BCCT The Link magazine #6 2013

Magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand Issue 6 2013

Banking on success

Bangkok Patana School Celebrates IB and (I)GCSE Achievements

Congratulations to the Class of 2013 on your IB results:     

93% pass rate against a world average (WA) of 78% One student gained a perfect 45 point score Two students achieved 44 points A mean grade of 5.3 in individual subjects (WA = 4.7) Average points score of candidates who passed is 33.0 (WA 29.8) (with a non-selective admissions policy)

We wish the Class of 2013 the best of luck in their future endeavours.

Last year 226 of our students sat (I)GCSE exams:     

25.98% of grades awarded were A* (WA = 19.73%) 51.43% of grades awarded were A*- A (WA = 39.99%) 90.13% of grades awarded were A*- C (WA = 62.45%) 12 candidates, who sat AS Maths a year early, achieved the top A grade 21 students were awarded eight or more A*s

Many congratulations to all our (I)GCSE students and we wish them the very best as they progress in their academic studies.

643 Lasalle Road (Sukhumvit 105) Bangna, Bangkok, 10260 Thailand Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 Email: reception@patana.ac.th www.patana.ac.th

photos © Getty Images, Photlook / Fotolia

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Contents BCCT

Board of Directors 2013 Chairman Simon Landy Colliers International Thailand T: 02 656 7000 simon.landy@colliers.com

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Vice Chairman & Treasurer John Sim PKF Tax and Consulting Services (Thailand) Ltd. T: 02 679-5100 john.sim@pkfthailand.asia Vice Chairmen Viriya (Boyd) Chongphaisal GlaxoSmithKline T: 02 659 3000 viriya.x.chongphaisal@gsk.com

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Simon Matthews ManpowerGroup Thailand T: 02 634 7273 matthews@manpower.th.com Chris Thatcher Anglo-Thai Legal Co., Ltd. T: 081 803 7377 christhatcher1@gmail.com Directors Gary Biesty South Asia Law Co., Ltd T: 02 636 0585 garyb@southasia-law.com David Cumming Onyx Hospitality Group (Amari Orchid Pattaya) T: 02 255 3767 david.cumming@onyx-hospitality.com

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Stephen Frost Bangkok International Associates T: 02 231 6201/6455 sfrost@bia.co.th Andrew McBean Grant Thornton T: 02 205 8222 Email: andrew.mcbean@th.gt.com Rituraj Mohan Boots Retail (Thailand) Ltd T: 02 694 5900 Ritu.Mohan@bootsri.com Sriram Narayan British Airways PLC T: 02 784 8130 sriram.narayan@ba.com Ata Safdar Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare (Thailand) Limited T: 02 685 2100 ata.safdar@rb.com Siew Meng Tan HSBC T: 02 614 4040 siewmengtan@hsbc.com Thana Thiramanus Property Care Services (Thailand) Ltd. T: 02 741-8800 thana@pcs.co.th

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This Edition

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Bank chief pledges more support to Thailand’s SMEs

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Still making his Mark in Thailand

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Currency conundrum

Members share feedback in latest consultation

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Citi banking on ASEAN connections

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Risk management key to securing investment returns

It’s sink or swim on Britain’s high streets

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TFI mixes fun with fund raising The Link

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Contents

The Link is published by the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand.

Editorial and Advertising enquiries: Jyoti Sachavirawong Deputy Director, BCCT Email: Sarinthorn@bccthai.com Editor: Dale Lawrence Email: dalelawrence2008@gmail.com Front cover design: GSBI

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Production: Scand-Media Corp., Ltd The views expressed by individual authors are not necessarily those of the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand or of the publisher. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand is strictly prohibited.

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Chairman’s Message

British Chamber of Commerce Thailand 7th Floor, 208 Wireless Road Bangkok 10330, Thailand Tel: 02-651 5350/3 Fax: 02-651 5354 Website: www.bccthai.com Email: greg@bccthai.com Greg Watkins, Executive Director

Executive Director’s Message Defence sales do fall within UKTI’s remit at the Embassy

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Thai organisations to reap value of management

Member News By the Numbers Chamber events

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Final Word

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Chairman’s Message

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s I reach the end of two years as chairman I would like to report on progress made on the goals set two years ago. The three goals we set were to develop an advocacy strategy to meet members’ needs; to deliver events based on members’ needs and the financial needs of the Chamber, and to consider structural changes to improve the provision of services.

Simon Landy Sterling Partner

Corporate Partners

Annual Airline Partners

Supporting Partners

On advocacy, after leaving the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in 2011 we have pursued a three-pronged strategy of direct approaches to Thai and UK government leaders on key issues, working closely with other like-minded chambers and leveraging off like-minded Thai business lobbies. On the first, we have continued to hold one-onone meetings on specific issues with senior officials on such bug-bears as visas and work permits, FBA and passport renewals. On the second, we are a leading voice in EABC with our members running many of their advocacy groups and have worked with groups of chambers on specific issues. On the third we are using our permanent seat on the Board of Trade, and my role as a BoT Executive Director, to push specific issues through this most effective lobby.

A few words, however, on JFCCT. Although we are one of five chambers that resigned from the group, we have been active supporters of a compromise solution. Essentially, there appears to be a philosophical divide between chambers that see JFCCT as a formal organisation for promoting the interests of the foreign business community and those who are wary of any formal structure that their members have not agreed to and prefer an informal club of interests. Although we are inevitably grouped with the latter, we are really closer to the middle ground. To date that compromise has proved elusive.

We are therefore fortunate to remain as an active member of EABC. The Centre’s focus on the EU-Thai FTA negotiations has given a spur to our lobbying efforts and the BCCT Board has strongly encouraged member participation. It is understandable that some small chambers without access to an EABC-equivalent are hankering for the collective voice that JFCCT once gave them.

Our membership feedback sessions support the conclusion that we provide a wide range of social and business events with broad appeal, headlined by our Annual Lecture series which featured ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra over the last two years. Other highlights have included our Life & Style parties at the Embassy – always a great event and well received – and high quality speakers such as Lord Charles Powell with his insightful, candid and off-the-cuff view of world events and trends from the point of view of a man close to the centre of those events; Lord David Puttnam who offered a brilliant take on the future of education, and Khun Chaturon Chaisaeng who presented a masterful analysis of the constitutional shortcomings. Such events are inspiring and a tribute to the Chamber’s ability to attract top drawer speakers. However, there is always room for improvement. Members sometimes ask for more informal briefing sessions and more sector specific events. Fortunately, the opening of our shiny new meeting facility on the back of the UKTI Chambers Project now enables us to put on many more free or low cost events for our members.

Finally the key structural change initiated last year, by which board members will be voted on for staggered two-year terms, will come into effect at the January 2014 AGM and hopefully will produce the desired effect of greater continuity. As we approach the end of 2013, I’m pleased to report that the Chamber is flourishing. Having recovered from our own post-2008 financial woes and strife, and achieved a more solid financial footing, BCCT is now embarking on key initiatives such as the Chamber Project and our alumni initiative.

Any achievements are almost entirely due to the Chamber’s biggest resource, its staff, led by the indefatigable Greg Watkins. The staff are small in number but huge in output and offer essential guidance to the chairman and the board on what to do and, more importantly, what not to do. I have also been very fortunate in having a strong and very supportive Board that is active in promoting and delivering the business plan for the Chamber. The last two years as chairman have been hugely enjoyable. There is still plenty to do and I hope more members can be persuaded to stand for the 2014 Board. I am sure you will find it worthwhile.

I wish all members and their families a trouble-free and joyous festive season and a prosperous and happy new year.

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Executive Director’s Message

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am reflecting upon an extraordinary year for the BCCT. The Overseas Business Networks project with the British government, in the form of UKTI (UK Trade and Investment), has occupied much time and resource. A reminder that the main objective underpinning the project here, and in 20 other countries, is for UKTI to engage with overseas British Chambers in order to increase UK’s market share of each country’s imports. Over the past ten years our market share of Thailand’s imports has continued to lag behind the US, Japan, south east Asian countries, China, Germany, France and Australia. Furthermore, new players such as India and Russia have emerged.

GREG WATKINS

BCCT is highly respected by the British government and is regarded as being in the top five of the 20 pilot markets. From January 2014 BCCT will be taking on some of the business support services for British companies that are currently being provided

by UKTI in Bangkok. In August Barry Nicholson joined the BCCT team as Project Director. Barry recently took early retirement from UKTI after having served in trade positions in Shanghai, Trinidad and UK. He understands the nature of the work we will be doing. In January, Chingli Archer will be joining the project team from UKTI Bangkok. Their knowledge and experience will be invaluable as the project moves forward. We owe our thanks to Bradley Jones (Director) and Ben Raby (Deputy Director) of UKTI in Bangkok. This project has progressed very quickly amid some uncertainty but Brad and Ben have been very supportive.

What does this project mean for BCCT members? We have taken space next to the current office on the 7th Floor at 208 Wireless Road to create a ‘British Business Centre’. This facility can seat up to 60 people theatre-style for an event such as boardroom style meetings and up to 80 people for receptions. It is fully IT-equipped with a 70” TV, Wi-Fi, video-conferencing, Skype and webinar capability. In 2014 we will be hosting many more events here in addition to the 100 or so events we currently hold in hotels. Members will have access to the ‘British Business Centre’. Already we have seen many more British companies looking at opportunities in Thailand. BCCT members in service sectors such as law, accounting, advertising, real estate, publishing and business advisory may benefit from access to these new entrants. A further output of the project will be that BCCT to develop knowledge and data capabilities that will benefit members both directly and indirectly.

The Annual General Meeting and Luncheon will take place on Thursday 30th January at The Landmark Bangkok. I would like to encourage all members who would like to play an active role in the future direction of BCCT, including the Overseas Business Networks project, to stand for election. The role of a board director can be challenging but is ultimately very rewarding not just in terms of helping BCCT members develop their businesses but also in expanding the range of a board director’s your own business contacts. Board directors’ time is managed by the BCCT office. It is acknowledged and respected that a board director position is voluntary and that corporate business must take priority. However, it is often ‘brain time’ contributing to issues via email than physical time at events where board directors can make major contributions.

In the last issue of The Link I reported on the British Embassy Priority Visa Service which gives a 2-3 day turnaround assuming all paperwork is in order. Eligibility is now extended to business visitors irrespective of previous UK visit history. Previously it was required that the applicant must have visited certain countries within five years of applying for the PV service. On 21st November the BCCT board received a briefing from the British Embassy on the PV service. Several British companies have reported not knowing about the service and that it is hard to find on various British government websites.

As 2013 closes please spare a thought for the families, friends and work colleagues of Dacre Raikes, Phil Adkins, Alistair Rider, Gilbert Lamb, Jack Bain and John Logan who all passed away this year. Finally, I extend my sincere thanks to the staff and board of BCCT for their hard work in support of members and their businesses in 2013. The New Year promises to be a very challenging year as the ‘Overseas Business Networks’ projects moves ahead. In closing, I wish members and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

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Bank chief pledges more support to Thailand’s SMEs Standard Chartered Bank Thailand was recently voted as the country’s ‘best foreign commercial bank’. In a wide-ranging interview with CEO Lyn Kok we first of all asked how the bank planned to build on this achievement.

Lyn Kok: Firstly, we need to deliver consistent and superior financial performance by continuing to do what we do best, which is helping our Wholesale Banking clients realise their cross-border ambitions and offering Consumer Banking customers with the broadest range of innovative products and services and through being at the forefront of thought leadership in Thailand’s financial industry.

We need to ensure that we have strong risk disciplines and balance sheet so that our customers can feel safe banking with us. In this regard, the Bank has also managed to maintain AAA (tha) rating for our national long-term credit rating by Fitch. It is a testament of how we create trust among stakeholders across the board, and not just our business partners.

We also want to ensure that we contribute to the sustainability of the Thai economy through our thought leadership and flagship community investment projects, including ‘Living with HIV’ and ‘Seeing is Believing’.

Most importantly, however, year 2014 marks Standard Chartered 120th anniversary in Thailand. We will be celebrating this milestone with all our stakeholders throughout the year. This will provide us with a proof point to how we stay true to our brand promise of ‘being here for

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good’ and continuing to be with our partners and communities through good and bad times.

Q: You have been placing considerable emphasis upon the importance of providing support to SMEs in Thailand. Are there additional initiatives in the pipeline for 2014?

Lyn Kok: SME is one of many customer groups we are serving. They are indeed the backbone of our economy as they provide 80.4 percent of jobs and contribute 37 percent (2012 figures) to Thailand’s GDP. In order to compete, SMEs need to invest more in technology, including banking technology, to help them manage their banking needs.

As part of our innovation pillar we will continue to invest in this area of banking services. In addition, as SMEs expand and trade overseas, Standard Chartered’s network and superior trade services will be well positioned to assist them.

With ASEAN Economic Community integration approaching in 2015, we at Standard Chartered Bank (Thai) are excited about the prospect for new economic activities and investment opportunities within ASEAN and in the wider Asia region resulting from the establishment of the AEC. Coupled with Standard Chartered Bank’s reopening of its representa-

tive office in Myanmar, making us the only major international bank with foot prints in all 10 ASEAN countries, the Bank here in Thailand will be leveraging its strategic position to cater to the needs to our Thai and Thai-based clients looking to conduct business in Myanmar.

Q: How do you plan to further leverage your sponsorship of Liverpool FC; have your recent consumer promotions paid real dividends; and how has your brand association with Liverpool aided your drive for further market penetration?

Lyn Kok: The Liverpool FC tour aids SCBT drive for heightening brand awareness, deepens relationship with existing customers and expands our customer base through products that we have developed and also fundraisers that we have done on back of our association with the English Premier League club.

The LFC Tour 2013 gave us a stage to deepen relationship with existing customers, where we created ‘moneycan’t-buy experience’ through various activities with squad members.

For instance, we arranged an exclusive gala cocktail party for our clients, a football clinic and mascot contest where only children of our customers and staff were allowed to participate, an exclusive lunch for top private

of touch points (vs. physical branches). We want to be a bank that can be reached anytime, anywhere, and in any way – matching consumer behaviour preferences today.

Another top global priority is to accelerate the next generation of leaders and we will always ensure that there are opportunities for graduates to develop and grow. They are the future generation of the bank.

Q: Finally, what is the bank’s forecast for Thailand’s economy in 2014.

Lyn Kok: On balance of trade, we expect the country’s trade account to register the surplus of about US$ 3.6bn, on the back of improving export growth after G3 and Chinese economies become more stabilised.

Thailand’s financial markets are likely to continue to face high volatility, mainly arising from uncertainty about whether the US’ public debt ceiling can be raised.

However, the Bank sees good reasons to be optimistic about Thailand’s economic outlook based on the country’s strong economic fundamentals.

The external financial position has proven resilient to repeated shocks and growth in the tourism sector is robust. As a result, we predict a faster pace of growth in 2014 which will mean GDP growth of 5.5 percent.

Standard Chartered Thailand CEO Lyn Kok

banking customers and an exclusive ‘meet and greet’ for our top wholesale and consumer banking clients.

Our association with Liverpool saw us raise nearly THB 900,000 in fundraising for SiB where it is then match funded by the Bank. During the 2013 LFC pre-season tour in Bangkok the bank played a key role in partnering Liverpool with the Bangkok School for the Blind that will leave a lasting legacy, especially for the blind kids at school. Liverpool provided a community-based soccer clinic at the blind school and the club also provided the school with 500 tickets to a closed first-team training

session at the Rajamangala Stadium.

Longer term support includes sending signed LFC merchandise to help the school raise money, giving access to the club’s website and social media channels to promote fund-raising activities and, at the end of the season, the club will send a batch of unused LFC kits to share among the people they help.

Q: What are your plans for branch expansion, new jobs and, in particular, career opportunities for graduates.

