THE NATION, AGENCIES

Thai public-health author-ities yesterday took stepsto impose an emergency

watch on the swine-flu out-break, which has been spread-ing in Mexico and threateningto become a global pandemic.

However, there is no orderyet to quarantine arriving pas-sengers suspected of having theflu at Thai airports.

People should stay calm, saidPubic Health Minister WitthayaKaewparadai, adding the H1N1virus strain found in the swineflu in Mexico, had never beenfound in Thailand.

While the swine flu originat-ed in pigs, Dr PrajBunyawongwiroj, the ministry’spermanent secretary, said hewould not recommend peopleto stop eating pork.

He added that human-to-human transmission of the virusis possible through direct con-tact of body fluids or mucusthrough sneezing and coughing.

In New Zealand, the

Associated Press reported that10 students “likely” have swineflu after a school trip to Mexico,as governments across Asiabegan quarantining those withsymptoms of the deadly virusand some issued travel warn-ings for Mexico.

At least 81 people have died

from severe pneumonia causedby the flu-like illness in Mexico,according to the World HealthOrganisation (WHO), whichdeclared the virus a public-health emergency of “pandem-ic potential”.

The virus is usually contract-ed through direct contact with

pigs, though some limited casesof human-to-human transmis-sion have been reported.

Auckland Regional PublicHealth Services director DrJulia Peters said: “Ten [NewZealand] students have testedpositive for Influenza A, andthese results will now be sent to

the WHO laboratory inMelbourne to ascertain whetherit is the H1N1 swine influenza.”

H1N1 influenza is a subset ofinfluenza A that is a combina-tion of bird, pig and humanviruses, according to the WHO.

Symptoms include a fever ofmore than 100 degreesFahrenheit (37.8 degreesCelsius), body aches, coughing,a sore throat, respiratory con-gestion and, in some cases, vom-iting and diarrhoea.

Governments across theAsia-Pacific region and in theMiddle East were stepping upsurveillance for the deadly virusafter Mexico closed schools,museums, libraries and theatresin a bid to contain the outbreak.

About 1,000 people mayhave been sickened there. USauthorities said 11 people wereinfected with swine flu, and allrecovered or are recovering.

At Tokyo’s Narita airport –among the world’s busiest withmore than 96,000 passengerseach day – officials installed adevice at the arrival gate forflights from Mexico to check thetemperatures of passengers.

Hong Kong and Taiwan sayvisitors to infected areas whohave fever will be quarantined– a precaution the Philippines isalso considering.

In Bangkok, Dr Praj saidmedical personnel are now onstandby, ready to help any sickforeign visitor.

Budget cut: TheInternal TradeDepartment’s opera-tions are expected tosuffer next year as thegovernment hasabruptly cut its budgetby more than half.

Best growth: BestWestern International,the world’s largesthotel-chain operator, isexpanding in Thailanddespite political prob-lems and the globaleconomic crisis.

Bright outlook: The

Stock Exchange ofThailand (SET) shouldcontinue its upwardtrend this week follow-ing the government’slifting of the state ofemergency in andaround Bangkok.

Strategic talk: The IMF says it is time totalk exit strategiessince all members nowendorse the stimulusmeasures taken tocombat the globalfinancial crisis and theneed to clean upbanks’ bad assets.

HIGH ALERT FOR SWINE FLUMinistry says noreason to panic;no orders yet to quarantinepassengers

BIG FIRMS RANK TRUST AS TOP ATTRIBUTE IN STAFFJIWAMOL KANOKSILP THE NATION

Trustworthiness and teamworkhave emerged as the top quali-ties sought in prospectiveemployees by large corporationsduring this challenging eco-nomic downturn.

So you’re expected to be hon-est, nice and cooperative whenjoining a team, say top recruit-ment executives of majoremployers, including PTT,Kasikornbank, StandardChartered Bank, AIS, DTACand Loxley.

A deep store of knowledgeand highly-tuned skills are noless important, but many com-petent applicants have lost theirchance to work for a big firmlargely because they’re seen aslikely candidates for a “one-manshow” or possess the traits to bebossy or even deceitful.

“We can compromise in otherareas, but if they can’t be trust-ed we don’t want them,” PitipanTepartimargorn, executive vicepresident for corporate humanresources at PTT, said recently.

Dawarit Tansuphasiri, vice

president of human resourcesat Loxley, couldn’t agree more.

“What is totally unacceptableis dishonesty,” he said.

At DTAC, attitude is moreimportant than talent.

“We need those who have thesame attitude as our corporateculture. Attitude is hard tochange but skills can be devel-oped,” said Patraporn Sirodom,chief people officer at TotalAccess Communication.

This is also the case atAdvanced Info Service.

“We focus on teamwork,those who love to bluff others orsuppress others to make them-selves look good are not wantedas they would break the team,”said Tippawan Sirikoon, assis-tant vice president for humanresources management at AIS.

Other preferable character-istics are passion and a positiveattitude.

“What we’re looking at iswhether they have passion. Dothey say the word ‘pride’,” saidCara Ang, senior executive vicepresident and head of humanresources at StandardChartered Bank (Thai).

Despite the “buyer’s market”for labour in the current eco-nomic crisis, job opportunitiesstill abound in banking, retail,agriculture, trading and energy.

As GDP is expected to con-tract by 2-5 per cent this year,the first time since 1988, at least1.5 million people could bethrown out of work.

Unemployment will likelyworsen this and next quarter as

new graduates enter the shrink-ing labour market.

“Usually, we [Kasikornbank]receive around 20,000 jobapplications per year, but thisyear we expect to get up to50,000 job applications. Thereare many more people lookingfor a job,” said DuenpenPawakranond, senior vice pres-ident and head of humanresources at the bank.

“More temporary jobs willreplace permanent staff in allindustries. Those who neverwanted to work with us came to apply for a job this year,” hesaid.

Kasikornbank plans to fill4,000 positions this year, buck-ing the trend of a dwindlinglabour market, which is expect-ed to be stagnant for at least twomore years.

Recruitment at Loxleydepends heavily on the govern-ment of the month, as evidencedby the on-and-off policytowards the online lottery busi-ness for which the firm has wona concession.

“We’ve waited and shoul-dered the burden for two years

already [in terms of recruitmentpreparation],” Dawarit said.

Loxley’s staffing needs alsoreflect progress in other gov-ernment projects such as masstransit rail lines and theSuvarnabhumi Airport expressrail link.

The government’s policy on3G mobile phone networks isalso unclear.

“We’ve already prepared ourexisting staff for the new busi-ness, but we might need morepeople, but the additional staffwill not be more than 5 per centof the current total [if the 3Gproject goes ahead],” saidTippawan from AIS.

While PTT has scaled backits target for new hires, openingsremain at CPF (100-200 jobs),Siam Cement (300), CentralHotel unit (1,000), CentralRetail Corp (10,000), TescoLotus (4,000) and JMTNetwork Service (200).

The Nation is running a serieson job opportunities withindepth reports on individualfirms every Monday, startingtoday, on the MONEY page.

PUBLIC HEALTH

nationmultimedia.com MONDAY, April 27, 2009 / VOLUME 34, NO 52215 / Bt25

Thailand’s biggest business daily

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Sought-after qualities:PassionateEager to learn new thingsDynamic personalityTeam-work orientedSolution orientedSelf-confidentBut avoid being aggressive, impatient, bossy or "too complicated" to handle etc.

A QUARANTINE OFFICER monitors travellers with a thermographic device at an arrival gate at Narita InternationalAirport, east of Tokyo, yesterday.

