Sit down with your team and tell them you want to change the way you do things around here and that they have an important role to play in that.

Ask them what they think you should be doing, and what you shouldn’t be doing.

Ask who should be doing those things.

Ask them what they think could be done better (they’ve had lots of time to analyse that while you’ve been doing their job).

In most businesses this will mean freeing up small amounts of time to work on the business. It might be as little as two hours a week. But if you first spend that time helping others to do things in your business better you’ll soon find you’re not cleaning up after their (or your) mistakes and you’ve freed up even more time to spend on running the business.

It won’t be running you any more.

Once you’ve freed up this time you’ll find that the business becomes more profitable. That’s because a lot of little but important things are being taken care of. You’ll be looking at better efficiency, you’ll have your advertising well thought out and on time, you’ll have visited your important clients and understood what they’re looking for. You will have taken

the time to properly employ the next person for your business and to introduce them to the business and their role. You’ll know how to measure the performance of the business even when you’re not there.

You will have prepared your business for sale. A new owner can see that there’s value in your business, that you have the processes in place so that you and your key employees are no longer absolutely important. The business can be taken over by a new owner or their manager, will be easy to operate and will be profitable enough to be worth paying good money for.

You have prepared your business for sale. Only now, you’re enjoying it so much you don’t want to sell it! But you know it’s ready when you are.

Marketing Expertise – 10 Tips for a Well Run Business You’ve got to be business savvy to run a successful business these days. And small business-owners, who often do not have the support of skilled consultants, have to call on their own experience, knowledge and common-sense. That’s why, just for starters, they need to have good leadership skills, establish good systems, ensure staff understand about product knowledge and have great rapport with customers.

Another useful characteristic for any business owner to have is the ability to recognise and assess opportunities in the market place.

Here are ten tips to keep in mind: 1. Understand and monitor the prevailing economic and industry conditions – look for opportunities.

2. Analyse the demographics of your customer base and customer profiles: what are their needs, disposable

AustChamThailand Advance

Business Brief

income?

3. Determine what pricing strategies can be implemented.

4. Know what your competitors are doing.

5. Determine promotional strategies to suit your target customers, e.g. media, word-of-mouth referrals; and plan promotional schedules around specific activities that will affect your customer base.

6. Develop a budget for each promotional activity prior to commencing, highlighting what you hope to achieve, what it is going to cost to promote and then analyse the performance against the budget expectation at the conclusion of the activity.

7. Measure the success of media advertising or promotion.

8. Checklist for maintaining sales: • Increasing the number of customers can be affected by: location, effective advertising, in store dis-

AustChamThailand Advance

plays, demonstrations and special events; • Exterior appearance is important; and • Effective hardworking employees are vital assets to a business.

9. Hints on increasing average sales; • Companion selling; • Selling higher quality; • Merchandising/display/in-store signs; and • Stock mix.

10. Increasing repeat visits by customers: • Staff attitude • Staff product/service knowledge.

• Staff sales ability • Stock range • Business image/appearance/ housekeeping • Direct mail • Birthday and Christmas cards.

• Newsletter • Customer clubs, outings etc.

RSM Thailand RSM Thailand is a member firm of RSM International, the seventh largest worldwide organisation of independent accounting and consulting firms represented in each of the top 40 business centers around the word with more than 30,220 staff in 732 offices in over 72 countries, driven by the common vision of providing high quality professional services in their domestic markets and in serving the international needs of their client base.

The RSM service line leaders in Thailand are: •

•

•

Corporate Advisory Gareth Hughes, Managing Director Accounting & Tax Compliance Mark Butters, Director Executive Recruitment Mike Holloway, Director

February 2010

23

EMBASSY NEWS

The ‘SwimSafe Thailand’ Project T

he Australia-Thailand Institute recently joined partners and donors at the launch of the SwimSafe Thailand project at Mahaparp Krajadthong Uppatham School in Samut Prakan. The event marked the commencement of survival swimming classes in two SwimSafe Thailand locations, Samut Prakan and rural Chiang Rai. The SwimSafe project teaches children the survival swimming skills that protect them from drowning, which is the leading cause of death for children in Thailand. SwimSafe Thailand is an initiative of The Alliance for Safe Children and the College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University as well as technical partners, the Royal Life Saving Society Australia and Thai Life Saving Society (RLSSA).