Lyn Kok: One of our top priorities globally is to innovate and digitise, hence expansion will be in the form

We maintain our view that the technical recession Thailand entered in Q2-2013 is likely to be transitory, as the positive medium-term outlook for the economy has not changed. We expect robust growth in the tourism sector to provide increased support to economic growth and the current account in the coming quarters.

Tourist arrivals reach 12.7 million in H1-2013, generating net foreign currency income worth US$ 17.8 billion (up 37.1% y-o-y). We expect tourist arrivals to rise further and generate higher foreign-currency income in Q4-2013 and Q1-2014 thanks to favourable seasonal effects. Meanwhile, the export recovery is likely to gain traction from Q4 onwards as the economies of the US, euro area and China stabilise.

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Currency conundrum

By Eric Jordan

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hen I moved to Thailand in 1996, the Thai Baht was more or less fixed to the US Dollar at THB25 = US$1 and very stable to the British Pound at THB40 = GBP1. Then came the financial crisis in 1997 and by the end of January 1998 the Baht had spiralled down to THB53.50 = USD1 and GBP88.50 = THB1. I remember buying my first car in Thailand by transferring GBP savings with the deposit paid in December 1997 and the balance paid in January 1998, which resulted in over 50 percent savings in my GBP outlay in just over six months! If I had used my THB savings there would have been no currency effect but clearly in this case it made sense to cash in some Sterling.

This was an extreme circumstance but it does illustrate the point that expatriates in particular have to be mindful of the currency of their invested assets and where they will be realised.

The Thai Baht has recovered significantly since then as the Thai economy has made significant strides forward that reflect the currency value today. However, it is still at a 25 percent lower exchange rate to both the US Dollar and British Pound than before the 1997 financial crisis. This means that had I put my Thai Baht in a drawer in May 1997 and then converted it to US dollars today not only would the value have been eroded significantly by inflation but I would still only get 75 percent of the convertible value when I had put in the drawer.

Such are the consequences of time and the effect of inflation on different currencies.

Currencies on the move People can be too easily be influenced by interest rates and do not

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pay enough attention to the possibility of currency movements. Only a few years back when USD borrowing rates were around five percent many expatriates were tempted to take out a mortgage in Japanese Yen at barely two percent even though the property was valued in pounds or USD and even though most were being paid in USD. A very attractive money-saving loan on first appearances.

Institutions will often do the same in what is known as the ‘carry trade.’ This is a way of making money by borrowing in a low interest currency and investing in a high interest currency. The key to making a profit lies in converting back to the original currency before the second currency falls. It is a dangerous game for small investors who do not have their eye on the ball 24 hours a day and who cannot act swiftly.

Unfortunately the Yen appreciated by more than 30 percent over a short period of time so that borrowers found their mortgage payments rising by that amount in the currency they earned. If they were paying $1,000 a month to repay the loan at the start, this now became $1,300 a month. So in USD terms they were now paying 32 percent interest instead of two percent. Such are the dangers of currency speculation.

When the Euro was created on 1st January 1999 it was the equivalent of US$1.17. Since then it has fluctuated between US$0.85 and US$1.58, providing opportunities to speculators for significant gains – or losses – over the course of just under 15 years. At the time of writing the Euro stands at US$1.35. Who knows where it will be this time next year or for that matter where will any of the world’s currencies be in relation to each other.

Currency holdings The answer to this question depends on many factors, including one’s own personal situation. As a general rule we should hold the bulk of our money in the currency in which we expect to spend it. There are exceptions of course. If you have a large amount of cash in the currency of a developing country you are likely to see it devalue faster than major currencies. But even then it may be unwise to speculate in the short term.

Let’s say you are running a business in Bangkok and employ a large number of local staff. Your commitments are in Baht and are known. Should you keep all your cash in US dollars, you could be caught by a rise in the Baht as we saw for quite a long period before it started to pare back earlier this year. But even with the fall, your wage bill in Baht would be the same. For the longer term however, you would be wise to keep your reserves in a stronger currency because inflation and Government policies are likely to push Baht prices and wages higher.

There is nothing wrong in having a healthy local bank account in Baht to meet all your short term needs but long term savings would be best offshore in a strong currency. I say offshore because there is always a risk when a country is in financial distress that your US Dollars could be seized and converted into local devalued currency. I would emphasise it is unlikely but it has happened elsewhere in countries such as Argentina. Countries can also impose strict exchange controls at any time.

The Bank of Thailand still administers exchange controls based on legislation that dates back to 1942, but policy has been loosened quite significantly with improvements in the economy since the 1997. Even the UK had exchange controls until the early 1970’s.

For an expatriate living in Thailand the question would be what is your ‘base’ currency? If you plan to return to the UK it would be Sterling. If you plan to return to continental Europe it would be Euro. If you do not plan

to return to your home country it could be a mix of hard currencies but the US dollar would be the favourite as globally it is still the predominant currency.

or funds. It is a useful hedge or insurance against economic or political turmoil or depreciating currencies.

If you are paid in US dollars but want to save in, say, Euro, what should be the currency of your savings plan?

If you have a regular savings plan it should be in dollars since if there is a major fluctuation in the two currencies you could find the savings burden becomes too great. But you can still save indirectly in Euro by buying Euro-denominated assets, such as stock and bond funds, with your Dollars.

As always, it depends on individual circumstances but some of the basic principles are:

You can protect your currency by investing in real assets in that currency.

An example is buying land or property in Thailand. The Baht may fall but real assets will hold their value.

Even investing in the stock market with all its volatility is more likely to protect you than holding cash. After all, companies can raise their prices and continue to make profits even if a currency is falling.

There may be situations where you are buying a property in one country and perhaps plan to send children to college/university in another. This would be justification to build up assets in the currency of those countries.

Gold standards Gold was actually one of the world’s first currencies. Even today gold coins are legal tender but their market value is invariably higher than their face value. Gold is questionable as an investment; it pays neither interest nor dividends. It does have some limited industrial applications but its main function is to act as a store of value. It is unique in that it is virtually indestructible and its supply is limited, unlike paper money, which governments can print to their hearts’ content.

For this reason alone investors should consider holding up to five percent of their portfolios in some form of gold, whether physical or within a bullion fund or even via gold mining shares

Strategy

• Maintain ample cash resources in the currency you use from day to day • If the currency is a ‘weak’ one but you need to remain in the currency move surplus cash into ‘real’ assets such as land or property and even company stocks which are more likely to hold their real value • Build up longer term cash and assets in the currency you are likely to spend, for example in retirement • Build up savings in currencies you may need for special purposes such as children’s education • Be aware of the risks of speculating in currencies, such as taking a low interest loan in a currency that could rapidly appreciate.

Conversely be wary of investing in currencies that offer high rates of interest While essential for the short term at the end of the day neither cash nor currencies are good long term investment vehicles. For your long term needs they should be invested in a diverse basket of assets.

Eric Jordan, Managing Director of Professional Portfolio International, has spent over 20 years living as an expatriate in Asia. If you have any questions on this article or related topics you can contact him at thailand@ppi-advisory.com or +662 664 0968

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Citi banking on ASEAN connections The Link spoke to Darren Buckley, Country Head and Citi Country Officer, Citibank Thailand, about issues facing the international banking sector.

Q: Are current regulations sufficiently robust to monitor and control the activities of banks operating in Thailand – and do you believe that further legislation is required?

bank in the region, recognised frequently by the Asset Triple A as the Best Bank in five of its six ASEAN markets, as well as by Finance Asia for various awards in its ASEAN markets.

Darren Buckley: The Bank of Thailand, as the main regulatory body, has done an excellent job of regulating financial institutions, encouraging transparent business practices and strengthening the Thai banking sector, which is today well capitalised, liquid, and effectively governed.

It is fully expected that intra-ASEAN trade flows, as well as trade with the rest of Asia, Europe and the US, will continue to grow with the ASEAN Economic Community.

Citi is well positioned to benefit by helping our clients take advantage of opportunities.

Both the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Thailand are working very hard to manage this economy for long term sustainable growth.

However, competition in the ASEAN Economic community will likely increase and further de-regulation of the banking industry could benefit Thailand in the long term.

Q: What are the principal areas of support that you provide to UK companies either currently operating in Thailand or seeking to establish a foothold in the Thai/ASEAN markets?

Darren Buckley: Citi connects UK and other global clients to local markets as well as local clients to global markets through its network in 160 countries and jurisdictions around the world. UK companies can benefit from the strong growth opportunities in Thailand and the

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Darren Buckley

broader ASEAN region. Citi, with a significant presence in seven of the ten ASEAN countries dating back to 1902, is well placed to provide UK companies with comprehensive banking and advisory support. With Citi’s strong consumer banking presence in 40 countries, including six ASEAN nations, Citi can also help the senior executives of UK companies with personal banking, credit and wealth management needs.

Q: Is your business likely to benefit from the ASEAN Economic Community?

Darren Buckley: Citi is one of the broadest pan-ASEAN banks in the region. With a physical presence in seven ASEAN markets and with over 100 branches and more than 26,000 employees serving over five million customers today it is already a leading

Q: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has welcomed Thailand’s significant progress in improving its AML/CFT regime and notes that Thailand has established the legal and regulatory framework to meet its commitments in its Action Plan regarding the strategic deficiencies that the FATF had identified in February 2010.

With Thailand no longer subject to FATF process under its on-going global AML/CFT compliance process are you confident that Thailand’s banking system is now devoid of illegal AML/CFT transactions?

Darren Buckley: Thailand’s government, regulators, AMLO and banks have taken significant steps to bring AML policies and practices up to current globally accepted standards and to align Thailand’s practices with those recommended by FATF.

Mr. Viriya Chongphaisai (left), General Manager, GSK Thailand, receives the certification for the 2013 Private Sector Collective Action Coalition Against Corruption Council from Mr. Panthep Klanarongran (right), Chairman of the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC).

Insurance sector looks for new government policies in Thailand

By Jerome Kelly

O

ver the past two years the European ASEAN Business Centre (EABC), of which the British Chamber is a member, has been working on a number of trade and business issues through working groups drawn from specific sectors.

I am chairman of the insurance working group which has responsibility for both insurance and financial services (non-bank products) and includes representatives from major European companies, including such British heavyweights as Prudential. In addition, the group has kept offshore financial services companies, such as Friends Provident, up to date with its progress.

The EABC produced a Position Paper earlier this year in which the insurance group identified five key areas that they believed needed to be addressed.

These covered such matters as ownership of companies registered to provide any form of insurance or insurance-related product, including increasing permitted foreign ownership levels from 25 percent to 49 percent through to getting new products approved for the market so that consumers, both Thai and expatriate, have better choices.

The other areas did not specifically relate to the financial services industry and concerned the capitalisation of companies – an issue of major worry following the floods. The Regulator has taken the view that

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reinsurance companies that wish to do business with Thai insurers need to have a minimum level of financial security before they can access the market in order to protect the consumer against non-payment of eligible claims.

In meetings with the Regulator over the past few months discussion has centred around how to get new products approved quickly and how to get better tax treatment for these products so that the insured is encouraged to save, or take out forms of protection insurance for their dependents.

In these discussions it became apparent that there are a number of products currently being sold in Thailand that are not legally admitted.

Particular concerns include highlevel life assurance products that are being sold to Thai nationals by companies who encourage them to fly to Hong Kong to purchase the product.

This was highlighted as an area of concern that the Regulator intends to address.

It was made clear that action would be taken against any broker or individual in Thailand promoting such products. In the regulators view, there are solutions legally available in Thailand from Thai insurance companies who can provide equivalent or higher level cover for nationals.

In terms of a framework for selling offshore life products in Thailand – such as those offered by international companies like Friends Provident – there is currently discussion ongo-

ing and we expect that eventually this whole area will be liberalised.

However, at the present time, the regulator has made clear that such products they may only be provided by licensed Thai companies through qualified advisors. What will not be tolerated are offshore products sold by unqualified advisors.

The Regulator believes that offshore medical products and offshore life products should have legal equivalents available for sale in Thailand; Thai brokers are not allowed to sell offshore products. In fact, the Regulator has worked with the Revenue Department to ensure that there are tax advantages in place for locally available products.

The working committee expects that with the FTA agreement on the horizon there will be an increased focus on insurance and financial services as they are one of the British economy’s major strengths and we saw in our meeting with John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), that there is a desire for a Thai market that is more readily accessible to foreign participation.

We therefore hope that the strength of the UK’s financial sector, in the form of quality advice, will be recognised and made available here. With this in mind, one of the EABC members is currently in discussions with the CII and the OIC to secure recognition of British insurance qualifications in Thailand.

British companies operating in Thailand should ensure that they are receiving proper insurance advice from licensed brokers in Thailand and that any meeting they have regarding insurance products should include someone who has a Thai insurance licence. Failure to do so could have the unfortunate result of any products purchased being unenforceable in Thai courts of law.

ation of the tax regime surrounding insurance products as well as improvements to efficiency of the product approval process so that insurers are able to offer up-to-date and comprehensive cover to customers in Thailand.

Taxation of insurance and financial products is complex and we have Aaron Le Marquer from Tilleke & Gibbins working with our group to look into all aspects of product approval.

The insurance working group, like all the EABC working groups, has been well supported by the British Chamber although we would still encourage more Chamber members to get actively involved. We have now established a clear basis for dealing with insurance issues and now we are looking at developing routes for offshore products to be regulated in a more relaxed manner.

We know that the Regulator has invited representatives from the Revenue Department to sit in when discussing insurance so we are hopeful that, over time, we will see a relax-

Finally, with the FTA and the AEC looming, the coming year will be very important for all of us and we welcome constructive suggestions that can help our discussions.

Jerome Kelly is Managing Director of LawtonAsia Insurance Broker.

Tel: +66 2654 1150 Fax: +66 2654 1151 Mob: +66 89 779 6592 Email: jerome@lawtonasia.co.th Web: www.lawtonasia.com Additional material provided by Aaron Le Marquer, a consultant at Tilleke & Gibbins, and by John Davidson, consultant to LawtonAsia and vice-chairman of the EABC Insurance Working Group.

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High medical charges in Thailand threaten insurance premiums

By Andrew Crawford

A

n effective employee benefits programme can be a vital factor in attracting and keeping good employees. It is in the interests of both employer and employee to have a good medical scheme in place. It provides employees with the appropriate treatment that they may need so that they have the best chance of recovering from illness or accident and be fully operational in the shortest time.

However, it can be a costly undertaking for an employer if the plan is designed and implemented without proper planning. We will come back to this element later. Almost all group medical insurance plans sold in Thailand focus upon the most important part of any health insurance plan: basic hospital in-patient (IPD) coverage.

The plans generally follow a very similar pattern and there are five important areas which need to be considered in judging the overall cover offered by a plan: daily room and board; hospital general expenses; surgery; in-patient doctor visits.

difficult to work out the overall level of coverage. Most hospital costs are fairly transparent from the outset.

However, it is the general expenses that are often the most costly part of a hospital stay and these can very quickly exhaust the limits of coverage. It is an umbrella for all sorts of expenses, such as diagnostic tests, consultant’s fees, medication, bandages and dressings, emergency outpatient care and ambulance. It even includes follow-up outpatient care.

In addition to the in-patient hospital benefits, all the insurers offer out-patient coverage as an optional add-on. The plans are based on an amount per visit to cover a consultation with the doctor together with any charges for medicines.

Other options which can be offered to employees by companies include dental, maternity and an annual checkup, but these are less widely available for smaller groups.

It is generally the out-patient benefit that tends to be the main cost of any employee benefits plan which can quickly get out of control if not properly managed.

treatment such as regular visits to the doctor for minor ailments such as headaches, sore throats, common cold and diarrhea, all of which can be treated effectively with over the counter medicines from the pharmacy.

This problem can normally be treated quite easily by educating the employees in how to protect their medical scheme. The design of the plan can contain built-in limits and controls.

From a hospital’s point of view this problem is more difficult in that the hospitals are powerful and many use methods designed, it seems, to earn the maximum amount of money from their patients. We often see cases of overcharging, inappropriate or unnecessary treatment, outpatient cases which become in-patient cases without any justification, hospital stays which are longer than required, over-prescription of medicines and expensive hospital pharmacy costs.

