13 minute read
Finnair to fly from Sweden
News brief Finnair to offer long-haul routes from Sweden to Bangkok and Phuket
Finland’s flag carrier Finnair will this winter be offering direct flights from Arlanda,Stockholm to Bangkok, and Phuket in Thailand. According to Breaking travel News, starting from 22 October, Finnair will be flying from Arlanda to Bangkok five times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays on its Airbus A350. Come 28 November, Finnair will be increasing the weekly frequencies to seven days a week operating from Monday through Sunday until 22 April next year.
In addition, Finnair will also be flying from Arlanda into Phuket on Sundays starting on 24 October.
Ole Orvér, chief commercial officer, Finnair says that Thailand is amongst the top winter destinations for Swedes and the air carrier is excited to meet the travel needs of their Swedish customers with the non-stop service from Sweden to Thailand. “The new flights will strengthen our offering in the Swedish market,” he says.
Finnair also flies to Bangkok and Phuket from its home base Helsinki Airport.
John Dawber, Vice President and General Manager of Novo Nordisk Pharma (Thailand) Limited, talked in a recent article in Bangkok Post, amongst other things, about the company’s plan looking towards the next ten years and its aim to raise the amounts of clinical trial investment in Thailand.
Despite the pandemic and the challenges it has brought along, Novo Nordisk has a strong presence in Thailand and the company’s growth rate was more than 20 percent last year with a revenue of THB 2.2 billion. According to John Dawber, Novo Nordisk’s success can be described through four aspects: ‘Partnership’ with the government and authorities, ‘Products’ that are good, ‘People’ and experts who drive the company forward, and ‘Passion’ to improve the lives of Thai patients.
Looking towards the next 10 years, Novo Nordisk expects to have a strong partnership with the Thai FDA as well as a high level of expertise of Thai doctors. Between 2016-2020 Novo Nordisk invested THB 189 million in clinical trials in Thailand and the company aims at raising that from 2021 to 2025 to up to THB 300.000 million. John Dawber, Vice President and General Manager of Novo Nordisk Pharma (Thailand) Limited
Matti Sällberg, professor of biomedical analysis. Photo: Carolina Byrmo
Swedish professor on why Vietnam is experiencing its first wave now
Most countries are somewhere in their third, fourth, or even fifth wave of the pandemic but Vietnam is only experiencing their first rapid infection rates now. According to WHO statistics the Vietnamese daily infection numbers reached a peak with 13,439 new cases registered on August 22. This a major increase compared to the 545 new cases registered on July 1 just before the first wave hitVietnam.At the time of writing 7,540 people have died from covid-19 in Vietnam. Now the delta variant’s rapid take has seen larger cities being put on lockdown.
But why is Vietnam only experiencing its highest peak in the spread of infection now and not earlier in the pandemic? In an interview with media Aftonbladet, Swedish professor Matti Sällberg explains that there may be several reasons.
Matti Sällberg is a professor of biomedical analysis at Karolinska Institutet. He says that Vietnam is not the only country experiencing its highest peak in the spread of infections right now and that other Southeast Asian countries are also battling the Delta variant at the moment.
These countries have a more favorable climate than cold countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Norway and the professor is guessing that maybe the virus must look a certain way to be able to spread optimally in the conditions prevailing in those countries.
The low vaccination rate is an important factor to why Vietnam is being hit with corona now. Another factor is that the country has previously dealt with the pandemic in a very resolute way. The authorities have acted quickly in regards to virus outbreaks and closed areas have been monitored by the military.
But according to Swedish Nishte Wandi who lives in the coastal city of Hoi An, near the larger city of Da Nang, this time the authorities did not act as quickly as before.
“My opinion is that they may not have been really prepared for this and have lost control of the situation a bit. It’s pretty tough actually. We were not prepared for this wave because we did so well before,” Nishte Wandi says to Aftonbladet TV.
Rong Chhun was sentenced to two years for “incitement to cause serious disorder to social security”. Photo: Hong Menea
Astatement posted by the Embassy of Sweden in Phnom Penh on 19 August calls on Cambodia to respect freedom of speech and assembly in accordance with its international commitments.