AP

Plastic exports to slumpThailand’s export of plastic products is expectedto shrink by 15-20 per cent this year following aslump in global demand and the falling price ofplastic resin.

Somsak Borrisutthanakul, managing director ofThai Plastic Bags Industries, one of the leadingplastic-makers in the country, said that overalldemand has been shrinking due to global econom-ic crisis. The country’s exports of plastic items,excluding plastic resin, was worth Bt90 billion lastyear. Decline in plastic imports was also due tooutput cuts in automotive and electronic sectors.

Somsak said the upstream plastic industry isexpected to be hit less as production of plasticresins will still be around 6 million tonnes thisyear.

He said that local plastic manufacturers mustimprove their production process to make bio-plastic to create value-added products and avoidnon-trade barriers from trading partners over-seas. – CHALIDA EKVITTHAYAVECHNUKUL, THE NATION

the fact that Thailand can offer high-quality products at reasonable prices,compared to China’s cheaper pricesand lower quality. Drawn by quality,The Monk has been approached by amaker of animlated films in Malaysiafor a subcontracted production.

Nitipat said more producers wouldcome to Thailand, if the governmentcan provide support, to boost the out-sourcing business. In Malaysia andSingapore, the governments offer stu-dios, which reduces foreign produc-ers’ costs for their investors.

The company also wants to createits own works. However, it realisesthat this requires huge investmentand marketing support if it’s lookingto compete with producers in Asiancountries like China, Malaysia andSingapore.

“With our track record, we’re cer-tain that our products are of highquality. What we need is marketingand financial support,” Nitipat said.Heading The Monk’s team is “JuckSomsaman”, who helped in severalHollywood projects like “Garfield”,“Scoopy Doo” and “Narnia”.

Anya Animation managing direc-tor Sutape Tunnirut and TIGA man-aging director Sittichai Rujipasakulagreed that Thai producers have a lotto do to market their works. Sittichaisaid he realised the importance ofmarketing through participation ininternational fairs. He said he under-stood that Thais are not doing a goodjob of advertising their own productsto potential buyers.

The Monk, Anya and TIGA wereamong a number of Thai companiesrecently participating in MIP TV2009, a show attended by buyers ofanimated products. After the event,Anya is now negotiating to sell itsproducts to buyers in Europe, the USand Canada, while Home Run

Entertainment successfully sold itsanimation “Dogga Doop” to televi-sion stations in Europe, the MiddleEast, South America and SouthKorea. TIGA also sold its animatedseries “My Fairy Tales” to 10 firms inEurope.

While noting that it is difficult tomarket products overseas, Sutape ofAnya said political uncertainties also

diminish Thailand’s attractiveness asan outsourcing destination.

“Many [foreign firms] want to out-source their production to Thailand,but they are concerned with the polit-ical turmoil. They want assurancesthat the Thai producers can deliverthe completed works in time,” Sutapesaid.

With its own studio, Anya is nowa subcontractor for overseas produc-ers.

Meanwhile, it also plans to createits own work.

Anya is now negotiating with manyoverseas companies to establish

50:50 joint ventures to co-producean animated film.

TIGA’s Sittichai said that the firm,without its own studio, has no plan toproduce animated films due to thehuge investment involved.

“If we invest a higher budget in oneseries and cannot sell it overseas, welose.

“Therefore, we have to focus on thedomestic market before expandingoverseas,” he said.

Though its series “My Fairy Tales”found foreign buyers, TIGA focuseson producing animated series ofmedium quality under a limitedbudget to first serve the local market.

Sittichai noted that Thai TV sta-tions are open to these products, andthe company would be getting a bonusif the series could find foreign buyers.The company is also in the process ofselling “My Fairy Tales” to many buy-ers in Asia.

Yet, to Anya’s Sutape, venturingoverseas is necessary if Thai produc-ers want to lift their production stan-dard and advertise Thai expertise inthis field.

“The domestic market is rathersmall. We need to go overseas to boostrevenue,” he said.

ACHARA DEBOONME THE NATION

Though sitting on the boards of ninecompanies including Thailand’slargest construction firm, Italian-Thai Development, YuthachaiCharanachitta is making the transi-tion at the OrientalHotel his top prior-ity.

The companyowns the MandarinOriental, Bangkok,whose long-timegeneral manager,Kurt Wachtveitl,will retire on May31. He will be suc-ceeded by JanGoessing, generalmanager of theM a n d a r i nOriental, Washington DC.

“My dad loved this property dear-ly and took good care of the proper-ty. I will ensure a smooth transition,”said Yuthachai, the eldest son ofAdisorn Charanachitta, the late for-mer chairman of the Ital-Thai Group.Adisorn’s long-term business part-

ner, Giorgio Berlingieri, was the onewho persuaded the German hotelierto move from Pattaya to the riverfronthotel 41 years ago.

Yuthachai admitted thatWachtveitl’s retirement had beenplanned for three years. But the tim-ing of the announcement comes when

the hotel industry,and particularly itsluxury sector, isexpected to suffer a30-per-cent fall inoccupancy ratesthis year.M o r e o v e r ,Goessing willarrive in Thailandonly two weeksbefore Wachtveitlwaves goodbye.

A rough transi-tion could affect

the morale of employees, who, asWachtveitl said, contributed greatlyin positioning the Bangkok propertyas one of the world’s most luxurioushotels.

“My message to them is that mymum [Nijaporn] and I are still here,”Yuthachai said. “There will be no

change whatsoever.” He was seenrecently with department chiefs,apparently to relay the message.“Hopefully, I can be the link betweenthe new GM and employees.”

Aside from the luxury hotel,Yuthachai has also taken on the taskof rebranding another family busi-

ness, Amari Hotels & Resorts. Headmitted that the group’s brandawareness was not strong enough, asseen through the inability to beamong the top choices among trav-ellers.

The Amari group operates 17hotels and resorts with 4,000 roomsnationwide. However, there is littledifferentiation of target groups, as allthe properties are four- or five-star.The group is therefore consideringrebranding and repositioning hotelsinto four or five brands in order to

capture different markets. It will add budget hotels to its portfolio in order to meet the growing num-ber of budget tourists visitingThailand.

As at the Oriental, Yuthachai isgiving support to the new businessstrategies being plotted by PeterHenley, the new president and CEOof the group, who took over the job inOctober.

For budget hotels, the group plansto conduct a trial management proj-ect at an existing hotel prior to adopt-ing it at other properties. Within fiveyears it hopes for a 60-per-cent returnfrom hotel management, against 40per cent at the moment.

“We will learn from the achieve-ments of the Mandarin Oriental,Bangkok. Amari Hotels and Resortsis the next target,” said Yuthachai.

Political instability and economicproblems are of course disturbing thegroup.

Though the 128-unit AmariServiced Apartments on Rama IXRoad in Bangkok is on track and setto open next year, the construction ofthe Bt3-billion Amari Hua Hin com-plex has been postponed from this

year to 2010. This follows the expect-ed 30-per-cent drop in revenue thisyear.

Amari Hotels and Resorts hadoccupancy of 60-70 per cent in themost recent quarter, down from 80-90 per cent in the same period lastyear.

Yuthachai said the number ofinternational tourists had beenfalling, particularly those fromEurope and the Americas. To dealwith the situation, the group is revis-ing new development plans by clos-ing some hotel restaurants, reducingworking hours, creating new promo-tions and campaigns and cuttingroom rates by 20 per cent from Aprilto September.

The group is also exploring newmarkets, such as India, China andSingapore.

Yuthachai is committed to contin-uing with the hotel businesses, as wellas expanding into a small housing-estate business under the BaanKrating brand.