The daily room and board rate also covers food and nursing charges.

An estimate of the surgical fees in the case of a planned operation is generally known in advance and the in-patient doctor’s visits cover daily attendance by a physician.

Many plans that we see appear to be designed to give employees something they can use, often with little control, as opposed to something that will offer genuine protection in the event of serious accident or illness.

These problems, which mainly concern hospitalisation cases and which are the most costly, can mainly be handled by insisting on pre-authorisation for any planned hospitalisation. In this way, an employee set to be hospitalised will be required to inform the health insurer in advance.

Because policy limits can be used up at different rates it is sometimes

Some employees may misuse the system by over consumption of

The insurer’s medical officer will contact the hospital to obtain an es-

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timate of costs in the same way as motor insurers send their engineers to the garage prior to repairs to a damaged car.

It is a known fact that it is easier to negotiate with the hospital prior to the operation – with the possibility of sending the employee to an alternative hospital for treatment – than it is once the operation has been completed and the hospital has been paid.

The advantage for the employee is that the insurer will settle the bill directly with the hospital. Managing and controlling costs benefits directly both the employer and employee.

This will guarantee the longevity of the scheme by keeping premiums and benefits at reasonable levels over the long term.

We recently studied the annual statistics of a medical insurer in Thailand. The statistics indicated that the highest incidence of hospitalisa-

tion, by a considerable margin, were for treatment of sore throats and diarrhoea. Normally a hospital should not (unless there is a very special reason) hospitalise anyone for something as minor and commonplace as this.

These incidents could have been avoided by implementing a preauthorisation process for hospital treatment but, sadly, there is little evidence of this taking place. These unnecessary charges will be reflected in increased premiums which, if left unchecked, can become a serious issue for some companies.

Prior to bankruptcy in 2009 General Motors’ health and welfare costs per car for current and retired employees exceeded US$1,500.

Warren Buffett at one point called GM ‘a health and benefits company with an auto company attached’ because it was spending more money on healthcare than it paid for steel.

This is an extreme example but, without careful thought and control, it shows how healthcare costs can become a serious financial problem.

There are actions which can be taken to mitigate these pressures but, unfortunately, there is very little evidence of insurance companies or brokers for that matter taking the initiative to educate employees and help companies with a view to helping them to manage and contain costs. One begins to wonder if insurers, and perhaps some brokers, are happy to see premiums increase year on year.

Andrew Crawford is Employee Benefits Director at Trafalgar International Limited Tel: + (66) 2645 1170 ext. 200 Fax: (66) 2645 1180 Mob: + (66) 81 493 7171 Email: acrawford@trafalgar-intl. com

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Risk management key to securing investment returns

By Paul Gambles

P

rofessor Steve Keen is often quoted as saying that the only people who believe that they can see the future are fortune tellers, economists and God and that while he’s sceptical about fortune tellers he knows for a fact that economists are deluding themselves - often with appalling consequences.

In many ways this view also informs the approach to risk management.

Managing clients’ hard-earned assets shouldn’t be based on an individual assumption of what the future might hold because, unless God decides to set up an asset management company, no single view is able to predict the future with certainty.

Investment management starts with risk management. How much volatility is an investor willing to stomach?

To how great a loss, from the top of a market to the very bottom, are clients prepared to expose themselves? Once we know that we can start the process of building bespoke portfolios tailored to each client to reflect the optimum blend of assets – the ones that in the very worst imaginable scenarios will perform within that client’s own tolerances but which in the reasonably expected outcomes will deliver the highest returns that the risk constraints allow.

There are no good stocks or bad stocks, or good asset classes or bad asset classes, but merely an optimal blend of assets for each client that won’t exceed an investor’s worry threshold. The returns that are generated are an out-

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Steve Keen (left) pictured with Richard Duncan (centre) and Paul Gambles

put that reflects that blend within the capital market conditions that then prevail – they can’t be controlled but risk can and should. This approach has driven our success over the years, helping our clients to achieve positive returns in difficult years like 2008 and outperform over the cycle.

When asked at the ‘What The Future Holds’ seminar in Bangkok about how to invest in the current economic climate, Steve Keen advised that academics don’t have huge pots of money to manage; best-selling author Richard Duncan favoured agricultural land (such as in his native Kentucky) along with US residential property.

I recommended a highly diversified portfolio, constructed around individual risk appetite and at most risk levels holding a significant proportion of cash, managed to squeeze ev-

ery ounce of yield out of it, poised and ready for what could be the greatest opportunities of a lifetime, along with cautious allocations to non-US listed global stocks and to judicious property exposure.

Although valuations are high, he favoured south east Asia over developed markets but cautioned that a much stronger US Dollar is almost inevitable at some stage, although it’s hard to be certain as to when, thus making patience one of the key components to any portfolio.

The event focused significantly upon the US economy and US capital markets, simply because America is home to the world’s largest economy, main capital markets and greatest financial experiment in history – namely the stimulus policies aggressively pursued by the Federal Reserve and

risk profile. It’s not about investing into a particular asset in anticipation of a single outcome. It’s about constructing risk-adjusted portfolios using asset matrices that can withstand the most unfavourable outcomes.

Duncan’s central premise was that, since 1945, the world has been dominated by ‘creditism’. “We see all economic and capital market activity ultimately driven by credit. This is a manipulation. It’s not capitalism,” he said. His scenario mainly anticipated a binary outcome.

Economists take certre stage at the conference hosted by MBMG.

Treasury Department which have driven US consumer debts to levels much higher than those experienced in the 1930s.

However, portfolio allocation and economic analysis require a global focus as what the future holds may well be different for each asset class and in different regions despite the close linkages between them. In fact such linkages are often responsible for the inverse relationship between assets that is so important to the diversification and risk management processes.

i) QE (printing money) will work; creating exit velocity growth and real inflation that will outstrip and devalue debt (this has never worked before). ii) The global economy will ‘turn Japanese’ and we’ll suffer lost decades while the debt slowly and painfully endures – except that this isn’t an outcome, just a long transition to an outcome. iii) Some kind of re-set or event – a default (actual or effective) or the kind of event that ended the Great Depression, i.e. WWII.

There was a common thread of concern from the speakers about levels of global debt and the high risks that such debt holds for the future.

Gambles foresaw a range of possible outcomes, mainly comprising the following:

Each outcome will create huge risks and opportunities. It’s impossible to know which outcome will prevail or the timing but awareness of these possibilities allows each investor to position for the full range of outcomes, according to their individual

Either the economy continues to grow with QE being invested in a way that is more efficient – new technologies, green energy etc – investing a further US$ five trillion into productive sectors will generate adequate sustainable growth to fix the debt problem over time or a Japan-style lost decade or several lost decades will follow.

Steve Keen focused upon extreme levels of private debt seeing the economy right now as another accident waiting to happen – probably in the next 2-5 years. It could be just another recession in a long-term cycle of going nowhere for the next couple of decades, Japanese-style, but Keen also worries that social pressures, especially in Europe, could lead to the kind of austerity conditions that brought Hitler to power in the 1930s and led to WWII. The range of outcomes and the risks inherent in each one only serve to reinforce our convictions about highly personalised risk management with diversification, a coherent outlook and patient pragmatism to the fore.

Paul Gambles may be reached at: info@mbmg-international.com or phone (66) 2 665 2534 Meeting the press.

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21

More volatility predicted for financial markets Three experts at Standard Chartered Bank pool their knowledge and expertise to look at likely trends in Thailand’s financial markets.

T

quarters. As a result, the BOT noted in September that it may regulate gold trading to curb speculation.

hailand’s financial markets are likely to continue to face high volatility, mainly arising from uncertainty about whether the USA public debt ceiling can be raised.

However, we see good reasons to be optimistic about the Thailand’s economic outlook.

Our view is based on the country’s strong economic fundamentals – the external financial position has proven resilient to repeated shocks and growth in the tourism sector is robust. As a result, we expect the economic recovery to regain traction in Q4 2013 and to see a faster pace of growth in 2014.

Recent significant foreign portfolio adjustments have put heavy pressure on the external accounts of emergingmarket countries. Concurrently, deteriorating current accounts have led to talk of the risk of another Asian crisis. However, we believe Thailand has enough capacity to cope with repeated shocks. The country is a net lender.

Thomas Harr

Usara Wilaipich

Its net foreign reserves totalled US$ 191.6 billion as of 20 September 2013, including US$ 169.1 billion of foreign reserves plus long-US$ forward contracts worth US$ 22.5 bn. This compares with outstanding foreign debt of US$ 141.1 billion in July 2013.

These numbers clearly indicate that Thailand has sufficient foreign reserves to cover even its total foreign debt. Of total foreign debt, shortterm debt (with maturities of less than one year) stood at just US$ 65.3 billion as of July 2013. Thailand recorded a current account surplus of US$ 1.3 billion in August but, for 8M-2013, the current account registered a deficit of US$ 5.5 bn. We maintain our forecast that the deficit will reach about 0.4 percent of GDP 22

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Danny Suwanapruti

in 2013; this would be the first annual deficit since 2005. While the current account has weakened, we believe it remains manageable. Speculative demand for gold imports is a key driver of the deficit, according to the Bank of Thailand (BOT). Excluding gold imports, the current account deficit would have been smaller or even turned to a surplus in recent

We maintain our view that the technical recession Thailand entered in Q2 2013 is likely to be transitory as the positive medium-term outlook for the economy has not changed. We expect robust growth in the tourism sector to provide increased support to economic growth and the current account in the coming quarters.

Tourist arrivals reached 12.7 million in the first half of this year, generating net foreign currency income worth US$ 17.8 billion. We expect tourist arrivals to rise further and generate higher foreign currency income in Q4 2013 and Q1 2014 thanks to favourable seasonal effects. Meanwhile, the export recovery is likely to gain traction from Q4 onwards as the economies of the US, Eurozone and China stabilise.

Despite persistent downside risks to private consumption and investment, we maintain our 2013 GDP growth forecast of four percent. In 2014 we look for stronger growth of 5.5 percent, assuming that the government’s public investment plans are implemented from Q1 2014 onwards. We expect the BOT to keep the policy rate on hold at 2.5 percent until at least the end of June 2014.

This article was compiled jointly by: Usara Wilaipich, Senior Economist, Standard Chartered Bank (Thai); Danny Suwanapruti, Senior Rates Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank; Thomas Harr, Head of Local Markets Strategy, Standard Chartered Bank

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Still making his Mark in Thailand This interview first appeared in the November issue of The BigChilli. Our thanks to the magazine for permission to reprint it in The Link

By Colin Hastings

M

ark Kent’s first day at the British Embassy in Bangkok, on August 15, 2012, coincided with an interesting moment in history. Exactly 400 years ago to the day the British ship The Globe sailed up the Chao Phraya River, docked in Bangkok and officially established relations between Siam and England. A more auspicious start to a new posting, especially in superstitious Thailand, is hard to imagine.

Four centuries later much has changed, of course, including the relocation in 1926 of the original British embassy on the banks of the Chao Phraya River to its present site on Wireless Road.

Today, the once-sprawling compound famed for its giant rain trees, lush lawns and statue of HM Queen Victoria is literally overshadowed by a giant hotel and shopping complex being built on land sold off several years ago by Britain’s Foreign Office under the Labour government, much to the widespread disapproval of the local British community.

Recent years have also seen the embassy outsourcing a number of its traditional services, most notably the issuing of UK passports and the visa application process, although all decisions to grant or refuse visas are still taken by qualified embassy staff.

At the same time, certain commercial activities have been handed to the government’s UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), which in turn has linked up with the British Chamber

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of Commerce of Thailand (BCCT) to promote business between the two countries.

The UK’s physical presence here may have diminished but, with an increase in regional services and responsibilities, the workforce is bigger than ever with about 120 local employees and 50 UK officials. Meanwhile, relations between the two countries remain extremely cordial with lots of shared interests and benefits accruing more equally to both parties nowadays.

The importance of this relationship is reflected in the visit last year of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to the UK where she met HM Queen Elizabeth 11 and Prime Minister David Cameron. In the same month, British Foreign Secretary William Hague visited Thailand. Recently, the deputy foreign ministers of both countries held the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Dialogue covering a wide range of issues including trade, defence, visas and crime.

Compared to his two immediate predecessors who witnessed political turbulence and courted controversy, Ambassador Kent so far has a fairly smooth run as Britain’s ‘man’ in Thailand.

Every bit the archetypal Englishman – wiry in build, conservative in dress and generally understated – he is in fact a highly educated, well-travelled, multi-lingual diplomat who spent more than a year studying at three Thai universities to learn the local language and to understand the complexities of Thai culture and politics.

He’s also remarkably affable and is increasingly winning over the local British community with his backto-basics approach to embassy operations. He jogs in Lumpini Park, supports Arsenal and has even been known to turn out for the embassy football team.

The major focus of his four-year term here is on trade and investment, promoting them in both directions. Bilateral trade between the two countries was worth around 250 billion baht last year. The UK is one of the largest EU exporters to Thailand and many UK companies have a strong presence in the kingdom, including Tesco, Boots, RollsRoyce and PCS. Linking the UKTI to the BCCT is expected to enhance British interests here. “Thailand is one of 20 countries pinpointed by the UK government outside the established markets where the UKTI works with the local chamber of commerce. It’s an arrangement that provides British companies with a mix of benefits by working with the embassy, the UKTI and the chamber.

“Most British businesses are familiar with what is required to sell into, for example, Belgium. In other countries outside the EU they need more assistance and that’s why we have a bigger staff than before,” explains Mr Kent.

“Unquestionably, one of the biggest dilemmas facing British companies operating in Thailand is their compliance with the UK Bribery Act which

port any British nationals involved in bribery or corruption.”

Crime committed in and from Thailand is handled by a full time officer.

These range from the activities of boiler rooms and internet scams to pornography and child sex offenders.

The ambassador admits that prosecution is often difficult because the crimes are not committed on UK soil and are therefore under the jurisdiction of Thai authorities.

In addition to contract workers in various departments with regional remits the embassy has officers covering bilateral and multilateral cooperation, consular affairs, economics, crime and staff from the Home Office covering visas. The position of defence attaché has been switched from Kuala Lumpur back to Bangkok.

The issuing of visas remains a core responsibility of the embassy. As part of its growing role as a regional hub it also covers this particular function for Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia as well as Thailand.

The embassy’s visa section almost certainly comes in for more criticism than any other department, usually and unsurprisingly from people whose applications have been rejected. A number of reasons are given for rejection; common ones include a person’s inability to persuade the immigration officer that he or she would return to Thailand after visiting the UK or their inability to show they can support themselves whilst in the UK.

Mark Kent

states unequivocally that bribery of any kind is regarded as a crime under British law. How can they operate effectively when corruption and bribery are now widely acknowledged as a growing component of everyday business life here?

The ambassador’s advice is simple,

though arguably unrealistic. “Walk away from corruption, and say you can’t be bothered with it.”

He’s serious on this issue and cautions that even bribing traffic police is an offence under the Bribery Act. To back his words, Mr Kent adds solemnly, “I am under obligation to re-

Mr Kent admits he has no statistics on the number of Thais who have actually failed to return, though offers to obtain it at a later date. He defends his embassy’s overall performance, citing that ’95 percent of Thais who apply have their visa granted’.

It’s all about striking a balance between ensuring we have the right checks while making it as easy as possible to apply for a visa. We judge each case on its merits.”

He adds, “Thais, along with Chinese tourists, are the biggest-spending

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25

visitors in the UK so we want to do all we can to encourage them to visit the UK.” He also is keen to dispel rumours that the visa fees are somehow split with VFS, the Dubai-based company owned by travel giant Kuoni of Switzerland which manages the visa application centres here in Thailand and elsewhere across Asia.

“The visa fees go to the UK government. VFS revenue comes from two sources – from their contract with UK Visas and Immigration for the administrative services they provide in handling visa applications and from the added-value services they offer in their centres,” he insists.