The project is funded by the AustraliaThailand Institute, proceeds from the annual Bangkok Patana School TigerSharks swim-a-thon and RLSSA.

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At the two locations, 54 students are currently enrolled in SwimSafe Thailand.

The first graduates are expected to complete the course by the end of 2009 and be able to swim continuously for 25m and float for 90 seconds – basic swimming skills that help keep children safe in the water. For those over eight years, they also learn rescue skills, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) so they can save their peers if the need arises.

The highlight of the launch saw twelve grade four students jump into the officially opened innovative portable swimming pool to demonstrate the survival swimming skills they have learned so far in their first six lessons. Guests also watched grade ten students perform CPR at the launch.

The project has sparked much curiosity in the local community. The Mayor of Dansamrong District, Khun Kwanchai Phumpo, who officially opened the

pool, said “this project is very useful for our community. It is an activity that develops skills in swimming and can save the lives of children – youth that are key to our country’s future. I am very pleased the community is part of the project”.

Mike Courtnall, Chair of the AustraliaThailand Institute, expressed the organisation’s pride in supporting the program. SwimSafe takes an element deeply ingrained in the Australian culture – swimming and water safety – and attempts to apply that in Thailand in a manner that will give Thai children skills that will help protect them from drowning for life.

“SwimSafe takes Australia’s water safety skills developed at its many beaches and applies them in Thai schools to save Thai children’s lives. It is hard to imagine a more worthwhile project.” said Mike.

AustChamThailand Advance

EMBASSY NEWS

Thammasat to Act as Australian Information Gateway

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ustralian and Thai universities collaborate together across a wide range of research and teaching areas that involve over 40 Memorandums of Understanding; Thai and Australian education departments share information regarding policy and education system developments; economic trade between Thailand and Australia has increased nearly 300 percent since their Free Trade Agreement came into effect; and Thailand hosts approximately 700,000 Australian tourists each year.

Clearly, Thailand and Australia’s relationship is strong, multifaceted and offers many benefits for both countries.

Thammasat University understands the potential role of universities in fostering this relationship and hence, was keen to host the Australian Studies Centre of Thailand at their Rangsit campus.

The Commission on Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Thailand, which also provides supporting funds for the Australia Studies Centre’s operations, recently selected Thammasat University as the Centre’s host university.

The Centre is part of a wider strategy of the Commission on Higher Education to develop and support a range of area studies centres within the university sector to encourage a better understanding of Thailand’s international partners amongst the general Thai society.

For example, the Commission aims for the Australian Studies Centre to promote and support the teaching and research about Australia in Thailand and also to provide a range of information services on Australia for the Thai community more generally.

Associate Professor Chulacheeb Chinwanno, Vice Rector for International Affairs at Thammasat University, said the Centre will act as a contact and information resource for the Thai people, and also bring together Thais and Austral-

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The Australian Ambassador, His Excellency Paul Grigson, recently hosted a lunch to celebrate Thammasat University’s appointment as host university for the Australian Studies Centre. From left: Bronte Moules, Ekaphong Lahathiansind, Dr. Suphat Supachalasai, John Hancock, Mike Courtnall, Dr. Kaye Eldridge, HE Paul Grigson, Dr. Chantavit Sujatanond Associate Professor Chulacheeb Chinwanno and Anne Reynolds.

ians people with common interests and concerns.

“The Australian Studies Centre is essentially about helping Thai people understand Australia better, so that when they conduct business or other interactions with Australians, they have an insight into their background, lifestyle and the way that Australians are likely to think,” Dr. Chulacheeb said.

Based at Thammasat University, the Australian Studies Centre will conduct its activities through a network of university partners from all over Thailand, acknowledging Thailand’s relationship with Australia as a national initiative.

Mike Courtnall, President of the Aus-

tralia-Thailand Institute in Canberra, which supports institutional and people-to-people interactions between Australians and Thais, recently visited Bangkok to meet with executive staff at Thammasat University and to learn more of their plans for the Centre.

Some of these planned activities include: a web-based knowledge database for Thais seeking further information on Australia; the writing of Thai language text books and teaching resources on Australia: the establishment of a network between Thai and Australian researchers; and a number of public seminars and workshops on issues where Thais and Australians may learn from each other’s experience.