“I love working with people. Peoplein the hospitality business are of aspecial breed. They pay attention todetails.”

2A THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 nationmultimedia.com

BUSINESS

Yuthachai is committedto continuing with thehotel businesses, aswell as expanding into asmall housing-estatebusiness under theBaan Krating brand.

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THAILAND animation booth in the recent MIP TV 2009 in Cannes, France

EXCLUSIVEINTERVIEW

Yuthachai CharanachittaCurrent positionsCEO:

Amari Estate Co LtdSakdi Sin Prasith Co Ltd

Director:Ital-Thai Italian PlcItalthai Industrial Co LtdItalthai Engineering Co LtdOriental Hotel (Thailand) PlcAmari Co LtdAmari Hotels & Resorts Co LtdBaan Krating Co Ltd

ORIENTAL CLOSE TO YUTHACHAI’S HEART AS STAGE SET FOR TRANSITION

ROADSHOW TO WOO AUSTRALIAN INVESTORSTHE NATION

The industry minister and the Boardof Investment (BoI) will hold a road-show in Australia this week focusingon food, biotechnology, mines andauto assembly to try to expand theirinvestment in Thailand.

To promote investment, the BoIwill also open its office in Sydney thisweek. Industry Minister CharnchaiChairungrueng said that trade andinvestment between Thailand andAustralia had increased six timessince the two countries had signed the

free-trade agreement in 2006. Also, after the FTA, Australian

investors had raised their investmentin Thailand from Bt514 million in2006 to Bt3.2 billion last year. Amongthe investors are Bluescope Steel,Kingsgate and Ansell and a numberof small and medium firms. As a resultAustralia is potential country for pro-moting investment and creatinginvestor confidence to invest inThailand, Charnchai said.

“We will meet with investors in thethree largest cities – Brisbane,Melbourne, and Sydney. We will show

the country’s confidence and poten-tial to encourage Australian investorsto expand their investment inThailand,” he said.

BoI secretary-general AtchakaSibunruang Brimble added that thepotential areas for investment inThailand from Australia are food,biotechnology, mines, and autoassembly.

“When we open our office inSydney, Australian investors will getmore information about tax incen-tives and business opportunities inThailand,” she said.

ANIMATION INDUSTRY DREAMSOF MAKING THE GLOBAL LEAPSUCHEERA PINIJPARAKARNTHE NATION

Despite the animation industry’s yearsof experience, Thai producers believethey are being pulled backward by poorpositioning, high competition and lackof government support, and that theindustry has a long way to go before itcan establish an international presence.

But many continue to try to make theleap overseas. Major producers like TheMonk Studio and Anya Animationbelieve foreign participation – as sub-contractors and original animation cre-ators – will be the main factor if Thaiproducers want to succeed overseas.

“Thai animation quality is high, butwe can’t compete with China, whichquotes lower prices,” said Monk Studiomanaging director Nitipat Somsaman.The company is a major subcontractorfor Asian and Western markets.

He said subcontracting demandfrom Hollywood and Europe is huge, asthe foreign producers want to cut costs.Boosting the subcontracting business is

PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI THE NATION

The Internal TradeDepartment’s operationsare expected to suffer

next year as the government hasabruptly cut its budget by morethan half.

The Cabinet last Tuesday cutthe budget allocated to thedepar tmentfrom itsrequirementof Bt1.8 bil-lion to onlyBt700 millionfor next year’so p e r a t i o n s .The govern-ment has toshoulder ahuge budgetdeficit, so ithas cut a totalof Bt200 bil-lion for nextyear’s admin-i s t r a t i o nbudget.

A seniorsource at theCommerce Ministry said theywere very disappointed with theCabinet’s decision as it wouldhamper the Internal TradeDepartment’s operation.

“The department is a majoragency, taking care of con-sumers’ living costs. With a lowbudget next year, the depart-ment will face difficulties man-aging farm goods and setting uplow-price consumer goods fairsto shoulder higher living costs,”said the source.

The department is responsi-ble for monitoring consumergoods prices and protectingconsumers from unfair practiceby traders. It has also organisedmany low-price goods fairs tosell consumer goods to shoulderhigher living costs during thesetough economic times.

Due to the lower budget, thedepartment must delay its plans

to stimulates p e n d i n g ,i n c r e a s eincomes –particularly inthe farm sec-tor – andboost eco-nomic growthin the deepSouth, saidthe source.

Part of thisbudget wouldbe used toestablish hi-tech silos andw a r e h o u s e sfor storinghigh-qualitycommodities

to increase farmers’ incomes. However, the department

will try to help consumers cutback on living expenses by hold-ing low-cost fairs in particularareas.

Moreover, inflation mightincrease rapidly next year on theback of higher consumer goodprices.

Inflation dropped by 0.3 percent in the first quarter this year,thanks to lower oil and con-sumer goods prices.

FUNDS ALLOCATION

BUDGET OFINTERNALTRADE DEPT IS SLASHEDOperations may be affected asonly Bt700 million approved

Due to the lowerbudget, thedepartment must delayits plans to stimulatespending, increaseincomes – particularlyin the farm sector – andboost economicgrowth in the deepSouth, said the source.

nationmultimedia.com THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 3A

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NIRAMON: Thegroup’s hotelswere not badlyaffected by therecent politicalturmoil.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AIS PLANS TOCUT BT2 BN OF ITS COSTS USANEE MONGKOLPORNTHE NATION

Advanced Info Service (AIS) plans toundertake cost-cutting measures ofabout Bt2 billion this year inresponse to the worsening economy,up from the previously planned Bt1.5billion, its president WichianMektrakarn said.

He added that all the AIS depart-ments would help contribute to thecost-saving but the expense reduc-tion must not affect AIS business andits customers.

The University of the ThaiChamber of Commerce (UTCC)recently estimated this month’spolitical turbulence will cost theeconomy more than Bt142 billion.As a result, UTCC has cut its eco-nomic-growth forecast for the yearfurther to minus 4.3 per cent, froma previous prediction of minus 2.8per cent, expecting the business sec-tor to experience an extended impactuntil the third quarter.

AIS’s competitor, Total AccessCommunication (DTAC), has alsoimplemented a cost-efficiency pro-gramme, encompassing all parts ofits business to deal with the declin-ing economy and the saturating mar-ket. A DTAC source said the compa-ny is targeting cost savings of Bt5 bil-lion during this year and next year.

“Now, when we have to attend anoverseas meeting with Telenor[DTAC’s strategic partner], we’ll besending only one staff in order to savecost, unlike earlier when we normallysent two staff,” the source added.

AIS, which currently has morethan 27 million subscribers, is tar-geting a 50-per-cent share of newmobile-phone subscribers in themarket this year.

Telecom industrialists estimatethat there will be an additional 4 mil-lion to 5 million mobile-phone sub-scribers this year.

DTAC maintains its forecast thatthe market will have around 4 mil-lion net additional mobile-phonesubscribers this year.

BANGKOK DEC-CON SET TO BE FIRST LISTED INTERIOR DESIGN COMPANYSIRIPORN CHANJINDAMANEETHE NATION

Bangkok Dec-Con is set to becomethe first listed Thai interior designcompany, with the planned filing ofa listing application on the Marketfor Alternative Investment (MAI) inthe third quarter and the launch ofshare trading by end-2009 if themarket environment is favourable.

Nuchanart Ratanasuwanachart,managing director, said the compa-ny is in the process of appointing afinancial adviser.

“The listing status will improvethe company’s image and liquidity.This will boost the company’s busi-ness potential," she said.