“The government wants to ensure a proper visa system is in place. We’re always looking at the visa service from a customer standpoint and, if people have something to say, we’re keen to know and to look at the problem so that we can refine our service. Last year we launched a priority service, which has been a great success, and this week we will expand this service to more customers including anyone travelling for business, investment or work purposes.”

Turning to the subject of rules, regulations and fee structures for a host of other embassy services, he says, “We’re a bit like the Post Office in that we don’t have discretion on many issues, which are global rules or prices. The decision-making process is entirely with the British government.”

He also distances the embassy from responsibility for the rigorous questioning and health checks required of students applying for visas to study in the UK. “It’s all about global standards set by the government,” he says.

“And whilst we don’t set the rules they are about helping to control abuse of the UK’s immigration system and making sure those going to the UK won’t pose a health risk.

“The questioning of students during the application process is a very simple, short process of just a few questions and the TB test require26

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Britain’s Ambassador Mark Kent pictured with Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra.

ment is in line with World Health Organisation recommendations and consistent with what other countries ask of anyone going to work, study or live in their country for a long period.”

Asked why students are given a choice of only two hospitals in Thailand to test for TB, the ambassador explains that visa applicants can only use health clinics that are accredited

by UK Visas and Immigration and that the International Organisation for Migration manages the TB testing process on the embassy’s behalf in Thailand.

With nearly 900,000 British nationals visiting Thailand every year, tourism is another major consideration. This is especially valid as this country now ranks second in the world (after the Philippines) in terms of the number of British nationals needing consular assistance in proportion to the number of visitors and residents.

The ambassador has been at the forefront of recent attempts to make travel here safer with his appearance on a nationwide TV campaign to tackle tourist scams such as jet-ski rip-offs.

He’s also visited popular resorts like Phuket to raise awareness of British holidaymakers about safety on the

roads and sea, and to stress the need for proper travel insurance.

It’s a delicate balancing act, he says, between creating awareness and overplaying the dangers to British nationals. “This embassy and other EU embassies offer regular travel advice updates on their websites.”

Some would argue that Britons living in Thailand either as local employees or retirees need assistance with regard to such domestic matters as visa regulations and even land ownership.

If the embassy is prepared to lobby on behalf of major UK companies, as it did in the case of the Scotch Whisky Association over counterfeiting, why doesn’t it also look after the little guys?

“Actually we do,” says the ambassador.

“Apart from promoting fair and ethical business practices we lobby on local issues such as bureaucracy, including the 90-day reporting rules and documentation, to see if it can be streamlined. If there are other issues related to British citizens we can also assist.

“Thailand has its own laws regarding property ownership, I haven’t lobbied personally on this particular issue but we have made clear that we want to open up investment possibilities in Thailand and that includes property ownership.”

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Issue 6/2013

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27

Defence sales do fall within UKTI’s remit at the Embassy

By Bradley Jones

D

efence and security has been a major focus of the Embassy’s activity over the last few weeks.

In early November the Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Nick Houghton visited Bangkok, accompanied by the largest delegation of British defence and security companies we have ever brought to the Defence and Security show at Impact Arena.

Next year (2014) promises to be quite a milestone for the British business community in Thailand. Our project to outsource some UKTI business support services to the BCCT will go live early in the new year. This will be a game changer for how we provide support to British companies in Thailand and a strong project team is being put together at the BCCT to take this work forward.

In addition to meetings with PM Yingluck, the Chief of the Armed Forces and other senior visits, he was able to confirm two major announcements that will make a substantial impact in terms of enhancing our bilateral defence relationship.

In addition, the EU-Thailand Free Trade Agreement negotiations will intensify and the third round of talks in December will hopefully be the starting point for specific trade-offs on tariff and non-tariff barriers. We will also hopefully see progress on some of the long promised major infrastructure projects.

We will continue to offer our support to UK companies seeking opportunities from these projects.

Firstly HMS Daring, the lead Type 45 destroyer of The Royal Navy, will be visiting Thailand in January and will be the focal point of a whole range of UKThailand events while it is berthed here.

This impressive vessel was launched in 2006 on the Clyde and was formally commissioned by the Royal Navy in July 2009. Its first mission was to the Persian Gulf in 2012 during which it also joined anti-piracy operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

HMS Daring is already en route to Thailand, having just undertaken its mission to support aid efforts in The Philippines. Over the last few months it has also joined the Royal Australian Navy’s International Fleet Review 2013 in Sydney and passed through Adelaide, Fremantle, Perth and Singapore.

The Chief of Defence Staff announced that our new Resident Defence Attaché, Colonel Chris Luckham, will take up his posting in Bangkok on 2 December. This appointment will enable

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HMS Daring, a Type 45 destroyer, is set to visit Thailand in 2014.

us to scale up our defence and security engagement with the Thais on a wide range of fronts, including commercially, and the announcement has been very well received by the Thai Government.

Interest from UK companies in other sectors in Thailand still seems strong, judging from the various events the Embassy and BCCT have spoken at in the UK over the last two months. There seems to be a steadily growing awareness of ASEAN in the UK and many of the companies I met while I was there (most of which were SMEs) were curious to know what Thailand’s USP was relative to, say, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

This is quite easy to articulate now Thailand’s skills base, its connectivity to the rest of the region, the ease of doing business here, all make it an attractive investment destination. But its regional competitors are rapidly catching up, and Thailand will need to ensure it strengthens corporate governance and competitiveness if it is to maintain its leading position in the future.

I hope that all BCCT members get a chance to relax and recharge their batteries over the Christmas and New Year break and I look forward to catching up with you all again in 2014.

Bradley Jones is Director – UK Trade & Investment in Thailand, based at the British Embassy, 14 Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330. Tel: 02 305 8256 Fax: 02 255 8619 Email: bradley.jones@fco.gov.uk www.ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk

EABC seeks closer ties with Ministry for Industry R epresentatives from the European ASEAN Business Centre in Thailand paid a courtesy call on Thailand’s Minister for Industry Prasert Boonchaisuk to discuss wide-ranging issues relating to trade and investment.

A statement issued by the EABC noted that ‘upholding a high-level channel of communication between the EABC representing European businesses and Ministry of Industry provided an opportunity for policy discussion on key issues of standards/homologation/conformity assessment under TISI and the BOI’s new investment promotion strategy’.

Referring to the Board Of Investment’s new strategy, EABC highlighted its key priorities/expectation towards the BOI and enquired about the direction and concrete timeframe for the new strategy to take effect.

The discussion concluded with a positive note to foster closer cooperation

EABC staff and members visit Thailand’s Ministry of Industry.

between the Ministry of Industry and EABC. In particular, EABC and respective departments of the Ministry will work together on the organisation

of the expert workshop on testing of CO2 emission and excise tax and will seek to engage more effectively at the operational level as the BOI finalises its new investment promotion strategy.

Bike riders raise awareness of HIV/AIDS

C

yclists have been raising funds for the Thailand Business Coalition on Aids (TBCA. The ‘Bike to Help’ cycle event on 1st December was part of an ongoing campaign to provide education and living support to children affected

by AIDS. Cyclists followed a route covering some 12 miles that started and finished at Bangkok City Hall square.

Sukhavichai Dhanasunthorn, Managing Director of TBCA, told a media briefing that the HIV/Aids infection rate is rising in Thailand with over 9,000 new cases being reported each year. Since HIV/AIDS was first reported in Thailand in 1984, more than one million Thais have been infected with HIV. He added that an estimated 250,000 Thais are unaware that they are HIV positive.

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Issue 6/2013

29

briitsh council

Thai organisations to reap value of management B ritish Council, Tesco Lotus and Thammasat University signed collaborative documents with the world’s largest professional body of management accountants, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), to promote management accounting to the business and student communities in Thailand and to enhance international higher education opportunities in Thailand.

By clarifying the roles and responsibilities of each party, the collaborative documents will enable them to serve the best interests of the sector and to better enable Ministries, institutions and organisations working in higher education in Thailand to engage with CIMA. Other plans for the near future include talks, roundtable discussions and activities that will create better outreach for CIMA in Thailand.

To further demonstrate CIMA’s commitment to creating opportunities in the education sector, CIMA scholarships will be offered to students and lecturers at Thammasat University while the British Council will support CIMA in promoting the activities to the publicity. CIMA will also provide study support and exam technique workshops to staff of Tesco Lotus who wish to study the CIMA Professional Qualification.

Peredur Evans, Programmes Director, British Council Thailand said: “The British Council is delighted to be working in close collaboration with our prestigious partners, CIMA, Tesco Lotus and Thammasat University. We are committed to supporting education development

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British Ambassador Mark Kent (centre) attended the CIMA signing ceremony.

and reform, and to encouraging closer links between the education sector and business in Thailand.

even more management accounting expertise to help run their businesses successfully and sustainably.

“This is a new and exciting initiative which offers ample opportunities for professional development and career advancement. Through this collaboration between CIMA, Tesco Lotus, Thammasat University and the British Council, I am confident that Thailand will benefit greatly in its preparations for increased workforce mobility not only at the ASEAN level, but also on the global stage.”

“Like never before the all-round values that Chartered Management Accountants offer are being recognised – in facilitating good decision making, in managing change, understanding risk and promoting operational efficiency.”

Irene Teng, Regional Director of South East Asia and Australasia at CIMA, said, “We look forward to a close working relationship between CIMA and its partners in Thailand, and to supporting the economic growth of Thailand by providing professionally skilled talents. Today businesses worldwide are seeking

She added, “Those who attain the CIMA professional qualification will also benefit from the new global professional designation, Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), created by the joint venture between CIMA and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). The designation provides a truly global profile for management accountants and further enhances our members’ reputation as experts in identifying and maintaining business value.”

invites you to our

Under the Sea Picnic Saturday 1st February 2014

The fun starts at 9.30am and ďŹ nishes at 12.30pm Join us for a morning of delicious snacks, scavenger hunt, games and prizes and art & craft activities! Just Bt 200 per family and ideal for children aged 2-6. All are welcome!

Free Shuttle Bus to and from the MRT at the Thailand Cultural Centre, Exit 2.

Reserve your tickets today! Visit our KIS Facebook page for reservations and event schedule: http://www.facebook.com/kisinternationalschool Email: kim@kis.ac.th

Address: 999/124 Kesinee Ville, Pracha Utit Road, Huay Kwang, Bangkok 10320 For directions go to: www.kis.ac.th The Link

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31

Members share feedback in latest consultation Feedback from Chamber members on BCCT activities and services indicates a much higher level of satisfaction, according to Chamber Vice-Chairman Chris Thatcher. This is a summary of his report from the recent open meeting with members.

By Chris Thatcher

T

he BCCT held an open meeting to allow those interested to share their views on how the BCCT is performing. In 2012 we held a similar event and that was widely reported in the Brief (as it then was) and on the website.

The results this year are shown in some detail below but the main impression, compared to 2012, is that there is a much higher level of satisfaction with how the Chamber is doing.

We asked people to discuss a series of questions in small groups led by a Board Director and to give their open and honest (no holds barred) responses. Initially, we were interested in why companies and individuals joined the Chamber.

Reasons given were: to get support from Networking events; exposure to other businesses; to support the British business community (because we see ourselves as British); because the BCCT provides the best mix of different types of events; BCCT is seen as one of the best Chambers. The responses were invariably positive.

We then explored BCCT events and what people thought about them.

There were clearly some differences of opinion in the responses and some specific requests from one or two participants – but not the majority (return the quiz at the Christmas lunch, timing of meetings).

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BCCT Chamber Simon Landy (left) is keen to hear feedback from Chamber members.

It was felt that events such as the Ambassador’s briefings were of variable value; that events should be cheaper (although a comment was made that they were good value for money, and another that the price should be reduced for members but increased for non-members); that there should be a greater effort to introduce and assist new attendees at Networking events; that there should be ways to find out who is planning on attending a meeting to better decide whether it was worth attending (NB: this is already possible).

Events specifically mentioned as ‘likes’ were the Christmas lunch, Ambassador’s briefings, garden party and speed networking. There was also general support for more joint Chamber events.

Events that would be helpful were a meeting about Education in the UK, more about Myanmar, finance, and a Christmas Party or pantomime for members’ children.

Some pointed out that there are gaps in what the BCCT events cover, such as hospitality and tourism,

and that it might be possible to explore having some sort of ‘buddy’ system to match people with similar interests. A comment was made that BCCT should do more to mix people at networking events as they tend to gather in small groups.

The possibility of hosting more events with the Embassy but involving other departments was also mentioned.

The Chamber needs to arrange to disseminate more widely the services that they can offer to members.

When asked about what more the Chamber could be doing in a business sense a general view was there was little point in lobbying the government as it makes no difference.

The Chamber should not be political.

BCCT should be identifying trends and advising members accordingly, giving more exposure to UK products, trying to open up opportunities for non-Thai companies to work on Government projects and doing more for SMEs – perhaps by encouraging bigger companies to mentor smaller ones.

When explored further it was suggested that BCCT could provide some service to help small compa-

nies through the processes of visas, work permits, social security etc.

Ways to encourage UK graduates to work in Thailand was another suggestion. It was also noted that the Chamber could find ways to recognise the differences in size of companies in membership by some sort of differentiated fee structure.

There were many comments about the new-look Link magazine (formerly The Brief ) and the new logo for BCCT. Most comments were positive (with some disagreeing).

Many thought the Link itself would not be missed in its current published form and that BCCT should look at ways to make it a more electronic on-line publication. Most liked the new logo but some didn’t.

Comments about the website ranged from ‘it is useful’ and ‘you can find what you need’, to the ‘reports etc. are too hidden’. It was felt that a members meeting to teach people more about the website would be of benefit.

The new BCCT UKTI project was felt to be good both for introducing new businesses to Thailand and possibly for developing new opportunities for existing BCCT mem-

bers and that BCCT should keep members up to date with things as they move forward.

In an opportunity to raise anything that might have been missed comments included ‘we should get feedback from events that are poorly attended’; that ‘BCCT should do more about informing members on how to get into the regions’; that ‘BCCT should attempt to get more Thais involved’ and, finally, that ‘Board members should attend more meetings’.

The one area that was not covered was how BCCT should develop its use of social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

As always, these are not seen as either comprehensive or representative of all members and should you have anything to contribute, please contact me directly and your comments will be added to the process of consideration that the Board will be undertaking. The BCCT is always open to new ideas and, as a membership organisation, belongs to YOU. Finally my thanks to Greg, Jyoti and the Chamber staff for all of their work in making this meeting possible and of course to my fellow Directors Andrew McBean, David Cumming and Simon Matthews for doing the hard work of listening to and recording the many comments and suggestions.

Chris Thatcher is a Vice Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand.

Please email your ideas and comments to Chris at: christhatcher1@gmail.com Chris Thatcher (left) and BCCT Executive Director Greg Watkins.

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UNESCAP calls for shared prosperity T

he Asia Pacific region needs to move beyond the orthodox model of export-led growth and towards inclusive trade and investment that benefits all, according to a UN report published in late November.

amongst the poorest to turn the tide towards inclusive trade and investment. Focusing primarily on the role of trade and investment in increasing overall growth, and considering distributional issues as secondary, has not produced inclusive societies.”

According to the Asia Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2013 ‘Turning the Tide: Towards inclusive trade and investment’, published by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the region continues to outperform the rest of the world in the pace of overall growth with tradeled expansion continuing to feed the region’s economic dynamism. Yet strong growth driven by trade and investment has been accompanied by rising inequalities.

Amongst the report’s findings, regional demand was shown not to be exempt to enduring weakness in major external economies. The report estimates that merchandise exports and imports of the region’s developing economies will see growth below six percent in real terms in 2013. A modest improvement to seven percent is expected in 2014.

“The overarching message of this year’s report is that securing continuing growth of trade and investments remains among the top economic priorities for the region, but this comes with the realisation that the quality and patterns of growth must also be enhanced,” said Dr. Noeleen

Dr Noeleen Heyzer

Heyzer, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and ESCAP Executive Secretary. “We need trade and investment to generate inclusive growth and shared prosperity, building the productive capacities of our countries.”