The Centre will be led by Dr. Suphat Supachalasai who will be Centre Director and who is an Australian National University alumni specialising in international trade.

His Excellency Paul Grigson, Australian Ambassador to Thailand, said the centre and its university partners can play an important strategic role in further enhancing the harmonious political, economic and social relationship of Thailand and Australia.

AustChamThailand Advance

community services

Voluntary English Teaching 12 December 2009 On Saturday 12 December 2009, volunteers (together with AustCham staff), visited Baan Khao Huay Mahad School, Rayong. It was a successful day enjoyed by all. Thank you to the volunteers and Toll Logistics (our English Teaching sponsor) for their continued support.

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AustChamThailand Advance

community services

Building the Basics

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tart with the basics and work up as always proved a good adage. An excellent example is evidenced by the accompanying photographs. The Community Services Committee can now report that there has been an overall upgrade to the sanitation and toilet block and the main structure for the Kindergarten at Wat Putakian, Kanchanaburi is in place.

By the time you read this update, the roof will have been fabricated by AustCham member, BlueScope, then delivered to the site and installed.

Generous support has come from the staff and management of Boral

AustChamThailand Advance

Concrete. Ground preparations, leveling and compaction will also be completed ready to install the flooring, so the time is approaching when it be a serviceable building and so go a long way to improving the day-to-day activities at this essential child-care and learning centre for very young children, currently only supported by the local wat.

As a company or individual, are you are able to assist by offering products suitable for the kitchen? Would you prefer to make a donation so that this essential stage of this worthy project can be tackled as soon as possible?

In either case please contact the AustCham office by telephone 02 210 0216 or email: execdirector@ austchamthailand.com

To date, the cooking facilities, rudimentary at best, have been in an open tent so it is hoped to now raise sufficient money to continue with the next stage of this worthwhile project, which is to install a new kitchen within this structure.

AustCham would like to thank the following companies for their continued support; Hassell, Meinhardt, Boral, BlueScope, Pathumwan Princess, Uhde Sheddon, BAMBI, Veritas Enterprises, Global Turf and Top Talent Plus.

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chamber events

Breakfast Briefing, 14 January 2010

On Thurdsay 14 January 2010, AustCham was proud to hold a Breakfast Breifing at the Sheraton Grand Sukhumvit, together with the British Chamber of Commerce and RICS Thailand.

AustCham would like to thank guest speaker James Pitchon for his comprehensive presentation about Prospects for the Thai Property Market in 2010.

Luncheon Meeting, 20 January 2010 Austcham was pleased to invite members to a Luncheon meeting on Wednesday, 20 January 2010 at Pan Pacific Bangkok. John Sheehan gave attendees a look at the outlook risks and opportunities facing the local, global and regional economies, stock markets, equity markets and currencies in 2010.

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AustChamThailand Advance

Chamber Events

JFCCT Christmas ESB Networking Event on 11 December 2009 On Friday 11 December 2009 the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand Christmas Eastern Seaboard Networking event was held at Holiday Inn Pattaya. The event was generously sponsored by European Safety Concepts (ESC), Fluid Asia Pacific and Holiday Inn Pattaya.

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AustChamThailand Advance

ANZAC Day at Kanchanaburi 25 April 2010

AustCham would like to extend an invitation to everyone to attend the ANZAC Day services on Sunday, 25 April 2010. Although AustCham’s bookings at the River Kwai River Resort have all been filled, accommodation is still available in the town of Kanchanaburi. To commemorate ANZAC Day, Dawn service will be conducted at the historical Hellfire Pass followed by a Memorial Service at 11 a.m. held at the Kanchanaburi War Museum. If you have not had the opportunity to experience ANZAC day at Kanchanaburi, we strongly urge you to make the effort as this is a truly remarkable place to experience ANZAC day. Lest we forget.

On 25 April 1915 the ANZAC legend was born at Gallipoli. Australian and New Zealand soldiers joined forces in an expedition to capture the Gallipoli peninsula. They landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 and were met with fierce resistance. Their efforts continued for eight months, both sides suffering heavy causalities. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed.

This made a significant impact on those at home and soon after 25 April officially became the day on which Australians and New Zealanders remembered the sacrifice of those who died in war.

