SEP 2017
Katarina Ekelund
New TSCC Executive Director: a true Swedish-Thai BUSINESS Tetra Pak at ProPak
START-UP Scandinavians at Techsauce
COMMUNITY
LEISURE
New Danish priest
The Dane at Karon beach
19th ANNUAL
LIVING IN BANGKOK 2017
A f re s h ta k e o n Ba ngkok .
A c o m m unity ev ent for Th a ila n d’s ex p a triates to ex pl o re t h e c it y ’s n e w p o s s i bi l i ties .
2 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2017
Se p t e mb e r 2 3 rd , 9 am to 5 pm
2 1 st f loor C onference C enter, B u m r ungr ad C linic Building S u k humv it Road, Soi 3
Shuttle bus is available from Nana BTS station exit 1.
www.bumrungrad.com/livinginbangkok
News Brief
Networking Event with Jyske Bank Gibraltar and Danish Loft Design
D
anish-Thai Chamber of Commerce will move the networking event on Thursday 21 September 2017 from its regular venue at Admiral’s Pub and Restaurant to the Danish Loft Design in 289/2 Sukhumvit soi 31 (Soi Sawasdee) in Bangkok. “We are very pleased to have been selected as host of the Danish-Thai Chamber of Commerce Networking Event on September 21st August 2017,” says Bjarne Kjersner, Director of Sales & Marketing of Danish Loft Design. “We really hope to see you at the event in our cozy Show-House & Garden.” To mark the occasion, Danish Loft Design has decided to offer all members of Dancham a discount of 40 pct on all products. This special promotion will run from the beginning of the month and end on the 30th of September 2017. Contact Bjarne Kjersner at + 66 89 982 1916 or bj@danishloftdesign.com to receive a brochure with samples of all the solid wood furniture, which all are designed in a unique
combination of the traditional LOFT style and Danish design characteristics like simplicity and functionality. The evening is co-hosted by Jyske Bank, Gibraltar, one of the Dancham gold sponsors.
SWEA Bangkok invites members to training at Haus No3
H
enrik Olofsson is an expert in health and physical training for women. Together with Khun Amm, he is the owner of Haus No3 - a unique training studio in Naiipa Art Complex, Sukhumvit Soi 46. On 21 September, SWEA Bangkok invites members to experience this at a workshop where Henrik Olofssons will explain about the special training program for women, that he offers. It is a 6-week long training course with Henrik himself as main coach. SWEA members must register in advance
SEP 2017
Your FREE ScandAsia Magazine in Thailand ScandAsia is the only magazine that covers all the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish residents in Thailand.
nd hai ketrulue Sw edish-T rinDiareE ctor: a KaExta ecutive
CC New TS ESS BUSIN Tetra Pak ak at ProP
P START-Us vian Scandina e at Techsauc
UNITY COMM ish priest New Dan
LEISURE
e The Dann beach at Karo
We also publish a ScandAsia magazine in China, Singapore and the rest of South East Asia.
Please sign up for your own FREE copy: www.scandasia.com
To find Haus No3 in Naiipa Art Complex, Sukhumvit Soi 46, choose the exit 4 from BTS Phra Khanong. Go down the stairs to the right and enter soi 46. Go straight for 100 meter and find Naiipa Art Complex on your right hand side. (https://www.hausno3.com)
Publisher : 211 Soi Prasert Manukitch 29 Prasert Manukitch Road Chorakae Bua, Lad Prao Bangkok 10230, Thailand Tel. +66 2 943 7166-8, Fax: +66 2 943 7169 E-mail: news@scandasia.com Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Møller gregers@scandmedia.com Managing Editor: Joakim Persson Joakim@scandmedia.com Journalist: Nadja Dam Jensen
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Daily news and features here: www.scandasia.com
September 2017
ScandAsia Stories
Ms Katarina Tapio
6
9 Danish-Thai water resource management seminar 16 Sala Sudasiri Sobha - Agneta’s World 18 Thai language corner
Hosted Finnish Your Dinner event
10 Katarina Ekelund New TSCC ED
ScandAsia Business 3 Danish networking in Bangkok With Jyske Bank Gibraltar, Danish Loft Design
9
Priest Christina Lund Herum
8
The new Danish priest to Bangkok
16
12 Techsauce start-up summit
Scandinavian entrepreneurs in attendance
13 Tetra Pak
Showcasing at ProPak Asia
Mr Michael Gaarde -Nielsen
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Hotel Manager at Centara Grand Karon
4 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2017
18
September 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 5
Community
Finnish Your Dinner hosted by Bangkok embassy
O
n Saturday 26 August, as in many other cities and countries around the world, a Finnish Your Dinner was held in Bangkok, hosted by the Embassy of Finland in celebration of the Nordic nation’s centenary year Katarina Tapio, Deputy Head of Mission was the evening’s host as the Ambassador Satu SuikkariKleven was back in Finland to showcase investment opportunities in Asean. The invited guests were an eclectic mix of various business representative and individuals who had contributed this Suomi Finland 100 year to spread awareness about and promote Finland. ScandAsia’s managing editor Joakim Persson had the pleasure of attending, what turned out to be a truly nice evening in good company. During the welcoming of guests all gathered on the terrace overlooking the downtown skyline and Benjakitti Park for chats and drinks. Among the welcome drinks were a blueberry Bellini and a gin tonic based on the Napue Gin, awarded the world’s best gin in the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2015. The Finnish Your dinner menu consisted in Siam Salmon (Lemongrass salted salmon and red pepper coulis, Crayfish Par ty (Crayfish with Tum Yum Consommé, Green Curry Game (Applewood and jasmine tea smoked venison with carrot puréed cabbages rolls and green curry sauce), and Fazer Blue Mousse – all in all a Finnish dinner with a Thai twist. The Deputy Head of Mission introduced each dish. During the dinner Katarina Tapio took the opportunity to thank all guests to their contribution to increasing the awareness about Finland in Thailand and encourage various reflections about Finland from around the table. One of the guests had not even been to Finland yet but was planning a trip for 2018 in order to produce a travel guide book to Finland in the Thai language. Text and photos: Joakim Persson 6 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2017
Sweden and Thailand’s Ambassadors met in Stockholm
News Brief
H
.E. Staffan Her r ström, Sweden’s Ambassador to Thailand, has shared photos from a lunch and meeting that took place in Stockholm. “Great to catch up with the Ambassador of Thailand to Sweden, H.E. Kiattikhun Chartprasert, in his beautiful Residence in Djursholm. Many thanks for the lovely Thai-lunch and inspiring conversations!” writes Staffan Herrström.