Dr. Ravi Ratnayake, Director of ESCAP’s Trade and Investment Division, noted, “It is prime time to charge trade and investment led growth with delivering benefits for all and reducing vulnerability

ESCAP identifies reforms to preferential trade policies that are needed in order to promote the development of countries with special needs. The report states that governments continue to use preferential trade agreements (PTAs) to secure access to foreign markets and defend domestic markets. While these schemes provide preferential market access, more effort is needed to improve the supply capacity of beneficiary countries.

Thailand steps up T

hailand has gained one place in the latest World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report, with a ranking of 37 out of 148 assessed economies. A recent Board of Investment report states that ‘ Thailand ranks high on the macroeconomic environment pillar owing to a very favourable fiscal

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situation, its high savings rate, an inflation rate under control at around three percent and – in international comparison – a relatively good debtto-GDP ratio of about 44 percent (in 2012). The country continues to improve in the financial development and market efficiency pillars’.

BOI adds that ‘the decision taken

by Thailand’s government to transition the economy towards becoming knowledge-based, whereby economic growth is gained through innovation and creativity, seems very timely as the Report underscores that innovation and strong institutional environments are increasingly influencing economies’ competitiveness’.

We “sweat” the fine print . . so you don’t have to

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35

Plan now for retirement

By Chris Wicks

R

etirement Planning, in common with all financial planning, is just a funding exercise.

It deals with a fundamental fact of life that confronts all of us, namely that at some stage, whether you like it or not, you are going to have to stop working.

need to save in order to arrive at the amount of capital needed to provide your target income. Simple!

Of course, all of the above is complicated by the fact that most of you are expatriates. You may not return to your country of origin. You need to consider the likely rate of inflation where you plan to retire and also the effect currency fluctuation on your savings.

When that happens your earnings will cease and you therefore need to build up a replacement income sufficient to maintain the standard of living to which you have (or would like to) become accustomed.

It does not matter where the replacement income comes from but it needs to come from somewhere. One thing is for sure, it is not going to magically appear, so a plan is necessary.

The starting point is to work out how much you need to live off in retirement. This can be difficult because your circumstances can have changed quite a bit. That said the starting point for this is to look at your current expenditure. Apart from totting up all of your payments you should take note of what you are spending your money on.

Some items should have stopped by the time you retire, at least in theory, such as mortgage and children’s education costs. However if you are on an expat contract and your rent is paid, you are going to need to start to pay full housing costs.

So you add things on that you will need to spend and deduct items that will have stopped. Incidentally, when you carry out this analysis, look at what you are spending on utilities, insurance, and bank interest.

If you shop around now, can you save some money? Once you have worked out how much you need, the next thing is to calculate the level of income that you already expect.

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UK Chancellor George Osborne

If you are entitled to the UK state pension you can obtain a forecast.

The same should go for state pensions from other countries. You can also obtain projections for private pensions from the UK and other territories.

You should also take into account the value of existing savings and investments as well as any rental income if you have investment properties.

Do not include rent from the home you intend to return to since this will stop when you move back into it. You may need to run some projections based on your current rate of saving and the present value of your investments and pension funds. Bear in mind that these need to take the effect of inflation into account.

Having determined what you need and how much is coming in, the next step is to work out the difference. This is what you need to fund. If you are going to build this up using regular savings, you need to convert it to a capital sum.

In order to ensure that your target income is realistic, you should assume a similar rate to an index linked annuity in the UK and back calculate from there. You then need to calculate the regular monthly amounts that you

You also need to decide in which currency you wish to make the savings.

Taxation is also an important consideration and you will need to plan for this well before you implement any transactions. If this sounds daunting, it need not be. It is all in a day’s work for any competent financial planner with experience of dealing with expatriate personal finances.

In addition to helping you with the basic funding calculations they will also be able to advise you on the best way to build up the necessary retirement income and hopefully help you to adopt a sound evidence based investment strategy, which gives you the best chance of achieving your goal for the level of risk that you wish to take.

Chris Wicks is a Director of Bridgewater Worldwide Limited, company specialising in the financial needs of expatriates.

He also runs a UK-based FCA regulated financial planning practice. Tel: + 44 161 637 2191 Fax: + 44 843 290 4480 Email: chris@bridgewaterfs.co.uk Website: www.chriswickscfp.co.uk

It’s sink or swim on Britain’s high streets

By John Wagner

T

he figures are stark. High Street shops in Britain are closing at a rate of 18 a day.

More stores are now closing than are opening and retailers need to take urgent action to reverse this attrition.

shopping to the individual preferences of the consumer with bespoke recommendations that mimic the online experience is a key way to attract and retain custom.

Forward-thinking retailers like the Apple Store are already pioneering a more informal, less linear shopping format that allows for browsing and purchasing to be interlinked using mobile payment strategies that take the transaction to the consumer.

Standing in line at cash-tills will soon become a thing of the past.

Why is this happening? If you walk into most stores on Britain’s high streets (or even in Bangkok for that matter) no-one knows who on earth you are. If you are lucky the doorman might wish you good morning or good afternoon. You would probably have to just wander around looking for someone to help you.

But how different it is if you go online to a retail website (especially one you have registered with previously).

They welcome you by name and even present items you could be interested in, gleaned from your previous purchase history. This does not extend only to PCs. Now shoppers are using tablets and mobile phones for shopping.

The retail landscape is experiencing a paradigm shift with the battle for customer loyalty becoming more sophisticated and more intelligent as technology improves access to information. Whilst shopping at department stores, customers are now checking the prices displayed on products by accessing competitive sites in real-time on their mobile phones to ensure they are not overpaying. Shops need to reflect this change and update the way they develop, present and distribute products, providing new ways to browse and ultimately pay for purchases.

And all this is happening at lightning speed. The growth of mobile usage can be gauged by a recent statistic revealed by Larry Page, CEO of Google.

He told analysts that roughly 40 percent of the traffic to YouTube, the Google-owned video website, now occurs on mobile devices compared to only six percent just two years ago.

Mobile remains the fastest growth area in ecommerce transactions as well, up 300 percent in 2012, driven by the increasing use of smart phones and tablets. Over a quarter of activity on the John Lewis website is now from mobile devices, with ASOS reporting mobile traffic reaching 30 percent of transactions, up from just two percent in 2010!

Even airlines are preparing to jump on the bandwagon by removing inflight entertainment screens from seat backs and merely offering to stream movies and other information to passengers’ own tablets or smart phones. If you forget your mobile device at home you are going to have a very boring flight!

So for the many of the retail stores, now lagging in these rapid developments, there has to be a technologydriven revolution to create new ways to engage with customers. Tailoring

Among other developments that are bringing shoppers back to the High Street are ‘click-and-collect’ initiatives like the recently announced partnership between eBay and Argos.

Here, online shoppers collect their purchases from a convenient High Street location offering retailers another valuable chance to engage with them.

Whether in Birmingham or Bangkok, stores will have to embrace new technologies and innovate if they want to avoid disaster. And they need to do it soon!

John Wagner is Chairman of Venda Software Development Ltd. Email: johnwagner@venda.com website: www.venda.com T: +66 (0) 2654 0775

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Tax tips for expats in Thailand

By Chad & Peggy Creveling

A

s the end of the 2013 tax year approaches, expats working in Thailand may want to consider sheltering some of their income from Thai tax by contributing to Thailand’s Long-Term Equity Funds (LTFs) and Retirement Mutual Funds (RMFs).

With planning, some Thai taxpayers may be able to save up to THB 350,000 this year in Thai taxes by contributing to these tax-advantaged funds.

Long Term Equity Funds (LTFs) were set up under Thailand’s IMF programme to encourage longer term investing in the Thai equity market.

Retirement Mutual Funds (RMFs) were established to encourage people to save for retirement by providing Thai tax benefits on savings.

Both LTFs and RMFs provide current year Thai tax deductions on contributions and earnings grow free of Thai tax. Subject to meeting LTF and RMF fund requirements, funds can also be withdrawn free of Thai tax.

contributions of up to 15 percent of annual compensation or THB 500,000 (whichever is lower) from current-year taxable income. This is in addition to any contributions made to a provident fund and/or RMF.

For RMFs, individuals can deduct contributions of up to 15percent of their personal income (including salary, bonus, fees, commissions, severance pay or investment income) or THB 500,000 per year (whichever is lower) from current Thai taxable income. If you have a provident fund at work, the combined maximum annual tax deduction for both the provident fund and the RMF together is THB 500,000.

For high-income earners, combined contributions can total THB one million and shield taxes of THB 350,000 under the new personal income tax rates that were approved by the Thai cabinet in December 2012 and are expected to become effective for the current tax year (see table opposite).

For LTFs, individuals can deduct

The rules regarding LTF and RMF contributions can and do change, so make sure you check the current status before making any contributions.

All you need to know about RMFs and LTFs RMFs: • You get a current-year Thai tax deduction on contributions • Depending on the fund’s policy, the fund manager may invest in equity funds (Thai as well as international), debt instruments, or mixed funds.

• Returns grow free of Thai tax • The maximum annual contribution is the lesser of 15 percent of total annual compensation or THB 500,000 • If you contribute to a company provident fund, the total contribution to both the provident fund and RMF cannot exceed THB 500,000 • Contributions need to be recorded before the end of the calendar year.

• Funds can be withdrawn free of Thai tax after age 55 (and if held for five years or more)

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• To qualify for Thai tax benefits, you must contribute at least every other year for a minimum of five years. The minimum contribution is 3% of taxable compensation or THB 5,000, whichever is lower.

• If you fail to meet the required minimum contribution schedule or withdraw funds prior to reaching age 55, or have not met the five-year holding requirement, you will have to pay back any tax deduction you received along with penalty fees. In addition, any capital gains will be subject to a 10 percent tax LTFs: • You get a current-year Thai tax deduction on contributions • Unlike RMFs, LTFs invest primarily in Thailand-listed stocks. You’ll therefore want to make sure a Thai-only equity

holding makes sense in your diversified portfolio.

• Returns grow free of Thai tax • The maximum annual contribution is the lesser 15 percent of total annual compensation or THB 500,000 • Contributions can be made in addition to those made to provident funds and RMFs • There is no need to make ongoing contributions to maintain tax benefits • Contributions and earnings can be withdrawn free of Thai tax after five years • If you withdraw before the five-year holding period, any tax deductions you received will need to be paid back along with penalty fees. In addition, any capital gains will be subject to a 10 percent tax • Contributions must be recorded by the end of the calendar year

Proposed rates

Current rates

Income (THB)

Rate (%)

Income (THB)

Rate (%)

1-150,000

0%

1-150,000

0%

150,001-300,000

5%

150,001-500,000

10%

300,001-500,000

10% 500,001-1,000,000

20%

1,000,001-4,000,000

30%

Above 4,000,000

37%

500,001-750,000

15%

750,001-1,000,000

20%

1,000,001-2,000,000

25%

2,000,001-4,000,000

30%

Above 4,000,000

35%

Note: As shown in the table below, the new rates would reduce the highest bracket to 35 percent and create seven tax brackets instead of the current five. To date, the required legislation to enact the new rates have not yet been passed. The current market expectation is still that the necessary legislation will be passed and if needed made retroactive for 2013.

There are a number of different LTFs and RMFS managed by the various Thai asset management companies and distributed either directly or through affiliated bank branch networks. To see the differ-

ent funds that are available visit: http://www.morningstarthailand. com/th/?lang=en-TH Look for funds that are under the ‘AIMC’ classification of either LTF

which will show you a list of all LTFs available, or RMFEQ (all RMF equity funds), RMFFIX (all RMF fixed income funds), RMFMIX (all RMF balanced funds), or RMFOTH (all RMF alternative funds).

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as specific tax advice. Please consult your tax advisor for advice relevant to your situation.

Creveling & Creveling is a feeonly private wealth advisory firm specialising in helping expatriates living in Thailand and throughout south east Asia build and preserve their wealth. www. crevelingandcreveling.com.

UK government extends priority visa service U

K Visas and Immigration (UKVI) in Thailand has extended its priority visa service to include all business, work, investor and entrepreneur visa applicants.

The service is already available to business visitors, tourists and family visitors who meet certain criteria as well as Tier 4 students and has proven extremely successful with over 18,700 applicants taking up the service since its launch in January 2012.

The priority visa service is a fast track processing service which aims to return visa decisions within three to five working days compared to the standard 15 working day service and is available to eligible applicants who pay an additional fee of THB 5,100.

British Ambassador Mark Kent said, “The UK is open for business and we are working hard to ensure we have the right services in place to encourage growth and support those who we want to attract to the UK. This includes our visa service and I am very pleased to announce

PM David Cameron checks security at LHR

that we have extended our already successful priority visa service in Thailand to include anyone travelling for business, investment and work purposes.”

The extended priority visa service and other initiatives are set to support the continued strong demand for UK visas in Thailand. In the 12 months to June 2013, UKVI issued approximately 65,700 visa applications to Thai nationals, 16 percent more than the previous 12 months including a 29 percent increase in tourist visas and an 18 percent increase in business visitor visas.

Some 95 percent of Thais who apply for a UK visa are successful.

Further information available at: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/countries/thailand

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Thailand reduces personal income tax

By Stephen Frost

I

n November 2013, the government announced a revision of the personal income tax rates and rate bands. The old rates and rate bands are shown in the Table 1. The new rates and rate bands are shown in the Table 2.

wages. There is a choice of action here: either employers can reduce the monthly withholding so that employees will receive a larger net pay packet until the tax overpayment is cleared, or employees will have to wait to reclaim the overpayment in their 2013 Annual Tax Return, which must be filed by 31 March 2014 at the latest.

These changes take effect retrospectively to 1 January 2013 and should therefore be used in completion of the 2013 PIT return which should be filed by 31 March 2014.

Comment The reduction in personal income tax should be considered together with the reduction in corporate tax, the increase in national minimum wag-

In many cases, withholding income tax will have been over-deducted by employers in respect of employees’

es, the special tax schemes for first time home buyers and car buyers, are part of government policies to encourage more spending by consumers in order to stimulate the domestic economy, and to reduce Thailand’s dependence on production of goods for export.

It will take time to assess whether such measures are working or not.

2013 has already seen a reduction in Thai export figures, but this has been largely due to reduced demand for Thai imports from the USA and EU, rather than deliberate policy changes by either party.

Table 1 Income (Baht)

Taxable income (Baht)

Tax rate

Tax payable (Baht)

Cumulative tax (Baht)

0 – 150,000

Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil

150,001– 500,000

350,000

10%

35,000

35,000

500,001- 1,000,000

500,000

20%

100,000

135,000

1,000,001- 4,000,000

3,000,000

30%

900,000

1,035,000

4,000,001 or more

variable

37%

variable

variable

Income (Baht)

Taxable income (Baht)

Tax rate

Tax payable (Baht)

Cumulative tax (Baht)

0 – 150,000

Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil

150,001– 300,000

150,000

15%

7,500

7,500

300,001- 500,000

200,000

10%

20,000

27,500

500,001- 750,000

250,000

15%

37,500

65,000

750,001-1,000,000

250,000

20%

50,000

115,000

1,000,001- 2,000,000

1,000,000

25%

250,000

365,000

2,000,001 – 4,000,000

2,000,000

30%

600,000

965,000

4,000,001 or more

variable

35%

variable

variable

Table 2

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helping the needy

TFI mixes fun with fund raising A

new charitable organisation has been formed in Pattaya with the focus upon creating fun events for charity. TFI (Thai Farang Initiative) seeks to create fund-raising events that appeal to potential sponsors, local expatriates and Thai citizens that will support the disadvantaged and be completely transparent in all their undertakings.