“All Cambodian citizens, regardless of their organizational affiliation, need to be guaranteed the freedom of speech and the freedom of peaceful assembly, in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the rights enshrined in Cambodia’s Constitution. Freedom of speech is an essential part of a functioning democracy, as are independent courts, which should not be used to silence peaceful activists,” the statement said. day before of the prominent labor rights activist Rong Chhun by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Rong Chhun was sentenced to two years in prison and fined two million riels ($500) for “incitement to cause serious disorder to social security”. Allegedly, this was based on comments Chun made about land rights for Cambodian villagers living by the Vietnamese border.
The ruling came amid a continuing crackdown on critical voices in Cambodia and according to the Embassy of Sweden in Phnom Penh, it “criminalizes public expression of dissent or political criticism”.
“The verdict of Mr. Rong Chhun and the other two activists is of our concern, since it criminalizes public expression of dissent or political criticism, and raises questions about the independence of the Cambodian judicial system. Sweden jointly with the European Union in Cambodia reiterates its call on Cambodia to allow freedom of expression and assembly, in accordance with its international commitments,” the Swedish statement says.
News brief SweCham launches first fully digital edition of ‘Member Directory 2021’
Thai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce has launched its first fully digital edition of ‘Member Directory 2021’. The shareable, downloadable, and clickable edition gives you access to valuable business contacts and information anytime and anywhere.
“We are inviting you to increase your company’s exposure, highlight your products and services with cost-effective marketing, and reach out to the Thai-Swedish business community in our ‘SweCham Member Directory 2021’,” SweCham writes.
The digital version will be widely distributed via SweCham’s social media platforms, SEO campaign, and direct email to Swedish expatriates, Swedish companies in Thailand, Thai and foreign chambers of commerce, organisations, and government departments in Thailand, as well as in Sweden.
Thailand Expat Guide 2021
ScandAsia has published the 2021 edition of “Thailand Expat Guide”
This book is intended as a help for both newcomers and longer staying expats who have decided to live and work in Thailand. It explains and facilitates practical issues and intends to inspire readers to get more out of their stay.
This booklet is part of the ScandAsia magazine and online media channel. ScandAsia serves all Scandinavian expatriates from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland living in Thailand and elsewhere in Asia with news updates by email and online.
If you want to buy the physical book, please use this link:
https://scandasia.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b8224fe83c1 1fd75934b62042&id=54b175eb19 &e=c29e9f6d53
News brief Marimekko wraps Bangkok sky train in its iconic Unikko print to celebrate 70th anniversary
Swedish Gaston Luga now available in Thailand
The Finnish floral brand Marimekko has since 1951 been on a mission to bring joy to people’s everyday lives with bold prints and colors.
In celebration of the brand’s 70th anniversary, Marimekko has in collaboration with Bangkok BTS launched the “Bringing joy to everyday life’ campaign which features an entire BTS sky train wrapped up in Marimekko’s signature print.
The campaign aims to bring brightness to every station in Bangkok and the train is covered in the brand’s well-known and well-beloved orange Unikko design. Unikko, the poppy print, is one of the brand’s most recognizable designs created by Maija Isola in 1964, who came up with it as a challenge to the brand’s founder Armi Ratia’s ban of floral patterns back in 1964. It is not the first time Marimekko brings joy to Bangkok. Last October, the Finnish brand brightened up Bangkok’s monsoon season by wrapping a BTS sky train in a blue hue of its unique Unikko poppy print which was the brand’s fall/winter 2020 color palette.
The Swedish brand Gaston Luga, producer of quality backpacks and accessories inspired by Scandinavian design and living, is now available in Thailand.
According to an introduction by the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok, Gaston Luga does not only provide beautiful design and highquality products, but Gaston Luga has also committed to sustainability.
The brand does not use Animal-based materials, they use plantbased leather with some of the products being made from vegan apple leather, a biomaterial created from discarded apple skins.
Gaston Luga also implements Low Impact Packaging in the form of boxes from FSC-certified paper printed with soy ink, making them eco-friendly and recyclable as well as biodegradable plastic.
Moreover, Gaston Luga has been a carbon-neutral organization since 2019 in partnership with Carbon Footprint Ltd to offset their carbon footprint by donating to the Escarpment Environment Conservation Network (Esconet) to support projects to restore local forests.