New Finnish embassy and ambassador in Myanmar
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s the Diplomatic Mission of Finland Yangon is being turned into an embassy, Finland’s first Ambassador to Myanmar, Riikka Laatu, is due to arrive in country in early September! “After four years of significant changes in development policy, interesting years as Finland’s first Ambassador to Myanmar are awaiting Riikka
Laatu. She is excited about her transfer to Yangon,” writes Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland in a story. At the star t of September Riikka Laatu, Deputy Director General at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, will transfer to her new position as Finland’s Ambassador to Myanmar after spending four years in a ringside seat watching significant changes taking place in development policy. The changes have been numerous: globally the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and at home five different Ministers for International Development, a new Government Report on Development Policy, and budget cuts affecting appropriations and human resources. At the international level the year 2015 was a super year for development policy, according to Laatu. It was the year the international community adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Abeba Action Agenda on development financing, and the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.
Laatu attended the UN Sustainable Development Summit in 2015 where the Agenda 2030 was adopted established,” Laatu recalls. While Laatu’s current job holds her interest, she is excited about going to Myanmar, after all it was her first choice. Myanmar became an important development aid partner for Finland a few years ago, and the country is undergoing rapid change. “Myanmar is an interesting countr y for development policy, and there are even many Finnish companies interested in the country. The peace process is politically fragile. Finland has advocated the process already for years, and we are among its core supporters,” Laatu says. Sources: Diplomatic Mission of Finland Yangon Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland Photos: Marja-Leena Kultanen
Farewell to Charlotta Schlyter, Bangladesh next
O
n 11 August staff at the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok bid farewell to their Deputy Head of Mission, Charlotta
Schlyter. Ms. Schlyter had been with the embassy since September 2015. She is on her way to Dhaka, where she will serve as Sweden’s Ambassador to Bangladesh. “She arrived at post in Bangkok during a very challenging time, but we managed to achieve a lot and have a lot of fun together. We wish her all the best in Bangladesh and we hope she will think of the beautiful Thailand first when she plans her next vacation!” wrote the embassy. Photo credit: Brian Gorlick Source: Embassy of Sweden, Bangkok September 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 7
Community
Christa Lund Herum
new Danish priest in Bangkok
C
hrista Lund Herum – currently based in Phnom Penh – has been selected as the first priest at the new Danish Church in Thailand. Technically, her title is pastor, but since the English word priest and the Danish title præst is so close, most Danes will probably call her priest. The 53-year old Dane currently lives in Cambodia, where she is working for Danmission as Dialogue and Communication Consultant covering Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and India. In 2015 she was ordained priest and has as such worked occasionally as a volunteer for Danish Church Abroad serving Danes living in Cambodia, Myanmar and Bangladesh. From 2014 and up until last year, she lived in Dhaka with the same assignment as she has today. After her new assignment as Danish priest in Bangkok was made public, she made a brief visit to Bangkok in mid-August, but otherwise she will not be back here until shortly before the first meeting in the Church Council on 2 November 2017. Christa Lund Herum’s first assignment abroad was from 2005 to 2007 where she was sent out by Danmission to be Interreligious Coordinator for the Episcopal/Anglican Church, placed in Cairo, Egypt. Between the two assignments, she has had a range of demanding jobs for Danmission in Denmark, working mostly with communication and fundraising. Christa Lund Herum was interviewed by the Danish Church Council in Bangkok and the selection committee of DSUK in Copenhagen simultaneously on Tuesday 27 June along with three other selected candidates and was unanimously chosen as the ideal person to fill this pioneer position in the Danish community in Thailand. “The task of star ting up the big and demanding job of creating a congregation and a well-functioning church for the various groups of Danes in Thailand is one that I can easily see myself enjoy handling,” Christa Lund Herum says. “It is a task that I sincerely has a big desire and determination to engage myself in.” Christa Lund Herum is married to Peter 8 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2017
Herum, who is also working with Danmission and they have 2 children, Jonas 16 years and David 21 years. Many practical issues related to the new position in Bangkok will await her arrival to take up the job, which will probably not be until October.That, however, still leaves enough for her to fulfill the dream of this year having a Danish Christmas service in Bangkok.