The first event, an 80s themed music night, raised over Baht 150,000 baht. The funds were used in a number of ways to support local families – including a new sidecar for a man who wanted to sell food from his motorbike to earn money for his family; school uniforms, helping a floodravaged orphanage in Mae Sot with essentials and a Baht 50,000 to Operation Smile to assist children born with cleft palates and lips.

The second event, a disco, was sponsored by Compass Real Estate, and raised in the region of Baht 80,000.

Fund raising in Pattaya

Donations were made to Royal British Legion poppy appeal, Hand to Hand Foundation and HEARTT2000 – the charity that cares for people with HIV/AIDS. The third event, the TFI Jolly Kids Christmas, scheduled for 8th December, was set to take place

at Jamesons with several sponsors including Pattaya Realty, MBMG, The Riviera and Key Visa.

Follow TFI activities at: www.facebook.com/funcharityevents or: www.TFI-events.com

Shaun’s trek helps good causes

S

haun Houlding’s recent trek to the base camp of Mount Everest has raised over Baht 300,000. The funds will be used to support several projects including the construction of a swimming pool at the Triamsuksa school in Soidao and the cost of sports equipment for a local anti-human trafficking centre.

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Condo price rises set to continue T

he levels of condominium prices in inner Bangkok are likely to continue to soar, especially in areas such as Sathorn, Rajadamri, Ploenchit and Sukhumvit, with prices of over 200,000 baht per square metre. That’s the view of Phanom Kanjanathiemthao (right), Managing Director of Knight Frank Chartered (Thailand).

Condos in areas outside the city’s CBD, such as Phaholyothin and Ratchdapisek, are commanding prices of 120,000 – 150,000 baht per square metre. “This reflects the scarcity of large plots available for

development and land prices that have risen dramatically. Along with significant increases in construction costs, it is likely that areas near the business district (Sathorn/Silom) will become the next locales for new project development.

“This encompasses Narathiwas, Rama 3 and Charoen Rat Roads – areas that still boast many large available land plots at prices that are not too high,” said Mr Kanjanathiemthao. “Adjacent to Sathorn Road, these locales are worth watching as the next hot spot for condominium development.”

Office vacancy rates continue to fall in Bangkok

B

angkok office rents rose for every grade of building in every location as vacancy rates continued to fall for an eighth consecutive quarter, according to the latest research by CBRE Thailand.

In Q3 2013 the average grade ‘A’ office rent increased to THB 706 per sq.m. per month from THB 696 per sq.m. per month last quarter while the average grade ‘B’ rent increased to THB 550 per sq.m. per month from THB 538 per sq.m. per month in Q2 2013. The overall vacancy rate in Bangkok was 10.2 percent, a decrease of 0.9 percent Q-o-Q and 2.56 percent Y-o-Y, as demand continued to grow steadily. There was no new supply completed in the quarter.

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“The overall Bangkok office vacancy rate is continuing to fall, particularly in the grade A CBD offices, which fell from 11.8 percent in Q2 2013 to 9.9 percent in Q3 2013. Expansion by existing tenants in their existing buildings was the biggest contributor to the decrease in the vacancy

rate of grade ‘A’ CBD offices,” said Nithipat Tongpun, Head of Office Services at CBRE Thailand.

With limited supply of office space under construction and demand growing steadily, CBRE expects Bangkok office rents to continue to rise.

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Member News

Bangkok Head makes case for IB programmes

By Peter McMurray

I

n an ever complex and changing world, where the growth of human knowledge is accelerating at a pace faster than ever known to mankind, it is critical that we provide our next generation with the tools to adapt to this world and to succeed in it.

I believe that that provision lies in the International Baccalaureate Programmes currently offered in 146 different countries to over 1.1 million students, with 3671 schools authorised to offer one or more of its programmes.

I write this support for the IB wearing many hats: an IB Diploma teacher, a Director of IB schools in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and now Thailand, an IB examiner (for Higher level English), an IB authorisation visitor, and most importantly, a parent who saw his daughters through the Middle Years and Diploma Programmes.

So why am I a big supporter? Firstly, the Diploma Programme is an all rounded programme that offers students the opportunity to study two languages, the arts, the sciences, and mathematics. It also offers a unique course in the Theory of Knowledge, exploring the nature of knowledge and instilling in students a natural and rigorous tendency to question their world and the veracity of what they see, hear and learn.

In addition, students in their second year write an extended essay which, from parental experience, allows students to go to University well grounded in independent learning, research, and essay writing. Both my daughters complained to me about the number of their friends who had gone through the traditional “A� level path, who would come to them for help at college on how to reference and how to research for longer papers than they had ever been forced to write.

And then there is the ethical piece.

Because students are required to perform community service, and explore the concept and principles of service giving, there is a natural discipline of guiding students to want to make their world a better place.

Good CAS programmes, in essence achieve this, but also make it a life long process. Both my daughters have chosen careers which have been strongly influenced by those Community Service Programmes. One works in the UK for a charity called the Rainbow Trust and is assigned to help and support families who have had a child diagnosed with a terminal illness. My second daughter is an actress who works with a charity group that uses drama to educate prisoners in UK prisons, (including top security prisons for serious offenders,) about issues revolving around violence to women, homophobia and racism.

The IB programmes instill ethical values which are lifelong, offer strong preparation for both acceptance to top universities and success in them when enrolled.

Students from St Andrews International School Green Valley take a break from their adventures in Koh Chang. During their trip they examined the advantages and disadvantages that tourism has brought to this island and evaluated through their camera lenses the sustainability of Koh Chang’s tourism. Their next step, upon returning to Bangkok, was to write a photo essay.

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Peter McMurray is Head of Bangkok Schools, based at St Andrews, 7 Sukhumvit Soi 107 (Soi Bearing), Bangna Bangkok 10260 Tel: 087 715 2221 Web: www.standrews-schools.com For more details about the International Baccalaureate, please contact Annie Hansen.

Email: annie.hansen@standrewsschools.com

Students seek solutions to pressing issues in Thailand T raill International School in Bangkok hosted a conference designed to produce innovative solutions to some of Thailand’s more pressing problems. The Innovate conference was organised by Graeme Malcolm, Traill’s Head of Sixth Form and attracted 250 senior students from international schools.

Graeme said, “We wanted to bring together the academic elite of Thailand’s international schools to see just how innovative they could be when faced with the issues that will define their generation. Innovate is very much a forward thinking concept as the things we addressed in the workshops are directly relevant to the students themselves.”

Issues addressed included income inequality, inadequate transport and

communications infrastructure, and environmental sustainability. The binding theme for the conference

Henry Jordan joined The Okura Prestige Bangkok as Chef de Cuisine in November 2013. Henry, a US national, moved to Thailand from The Ocean House in Rhode Island, USA – the only AAA five diamond hotel in the state and a member of Relais & Chateaux. Henry’s previous experience includes Chef de Cuisine at the Four Seasons in Mahe, Seychelles and a similar role at the Kurumba private island resort in the Maldives.

“Henry is an extremely talented chef with the all-important combination of five star culinary experience and excellent management skills. His appointment coincided with the project to refresh Elements, our international restaurant. Henry’s creativity and ingenuity add considerable value and enjoyment to the total dining experience at Elements and we are delighted that he has joined our experienced F&B team at The Okura Prestige Bangkok,” said General Manager Samir Wildemann.

workshops, held over two days, was Thailand’s position within ASEAN and the pending ASEAN Economic Community. Students were challenged to think about ‘old problems’ such as traffic congestion but from a new and forward-thinking perspective.

Head Girl at Traill School, Maria Zhang, said “It was great to get the opportunity to work with senior students from other schools. It’s not always easy to see the relevance of what you’re studying in school so I enjoyed getting out of the classroom, especially to such a nice venue, to talk about things that really matter to us.”

Students presented their innovative solutions to a guest judging panel and awards were made to the most innovative individual, group, leader and speaker. Robert Traill, Chairman of Traill International School, reflected, “We are looking ahead to next year’s event which will see the invitations extended to schools across south east Asia.”

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Member News

Samba soccer in Phuket as BISP hires Brazilian coach B razilian youth football coach Jonathas Candido from Cruzeiro EC is running a new football academy at the British International School Phuket (BISP).

The academy will also be supporting Phuket F.C. with its own youth programme and club players will assist at BISP in a reciprocal arrangement.

An academy for young swimmers is also under way at the school and plans are in hand for specialist tennis and golf coaching. These are part of the new scholarship enhanced high performance sport academies at British International School Phuket (BISP), where each academy has its own fulltime professional coach and students are required to train five times each week throughout the academic year as a minimum requirement.

“Young people will respond positively to the achievements of their peers, and in a climate of excellence across all disciplines every student will thrive,” said Headmaster Neil Richards.

BISP is offering up to five scholarships each year to swimmers who have represented their countries and who are striving for Youth Olympic places.

Up to 10 tuition scholarship places will be offered each year for budding soccer stars of the future to join the

BISP/Cruzeiro football academy with the aim of providing professional opportunities.

BISP hopes to offer golf and tennis scholarships in tandem with the creation of the academies for these sports.

Bangkok Prep announces new scholarships B angkok International Preparatory and Secondary School (Bangkok Prep) has announces an ‘A’ level scholarship scheme for students with outstanding achievement for entry to Year 12 in August 2014. The scholarship

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is open to students of all nationalities aged 16 years. Three scholarships will be awarded with a total combined value of up to three million Baht over two years. In addition to meeting the above requirements, students must possess skills and abilities to contrib-

ute positively to the secondary school community. Deadline for applications is 24 January 2014 and the successful scholarship placements will be announced on 30 March. For further information please visit www.bkkprep. ac.th/scholarship.

Students banking on Citi community support C iti Thailand’s corporate citizenship programme focuses upon financial inclusion, sustainable business practices and valuing employees. This programme, in line with Citi’s global policy of promoting responsible finance, has been implemented by establishing outreach to local communities that enables financial literacy and supports the well-being of people in the community where we work.

Citi uses its knowledge and expertise to bolster the programmes, giving the very best financial management training to populations which would otherwise be outside of the economic mainstream. The core values of Citi to increase financial inclusion and constantly remember citizenship responsibilities lead to increased participation by the bank’s staff in events such as Global Community Day. To demonstrate its commitment to local communities Citi Thailand has

leveraged Citi Foundation’s grants to conduct a large number of CSR programmes. Since 2000 Citibank Thailand has given approximately THB 75 million in grants to a variety of community development programmes and has regularly un-

Bromsgrove golfers dominate Bangkok Cup Young golfers at Bromsgrove International School have been performing well on the fairways and the greens in competitions throughout 2013 and won the recent Bangkok Schools Golf Tournament at Lotus Valley Golf Club. Pictured is 14 year old Tanapat Pichaikool – one of many outstanding golfers at Bromsgrove.

dertaken cause-related marketing campaigns to raise funds for charitable organisations.

One such programme, which has shown promising results, is School Banks. This programme teaches young students the importance of saving and the basic fundamentals of financial responsibility.

The programme establishes school savings facilities (the ‘School Bank’) in both primary and secondary schools for students to deposit safely their money and watch the interest grow.

By October 2013 the programme had more than 9,500 bank members from the participating schools who have accumulated savings in excess of THB four million.

An entrepreneurship module has been introduced and, as a result, 22 business plans from four schools received funding to start their microbusiness and some 178 students gained valuable hands-on experience.

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Member News

Prem school students learn from international artists

T

raidhos Community for Learning, the Prem Tinsulanonda International School and Surface Arts played host to an international arts residency programme in Chiang Mai. Six international artists spent a month living and working on the Prem campus, organising student workshops, mentoring and producing work for a final exhibition at the H Gallery Chiang Mai. The group included a number of critically acclaimed artists who worked in film, ‘soundscaping’, illustration, painting and performance art including Emma Hammaren (Sweden), Jockel Liess (Germany), Taryn Takahashi (Peru), Ittirawee Chotirawee (Thailand) and Chris Czainski and Paul Czainski from the UK. To conclude the residency programme, Traidhos and Surface Arts organised a family-focused community arts day offering arts workshops facilitated by the

participating artists to Chiang Mai’s wider community.

“The arts are a vital means for stimulating dialogue and generating new ideas within any society. I think that an

Dusit International’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chanin Donavanik (left) and Dusit Group of Corporate Affairs’ Assistant Vice President Vipada Donavanik (2nd from left) welcomed their majesties the King and Queen of Tonga to the Dusit Thani Bangkok.

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organisation such as ours has a responsibility to engage meaningfully with our immediate and wider community.

This project has allowed us to do just that,” said Alex Soulsby, Traidhos Arts and Creative Projects Manager.

KLM adjustments to its Asian network to better meet market demand include an increase in flights to Bangkok from its hub in Amsterdam. The airline now offers 10 services weekly.

CSR project creates real buzz in Bangkok O

NYX Hospitality Group is creating a real buzz with its Plan BEE community programme.

The main aim for Plan BEE is to conserve native biodiversity and save the Asian honeybee (Apis cerana) from extinction. Honeybees, solitary bees, bumblebees, bats, moths and ants are all key pollinators in the environment today. It is estimated that one-third of all the food plants we eat depend specifically on bees for pollination.

In spite of the important role bees play in the global food chain and ecosystem, honeybees, as with many pollinators around the world, have come under threat due to a number of factors, including the use of pesticides and planting of geneticallyengineered crops, loss of habitat and biodiversity, increases in various pests and diseases due to changing weather conditions, pollution and poor husbandry techniques.

Plan BEE focusses upon two ONYX properties in Bangkok. The Oriental Residence Bangkok will become the first hotel and serviced apartment complex with an urban beekeeping initiative in Bangkok. Shama Sukhumvit Bangkok will also introduce a programme to educate the farming community on the benefits of Asian honeybee husbandry.

The urban beekeeping project at Oriental Residence Bangkok will be the initial step made by ONYX to introduce urban beekeeping to Thailand and beyond. Once a year, the company’s Apiculturist will visit the property to harvest the honey and educate team members on the skills and techniques of nurturing the Asian hon-

Raitong Organics Farm’s Bryan Hugill and Peter Henley, CEO of ONYX Hospitality Group.

eybee using bee-friendly modified Warré-type hives.

This ritual will be part of an educational exercise for team members, guests, urban residents and nearby schools to learn about the importance of nurturing a healthy urban environment for greater biodiversity.

Shama Sukhumvit Bangkok hotel has partnered with Raithong Organics

Farm to introduce a rural beekeeping initiative. Through this scheme, Shama will provide the farming community with the resources to maintain healthy Asian honeybee populations and also encourage them to earn a supplementary income. Shama and Raitong Organics Farm will provide professional training on basic Asian honeybee biology and also the important ecological role bees play in the environment.

Three contestants in the junior fashion show take to the stage at Harrow International Fair. This popular annual event attracted a large crowd of parents, pupils and friends of the school.

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Member News

Bond themes stir audience at annual Proms concert T his year’s Shrewsbury School ‘Last Night of the Proms’ concert was directed for the time by newly-appointed Director of Music, Ken Haggarty. The sell-out event, supported by sponsor British Airways, featured a varied musical programme including works by Haydn, Handel, Coldplay and theme tunes from the James Bond movies.

The concert culminated in the traditional suite of quintessentially British anthems with the sounds of Rule Britannia filling the concert hall as the enthusiastic audience sang and waved their flags.

Assistance for this year’s Proms concert was once again provided by

Conductor John Moore

John Moore, Director of Music at Shrewsbury School in Shropshire,

and by Bangkok-based Director of Choral Music David Hobourn.

Dusit Thani Bangkok General Manager James Wilson, (third from right) attended the official opening ceremony of the fund-raiser ‘3M Coins On Silom’ organised by The Rotary Club of Bangkok South and 3M to raise funds for the Club’s charitable activities. BCCT vice chairman Chris Thatcher, who chairs the Rotary Club committee that disperses the funds, said that some THB 1.2 million was raised.

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Andre makes move back to Centara Ladprao A

ndre Brulhart has been appointed as General Manager of Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok. He was previously Area General Manager in Pattaya with responsibility for the Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort and the newly-opened Centara Grand Modus Resort & Spa.