In subsequent years, the ANZAC day meaning broadened to include all those Australians and New Zealanders killed in any military operation in which Australians or New Zealanders were involved.

On ANZAC day 1943, Australian POWs began work on building the railway in Hellfire Pass (a small section of

the Burma-Thailand railway aptly named by the POWs after being forced to work at night, resulting from the view from above when lit from fires under which they worked gave the impression of the jaws of Hell).

The Konyu Cutting was soon behind schedule and reinforcements of additional Australian, British and some New Zealander POWs together with 1,500 Tamil labourers were brought in. Prisoners were forced to work 12 to 18 hour shifts. Work was finally completed in August 1943 but at what cost? The cost of a significant amount of lives and devastation to hundreds of families at home.

Today two services are held in Kanchanaburi, the dawn service at Hellfire Pass and then a wreath laying service at the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery. Both are a truely moving experience. We recommend you attend if you have the opportunity. A worthwhile visit.

Belinda Skinner, Top Talent Asia Recruitment and AustCham Director, reflects on ANZAC day at Kanchanaburi.

chamber Events events Chamber

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Tri Nations Barbeque at The Sukhothai, 19 January 2010 On Tuesday, 19 January 2010, AustCham hosted the Tri-Nations Barbeque together with the African-Thai and New Zeland-Thai Chambers of Commerce. We would like to thank Ayudhya Life Insurance Plc, Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Fine Wine, MBMG International and San Miguel Marketing (Thailand) Ltd for their sponsorship. Also The Sukhothai Bangkok Hotel for supporting us with its venue and superb catering.

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1) Maurice Bromley - SATCC President; Jonathan Glonek - Bangkok Fine Wine; Paul Gambles - MBMG; Nikki Cox - NZTCC President; Andrew Durieux - AustCham President; Karen Campbell - Bangkok Bank. 2) Nikki Cox - NZTCC President; Karen Holloway; Todd Guest - MBMG. 3) Bob Fox - FOX COM; Karen Campbell - Bangkok Bank; Nandor G. von der Luehe - JFCCT. 4) Khun Tattarom Lertkul - Bangkok Bank; Khun Wallapa Klinpratoom - Bangkok Bank; Khun Walailuk Jeamsareerat - Crown Worldwide. 5) Simon Nash - gH Design; John Anderson - AustCham VP; Karen Hochhauser - Santa Fe; Andrew Durieux - AustCham President; Paul Patelis - Kimberly Clark; Brett Gannaway - AustCham ED. 6) Khun Wina Kyle; Martin Kyle - Tanayong; Ailey MacQueen; James MacQueen; Jaqui Kyle.

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AustChamThailand Advance

Coporate Sponsors 2010 GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

AustChamThailand Advance

February 2010

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New Members and Members’ Changes

NEW CORPORATE ORDINARY MEMBERS

V Australia 17th Floor, Vorawat Building 849 Silom Road, Bangrak Bangkok 10500 Thailand Tel: +66 2 267 1202-4 Fax: +66 2 267 1128 Email: info@go-vacation.com Website: www.vaustralia.com

Principal: Mr. Raymon Honings Alternate: Ms. Sarinya Holloway V Australia is Australia’s newest premium international airline, launching flights between Sydney and Los

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Angeles in February 2009 with its second route taking off between Brisbane and Los Angeles less than six weeks later.

two in-flight bars, a “ladies only” toilet complete with piped music and Australian icons featured on subtle wallpaper murals.

From late November 2009, the airline has introduced services between Brisbane and Phuket, followed soon after by direct flights from Melbourne to Phuket and Melbourne to Los Angeles plus also daily services between Sydney and Fiji. In March 2010, V Australia will add direct flights between Melbourne and Johannesburg, South Africa, to its rapidly expanding route network.

All seats on the brand new 777-300ER aircraft offer personal state-of-the-art seat back entertainment with user friendly touch screen options and seat to seat ‘chat’ or competition connectivity.

V Australia offers a high quality, innovative travel option introducing a fresh new choice and competition to the trans-Pacific route.

The three class boutique style airline offers 33 Business Class lie-flat beds, 40 Premium Economy Club seats and 288 economy seats. The suite of in-flight products includes

V Australia is the only carrier to operate the economically and environmentally efficient Boing 777 aircraft on the long haul trans-Pacific route.