Working with Church of Christ in Thailand
The Danish Church in Bangkok will wor k together with Church of Christ in Thailand, the largest protestant Christian association in Thailand. At a ceremony on the 14. September 2017, an agreement with CCT will be signed
by the Danish Church Council represented by Mr. Michael Andersen, Secretary General of the Danish Thai Chamber of Commerce, and HE Mr. Uffe Wolffhechel, the Danish Ambassador to Thailand. Church of Christ is a member of a national committee representing all Protestant groups in Thailand and, through its institute for the study of religion and culture, seeks to foster interreligious understanding and dialogue. It is also a member of the World Council of Churches and the Christian Conference of Asia.
Danish-Thai water resource management seminar
News Brief
T
he Danish Embassy is holding a four-day Water Resource Management Seminar in Bangkok with Thai key influencers. The event is organised by the Thai Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute with support from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Royal Danish Embassy. Danish companies, DHI (a global leader in solving the world’s toughest challenges in water environments) and Danfoss (a global producer of products and services used in areas such as cooling food, air conditioning, heating buildings, controlling electric motors, compressors, drives and powering mobile machinery), offer extensive know-how within the field of Sustainable Green Water Technology. “Huge potential for further collaboration Thai authorities are very determined to improve their current water resource management. Among other things, the seminar focused on strengthening Thailand’s water management in order to prevent flooding and water scarcity,” writes the Embassy of Denmark in Bangkok. The Danish Embassy hosted a reception, which provided a fruitful oppor tunity for the involved parties to discuss future collaborations. Source: Embassy of Denmark in Bangkok
Finnish Science Center, Heureka, at Bangkok seminar
T
he National Astronomical Research of Thailand (NARIT) hosted the International Training Centre in Astronomy (ITCA) colloquium titled “Astronomy for STEM Education” in Bangkok between 7th - 11th of August, 2017. Dr. Tapio Koivu, CEO of the Finnish Science Center, Heureka, provided a presentation on “Voluntar y Learning in Science Education”, covering the innovative characteristics of Finnish Science Education and Free-choice learning concepts. Heureka is a non-profit-making organization and introduces the public to science and technology in an engaging and interactive way. Source: Embassy of Finland in Bangkok September 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 9
Business
Katarina Ekelund
new TSCC Executive Director: a true Swedish-Thai
T
By Joakim Persson
he Thai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce (TSCC) has appointed a new Executive Director. Master’s graduate Katarina Ekelund, the daughter of her Thai mother and Swedish father, has in August 2017 replaced Ms Jiraya Chanchon who has decided to concentrate on own businesses. “I understand that Jiraya has done a great job for the chamber, as its Executive Director, but her own business increasingly demanded her time. So she decided that she needed to focus on her business projects,” comments Katarina.
Internship at Swedish Embassy
As a mixed Swedish-Thai she grew up in Sweden and finalised her master’s degree in International Business and Politics from Copenhagen Business School in 2016. As part of her studies she did an internship in 2015 at the Embassy of Sweden, Bangkok. “There, I worked for the trade and promotion section under the then Deputy Head of Mission Charlotta Schlyter, assisting the commercial work of the Embassy. The work included handling promotion of Swedish trade interests in Thailand but also promoting Swedish culture.This experience sparked an interest in business internationalization and trade promotion. I found that to be very interesting and exciting to work with!” “The internship connected well to my master’s, as the work covered international, political and economic dynamics. My studies provided a fundamental understanding of what an embassy and also a chamber of commerce works with, especially in terms of promoting trade interests in a larger political context – and this knowledge is highly relevant, not least in Thailand!” she continues. This stint at the Swedish Embassy would later play an important factor in that Katarina has now landed this role with TSCC. Her former supervisor at the embassy initially recommended her for the job when TSCC was hunting for a replacement to Ms Jiraya. Meanwhile, Katarina had returned to Thailand after finishing her degree in Copenhagen. ““I actively searched for oppor tunities in Thailand and initially came back for a job at an international sustainability company, South Pole Group [world’s leading premium emission reduction project developer] and worked there mainly with communications. Later, another job opportunity came up for one of the South Pole Group founders, at his Germain-Thai start-up. This role overall fitted me better as I was tasked to help them grow, working mainly on the financial side managing investor relations, communications an funding.” 10 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2017
Then she suddenly got a call from TSCC’s representative, and several meetings followed to discuss the role. “I thought it sounded very interesting, and things moved on fruitfully from there. Both parties felt that we had a very good match.”