With registered capital of Bt190million, Bangkok Dec-Con offers

interior design and constructionservices and is involved in furnitureproduction. Owned mainly by theRatanasuwanachart family, the com-pany plans to raise about Bt200 mil-lion from the initial public offering,whereby 25 per cent of shares wouldbe sold to the public. The proceedswill be used to improve productionefficiency for higher-value products.

Nuchanart said the furnitureplant is the company’s key business.Improved efficiency will result inhigher-quality products and higherproduction volume. This will help inreducing manufacturing costs andwidening the profit margin of itsinterior-design business, which iscurrently about 20-30 per cent.

“We’ll be the first listed interiordesigner. Listing on the MAI will not

help us much financially, but we wantto gain higher recognition in theindustry. The listing status willenhance our credibility and createlong-term business benefits,” shesaid.

Bangkok Dec-Con has securedinterior-design contracts worthabout Bt500 million, and all shouldbe completed within this year. Thecompany has also bid to do the inte-rior design for the Energy Complex,with the results to be known in lateMay. It will also join the bidding fora Bank of Thailand project and theprojects of provincial administrativebodies nationwide.

Nuchanart said governmentagencies have been the main focus ofthe company. Completed projectsinclude services for Siriraj Hospital,

Rama Hospital, RamkhamhaengUniversity, Novotel, Siam Paragon,the government centre and KrungThai Bank’s head office. It hasexpanded to cover private projects toraise revenue, but the market hasbeen shrinking due to the economicslowdown and some business own-ers’ delayed payments. At present,the value of contracts from publicagencies accounts for 70 per cent ofthe total, and the ratio could increase.Bangkok Dec-Con claims to be thelargest player in the sector of interi-or design services for public agencies.

Bangkok Dec-Con expects rev-enue of about Bt700 million to Bt800million this year, with about 70 percent coming from interior design, 20per cent from construction servicesand the rest from exports.

Export income ratio before thebaht devaluation once topped 90 percent, when products were destined toEurope, but it has shrunk as the com-pany faces higher pricing competi-tion, particularly from China. Atpresent, Japan is the only exportmarket.

The firm also plans to expand itsconstruction service next year todiversify business risk, as the eco-nomic slowdown should put pres-sure on demand for interior designs.

“Such adjustments are the key todoing business today. The world hasevolved so fast, and if we can’t catchup with the changes, we will losecompetitiveness,” she said, notingthat the company plans to maintainrevenue growth of about 10 per centper annum.

SUCHAT SRITAMA THE NATION

Best Western International, the world’s largest hotel-chain operator, is expand-

ing in Thailand despite political problems and the global economiccrisis.

The group plans to increase thenumber of its hotels in Asia from 140to 200 by the end of 2010.

Twelve or thirteen of the additionalhotels will be in Thailand – in all themajor tourist destinations includingBangkok, Pattaya, Samui, Hua Hinand Pran Buri, near Hua Hin.

Regional manager NiramonMakornpruttipong said the groupnow managed 12 hotels in the country with 1,256 rooms and ex-pected to almost double that figure

to 2,350 rooms over the next fewyears.

“We are forging ahead despite thecountry’s political unrest and eco-nomic crisis,” said Niramon.

She added that tourists across theworld were shifting to economyhotels, though the group’s hotels hadnot been badly hit by the recent polit-ical turmoil.

While 17-18 per cent of bookedrooms were cancelled during the air-port closures in November andDecember, there were no cancella-tions during Songkran.

“We took our greatest blow in thetsunami that hit the Andaman coastat the end of 2004. Our hotels inPhuket and Khao Lak had to lay offstaff after that.” In fact the Khao Lakhotel closed.

The group manages hotels

around the world under the brandsBest Western and Best WesternPremier.

In Asia, Thailand has the mostrooms, followed by South Korea,Japan, the Philippines and Malaysia.However, China is likely to become a“huge” market for the group.

Niramon says all Best Westernhotels in Thailand are required tomaintain services and improve infra-structure, for example by offering easyInternet connections, in order to keepcustomers happy.

Best Western entered the Thaimarket in 2001 by establishing aregional head office in Bangkok andlater opening its first property in thecapital.

Over the past nine years, threecontracts have been terminated: ahotel in Bangkok that failed to meetthe company’s standards, another inChiang Rai for lack of customers, andthe hotel at Khao Lak.

BEST WESTERN EXPANDINGGroup sailed through political turmoil

4A THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 nationmultimedia.com

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Asian youth bigconsumers of musicAsia’s youth spend an average of nine-and-a-half hours each day consumingsome form of media. Listening tomusic is very important to two-thirdsof young Asians and 34 per cent saidthat they had spent more timelistening to music in the last year.

The fourth annual Synovate YoungAsians study looks at what is in thehearts and minds of the region’s youth,revealing their media consumption,purchase habits, attitudes, favouritesingers and cartoons. It covers 12markets across Asia, including Japanand Vietnam for the first time.

Synovate, the market research armof Aegis Group, generates consumerinsights that drive competitivemarketing solutions.

The research director of Synovate inThailand, Rattaya Kulpradith, saidSynovate, in conjunction with theresearch sponsors – MicrosoftAdvertising, MTV and Yahoo! – haduncovered the driving forces of mediainfluence on Asia’s youth.

“Media across different platformshave certainly taken hold of youthacross Asia in a significant way andthis influence continues to grow. Infact, 25 per cent admitted that theyjust couldn’t live without the Internetwhile 23 per cent said they planned towatch more TV,” she said.

The survey also explored theengagement levels of eight- to 24-year-olds on the different types of activitiesand time spent on media. Synovatefound that 35 per cent had used theInternet more than a year ago, whileclose to a quarter (23 per cent) hadspent more time watching TV.

Newspaper and magazine readingremained unchanged, with 64 per centof respondents spending roughly thesame amount of time on both media.More than a quarter (29 per cent) ofyoung Asians set aside time and plantheir schedules around their favouriteTV programmes, hoping to catch everyepisode.

“This is great news as young peopleare continuing to use a wide variety ofmedia and spending a good part of theday doing so,” she said.

The biggest media junkies can befound in South Korea (13.7 hours aday), Hong Kong (12.7 hours) andSingapore (12.6 hours). This coverstime spent on the Internet, watchingTV or DVD/VCD/videos, readingnewspapers or magazines andlistening to the radio.

“Asia’s young people have certainlyembraced multi-tasking. Kids arewatching the TV, but also talking on thephone. They are on the Internet withthe radio on in the background. Orthey may be sending e-mail, texting ontheir mobile phone and playing anonline game all at the same time,” sheadded.

Respondents were asked if they hada say and influence when it came tothe purchase decisions on a variety ofhousehold goods and services. Eighty-four per cent of Asia’s youth believethat they have the biggest say and areable to influence the purchasedecisions as well as buy their ownsnack food, candy, chocolates and softdrinks. – The Nation

CAT has reservations on DTAC requestTotal Access Communication (DTAC) has requested permission fromits concession owner CAT Telecom to discontinue the analogue cel-lular service on 800 MHz spectrum as part of its plan to develop the3G broadband cellular service.

CAT’s senior executive vice president, Kajornsak Singhaseni, saidthe second largest cellular operator DTAC wants to migrate around200 existing customers in the analogue cellular service to the digitalcellular service on the same 800 MHz spectrum, which it will utiliseto provide the 3G service.

Kajornsak said CAT could not immediately grant DTAC’s request todiscontinue the analogue service because it would amount to a con-cession amendment. The state agency has to bring the request tothe consideration of the public-private joint-venture committee over-seeing the concession in order to comply with Article 22 of thePublic-Private Joint Venture Act. The consideration by such a com-mittee will also take time, he added.