Change of Company Address gH design Sukhumvit House, 5th Floor, Rm 5B 128/25 Soi 23 Sukhumvit Road Klongtoey Nua, Wattana Bangkok 10110 Thailand Tel: +66 2 664 0245

AustChamThailand Advance

Members’ offers

Phachara Suites Gold standard Phachara Suites’ urbane setting offers a welcome respite from the constant buzz of Bangkok’s city centre, located in Sukhumvit. Opening Rates (valid from Jan to Apr 2010) Studio Deluxe (42-45 sqm) Daily: Baht 2,700; Monthly: Baht 58,800. Studio Executive (42-50 sqm) Daily: 2,900; Monthly: Baht 64,400. OneBedroom Deluxe (55 sqm) Daily: Baht 3,600 Monthly: Baht 70,000. For more information, please call +66 2 262 9999 or email: sales@ phacharasuites.com

AlCLUB Receive free hotel gift vouchers or free convert to Airline Miles from earning AlClub points on every group event you book at participating Accor hotels.

You will be rewarded when book a group meeting at Accor’s worldwide hotels, including Sofitel, Pullman, M Gallery, Mercue and Novotel.

2 Euros = 1 AlClub point.

Apply for free now at www.a-club.com/en.

Amari Orchid Pattaya This Valentine’s Day, join our Romantic Sunday Brunch at Mantra Restaurant & Bar. Also enjoy our Valentine’s dinner set at Baht 5,999 + (per couple) Henry J Bean’s Bar & Grill celebrates with it’s “Loving me, Loving you” promotion. Serving a “surf and turf” set menu at Baht 1,900 (per couple to share).

For more information or to make a booking, please call +66 (0) 3841 8418.

Conrad Bangkok Conrad Bangkok is offering the following meeting prices, valid until the 31 March 2010: Halfday Meeting Package – Minimum 20 guests: Baht 1,200 per person; Full-day Meeting Package – Minimum 20 guests: Baht 1,400 per person; All day coffee break at Deli by Conrad is valued at Baht 650 per person. For more information or to make a booking, please call: 66-2-6909999

Coverage Free! Coverage will provide one free three hour crisis management, disaster recovery workshop to all AustCham member companies’ (within Bangkok) senior management teams. Focus can be a crisis scenario of your choice such as pandemic, fire, bomb, IT failure etc. Tel +66 2 261 8485.

InterContinental Hua Hin Resort Located on one of the most beautiful beachside locations in Hua Hin. We are offering an introductory rate of Baht 5,100 to Thai residents and expats living in Thailand. The offer is inclusive of breakfast for two persons per room per night.

Valid from now until 31 March 2010. For reservations, please contact +66 (0) 2656 0365, +66 (0) 2252 3323

Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square Gourmets should not miss the opportunity to enjoy the

famous “All-You-Can-Eat Dim Sum Lunch Set Menu” at only Baht 520. Cooking in Lok Wah Hin Chinese Restaurant Chef Chan has created ten new dim sums to add to his repertoire of inspiring signature dishes. For more information or to make a reservation, please call 02 209 8888.

reservations, as well as special discounts for meetings and events, please call +66 (0) 2624 9888 or email: resvn@lebua.com, catering +66 (0) 2624 9531 Please use the booking code of ‘cchamber’ to confirm your association with AustCham or the ATBC.

President Park “Bangkok Temptation” Room Package at Baht 3,599 includes daily buffet breakfast for 2 persons at Baan President, unlimited high speed internet access, complimentary soft drinks in mini bar, complimentary local calls and a complimentary Skytrain pass worth Baht 100 per person per stay. Valid from now till 1 March 2010. For reservations or enquiries, please call us at 02 661 1000 or visit www. presidentpark.com.

Superior A.R.T. Superior A.R.T. provides services for couples with infertility problems, those who have experienced repeated miscarriages or where one partner or both are affected by a genetic disorder.

Sivara Spa Jewel Moments package valued at Baht 3,500 per person, Baht 6,500 per couple includes a 30min crystal scrub 45min floral bath and a glass of Taittinger. Le Crystal Package valued at Baht 4,200 per person, Baht 8,000 per couple includes a 30min crystal scrub, 60min body massage and dinner at mantra (set menu). Call for details and reservations on 038 418 418.