From start-up to TSCC
Katarina was in the start-up world which she describes as “very vibrant” and “very exciting”, and where she had a very exciting and fast-paced job that she enjoyed. And yet, the Swedes in Thailand could entice her to move over to the world of the chambers of commerce. “What was decisive was the potential to develop both personally and professionally. The combination of working with helping businesses grow and with trade-related questions, while also dealing with political institutions in Thailand and at the same time having this Swedish connection – I think it is a rare match and very exciting. My previous roles have focused more on one single area, while this role is very broad – plus this is a role requiring a high level of leadership and personal responsibility, something that was lacking at my previous jobs.” Commenting on her appointment the TSCC President, Mr Eric Hallin says: “We were pleased to have the opportunity to employ Katarina as our new Executive Director. We believe that her personality, strengthened by a great educational background and an interesting work histor y, her Thai/Swedish heritage and not least an
We believe that her personality, strengthened by a great educational background and an interesting work history, her Thai/Swedish heritage and not least an entrepreneurial spirit, will help the Chamber to prosper
entrepreneurial spirit, will help the Chamber to prosper.”
More collaborations
What Katarina wants to achieve in her role as ED she says is partly to develop the collaboration more with other organisations sharing the same end goal as part of Team Sweden such as the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok and Business Sweden. “I’m confident we can have a closer
collaboration and utilize the synergies that are there. And the collaboration with other Nordic Chambers can be strengthened, which is also something I would like to work on. The Nordic economies are small compared to other Western European countries, but together we are stronger. Other larger chambers of commerce (German, French etc.) are already leveraging the benefits of collaborating closely, I have understood.” Being attractive to members and increase the Chamber’s growth is another must priority: This is something we must work more actively with and we need to become better at showing what value we can offer to members. We must review our current offerings; what benefits we provide, and if there’s anything more, or else, we can do. I think the Chamber has a pretty good member base now – around 120 – so it’s very important and increase this base in the coming year.” Having grown up in Sweden, one wonders how her Thai language is. “I’m trying, faltering a bit.” she laughs. In Sweden she did not speak much Thai other than listening to it on the occasions when her mother scolded her. “We tended to speak Swedish since my father cannot speak Thai. The older we became the less Thai me and my siblings spoke. Now I understand quite a lot of basic Thai conversation, if they do not speak too fast. I have a bit difficulty in overcoming the barrier of speaking myself, since I am not used to actively use the language. But now I‘m trying and will take lessons once a week, as I already know basic reading and writing.”
How can you make your money work while you enjoy life?
Pontus Cavefors Svensson pontus.cavefors@nordea.sg
www.nordeaprivatebanking.com Nordea Bank S.A, Singapore Branch is part of Nordea Group, the leading financial services group in the Nordic and Baltic Sea regions. Some products and services may, due to local regulations, not be available to individuals resident in certain countries and their availability may depend, among other things, on the investment risk profile of persons in receipt of this publication or on any legislation to which they are subject. Nothing in this publication should be construed as an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to purchase, subscribe to or sell any investment or product, or to engage in any other transaction or provide any kind of financial or banking service in any jurisdiction where Nordea Bank S.A., Singapore Branch or any of its affiliates do not have the necessary license. Published by Nordea Bank S.A., R.C.S. Luxembourg No. B 14.157 on behalf of Nordea Bank S.A., Singapore Branch, 138 Market street Capita Green #09-03 Singapore 048946. www.nordeaprivatebanking.com subject to the supervision of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (www.mas.gov.sg).
September 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 11
Business
Susie A Ruff (Denmark) moderated the panel ‘Corporate Innovation: How Opening Up is a Win-Win Scenario’
’Blockchain In Real Estate: Applications for improved property management’ by Henrik Hjelte
Scandinavian attendance at Techsauce start-up summit in Bangkok
G
By Joakim Persson lobal tech leaders gathered at Southeast Asia’s Techsauce Global Summit 2017 on 2829 July in Bangkok, with several Scandinavians among the invited
speakers. Industrial Tech, UrbanTech, FinTech and Digital transformation were key trends as the summit drew more than 250 global tech leaders and 6,000 participants around the world to share their knowledge and make discussion, while business matching spaces are provided. The big turnout of tech and star t-up enthusiasts reflected a huge paradigm shift of what companies and ordinary people are interested in in the era of technology revolution, especially within the theme topics. In a Venture Capital session on 28 July the Singapore-based Swede Gabriel Lundberg, Operating Partner of SeedPlus, attended a Fireside Chat within the topic of artificial intelligence: ‘The Case for Autonomous Machines and Why All Investors Should Care. Fur ther more , Henr ik Hjelte , CEO at Cromaway, attended at panel on ‘Building a Trust Economy: The Success Stories of Blockchain’. And the Dane Jakob Lykkegaard, Co-founder & CEO, Playlab attended a Venture Capital session on ‘Investing in VR & AR: Learnings from looking over 2000 VR/AR start-ups’. Among the other sessions was the Accelerate panel ‘Challenges of Investing in Thailand and SEA’. And on the Main Stage session featured for instance panels: ‘Dialogue with Policymakers: 12 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2017