In the meantime, the same public-private joint venture committeeis considering the recent request of DTAC to upgrade its networktechnology to provide the 3G service on the 800 MHz spectrum.Once approved, DTAC will be able to commercially provide the serv-ice.

DTAC has intended to try the service in Bangkok on a non-com-mercial basis within this year.

Recently the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)told CAT and TOT to urge each of their private mobile-phone conces-sionaires to make progress in their development of the 3G serviceon their existing spectrums. If they fail to show any progress, theNTC might consider taking back the parts of their spectrum bandsthat they are utilising to develop the 3G service or plan to utilise todevelop the 3G service. Advanced Info Service kicked off the 3Gservice on its existing 900 MHz spectrum last June on commercialbasis, while True Move recently launched the 3G service on its 800MHz spectrum on a non-commercial basis.USANEE MONGKOLPORN, THE NATION

EXCISE REFORM PLAN TO BE READY THIS WEEK

ERAWAN GROUP CONFIDENT OF BUDGET-HOTEL NICHEKasama Punyagupta, president andCEO of The Erawan Group,shares his views on thecompany’s performance andbusiness plan. Suchat Sritamareports.

How did Erawan Group enter the budget-hotel business?

We wanted to diversify the hotelportfolio to offer international-stan-dard hotels with room rates ofbetween Bt800 and Bt1500. Weworked with Accor for two and ahalf years to buildIbis in Thailand. Wehave alreadyopened five Ibisoutlets in Thailand.So far, results haveconfirmed that weare moving in the right direction,particularly amid the current eco-nomic and political situations.

What are the key success factors? The investment requirement is

low and the operating costs are keptlow. With economy of scale, ouraverage cost per room includingland (freehold or leasehold) is onlyBt1.6 million to Bt1.7 million perroom, with very low monthly oper-ating costs. We are well-positionedto compete in the Bt1,000 rangemarket. This is thanks to Accor’sstrength, global network and brandrecognition.

What are your next projects? The sixth property is in Kata. The

Bt400-million 260-room hotel isscheduled to open at the end of this

year. We are also planning toresume the development of IbisBangkok by the Chao Phya River inthe third quarter with 270 roomsand a Bt350-million investment.Three more are planned for HuaHin, Sri Racha and Krabi. We havebought land and secured loans. Wewill decide later this year when toproceed with the projects.

Do you expect higher competition? A threat in the hotel industry is

that there is no mechanism to con-trol supply. It iscalled “Me Too” – aflood of new supply.Anybody who hasland and moneycan build hotels.When there are a

few good stories, many follow andget into the business. The pitfall isthat they don’t know the real pic-ture. Naturally, owners will alwaystalk up good numbers for theirhotels, but the numbers could bemisleading. They could be for aperiod, rather than the whole yearor even a month.

So, we have seen a lot of supplycoming into the luxury segment overthe past few years. Regrettably, someof these new hotels have lower yieldsthan those in the lower tiers. Still,newcomers keep emerging. Over thelast 12 months, many talked aboutthe new supply from mid-scaleproperties by large-scale developers.Again, I don’t know exactly how orwhen these plans will materialise.Some have talked about the over-Bt2,000-a-night range, which is not

directly competing with Ibis.

How is Ibis performing amid the politicalturbulence?

At the height of the conflict, ouraverage occupancy was around 50-60 per cent for a total of 1,200rooms and we are satisfied with theresult. The recent unrest was quitedetrimental to visitors’ confidence.The impact of the riots is similar tothat of the airport closures, as it hasled to a drastic drop in occupancy.The magnitude is, however, muchless. The occupancy of our hotelsdidn’t drop below 20 per cent, as itdid last year. I think we will see lightat the end of the tunnel before thehigh season arrives.

Over the past seven years, wehave passed several major tests –Sars, bird flu, tsunami, the coup, theNew-Year bombing, airport closures– and we’ll pass this test, too. For

Erawan, we are a long-terminvestor, with the right products andservices. What we are doing now isto make sure that we survivethrough these difficult periods.

How is Erawan coping with this crisis? By delaying some projects,

rescheduling loan repayments andcost-cutting. However, lay-offs arenot the cure for short-term turbu-lence. This month, occupancy is 50-60 per cent, 10-15 per cent off lastyear’s level. Before the incident dur-ing Songkran, our hotels were ontheir way to full recovery from theairport closure. The recent politicalunrest will no doubt put pressure onoccupancy rates. The question ishow long until we see a full recovery.Many factors are still looming. If noother incident occurs, we expectthings to normalise by the thirdquarter.

What do you expect from the government? Restoring peace in the country is

a must. Then, direct or indirect sup-port on pricing would be very help-ful. Directly, the government can cuttourist visa fees, airport landingfees, and even offer VAT refunds onexpenses such as hotels and domes-tic flights. These will cut travellingexpenses to Thailand by as much as7 per cent. For hotel operators, thegovernment should consider softloans to help refinance existingloans. Lower funding costs will alsoenable us to offer packages that areeven more attractive than theyalready are, compared to hotels inother regional destinations.

KWANCHAI RUNGFAPAISARN THE NATION

Vet Recommended, a local distributor of Hill’spremium pet foods, sees tremendous poten-tial for its premium pet-food business and

expects to notch up sales of Bt1 billion over the nextsix years, managing director TienchaiPaitoonvongvira said.

The company has been in operation for morethan 16 years, distributing Hill’s premium foodproducts, Science Diet and Prescription Diet, tolocal speciality channels, including pet clinics andshops.

Sales has gone up 20 times in terms of value andincreased 15 times in volume.

“We have been distributing Hill’s products inThailand since 1992. We began with Bt10 millionsales in the first year of operation. Including me,we had only four staff,” said Tienchai.

“However, last year we achieved total sales ofBt238 million, up 18 per cent over 2007,” saidTienchai.

The company currently employs 61 people. The company distributes Hill’s products at more

than 800 speciality outlets, including pet clinics andshops, throughout the Kingdom.

Vet Recommended has been given the HighGrowth Award by Hill’s, reflecting its substantialgrowth among nine markets in Asia Pacific, exclud-ing Japan.

Hill’s is the world leader in premium pet foods,distributed via speciality channels, with 21 per centmarket share globally.

Tienchai said that Thailand is among the coun-tries with lowest penetration of pet foods.

“We have seen the overall pet foods penetrationin Thailand at about 10 per cent. In Malaysia, thepet foods penetration is as high as 90 per cent,” saidTienchai. He added that there is tremendous poten-tial for the business in Thailand.

Pet food and entertainment are among busi-nesses experiencing lower impact from the eco-nomic crisis. He said that in terms of sales for Hill’s,Thailand lags behind major markets such asTaiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

“I am quite confident that in the next three tofive years, we will be much bigger than those mar-kets,” said Tienchai.

Tienchai said that about 20 years ago, the pet-food market in Thailand was in the hands of a fewbig local players. “I saw a business opportunity, par-ticularly in the premium-food segment distributedthrough speciality channels such as pet clinics andshops,” said Tienchai.

As a veterinarian, Tienchai himself had workedon sales of animal medicines and products withGood Earth Agricultural for almost seven yearsafter graduating from Kasetsart University in 1985.

He was instrumental in introducing Hill’s to itsfirst distributor in Thailand.

But the business did not run smoothly, becausethe Thai distributor handled a range of animalproducts.

Hill’s wanted to find a new Thai partner, prefer-ably a small company concentrating on pet foodalone.

In 1992, Rick F Hawkins, Hill’s former president,persuaded Tienchai to set up a Thai company to dobusiness with the US manufacturer.