State Tower For special benefits for members of the AustCham and the ATBC, including best available rates, V.I.P.

Valid until: 31 March 2010: Baht 10,000 once you purchase an IVF program.

Please call +662 255 4848 or email: services@ thaisuperiorart.com

TRSC International LASIK Center TRSC International LASIK would like to give the wonders of clear vision to AustCham Thailand members. Our offer is valid until 31 March 2010: Baht 500 discount on Preoperative Eye Examination for LASIK. Baht 4,000 discount on LASIK (both eyes, one appointment).

Baht 2,000 discount on NV LASIK or Phakic-IOL or Cataract Removal (one eye only).

For more information or to make an appointment, please call 02 733 2020 or email: info@lasikthai.com.

Please note, all details are subject to change, please contact respective businesses directly for latest details.

AustChamThailand Advance

February 2010

37

From the Chamber Office

Message from the ED

W

ell the Australia Day Ball is over for another year and once again it turned out to be a extraordinary night of superb food, fantastic music and as usual, a great time was had by all. Thank you to our event sponsor V Australia for their support of the evening. As always our major events would not be possible without our sponsors.

I would also like to thank all the companies who donated prizes for the lucky draw and the raffle. Monies raised from the sale of the raffle tickets are donated to our charity programs and community services. This year we had over 50 prizes to give away which included two return trips for two to Australia, hotel room nights, dinners and even a four burner barbie donated by the BBQ store.

Thank you to those companies who helped make the night memorable; Rajas Fashions for once again donating the photography on the evening, Allied Pickford for logistics support and of course the Dusit Thani for providing such a great venue. Last, but not least, I would like to thank the AustCham office staff. The staff really put in a great deal of time and effort to make all of our events such as the Ball an enjoyable time for all so thank you team for a job well done!

The Annual General Meeting will be held this coming 3 March 2010 – I would like to invite members to consider standing for election of the 2009/10 Board.

Being a Director of Board is both a challenging and a rewarding experience. It allows you to be closely involved with business leaders both in Thailand and the region and is a great way to give back to the community through the Chamber’s extensive charitable work. Being on the Board also allows you to

Calendar of Events WEDNESDAY, 3 FEBRUARY Bangkok Sundowners

18.00 – 21.00 Venue: The Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok TUESDAY, 9 FEBRUARY Joint Lunch – How to Reach Sustainable Profitability

Guest Speakers: Arthapol Vithayakritsirikul, Jean Francois Laugier and Prachuab Trinikorn 12:00 – 2:00 Venue: “Moliere-Voltaire Rooms”, Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square have direct input on how you would like to see your Chamber grow and evolve.

For those who cannot attend the meeting in person, please ensure that you appoint a proxy for this meeting and the Board of Directors elections. The full agenda and nomination forms will be on their way to you shortly so keep an eye out for full details coming to you soon.

As always, if you have any comments or suggestions in regards to the chamber, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I can be reached at execdirector@ austchamthailand.com or alternatively feel free to drop by the office.

WEDNeSDAY, 10 FEBRUARY Thai-Australian Alumni Night

18.30 – 20.30 Venue: Ambassador’s Residence, Australian Embassy 37 South Sathorn Road THURSDAY, 11 FEBRUARY Luncheon Briefing - Tax Planning for Australians Working Overseas

Guest Speaker: Stephen Caswell 12:00 – 14:00 Venue The Landmark Bangkok TUESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY Breakfast Briefing - How to Create Rapid Growth and High Profit

Guest Speaker: Rangsan Thammaneewong 7:30 – 9:30 Venue: AustCham Office Brett Gannaway Executive Director, AustCham Thailand www.austchamthailand.com

Thank you to all January event sponsors

FRIDAY, 19 FEBRUARY ESB Sundowners

18.00 – 21.00 Venue: TBC FRIDAY, 19 FEBRUARY Site Visit: Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (ESIE)

15:00 – 17:00 Venue:Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (ESIE), Rayong Moo 4, T. Pluakdaeng, A. Pluakdaeng SATURDAY, 20 FEBRUARY Voluntary English Teaching

Venue: Baan Khao Din School, Chonburi

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February 2010

AustChamThailand Advance