Global Best Practices of Gov Suppor t for Entrepreneurship’ (with Korn Chatikavanij, Chairman Thai Fintech Ass and Surin Pitsuwan, chairman of Future Innovative Thailand Institute); ‘Leading Digital Transformation: Re-engineering organizational culture, mindset and governance for the Exponential Age’; m‘Failed Startup PostMortems: Surprising Lessons Learned’ including Sompoat Chansomboon, MD of Dtac Accelerate; and a keynote presentation by Joshua Pas, MD AddVentures by SCG Siam Cement Group on the topic ‘The New Industrial Revolution: How Corporate Giants Must Transform With the Industry – and How Start-ups Can Help’. On the second Techsauce day Swedish CEO & Design Director of MAQE in Bangkok, Andreas Holmer, held a workshop on Corporate Digitalization: ‘Digital Evolution – How to Innovate under changing circumstances’. Henrik Hjelte, meanwhile, made his second appearance, a keynote speech within UrbanTech: ’Blockchain In Real Estate: Applications for improved property management’. ‘Future Lifestyles Outside the Home: How tomorrow’s generation will eat, shop, play & entertain’ was another UrbanTech session. And from Denmark Susie A Ruff – CEO & Founder, Ruff & Co participated in the UrbanTech panel ‘Where Digital Health and Urban Lifestyle intersect: How HealthTech can help to improve our standard of living’. Another panel within Corporate Digitalization covered ‘The Consequence of Cooperation: How Corporate-Star t-up Par tnership is the Secret Sauce to Success’, incl. 500 Star t-ups par tner
and True Corporation representatives, while ‘Future of Work and Death of Recruitment: How Machine Learning, AI and Robotics will disrupt Human Resources’ was another interesting session including WorkVenture, GetLinks and TribeHired. The main stage saw sessions within, among others, ‘Star t-ups 4.0: Propelling SEA Towards Tech Innovation and Integration’; ‘How to scale FinTeh companies across ASEAN: Challenges & Oppor tunities that founders should know’ including Roy Teo, Director FinTech & Innovation Group Monetary, MAS (Singapore); and Susie A Ruff moderated the panel ‘Corporate Innovation: How Opening Up is a Win-Win Scenario’. In attendance at TechSauce were also Anette Nordvall and Fonder/CEO Peter Alexanderson of Covr Security from Sweden who has been picked, among 8 start-ups from worldwide for Bangkok Bank’s new fintech accelerator programme InnoHub. The summit also provided spaces for business matching between investors, star t-ups and companies, which is expected more than 500 deals would be made in the meeting. This summit is co-organized by big contributors such as SCG’s CVC arm AddVentures, Ananda Development Plc, dtac Accelerate, Digital Ventures, True corporations, Krungsri Finnovate, Visa and many more from both Thai and overseas companies.Techsauce Global Summit was first organized in 2016 under the name of Techsauce Summit, aimed to be Southeast Asia’s largest technology conference.
Business
ProPak: Tetra Pak showcased end-to-end food processing and packaging solutions Text and Photos: Joakim Persson
A
s ProPak Asia, the international processing and packaging technology event in Bangkok, celebrated 25 year s in 2017, Tetra Pak par ticipated with a big showcase themed: ‘Moving Food Forward. Together’. Tetra Pak, the Swedish world-leader in food processing and packaging solutions showcased their processing as well as automation and service solutions, with experts flown in to support the Thailand/Southeast Asia team. Tetra Pak also held presentations in the form of their ‘Knowledge Sharing Seminars’ with industry exper ts’ insights on their innovative products, solutions, and food processing that helps their customers innovate and grow their businesses. Topics ranged from coconut water processing, benefits of efficient mixing in food production as well as solutions to optimize production cost. Customers were able to learn about best industry practices and have open discussions with their experts. Speaking to ScandAsia, Mr Ashish Dahiya, Cluster Leader Marketing, Portfolio & Category Management began by describing their market position: Tetra Pak has been in Thailand for a very long time, 40 years, so the customers know us very well, we work very closely with theme both on the packaging and processing side. The reason for the theme at the trade show he described as: “We’re trying to better showcase and communicate our capabilities outside our core areas – dairy and beverages – for which customers know us best. So, on the food processing side we are also active in ice cream and prepared food categories. As consumer lifestyle changes, with more urban lifestyle entering, there is more demand for prepared food. We want to showcase what we have done in Europe and in the U.S and are now bringing those solutions also into Asean.” “Tetra Pak helps customers to come up with new solutions in dairy, beverage, prepared food, cheese and ice cream and some new areas like cosmetics, which is also a lot about handling and processing raw material.“ Tetra Pak aimed at sharing insights with the visitors about Tetra Pak’s end-to-end solutions that they are currently alone in offering, regarding all the way from raw material reception, to
Tetra Pak experts from headquarters participated in ProPak Asia processing, filling, packaging and distribution of palletised goods. “In Propak you meet our exper tise in processing the food, which then links to the solutions that are in the market, with product samples. Then we also have our automation endto-end solutions which also go end-to-end all the way from the raw material to the shipping of the palletised goods, and that we can showcase,” continued Ashish Dahiya. “The packages in our booth are samples of the products that we process.” “We’re also showcasing our solutions in the areas of rice, nuts, grains and seeds solutions – new solutions we have that are going to help customers improve their production capabilities, or get more flexibility out of their existing infrastructure. So we share our knowhow both in terms of the equipment and solutions as well as the challenges that they face in processing and managing plants.”