Andrew Brulhart began his Centara career at the Ladprao hotel

in 2005. He was then promoted to the role of General Manager at Centara Karon Resort Phuket in 2008 before transferring to Pattaya in 2010.

Mr Brulhart, a graduate of Management land. He has experience in and Asia.

a Swiss national, is the Lausanne Hotel School in Switzerover 25 years’ hotel Switzerland, Hawaii

Miss Lyn Kok (middle), President and Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank (Thai) together with the Bank’s senior management team members, gathered to celebrate the latest achievement in winning ‘Best Foreign Commercial Bank Award’ 2013 in Thailand. The award was made by FinanceAsia, a leading information source on financial, banking and economic news and analyses in Asia. The ceremony took place in Singapore.

The Aon Hewitt & Sasin Awards for ‘Best Employer Thailand 2013’ and ‘Best Employer for Commitment to Engagement Thailand 2013’ have been presented to Samitivej Hospitals.

Receiving the award is Dr. Somsiri Sakolsatayadorn, Managing Director and CEO of Samitivej Public Company Limited.

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Member News

Friendly futsal at Berkeley B erkeley International School has hosted its first annual invitational futsal tournament with teams from British Columbia, Garden, New Sathorn International and Berkeley competing for the Friendship Cup. New Sathorn triumphed in the boy’s cup games and girls from Berkeley won the final in their group against British Columbia. Berkeley International School Athletics Director Michael Strunk hopes to encourage other international schools to join their expanding sports programme covering futsal, basketball and swimming.

More details: mistrunk@berkeley.ac.th

KIS International School hosted around 400 International Baccalaureate (IB) teachers from the Asia Pacific region for a regional workshop.

The programme featured 12 different sessions of professional development that allowed teachers to learn about the latest developments in teaching. Pictured are participants in the Primary Years workshop at KIS.

Bangkok’s first Universal Children’s Day has raised more than Baht 340,000.

The event was organised by St Andrews International Schools and The British Club of Bangkok and took place on the St Andrews 107 campus. Sponsors included PeopleServe Asia, Bangkok Hospital, Standard Chartered Bank and Tesco Lotus. All funds raised have been donated to Operation Smile in Thailand.

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NIST celebrates affiliation with United Nations

N

IST has celebrated its affiliation with the United Nations, providing the opportunity for the whole school to reflect upon the benefit of the UN and, in turn, the uniqueness of an international school education in a UN-related school. On 18 October a UNICEF representative addressed the students and the community about the role of the UN and its agencies, followed by a short speech by Head of School James MacDonald.

Secondary students learned more about the millennium development goals from members of the NIST Model United Nations club with a call for everyone to play their part in working towards solutions. Students later paraded flags representing the 50 nations represented at NIST. On 1 November, the second UN Day, focussed upon the cultural aspects of diversity with the school’s World Language department organising a series of performances.

It was a PINKtastic day on 11 October 2013 at NIST as hundreds of students, staff and parents dressed and accessorised in pink as part of the international PINKtober event that seeks to raise awareness about breast-cancer health screening and early detection and to raise money for ongoing research. Organised jointly by the NIST Parent-Teacher Association and the school’s PE department, the event was widely supported and the event raised more than THB 100,000.

All smiles at the recent opening of Ku De Ta, a fashionable nightspot for drinking and dining in the Sathorn district of Bangkok.

Three guests chefs from China are set to craft signature dishes at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok during a one-week promotion. Wang Xiao Jun, Chen Ling Jun and Guo Jian Xun will take centre stage at the hotel’s Shang Palace restaurant from 9 to 15 December.

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Funtastic Fair Thousands of visitors flocked to Bangkok Patana school on 24th November for the annual Phloenchit Fair. Congratulations to organiser Carolyn Tarrant and the many volunteers from the BCCT community.

The Fair was officially opened by former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Once again the BCCT office team, board directors, members and friends ran the Grand Raffle which raised THB940,000 this year.

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Chamber Events

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Dataconsult

Chamber Events

By the Numbers

Chris Bruton Director, Dataconsult Ltd.

A

ccording to our IMA Group market analysts, Thailand’s economy retains a “Moderate” rating, thanks to relatively low inflation, low public debt, and a high level of foreign reserves. But there is a “Negative” outlook, reflecting the fiscal impact of populist government policies. A massively expensive rice subsidy scheme is undermining fiscal health, damaging the rice export sector, and raising demands for similar price support by rubber farmers.

The Thai operating environment suffers from excessive bureaucracy and corruption, which can seriously disrupt economic activity (as it did in 2011). Thailand was ranked 18th out of 189 countries in the 2014 World Bank Ease of Doing Business survey, same as in 2013.

Over the past decade, Thailand has experienced solid GDP growth, interrupted by political upheaval (200608), the GFC (2008-09), and flooding in late-2011. Growth recovered in 2012 (6.5%), only to ease again in 2013 (4%yoy in 1H’13) due to delays in infrastructure spending, a consumer pull back and weak global demand. There should be increased infrastructure and foreign direct investment, along with a better external environment, to create conditions for trend GDP growth of 5.7%pa over 2015-20.

Removal of car buyer subsidies and rising personal debt helped to slow consumer spending growth to 3.4%yoy in 1H’13 from 6.5% in full 2012. However, household fundamentals remain solid, with rising demand for skilled workers in an already tight job market (unemploy56

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Economic Forecast 2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

GDP

3.2

4.8

5.3

Personal consumption

2.6

4.8

5

5.5

6

5.7

5.5

5.5

5.5

Government consumption

3.5

4.5

5

5

5

4.5

Gross fixed capital expenditure

4.1

Exports

4.5

7.2

10.1

7.8

7.6

6.7

6

8

7

7.3

7.3

Imports

4.6

6.2

10

8

7.6

7.6

Personal consumption

51.8

51.8

51.6

51.6

51.4

51.3

Government consumption

10.1

10.1

10.1

10

9.9

9.8

REAL GROWTH, %

SHARE OF GDP, %

Gross fixed capital expenditure

23

23.5

24.6

25.1

25.5

25.8

Exports

74

74.9

76.7

77.8

78.8

80

Imports

60.4

61.2

63.9

65.4

66.4

67.6

Net exports

13.6

13.6

12.8

12.4

12.4

12.4

GDP Production, real growth, %

3.2

4.8

5.3

5.5

6

5.7

Manufacturing real growth %

1.9

6.8

7

6

6

6

38.6

39.4

40

40.2

40.2

40.3

5.4

6.8

5.9

7.5

6.6

6

2.2

2.2

2.2

2.3

2.3

2.3

5.8

8.8

9.8

9

8.5

8.2

GDP PRODUCTION

- share of GDP, % Construction real growth % - share of GDP, % CURRENT PRICE DATA GDP growth, % GDP US$ billions GDP Manufacturing, US$ billions

391

403

443

487

534

583

132.1

139.9

157.4

175.7

192.5

210.9

GDP Construction, US$ billions

10.9

11.6

13

14.8

16.4

18.2

GDP/capita US$

5,570

5,711

6,246

6,851

7,477

8,142

Source: IMA Asia October 2013

ment is under 1%). With no surplus rural population left to move to the cities, private consumption could sustain healthy growth of 5.5%pa in 2015-20, as firms are forced to lift workers’ pay and raise productivity.

The investment share to GDP fell to 21.4% in 2011 from a pre-Asia crisis high of 42.5% (1996). It edged up to 22.8% in 2012, as investment picked

up on the back of flood-related rebuilding and other infrastructure spending. Capex will get a boost from the delayed implementation of the government’s multi-year Baht 2tr (US$64bn) transport infrastructure program and foreign direct investment (mostly from Japanese manufacturers). We expect fixed investment growth of 7.1%pa over 2015-20 from 5.7%pa in 2002-12.

Chamber Events

BCCT Pub Night 1 October 2013 On Tuesday 1st October The Landmark Bangkok hosted the BCCT Pub Night at the Huntsman Pub.

From left to right: - Douglas Glen, The Landmark Bangkok - Greg Watkins, BCCT Executive Director - Mark Butters, RSM Advisory (Thailand)

From left to right: - Mark Jayasinghe, BDO Advisory - Karen Hochhauser, APM Group Solutions - Kirk Albrow, Etihad Airways

BCCT Boardroom Briefing on Laos & networking 3 October 2013 BCCT hosted the boardroom briefing on Laos & networking reception on Thursday 3rd October. The event was sponsored by Infinity Marketing Solutions, Ipsos Business Consulting and RMA Group.

From left to right: - Dr. Ramon Bruesseler, European Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Laos - H.E Philip Malone, British Ambassador to Laos - Guy Apovy, European Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Laos.

- Paul Simcock, European Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Laos

- Members and guests enjoyed the networking evening

Thank you to our sponsors and partners.

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Chamber Events

Joint BCCT/British Embassy Breakfast Briefing

BCCT One-Day Workshop 17 October 2013

10 October 2013 On Thursday 10th October British Ambassador Mark Kent kindly hosted a breakfast briefing at the Residence for BCCT members. He updated members on political and economic developments in Thailand.

The BCCT Management Development Group (MDG) organised a Thai language one-day workshop on Leadership in Matrix on Thursday 17th October.

- Britain’s Ambassador to Thailand Mark Kent addresses BCCT members.

- The facilitator (fourth from right) was Khun Teerawat Udomyingcharoen Country Talent Manager, Human Resources, Standard Chartered Bank (Thai)

T3 - Third Thursday Networking Evening 17 October 2013 On Thursday 17th October The St. Regis Bangkok kindly sponsored the T3 networking evening at Decanter.

From left to right: - Holger Jakobs, The St. Regis Bangkok - Simon Matthews, BCCT Vice Chairman/ManpowerGroup Thailand - Krister Svensson, The St. Regis Bangkok - Rituraj Mohan, BCCT Director/Boots Retails (Thailand)

From left to right: - Siew Meng Tan, BCCT Board Director/HSBC - Chris Thatcher, BCCT Vice Chairman/Anglo-Thai Legal Co., Ltd. - Lyn Kok, Standard Chartered Bank (Thai) - Jyoti Sachvirawong, BCCT Deputy Director

Thank you to our sponsors and partners.

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Chamber Events

BCCT Half-Day Workshop

BCCT Boardroom Briefing

22 October 2013

22 October 2013

On Tuesday 22nd October BCCT held a half-day workshop on Procurement into the Future.

Members and non-members joined BCCT Director Stephen Frost and Fergus Evans, Managing Partner of Clifford Chance in Thailand for a presentation on Foreign Business Act on Tuesday 22nd October.

- The facilitator was Andy Skowronski, Director of A. & C. Associates.

- Chambers members heard key facts about the Foreign Business Act in Thailand.

BCCT Pub Night

BCCT Boardroom Briefing

29 October 2013

31 October 2013

On Tuesday 29th October the Bistro 33 kindly hosted the BCCT Pub Night.

On Thursday 31st October BCCT hosted the boardroom briefing on Retirement Planning for Expatriates.

From left to right: - Chris Thatcher, BCCT Vice Chairman/Anglo-Thai Legal Co., Ltd. - Barry Osbourne, The Bistro 33 - Simon Matthews, BCCT Vice Chairman/ManpowerGroup Thailand

- Pictured from left are speakers Philip Ridgway and Chris Wicks of Bridgewater Financial Services Ltd.

Thank you to our sponsors and partners.

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Comings and Goings The British Chamber of Commerce Thailand welcomes the following new members: upgrade of floors in new and existing VNA warehouse units and Distribution Centres.

Absolute World Group 42/11, Taweewong Road Patong Beach, Kathu, Phuket 83150 T: +66 (0) 76-343-485 M: +66 (0) 87 269 9089 F: +66 (0) 76-294-059 Website: www.absoluteworld.com

Aloft Bangkok - Sukhumvit 11 35, Sukhumvit Soi 11, Klongtoey-Nua Wattana, Bangkok 10110 T: +66 (0) 2207-7000 F: +66 (0) 2207-7100 Website: www.alofthotels.com/bangkoksukhumvit11

Representatives: Mr. Mike Hall - Managing Director Mr. Mike Stapleton - B2B Business Manager

Representatives: Mr. Justin Malcolm - General Manager Ms. Patcharee Bunma - Director of Sales & Marketing

Business Activity: Founded in 1998, we have grown strategically to become one of Asia’s leading and multi award-winning lifestyle property developer, resorts and hotels operator, and destination club and shared ownership companies.

Business Activity: Aloft Bangkok – Sukhumvit 11 is the first Aloft hotel in Southeast Asia. With a strong passion for fashion, music and design, Aloft Bangkok is a true one-of-a kind hotel that rattles the cage of convention. Located on Sukhumvit 11 at the heart of Bangkok’s thriving entertainment district, the hotel is steps from the Nana BTS sky train. Making the urban lifestyle even more convenient, Aloft features all the high-tech facilities including free WiFi in every room and all public areas.

We offer a seamless range of services in the vacation industry encompassing select resorts and hotels, luxury boutique real estate, a destination club with thousands of members, a booming shared ownership and resale division and a leading lifestyle magazine.

Across six subdivisions, growth moves on apace, with exciting ventures in developing markets, independently and in partnership with other world-leading brands.

It’s a pioneering spirit that’s established us as a forward-thinking company, one that’s a huge, multi award-winning force in the destination club, resort development and fractional ownership industry in Asia.

And tomorrow? We continue to expand our business and look for powerful new global partnerships. Behind every new alliance and every new venture is the understanding that stunning locations will take us only so far. The future must be underpinned by the values of an altogether different age, like exemplary service, hospitality, value and quality. It’s a set of ideals of which we’re proud and of which we’ll never lose sight.

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CoGri Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. 1 Fifth Avenue #04-04/05 Guthrie House Singapore 268802 T: +65 6500-4670 F: +65 6500-4675 Website: www.cogriasia.com

Representatives: Mr. Rob Walker - Country Manager (Thailand) Mr. Alex Lee - Regional Manager Business Activity: CoGri Asia (formerly Laser Grinder Asia Ltd) specialises in the design, build and

CoGri Asia operates as a regional hub, providing complete flooring solutions through its Strategic Business Units (SBUs) in the following countries: Singapore | Malaysia | Korea | China (Shanghai) | Thailand | Indonesia CoGri Asia is the most experienced Specialist Concrete Flooring Contractor operating in the region today.With a full range of High-Tech Equipment, and an experienced and qualified team of professionals, CoGri Asia are able to provide a full range of High Quality Concrete Flooring Services and Cost Effective Solutions from SuperFlat Floor Construction, Large Pour Floor Construction to Specialist Floor Upgrades.

David Game Education Co., Ltd. 189/1, 4th Floor, Grand Parkview Asoke Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua Wattana, Bangkok 10110 T: +66 (0) 2259-8600 F: +66 (0) 2259-8601 Website: www.davidgamethailand.com

Representatives: Mr. Puttigun Geratitragarn - Principal/ Director Mr. Sri Ramachandran - Consultant Business Activity: David Game College Groups has been at the forefront of delivering quality education at international level for almost four decades. With the establishment of David Game Management School, Thailand, we are seeking to expand our services to the South East Asian region. At our Thai Campus, students are given the opportunity to embark on an internationally recognized British programme after their High School education.The first two years of a British Bachelors Degree Programme can be completed in Thailand. Eventually, the students will obtain a degree

qualification from one of our associated Universities in the UK, resulting in substantial savings on tuition fees and living expenses. We also pride ourselves in providing opportunities for mature students who are currently in employment to take a non-traditional route to academic and career success. We also provide corporate training programmes in English Language, Business, Hospitality & Tourism, IT, Accounting and Marketing.