At the outset, Vet Recommended had a regis-tered capital of only Bt2 million and four staff.

Tienchai said that he decided to set up his ownbusiness because he foresaw its future potential. Atthe time, his wife had just opened a pet clinic, cre-ating a synergy for Hill’s new distributor.

“My wife became my first customer,” he said. In 1993, the company met Hill’s target of sell-

ing 113,636 kilograms of pet food, worth Bt10 mil-lion.

He said there are great opportunities inThailand’s pet market, which is valued at Bt4.5 bil-lion a year with average annual growth of 10-15 percent.

Tienchai said that about 75 per cent of newlygraduated veterinarians today have worked at petclinics and they have greater concerns on consult-ing customers about the nutrition value of their pets.

It also would drive premium pet foods in themarket.

PET FOOD

THAI DISTRIBUTORSEES HUGE POTENTIALVet Recommended expects sales of Bt1 bn in 6 years

On Friday, sent to my mailboxwas a very interesting form letter.After the release of the “RedCliff” movie, based on part of theChinese epic called “Romance ofthe Three Kingdoms”, Thais’interest in the novel has been onthe rise. Thanks to the release ofother digital products, Thais nowknow more about the charactersin the story and know enough tocompare them with Thai politi-cians.

Who’s who in the letter? The most important character

can’t be anybody else but CaoCao, the talented warlord andruler who’s overwhelmed by lust.His motto is he can betray theworld, but no one isallowed to betrayhim. Certainly,nobody is a goodmatch for himexcept our formerprime ministerThaksin Shinawatra.

Former primeminister ChuanLeekpai is compared to Liu Bei,who is considered to be a moder-ate ruler. But thanks to his hum-bleness, he has a loyal followingof supporters, including masterstrategist Zhuge Liang. (The onlydifference is Chuan was briefly inpower, probably because of theabsence of a Zhuge Liang in theThai political scene.)

Prime Minister AbhisitVejjajiva is paired up with SunQuan, the young ruler whosekingdom is run smoothly with

strong backup from militarychiefs like Zhou Yu. As seen in“Red Cliff”, he was reluctant toally with Liu Bei against Cao Cao,knowing that helping Liu Bei nowwould only hurt his kingdomlater. But with Zhou Yu’s support,he entered into battle.

Who would be Zhou Yu then?Deputy Prime Minister SuthepThaugsuban is the right choice.He was credited with creating thealliance between the Democratsand the faction of NewinChidchob, which led to the his-toric embrace of (bad boy) Newinand (good boy) Abhisit.

The letter is not complete,though, without a counterpart for

Zhuge Liang. The strategist

was considered byall his foes to betheir No 1 target,due to his greatwisdom. Even ZhouYu felt that ZhugeLiang wouldbecome a threat in

the future and tried several timesto kill him. However, he failed.Frustrated after being infuriatedby Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu eventu-ally coughed up blood and died.

It neither produced a result forthe Thai political conflict. In thenovel, we know that the conflictsended after a century.

But then, these are openquestions. The situation is boil-ing and nobody can tell when theKingdom of Thailand wouldbecome one again.

A CHINESE EPIC AND THAIPOLITICAL CHARACTERS

ACHARA DEBOONME ACHARA_D@NATIONGROUP.COM

STREET WISE

KASAMA: Worried about lack of mechanism to control supply.

VET RECOMMENDED has been given the High GrowthAward by Hill’s.

TAKESHI Kaneshiro in ‘Red Cliff’

EXCLUSIVEINTERVIEW

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THE NATION

The Excise Department isexpected to complete this week itsreform plan for all taxable prod-uct categories including tea, cof-fee, energy drinks and entertain-ment venues.

“Once we have the study, itcould be implemented quickly toshut the door on tax evasion andensure fairness for all. It should

also raise at least Bt20 billion toBt30 billion in additional gov-ernment revenue,” DeputyFinance Minister PruttichaiDamrongrat said last week.

The study is being conductedby a committee chaired by SuphaPiyachitti, deputy permanentsecretary for the FinanceMinistry. Yesterday, the commit-tee led by deputy permanent sec-retary Sathit Limpongpun

resolved that no department offi-cials needed to be punished fornot taxing Santika Pub.

He said though the depart-ment’s director-general hadinsisted that Santika was exclud-ed from paying excise tax, thatconclusion was the result of dif-ferent opinions. From now on, astandard rule would be applied toall pubs and bars across thenation.

nationmultimedia.com THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 5A

BUSINESS

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OP Natural Products marketing manager Apaiporn Srisook shows the Avatar combination make-up and body-skincare series. It hopes for sales of Bt80 million.

ANOMA SRISUKKASEMTHE NATION

Advance Packaging has receivedmany awards in the area ofcorporate governance, but

according to company owner PrapothPholpipattanapong, the greatestaward of all has been the continuedsupport of stakeholders in the firm.

Such support is especially impor-tant now, as Advance Packaging, aleading producer of polyethyleneplastic for exporters in the electron-ics, electrical and semiconductor sec-tors, struggles with a 50-per-centdrop in orders.

“We are so tired. The company con-tinues to grow, but we weren’t pre-pared for this kind of economic situ-ation. We just built a new plant andbought new machinery,” Prapoth said.

But the company owner said hehas received a psychological boostfrom the understanding demonstrat-ed by employees and customers, whohave shown they are willing to helphim and the firm weather the eco-nomic downturn.

Prapoth has cut many operatingcosts, such as electricity bills, over-time hours and working days, in thehope that the moves will partly com-pensate for the firm’s falling income.

He has also shortened the produc-tion process and improved inventorymanagement to ensure AdvancePackaging is does not face an interestburden due to excess inventory.

Employees have shown under-standing and cooperation about thecost-reduction policy because, thanksto good governance practices, theyhave been kept constantly informed

about the company’s situation, includ-ing the recent plunge in orders,Prapoth said. “We are in constantcommunication with employees sothey understand the situation thecompany is facing,” he said.

Some workers have expressed awillingness to apply for a voluntaryearly-retirement programme – if oneshould be introduced – saying theyhave no debts and face only smallexpenses.

“Employees have expressed empa-thy and understanding to help us solvethe problems. Without their cooper-ation, the company would be in evenbigger trouble,” Prapoth said.

Customers, too, appreciate the sit-uation the company is in and have notput additional pressure on it, he said.

Prapoth said the company is cur-rently producing to order in a bid to

reduce inventory. Motivating thesesteps was Prapoth’s long-cherishedbelief in transparency and fairness forall. These same beliefs encouragedhim to join his fellow university stu-dents in the protests of October 1976.As a result of his stand, he was forcedto flee Bangkok and hide in the jun-gle for five years. He eventuallyreturned to the city, however, realis-ing that the uncompromising politicshe had pursued as a student would notsolve all society’s problems.

Prapoth admitted that it was dif-ficult to ensure justice for all. Hedecided instead to create his “dreamsociety” by founding a company. Hevowed to show empathy to employ-ees, customers, society and the envi-ronment, treating all as if they weremembers of his own family. This phi-losophy has earned the companynumerous awards, including the PueyUngphakorn Institute’s GoodGovernance Award.

BATTLING RECESSION

PACKAGING FIRM COUNTS BLESSINGSOwner buoyed by support from employees, customers

HEAD-TO-TOE LOVELINESS

GUIDELINES FOR A GREAT CAMPAIGN, BUT THERE ARE NO RULES TO GUARANTEE SUCCESSThis year has certainly been a time ofconsolidation so far, and this hastended to solidify my own opinionsand attitudes. So this month I’d liketo share my summary of the tech-niques that usually lie behind a greatcampaign. The first rule of course isthat there are no rules that guaran-tee the success of any one campaign,so rather I offer these guidelines,which I hope act as useful pointers.