“And we want to showcase the experts we have not only in the market but at Tetra Pak, so customers get the opportunity to talk to and hear from those from our centre of expertise in Sweden.” Asean is a key growth area for Tetra Pak where they are committed to continuous investment. Their processing team is expanding fast in South East Asia, including Thailand, where they continue to strengthen their local presence for executing projects for our customers and for providing outstanding after-sales service.Tetra Pak is currently building a new plant at its Rayong site in Thailand, dedicated to producing closures for carton packaging. Tetra Pak Thailand has over 45 packaging customers and almost two hundred processing customers. They are the strategic par tner of choice for customers in dairy, beverage, prepared food, ice cream and cheese. September 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 13
Community
showcases the “new” Karon beach, Phuket
H
By Joakim Persson otel Manager Michael GaardeNielsen is in a prime position to give the best possible update from Karon Beach on Phuket, a beach previously very much dominated by tourists from the Nordic countries. Nowadays, this is a much more international destination in terms of its visitors – just like the rest of the island. And it has been cleaned up, as part of the well-publicized Phuket beach clean-up campaign initiated in 2014 (where food stalls, massage huts and illegal stalls, as well as most umbrellas and sunbeds were removed). And the local businesses are increasingly being spruced up! Michael Gaarde-Nielsen manages Centara Grand Beach Resor t Phuket, which opened in October 2010 as the Thai brand’s Phuketbased five-star flagship resor t, designed with an interesting colonial style that in the region is known as ‘Peranakan’ culture, and in Thailand called ‘Sino-Por tuguese’ architecture. Perched on the hillside, at the northern end of Karon, this five-star proper ty is also one of the few hotels that sit beachfront there (directly at the 14 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2017
edge of the sand) and stands out with is pastel pink-hued facades! “Tourism has changed a lot in Karon and Kata, and even Phuket as a whole has changed a lot over the last five-six years, from being a six-month destination to an all-year-round destination. And what you are seeing in Karon and Kata is also the development of all the shops and restaurants; old shop houses being replaced with new more attractive buildings,” begins the Dane over lunch at the resort. “The beach road has been renovated and all power lines put underground, as one of the few places on the island, along with Old Phuket Town. The whole area has developed into a proper destination,” he continues. Since November 2015 Karon Beach has so called ‘umbrella zones’, which represents 10 per cent of the beach, operated by the municipality under the management zone policy, where tourists are allowed to bring their own sun lounges and umbrellas. On the rest of the beach they can still bring mats and towels for private use. “The beach looks very pristine, we are getting
a lot of feedback that the beach looks more prestigious than before. Now it’s like a postcard that you can take and send home. There is the ten per cent zone on this beach near the mid of Karon beach, where you can enjoy drinks. It was set up a couple of months after the beach clean up started. All other vendors move out when this zone was set up. It’s definitely a positive development.” Michael is confident the “new” beach will remain clean.There are places where these things are not allowed at all along Thailand’s coast but Phuket has the ten per cent zone. Reflecting on the tourism to Centara Grand in Karon, he says that the hotel follows the trend in Karon as a whole. “We used to have a lot of the Scandinavian market that then turned into Russians but has lately become more international in its mix. Before, you didn’t have the Chinese coming in, while they now visit all year round, along with Australians, British and South Africans these days. It’s still determined based on season. In the winter dry season it’s more of the European market coming here on long-haul flights, and you still have all the Scandinavians coming even
though they prefer to go more outside Phuket. But we still have a good base. Many of them are families, returning guests that know the area. We have people who have stayed here every year since we opened in 2010. Some have been here twice a year!” And Michael should know, as he has spent long enough time to witness this development in person; first in Karon and then in Kata (the next beach further south on Phuket) with other Centara Hotels & Resorts properties. In describing the five-star resort he currently manages the Dane highlights its architecture: “Of course the uniqueness of the structure and that fits very much to Phuket differentiates us. You don’t really see many other hotels that have that of this size. And then the waterpark with a jumping station and water slides, and we also boast an adult-only, infinity pool overlooking the beach and the ocean. “You don’t feel that it’s busy when you walk around when there are often up to 600 guests in the hotel. Of course you will see more people at the pool but around the gardens and the adult pool it’s very quiet.
Guests staying in the Villas also entitled to Club privileges, which include the Club Lounge – where we are conducting the interview – with its 200 sq. m of indoor and outdoor terrace space offering more privacy. All in all, the resort also has eight F&B outlets, plus of course a spa, so guests can spread on many venues. Centara has also launched the beach club concept COAST at this proper ty, where guests can – bare feet – enjoy dining and drinking paired with DJ music. “You sit more or less on the beach, with good food, including a lot of seafood, on the menu.” T h e r e s o r t i s a l s o a d r aw i n t h e neighbourhood: “From our sister property next door we actually have some people who comes down to use our facilities. People who come to the beach in this end otherwise are people who know the area, who have stayed a long time in Phuket, consisting in both locals and foreigners. And so, more and more people get to know our beach club and come to utilize it.” Coming for a weekend trip from say Singapore or Bangkok is of course very much
possible. “Fly out Friday afternoon and back late Sunday, or stay until Monday morning. Find a resort to stay in and use it as a base to explore Phuket, explore the food that’s in the hotel, but also the food that you find in Phuket Town! Explore that as a separate destination.” “Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket can obviously arrange a chauffeured trip – and with a private tour guide should the guests so wish.” Commenting on the future, after already quite many years on Phuket, Michael says: “It’s very unusual that we get to stay this long in a proper ty or a destination in the hospitality industry. But I foresee to continue with Centara as long as the chain continues developing. There are always opportunities coming up and it’s a good product that we have in our resorts, with the Thai hospitality and character as a strong feature.”