Deemak International Limited 889, Thai CC Tower, 18 Floor South Sathorn Road, Yannawa Sathorn, Bangkok 10120 T: +66 (0) 2672-3663 F: +66 (0) 2672-3665 Website: www.deemark-international.com

Representatives: Mr. Chris Harrison - Managing Director Ms. Warangrat Thawornwiriyatrakoon - Business Manager Business Activity: Deemak International Ltd is based in Warrington, North West England with representative office on Sarthorn Road, Bangkok. Deemak International Ltd is part of the Lloyds Animal Feeds Group Ltd, an agri-business based is Oswestry, Shropshire, England

Destination Spa Management 139 Suite 408, 4th Floor (The Opus) Sukhumvit Soi 63, Klongtan Nua Wattana, Bangkok 10110 T: +66 (0) 2714-7865 Website: www.destination-spa-management.com

Representatives: Ms. Joy Menzies - Director Ms. Sharon Menzies - Director Business Activity:

Destination Spa Management (DSM) is a management company specializing in destination spa’s, health resorts and integrated wellness facilities. DSM was created in response to the growth of the wellness industry and increasing demand by owners and investors to create properties delivering wellness to their guests.

With over 20 years in the industry the Directors of DSM have previously enjoyed key roles within a number of Asia’s leading destination spas. Based in Bangkok DSM works internationally and as of print date has projects in development in China, Malaysia, India and the Middle East.

Durham-Duplex (South East Asia) Ltd. 7/274, Moo 6, Amata City Industrial Estate Mabyangporn, Pluakdaeng Rayong 21140 T: +66 (0) 38-650-800 F: +66 (0) 38-650-801 Website: www.durham-duplex.co.th

Representative: Mr. Charles Turner - Managing Director Business Activity: Durham-Duplex (South East Asia) Ltd was established in 2008 as a specialist industrial knife manufacturer based in Amata City, Rayong to supply the machine knife and industrial blade requirements within Thailand and ASEAN. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of DurhamDuplex UK which has been based in Sheffield, England since 1910 and which also manufactures Machine Knives and Industrial Blades for OEM and endusers in UK, Europe, USA and Middle East.

The range of products includes knives for the packaging, Food processing, film, foil and paper converting, plastics and waste recycling/waste management industries.

We also manufacture utility blades in the UK and have a wide range of safety hand knives for industrial and food processing uses. Both UK and Thailand have a full complement of CNC knife grinding

machinery and a bespoke design service to help deliver the customers specialised unique blade demands. Durham-Duplex (South East Asia) Ltd is ISO 9001:2008 Certified.

Etemad Co., Ltd 1091/151-152, S Group Management 2 Floor, Room 201, New Petchburi Road Makkasan, Rajthevee, Bangkok 10400 T: +66 (0) 2651-6887 F: +66 (0) 2651-6885 Website: www.ahmadtea.com

Representative: Mr. Abolfazl Mokhtari Zanjani - Managing Director Business Activity: Etemad co Ltd was established in 2009 and since then tried to received Ahmad Tea right and certificate to import its supreme quality tea to Thailand and finally by a long process could achieve all the relevant certificate to become Ahmad Tea Exclusive Agent in Thailand, now consider to one of the top tea company in Thailand.

We currently provide 72 different kind of Ahmad Tea products in Thailand and soon by next year we will provide our customers with Ahmad Ice Tea as well.

Our goal is to expand Ahmad Tea supreme quality tea across Thailand and provide excellent services with unique experience for our customers. Etemad Company with its good investment and hard work has identified potential markets and in Thailand to expand Ahmad Tea here and aiming to become one of the top three tea companies by end of 2014 in Thailand and to achieve a greater market share we would expand in to most of supermarkets, Hotels, Restaurants, Tea houses and coffee shops in all provinces.

We also aim to introduce Ahmad Ice Tea into shopping malls and super market as well as providing unique taste ice tea. We would like to convert Thailand into Ahmad Tea hub to allow us export Ahmad Ice Tea to all ASEAN countries

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Hemingway’s Bar and Restaurant Bangkok 1 Sukhumvit Soi 14, Sukhumvit Road Klong Toei, Klong Toei, Bangkok 10110 T: +66 (0) 2653-3900 F: +66 (0) 2653-3751 Website: www.hemingwaysbangkok.com Representative: Mr. Damian Mackay - General Manager Business Activity: Welcome to Hemingway’s Bangkok.

Drinking & Dining at our bar & restaurant are just the start of things to come.

The beautiful old golden teak house, which we are proud to call home, was originally built in the 1920‘s and no icon personifies this classic era more than the famous Ernest Hemingway. One of life’s great characters, he travelled to some of the world’s most interesting and exotic places. The mojito-fuelled dance bars of old Havana, the sultry fishing backwaters of Key West Florida and the timeless romantic boulevards of Paris.

This living definition of a ‘real man’ ran with the bulls in Pamplona and hunted rhinos on the Serengeti. From being famously wounded in WWI to fighting for democracy in the Spanish Civil War in the 1936, he rarely did any of this without a drink in hand, somehow never spilling a drop. Oh, and he wrote a few books along the way. Hemingway’s legend lives on, and our Drinking & Dining Bar & Restaurant is dedicated to the places he lived, and the food and drink he so dearly loved, offering a place fitting every mood, a space for every thought and a flavor to satisfy every taste. We hope you can enjoy it with us every

Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit 22 1 Sukhumvit 22, Klongton Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110 T: +66 (0) 2683-4888 F: +66 (0) 2683-4777 Website: www.holidayinn.com/bangkok22

Representatives: Mr. Harry Thaliwal - General Manager Ms. Piyalak Penkunaporn - Director of Sales & Marketing 62

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Business Activity: Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit 22 is conveniently located on Sukhumvit Road with direct access to Rama 4 Road. We are within the Central Business District and steps away to various dining and entertainment options. Stay mobile through-out Bangkok via Sky Train and Subway which are only a few minute walk from the hotel that you are always well-connected to all major shopping and tourist attractions.

You will achieve more in our comfortable guest rooms with free high speed internet access, equipped with efficient work stations featuring ergonomic chair. Our innovative Events Hub featuring 800sqm of meeting and social space. The pillarless Grand Ballroom along with dedicated elevators and access points offer exclusivity while our experienced Event Specialists will take care of all your needs.

M & S Telecom Co.,Ltd. 75/78-79 Ocean Tower2, 31st Floor Soi Sukumvit 19, Sukumvit 19 Rd. Klong Toey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110 T: +66 (0) 2696-9594 F: +66 (0) 2661-6587 Website: www.matrixsim.com

Representatives: Ms. Natasha Roys Limcharoen - Vice President Representative: We are in the business of delivering communication solutions to our customers. We don’t simply connect our customers, we also connect with our customers and provide them with services that are simple and aligned to their needs and expectations.

Pandectum PTY Ltd. 59 Cromer Road, Cromer, NSW 2099 Australia T: +61 2-9045-5800 F: +61 2-9045-5899 Website: www.pandectum.com.au

Representatives: Mr. Alex Traverner

Business Activity: We are in the business of delivering communication solutions to our customers. We don’t simply connect our customers, we also connect with our customers and provide them with services that are simple and aligned to their needs and expectations.

The Regent’s School Pattaya 33/3 Moo 1, Banglamung Chonburi 20150 T: +66 (0) 38-418-777 F: +66 (0) 38-418-778 Website: www.regents.ac.th/pattaya

Representatives: Mr. Mike Walton - Principal Ms. Kirsty Paiboontanasin - Bursar Business Activity: The Regent’s School Pattaya is a British international School (day and boarding) for children aged 2 to 18, located one and a half hours south of Bangkok on the Eastern Seaboard of Thailand. It offers the English National Curriculum, IGCSEs and International Baccalaureate Diploma to approximately 1,000 students, both ex-patriot and local. The school is part of Nord Anglia Education, a family of 27 premium international schools across Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East.

The school has established itself an excellent reputation. The education it offers is characterised by: • A strong sense of challenge: students are supported to take appropriate risks and work outside of their ‘comfort zone’ • A culture which encourages students to believe that what they do and say makes a difference-they can become agents of positive change • A truly international outlook • A desire to recognise and celebrate the many different forms which success can take • An enviable location, one which presents students with an astonishing array of learning opportunities Royal London 360° Royal London House Douglas, British Isles Isle of Man IM2 2SP, United Kingdom T: +44 (0) 1624 681 682 F: +44 (0) 1624 677 336 Website: www.rl360.com Representatives: Mr. Steve Noon - Regional Sales (SE Asia) \

Secure Wealth Management Unit 115-116, Plaza Del Mar No. 1, Pasak-Koktanod Road Cherng Talay, Thalang, Phuket 83110 T: +66 (0) 76 318-260 F: +66 (0) 76 318-262 Website: www.secure-wealthmanagement.com

Representatives: Mr. James Dougall - Managing Director Mr. Sean Clark - Director Business Activity: SWM is pioneering truly independent, fee-only wealth management. We offer the full suite of wealth management services, including listed & non-listed investments and estate & succession planning services (with our partner firms).

Our interests are completely aligned with our clients’. We have no incentive to sell specific investment products to you. Nor do we receive any commission payments from investment product providers. In addition, we do not receive any revenues from trades executed in client portfolios, setting us apart from the vast majority of the industry. We have recently opened an office in Geneva and have already incorporated Secure Wealth Management Singapore in anticipation of an opening in the next 6 months. Our Head Office & Investment team is based in Phuket, with office locations for client relationship management being strategically placed globally in key financial centres.

Twintec Ltd Prospect Park, Valley Drive Rugby, Warwickshire CV21 1TF United Kingdom T: +44 (0) 1788 567 722 Website: www.twintec.co.uk

Representatives: Ms. Ruth Waugh - Marketing Manager Mr. Simon Rabone - Commercial Manager Business Activity: Twintec is a specialist ‘jointless’ concrete flooring contractor operating worldwide

and building in excess of 6 million m2 per year, primarily for warehouse, logistics and distribution centre facilities.

Offering a unique design, build, insure concept Twintec can work with end users at the earliest stages of a project to advise on a value engineered solution to individual operating needs.

W Bangkok 106, 108 North Sathorn Road Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500 T: +66 (0) 2344-4000 F: +66 (0) 2344-4310 Website: www.whotelbangkok.com

Representatives: Mr. Allen Howden - Director of Sales and Marketing Business Activity: The hotel combines a 31-floor modern glass tower with a century-old, European-inspired heritage building, located in the heart of Bangkok’s bustling commercial district with direct access to the city’s elevated rail system.

W Bangkok features 403 guestrooms and suites, including 244 Wonderful Room, 106 Spectacular Room, 19 Cool Corner Room, 20 Studio Suite, 2 Fantastic Suite and 10 Marvelous Suite. Those who wish to enjoy an escalated design level may book a Wow Suite, Extreme Wow Suite (W-style Presidential Suite).

The design and offerings of W Bangkok embody the capital’s fusion of past and present to create a shimmering new scene. Interiors of the hotel as well as The Mansion mirror the secrecy of the city’s obscure alleyways and the evocative twists and turns of its corridors, while evoking spirits of the past and evoking the city’s captivating collision of modern skyscrapers and ancient temples and shimmering bijous.

Resignations & Cancellations: 1. 137 Pillars House 2. Binswanger Brooker Thailand Ltd. New Company Representatives: 1. ACE INA Overseas Insurance Company Limited, changed from Mr. Neil Smith to Mr. Glen Browne

2. Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom, changed from Mr. Samir M.C., to Mr. John Kim 3. Holiday Inn Pattaya, changed from Mr. Craig J. Ryan to Mr. Garth Solly 4. Pernod Ricard Thailand, changed from Mr. Phanuwat Wongsriphisant, to Mr. Patrick Castanier 5. Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers, changed from Mr. Wayne Buckingham to Mr. Keith Hardie 6. Shangri-La Hotel, ChiangMai, changed from Mr. George Baird to Mr. Franz Richter 7. Thailand Smelting & Refining Co., Ltd., changed from Mr. Nicholas Thorne to Mr. David Wilkinson 8. Traidhos Three-Generation Community for Learning, changed from Khun Pansuvan Thongchua to Ms. Lynda Rolph 9. Triumph Motorcycles (Thailand) Limited, changed from Mr. Jamie Looker to Mr. Peter Coates 10. World of Wine Co.,Ltd., The, changed from Mr. Ronald James Keeley, to Mr. Louise Allcock Changes of company name: 1. Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok, changed to Centara Hotels & Resorts 2. HNP Counsellors Limited, changed to HNP Legal Ltd. 3. Primus International Bangkok Limited, changed to Triumph Structures (Thailand) Ltd. 4. Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick (Thailand) Ltd., changed to URS (Thailand) Ltd. 5. Weston (SEA) Ltd., changed to Senior Aerospace Thailand Members with new addresses: 1. Securitas Security Services Thailand Ltd. 10/120, 10th Floor, The Trendy Office Building, Sukhumvit Soi 13 Klongtoey-Nua, Watthana Bangkok 10110 T: +66 (0) 2168-7400 F: +66 (0) 2168-7402 2. Thai AirAsia Company Limited Don Mueang International Airport No. 222, 3rd Floor, Room No.3200, Central Office Bldg.

Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Sanambin, Don Mueang Bangkok 10210 T: +66 (0) 2562-5700 F: +66 (0) 2562-5702

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FINAL WORD

Fracking hell

By Dale Lawrence

V

illagers in Cornwall face a princely legal bill if they decide to challenge a claim by the Duchy of Cornwall that all metals and elements below their property belong to the Prince of Wales’s estate.

Residents in the picturesque village of Stoke Climsland now fear that gas fracking rigs will soon be descending upon their peaceful corner of England’s green and pleasant land. The Duchy wants property owners to alter their deeds to reflect Prince Charles’ right to the metals and elements buried beneath their floors, according to a report in the Daily Mail newspaper.

The letter has sparked fears that the claim could lead to fracking or mining in the area. Homeowners in Stoke Climsland (pop. 1,600) claim their deeds make no mention of the Prince’s estate owning the land but the Duchy retorts that a 19th century Act of Parliament granted it the mines. Former policeman Clive Donner, 60, said, “‘I have deeds dating back to 1847 for our property and it does not mention anything about rights of the Duchy.”

HRH Prince Charles is eyeing underground minerals in Cornwall.

Cornwall has enormous underground mineral resources and there are signs that the county’s once famous tin mining industry could soon be revived. Discovery in Cornwall of large deposits of the rare element indium, used to make liquid crystal displays for iPads, has only added to the worries for residents of Stoke Climsland. But the Duchy insists it has effectively owned the subsoil since its creation in 1337 and is ‘simply registering its existing rights’.

Minister of State for Energy Michael Fallon has added fuel to the fire by warning householders across southern England to be prepared for gas fracking in their neighbourhoods.

Fallon, the Conservative MP for Sevenoaks, is seeking to ease concerns about the dangers of this type of energy exploration. He said that a study by the water industry, due for release soon, will conclude that fracking is safe.

He added that Great Britain could emulate US states such as Texas in the extraction of shale gas, with counties in the traditional Conservative heartlands of southern England becoming major hubs for fracking.

Fracking is the controversial method of extracting small pockets of gas trapped in rock by pumping in pressurised water and a toxic mix of chemicals. Supporters say it produces large amounts of cheap energy but critics say it’s dangerous, pollutes the water table and causes earth tremors. These fears prompted residents in Balcomb, West Sussex to launch a campaign against a proposed shale gas site. For residents of Stoke Climsland, their fracking hell may not be far away.

Strolling through Bangkok

B

rit and fellow author Ken Barrett has penned the perfect stocking filler for Christmas.

His new book ’22 Walks in Bangkok’ takes readers on a fascinating and addictive stroll through the city’s ancient districts to discover historical gems and little known facts tucked away down the backstreets and byways of Thailand’s capital city.

This fascinating book leads you on a series of journeys that have remained largely hidden from the millions of tourists that visit the city every year and, most probably, the majority of Bangkok’s permanent dwellers. Ken wrote the book after painstaking research and, at times, painful walks. Published by Tuttle, ’22 Walks in Bangkok, is available at Asia Books. Well worth a read.

The views and opinions expressed on this page by Editor Dale Lawrence are entirely personal and do not reflect official BCCT policy.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION 02 653 1971