Which is more important for thestarting point of the campaign, whatto say or how to say it? Sometimes wecannot separate one from the other,as they are so interlinked, so we needto analyse very carefully what’s real-ly going on step by step before wecommit the serious resourcesrequired for a full campaign. But westrongly believe that the core contentof advertising is what really decidesconsumers to buy or not to buy, andso we now increasingly spend a great

deal of time and money to find outand determine what is the outstand-ing and leading benefit that we canpromise to consumers. Quite oftenwe use an in-depth interview tech-nique with focus groups to establishwhat would be most likely to makethem buy the product. But you know,sometimes it’s difficult to get clear-cut answers from the group, soanother technique we now often alsouse is to prepare a series of adver-tisements, each one offering a differ-ent version of the promise, to findout which one wins hearts.

As we all know, this is a very com-petitive time for brands to share theconsumers’ pocket, and we have tolook in great detail into what the con-sumer is actually paying for. Forinstance there is an increasing trendfor consumers to want to know muchmore about what is behind the brand,and even the science behind it’s prod-

ucts. When the brandhas a unique position inthe market, it is of coursemuch easier to present acompelling argumentusing the magic of thebrand’s depth and histo-ry, but it is less easy whenwe are faced with theinconvenient fact thatthe brand’s products are perceived asbeing about the same as several oth-ers.

In the second case, I think onesuccessful approach is a more factu-al one, where the hard data are clear-ly presented, maybe with more tech-nical information than usual, to por-tray solid, well-founded productsthat are ahead of or at least abreastof the times in terms of technologi-cal progress. We can then give thisstory a perverse twist of course, butI know from my experience that

sometimes if I am presented with awell-distilled, well-researched pres-entation this influences my decisionvery considerably, and I think you arethe same, especially in this crisis. Inthe end, though, I have no time toread something if it’s not interestingor not clearly put across.

By presenting a factual argumentyou cannot of course bore people intobuying, and it’s no wonder that con-sumers have acquired a talent forskipping the advertisements in news-papers and magazines or going to

make a cup of tea during televisioncommercials: they’re being bom-barded by billions and billions worthof advertising each month. Fiftythousand brand names are compet-ing for a place in their memory, so tobe at the forefront, your voice needsto be unique. This is our mission, totry harder every day to make ourclients’ voices heard above the crowd.

At the same time, we need to vieweach campaign as a radar sweep thatcan bring in intelligence about newprospects as they come into the mar-ket, as well as giving us as keen asense as a radar antenna of what isbeyond the horizon. We can thuslearn the psychology of new virtual-ly unidentified target groups and canscore a hit where they identify andsay: “Oh, yes: I am that person.”

Then finally we come back to thebrand, which is always fundamentalto everything we’re doing: every cam-

paign needs to make a contributionto the complex symbol which is thebrand image rather than just form-ing a day-to-day solution in itself toincrease sales. Creating or updatinga brand identity is of course the mostdifficult of our roles as an agency,because this perception has beenbuilt up over a period of many years.It is the result of many factors: adver-tising, pricing, the name of the prod-uct, its packaging, the kind of televi-sion shows it has sponsored, website,the time it has been on the marketand so on. And it’s not easy to per-form a facelift on an old brand: inmany cases it would be easier to startagain with a fresh new brand. But itis very clear that the advertisingwhich builds the most sharplydefined personality for the brandnormally also wins the largest shareof the market at higher levels of prof-itability.

KANAPORN HUTCHESONMANAGING DIRECTOR OF NUDE COMMUNICATION CO

MARKETINGTALK

PROPERTY6A THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 Tomorrow: Siam CPAC Block’s

sales and marketing divisionmanager Pittaya Jantawichayasuittalks about business strategy forthis year.

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SOMLUCK SRIMALEETHE NATION

Eco-value and innovation seem to bethe main themes as SCG productsare being shown under “SCG the

Home Solution … Make it Eco for BetterLiving” banner at Architect ’09 atChallenger Hall, Impact Muang ThongThani, from tomorrow until May 3.

Even SCG Cement is getting innovativewith its ‘Sparking with Cement’ theme.

Other eco-value products on display willbe the agricultural-drying yard concretethat helps increase the capacity of dryingagricultural products; acid-resistance tilegrout glue and glass-fibre reinforced con-crete. The innovative products includecolour rendering and colour-skim coat bySiam Mortar, as well as white plaster andmarble rendering from Siam WhiteCement.

SCG Cement’s marketing directorSyamrath Suthanukul said the companytries to develop at least two or three value-added products that are both innovativeand environmentally friendly every year.This should support new designs for exte-riors and interiors, especially for peoplewho need raw materials that create vastlydifferent finishes.

Rewat Suriyapananont, managingdirector of Siam Mortar, said products likecolour rendering help create different sur-faces to pique the imagination of archi-tects and interior designers who need dif-ferent textures for their buildings.

“We spent about two or three years andmore than Bt1 million to develop our colourrendering that will serve our policy of beingan innovative cement producer,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chatchawan Sethaburth,

managing director of the Siam WhiteCement, said their innovations like whiteplaster and marble-surface textures forwalls and floors would be useful for bothhotel and residential projects.

To offer more options for terrazzo floors,the firm has joined up with InnovativeDesign and Research of Architecture andPlanning faculty at Thammasat Universityto develop a 3D virtual terrazzo experi-ence. This should give both architects andinterior designers unlimited ideas.

“We will show this innovation inArchitect ’09 and expect 3D virtual ter-razzo experience software to be ready andavailable for customers as soon as possi-ble,” he said.

Siam CPAC Block, one of the SCGGroup’s subsidiaries, will be displaying theCool-Plus and roof garden blocks at thisevent, the company’s sales and marketingdivision manager Pittaya Jantawichayasuitsaid.

The Cool-Plus block, one of its new environmentally friendly pro-ducts, has about 7 to 10 per cent morecapacity to keep out the heat than other bricks. Plus Cool-Plus blocks absorb

more water, keeping houses cooler.The firm’s other product, for which it has

already won a copyright from theIntellectual Property Department, is aplastic block that helps customers create agarden on their roof or balcony.

Thai Ceramic, producer of the Cottobrand tiles, will be introducing its eco-col-lection, including the Cotto TrendDecoder’s newest innovation called GlazedPorcelain which absorbs 0.5 per cent lesswater, and the Glazed Porcelain ColourBody.

The company will also be introducingthe Eco-Touch Series that looks like wood,and the Eco-Rockrete Series that offersnew options for walls and floors. CottoHygienic Tiles, that offer a healthier optionto normal tiles, will also be presented andshould be further developed to serve con-sumer demands.

Siam Sanitaryware Industry will alsoshow how bathrooms can be renovated inseven to ten days.

Siam Fibre-Cement, which producessmart boards and smart wood, jointly withSiam Fiberglass, will offer a system thatreduces heat from both inside and outside.

SCG SHOW

ECO-VALUE PRODUCTS IN VOGUEFirms put theirinnovative skills on display

ARE WE READY TO FACE NEW WAVE?The past year has shown us how badly

and extensively the economic slump canaffect every type of business, real estateincluded. Nonetheless, the number ofregistered real estate businesses rose in2008, according to Real EstateInformation Center (REIC). In particu-lar, developers registered year-on-yeargrowth of 18.15 per cent.