September 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 15
Agneta’s World
Classic music at Sa On a Sunday afternoon in June, I discovered Sala Sudasiri Sobha in Lad Prao. This unique concert hall was very hard to find, but worth the long taxi ride once you arrive.
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friend and I had signed up to attend a piano recital by khun Pana Yontararak, Khun Nat Yontararak’s son. We arrived at this beautiful villa, built colonial style and were greeted by Khun Paranee and her distinguished mother Sugar. The Yontararak family is dedicated to music; they live and breath music. Father Nat says: “My life is full of dreams. One of my dreams was to have an ideal concert hall which has beautiful acoustics along with a beautiful piano (Steinway & Sons). It would be a hall in which both performers and the listeners are equally fulfilled since it would unite them together through music.” The most important person and supporter of khun Nat has been H.H. Princess Sudasiri Sobha, the daughter of H.R.H Prince Chudadhuj Dharadilok who was the 9th son of King Rama V and Queen Sri Bajarindra. Khun Nat started to play piano at an age of 9 and gave his debut recital when he was 20 (his junior year in Chulalongkorn). He then went to London to study music more seriously after graduation. His dream was to become a professional musician. He studied music many years in London and received a scholarship, took his Master’s degree at the reading University.
Khun Nat became a famous and a popular piano teacher and many students have practiced on his Steinway under his guidance. Khun Nat married Sugar, the love of his life. Together, after marriage, they started their piano school. “When the school, Nat Studio, celebrated its 25th anniversary, we had the wisdom to build this concert hall,” khun Nat says. Khun Nat is also an architect, graduated in 1977, so he was building the hall himself with a little help from his friends. The name Sala Sudasiri Sobha was granted permission of M.R. Sunida Kitiyakara who is the only daughter of “Than Mae” H.H. late Princess Sudasiri Sobha.
Our concert
When we arrived, it was to attend a special Sunday concert, in which Khun Pana, the son of Khun Nat and his wife Sugar, played the piano. He started the recital with Muzio Clementi: Sonata in F-sharp minor Op. 25 No.5 continued with Franz Liszt; Funerailles and finished with the Sonata No.1 “Glory to our Great Kings”. This young man also has an incredible education. Khun Pana is most grateful to the late Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana who presided over his Debut Recital in 2003. Khun Pana won an Albert Roussel scholarship
a la Sudasiri Sobha to study at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. After he moved to Italy to study under Maestro Pierpalo Levi and Maestro Uber to Martinelli and received “Diploma di corso di alto perfezionamento in pianoforte” from Academia of Perugia under Stefano Ragnia and Patrizio Cerrone. Khun Pana has become the first Thai piano student to be accepted and graduate from the State Conservatory in Italy. He was awarded as the most outstanding student in 2013. Since then he has performed at several places around the world. You could easily write a book about khun Pana’s concerts and life. Since 2013 he has been assistant director of Nat Music School and a lecturer for music appreciation of the Faculty of Music Engineering and Multimedia of King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang. It took his father Nat, 7 months to write Sonata No 1 “Glory to our Great Kings” and it took Khun Pana 37 minutes to play it. I can just say that it is a magical play, so beautiful. During the evening 5 artists presented their paintings and every painting was accompanied with a piece of music. For music lovers I highly recommend a visit to this unique bijou concer t hall, designed to offer Bangkok a place where fine music can be performed and enjoyed in an intimate
surrounding far removed from the city’s hustle and bustle. Music builds people. Music builds community. Music builds us. Sala Sudasiri Sobha was built for music. Fine music is an international language that leads the mind toward the heart and the heart toward the mind, fusing the two and infusing them with discipline that is one of humanity’s greatest and most lasting achievements.
Your experience
If you are longing for some classic and beautiful music in a quiet surrounding, I suggest you visit one of the upcoming concerts. For more information please visit. www. SalaSudasiriSobha.com or on Facebook Sala Sudasiri Sobha. If you want to enjoy a bit of classic music closer to town, you can go to Hotel Oriental Mandarin in the late afternoon and listen to a string orchestra performing in the lobby. It’s a wonderful place to sit down and relax, watching people from all over the world coming and going. This is a historical place that takes you back in time, you feel the wing-strokes………enjoy a tea or why not a glass of wine and dream, just because you are worth it.