Christa Lund Herum - the Danish pastor in Thailand.
The Danish Church in Thailand needs a helping hand
The Danish Church in Thailand and its pastor Christa Lund Herum is reaching out to people, with the message of “help us to help you”. As Christa writes in the church fundraiser page “The church’s cash register is empty soon. The last year and a half it has been difficult to collect the funding necessary to continue the church’s work in Thailand”.
The church and its pastor is involved in a lot different work that is typically characterized by being emotionally heavy. In this way the pastor helps people with a lot of the things that embassy is unable to assist in. The importance of the pastor is also recognized by the Danish Embassy in Bangkok.
Alice Rosengren Skov the consul at the Embassy of Denmark in Bangkok explains this in an interview with NYT, in which she describes some of the cases where the pastor is critical to assist people in need with the proper support.
“The embassy is responsible for the more practical aspects of death. Apart from dialogue with relatives about practical matters, the Embassy does not have the resources or competencies to handle the great emotions that may be at play. It can be difficult for relatives, and it is a resource for the embassy to be able to refer to the Danish pastor, who can enter into a different kind of dialogue with the family,” Alice explains.
According to Alice, it is obvious to have a pastor on-site in Thailand because there are so many heavy matters. She says that the pastor has a way with conversation, and she has witnessed the pastor help solving difficult cases between parties of the conflict in a very good way. Many Danes in Thailand are not covered by insurance which often results in large hospital bills that can make it very expensive for the relatives to bring their loved one home.
Prison cases are also amongst the heavy cases and the Embassy is very happy with the pastor’s effort in these cases. “In some cases, the pastor has taken the place of the Embassy, but the starting point is that the visits from the pastor are a supplement,” Alice says. “Since the pastor can also reach out to relatives in Denmark, they can get more frequent information about how their loved ones are doing,” Alice says.
Asian countries give million bonuses for Olympic gold - but not the Nordic
Several countries around the world payed their Olympic gold medal winners million bonuses at the recently held Olympic in Japan. Among the nations participating in the Olympics, Singapore had the the record for paying most for a gold medal closely followed by Taiwan. Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia made up the rest of the top five paying countries.
According to South China Morning statistics competing for Singapore earns golden medal winners SGD 1 million which is around $737.000, silver medals are awarded $369.000 while bronze medal winners take home $184.000 . Taiwan was almost on the same level as Singapore. Along with Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia the five nations where the top five payers at this year’s Olympics.
Singapore came up short in Filipino Hidilyn Diaz won gold in weightlifting - and won the equivalent of about $655.000. Photo: Edgard Garrido Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom won gold in women’s laser radial. Photo: Olivier Morin/ AFP/Ritzau Scanpix
winning any medals but the rest of the five countries ended up paying out $3,034,000 just for their combined five gold medalists.
Filipino Hidilyn Diaz has also attracted attention after she took home the Philippines’ first Olympic gold ever - 97 years after the country with over 100 million inhabitants participated in the Olympics for the first time. BT writes that the Philippine weightlifter won the 55-kilo weightlifting class but she is not only rewarded with a gold medal, she will also receive 33 million pesos or what equals just under $655.000 together with a house and a plot of land from courtesy of the government of the Philippines and the private sector.
But it is looking differently in the Nordic region and in Denmark, a gold medal is only rewarded with a bonus of DKK 100.000 or what equals to just under $16.000. Expressen writes that Swedish and Norwegian athletes are not rewarded any bonuses but some athletes have bonuses written into their contracts with sponsors.
New entry regulations for travelers to Singapore
On 19 August, Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) outlined the next steps of Singapore’s easing of COVID-19 measures in a press release.
Singapore is classifying countries/regions in one of four categories, each with different border measures, based on a traveler’s 21-day travel history before they entered Singapore. Currently, both Norway and Denmark fall under category 3. Category 4 is the most restricted.
Work Pass holders and LongTerm Visit Pass holders still need an entry approval issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to travel to Singapore. Borders are still closed for regular Short-Term Visitors/tourists from category III countries. Please find the latest announcements here: https://safetravel.ica.gov. sg/.