September 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 17
มุมภาษาไทย l mum pha:să: thai l Thai Language Corner
Thai at Work
I
By Klavs Johansen (thai@snakthai.dk) n natural continuation of our recent focus on education, we shall this month look at useful Thai for the workplace. We already covered some in our April 2015 column, “Getting Down to Business in Thai” – do look it up on scandasia.com – and this time we will expand with some phrases meant for the general work situation. มีอะไรให้ช่วยไหม / mi: àrai hâi chûai mái / ~ can I help (you) (with something)? มีอะไรรับใช้ไหม / mi: àrai ráp chá:i mái / ~ can I be of any service? As for Thai society at large, the hierarchy at a work place is reflected in the language and the language tends to be more formal at work than with friends or family. When speaking to superiors or even equals from other depar tments, the polite particles, ครับ / khráp / for men and ค่ะ / khâ / – high tone คะ / khá / after questions – for women, may be added at the end of any expression, to complete the speech, or used affirmative or merely to confirm receipt of a message. Thus, a woman may ask her superior, direct or indirect, มีอะไรให้ช่วยไหมคะ / mi: àrai hâi chûai mái khá’ / ~ can I help you? and her superior may reply ค่ะ / khâ / ~ yes, please, or a man may be heard asking his boss มีอ ะไรรับ ใช้ไ หมครับ / mi: àrai ráp chá:i mái khráp / ~ can I be of any service? The boss may respond by asking the employee to เอากล่องใบนี้ไปวางในห้องเก็บของ / ao klòrng bai ní: pai wa:ng nai hôrng kèp khŏr:ng / ~ take this box to the store room. Depending on the nature of the boss, the status of the employee and the general circumstances, the boss may soften his instruction 18 ScandAsia.Thailand • September 2017
by use of the par ticle หน่อย / nòri /, actually meaning ‘a bit’, and say
เอากล่องใบนี้ไปวางในห้องเก็บของหน่อย / ao klòrng
bai ní: pai wa:ng nai hôrng kèp khŏr:ng nòri / ~ please take this box to the store room, or, even softer,
ช่ ว ยเอากล่ อ งใบนี้ ไ ปวางในห้ อ งเก็ บ ของหน่ อ ย /
chûai ao klòrng bai ní: pai wa:ng nai hôrng kèp khŏr:ng nòri / ~ please help take this box to the store room. Now, assume that the employee has already been asked several times to take the box to the store room before reporting for duty with his question, the boss could choose to harden the original instruction by adding the particle สิ / sì’ / and we have เอากล่องใบนี้ไปวางในห้องเก็บของสิ / ao klòrng bai ní: pai wa:ng nai hôrng kèp khŏr:ng sì’ / ~ do take this box to the store room! More, and somewhat shor ter, instructions could be: มานี่ / ma: nî: / ~ come here, มานี่หน่อย / ma: nî: nòri / ~ please come here, and มานี่สิ / ma: nî: sì’ / ~ do come here! เอามานี่ / ao ma: nî: / ~ bring it here, เอามานี่หน่อย / ao ma: nî: nòri / ~ please bring it here, เอามานี่สี / ao ma: nî: sì’ / ~ do bring it here! Continue with: เอามาให้ / ao ma: hâi / ~ bring it to me, เอาไปให้เขา / ao pai hâi kháo / ~ bring it to him, เอาไปให้เขาดู / ao pai hâi kháo du: / ~ bring it for him to have a look, เอาคู่มือไปให้เขาดู / ao khû: mue: pai hâi kháo du: / ~ bring the manual for him to have a look. Feel free to add the particles หน่อย / nòri / or สิ / sì’ / to these examples according to the circumstances.
Another par ticle, stressing that this is a request, or just making an order sound nicer and more like a request, is ด้วย / dûai /. You may add it like this เอามาด้วย / ao ma: dûai / ~ bring it here, please, ช่วยดูให้ด้วย / chüai du: hâi dûai / ~ please help look at this, please help look after this, ซื้อกระดาษเอสี่มาด้วย / súe: kràdà:t e: sì: ma: dûai / ~ buy some copy paper, please. We end this month’s column with a few more indispensables: คุณนุชมาหรือยัง / khun nút ma: rŭe: yang / ~ has miss Nuch arrived? คุณนุชลาป่วย / khun nút la: pùai / ~ miss Nuch is on sick leave, คุณนุชลากิจ / khun nút la: kìt / ~ miss Nuch is on leave for personal business, ขอยืมเอกสารต้นฉะบับ / khŏr: yue:m è:kkàsă:n tôn chàbàp / ~ may I please borrow the original document?, ช่วยถ่ายสำ�เนาให้หน่อย / chûai thà:i sămnao hâi nòri / ~ please make a copy, ช่ ว ยถ่ า ยสำ � เนาสองชุ ด ให้ ห น่ อ ย / chûai thà:i sămnao sŏr:ng chút hâi nòri / ~ please make two copies, อย่าลืมนะ / yà: lue:m ná’ / ~ don’t forget it! and, finally, whenever lunch hour approaches, the customary, ทานข้าวหรือยัง / tha:n khâ:o rŭe: yang / ~ have you eaten? ยัง / yang / ~ not yet, ไปด้วยกันนะ / pai dûai kan ná’ / ~ let’s go together. See you at the Thai Language Corner on Facebook.
September 2017 • ScandAsia.Thailand 19
Congratulations...
To our superheroes, cowgirls, artists and footballers who make up our Class of 2017, on their IB Results 100% pass rate from a cohort of 114 students (We are not academically selective)
22% achieved 40 points or more out of 45 They achieved an average score of 35 points (The World Average is 30 points)
We wish you all the best as you spread across the globe, to attend top universities and take advantage of the many post-secondary options your excellent results have opened for you. admissions@patana.ac.th www.patana.ac.th Tel: 02 785 2200
Celebrating 60 years of British International Education
Bangkok Patana is a not-for-profit IB world school accredited by CIS and NEASC