In fact, this growth rate reflects the85.37-per-cent registration rate of con-dominium developments, which shouldnot be included in the calculation of thegrowth rate. This is because sales of condo-miniums are made before construction is com-plete, and ownership takes one to two years tocomplete legally. Town houses and single hous-es, though, are ready to be sold and can changeowners within a year. Thus, “horizontal” realestate, including town houses and single housescompleted within 2008, had a negative growthrate. At the end of last year, growth of sales ofsingle houses stood at minus 16.42 per cent,while town houses were at minus 23.35 percent. Real estate has seen continuous negativegrowth since 2005, but there has not been anyyear where the numbers have been below zero.2008 was bad enough; then we entered 2009,with its ongoing political unrest.

One interesting aspect is, as soon as the newgovernment took control, the real estateoverview appeared brighter, as many big play-ers expanded their projects, notably fromJanuary till March. We learned that, in fact, ourcountry’s economy is not at all a lost cause;there still is purchasing power. So in decidingwhether to buy, the main short-term factor isthe political situation, as seen from actual sales.The political situation impacts greatly on con-sumer confidence and, consequently, purchas-es. In the long run, it’s the economic status thatmatters. This year, the government announcedthat the country’s growth rate could be as badas minus 5 per cent.

The real estate overview now is dominatedby the big players, and in this situation they willonly get stronger. Given the political mess rightnow, I believe the real-estate business is shift-ing to a slower pace again, and will stay thatway until the situation is more or less resolved.

Doubts will linger until the end of the year.Some even forecast an overall contraction dur-ing the first and second quarters.

Personally, I fear for the third and fourth

quarters. The government announced contin-ued negative growth and that has prompted allplayers to look at their own capacity and poten-tial, especially money-wise, which is the mostimportant factor in any business.

I assume entrepreneurs are now in an awk-ward, frustrating situation and the sales maynot be so bad. But when you look at the moneyspent on advertising you realise it’s not worththe return in terms of sales. This year, advertis-ing cannot be cut, but the money must be spentwisely. Therefore, when the economy slowlypicks up, all business players must firstly drawup financial plans and, secondly, focus on theirorganisations. They should start with planninglong-term schemes.

Good plans, though, do not have to sayexactly what will be done until the end of theyear, but instead allow you some flexibility toadapt to the current situation and any possibledifficulties. Weekly meetings are crucial to keepthe plans up-to-date.

What CEOs should do is take closer carepersonally to actually keep up with accurateinformation, either positive or negative.

Though the country seems to be strugglingwith the economic crisis, there is still purchas-ing power. What is threatening right now isactually consumer confidence, which showedthe ability to come back quickly during the firstquarter when the unrest was solved. I dobelieve that the real estate market will improveonce the political feud ends and the govern-ment encourages citizens to spend money.

In conclusion, the critical factor for the real-estate business right now is politics, as it relatesto consumer confidence. As for the long run, itdepends on the outlook for Thailand’s economyas a whole. But rest assured, we won’t gothrough any more economic bubbles like theone seen in 1997.

CPACDSIGN’Sbooth is part ofthe SCG displayat Architect ’09under the ‘SCGThe HomeSolution … Makeit Eco for BetterLiving’ concept.

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ANUPHONG ASSAVABHOKHIN,CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF

ASIAN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT

TALKPROPERTY

ASIA NEWSTHE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 7AKim Young-hak, South Korea’s vice minister of knowledge

economy, attends a news conference following the 3rd AsianMinisterial Energy Roundtable Meeting in Tokyo. Opec and 13Asian countries called for greater oversight on position limits,over-the-counter trading in oil and other commodity markets.

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THE STRAITS TIMESASIA NEWS NETWORK

Investors in parts of Malaysia’sservices sector no longer haveto find Malay partners to own

30 per cent of the business.Malaysian Prime Minister Najib

Razak announced that the long-standing requirement will be liftedimmediately for 27 sub-sectors,including health and social servic-es, tourism, transport, business andcomputer-related services.

At present, foreign investors inthe services industry must take onMalay partners to own 30 per centof any joint venture.

The government hopes that lift-ing the requirement will boostinvestment and make the servicessector more competitive, Datuk SeriNajib said.

The decision comes amid officialwarnings that the economy couldshrink by as much as 1 per cent thisyear. Malaysia has been hard hit bythe global economic crisis, withexports down 15.9 per cent inFebruary from a year ago.

The services sector is the largest,contributing 55 per cent toMalaysia’s gross domestic productlast year.

Najib said the government aimsto raise this to 60 per cent, a shift

that would lessen its dependence onelectronics exports and commodi-ties.

Within the services sector, finan-cial services are the biggest, followedby tourism, one of the top foreign-exchange earners.

The government plans to liber-alise other sectors in stages, withdetails for the financial sector to beunveiled this week, Najib said.

The 30-per-cent ownership ruleis part of the New Economic Policy

(NEP), a controversial policy aimedat closing the wealth gap betweenMalays and non-Malays, particu-larly the Chinese.

Critics say it has failed and thatonly a handful of well-connectedMalays have benefited from it. It isalso blamed for dampening foreigninterest in areas such as finance andtelecommunications.

While the Malay equity capremains in service sub-sectors suchas air travel, utilities and retail, yes-

terday’s announcement has beenmuch anticipated after talk last yearthat the government was ready toprogressively dismantle the NEP setup in 1971 by Najib’s late father,then-premier Tun Abdul Razak.

Bank Islam senior economistAzrul Azwar welcomed the news.

“Foreign investors have beenharping on this issue for a while,that there is a cap on how much theycan own in Malaysia,” he told TheStraits Times. “This is a move in theright direction. In the long run itshould boost confidence amonginvestors.”

Last year, approved investmentsin services reached 50.1 billion ring-git (Bt494.4 billion), exceeding theofficial target of MYR45.8 billion,but foreign investments comprisedonly 11 per cent of the total figure.

Ivo Nekvapil, a committee mem-ber of the Malaysian InternationalChamber of Commerce andIndustry, and vice-president of theMalaysian Association of Hotels,hailed it as “an excellent initiative”.

Umno deputy division chiefMarkiman Kobiran said: “Malayswill have to look at it as healthy com-petition. Due to today’s borderlessworld economy, we have to be fullyprepared.”

ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN

MALAYSIA RELAXES RULES TOATTRACT FOREIGN INVESTORSLiberalisationchanges to comein gradually

S KOREA TOINJECT $6.4 BNINTO SHIPPINGINDUSTRY THE KOREA HERALDASIA NEWS NETWORK

The Korean government will spendUS$6.4 billion (Bt227 billion)) toassist the nation’s struggling shippingindustry hit hard by a slump in glob-al trade, officials said yesterday.

The government will establish a4-trillion won (Bt105.6 billion) fundwith financial institutions andpri?vate investors to purchase about100 used vessels from cash-strappedcompanies that are expected to gothrough an intensive restructuringprocess.

The government will expand cred-it lines of up to 4.7 trillion wonthrough the Export-Import Bank ofKorea to boost sales of ships current-ly under construction.

It will also lift or ease regulationsto help cash-strapped shipyards orshipping companies promote the saleof new vessels, the Ministry of Land,Transport and Maritime Affairs said.

The government finalised theseand other measures aimed at boost-ing the competitiveness of the localshipping industry in a meetingchaired by President Lee Myung-bak.

“The measures are aimed at sup-porting the nation’s shipping indus-try to escape a slump in the real econ-omy triggered by the global financialcrisis last year and to help the indus-try make this an opportunity toenhance its international competi-tiveness,” the Transport Ministry saidin a statement.

The 4-trillion won fund is expect-ed to buy used ships from strugglinglocal shipping lines which have to liq-uidate their assets as part of restruc-turing efforts. The fund is likely tostart the purchases in June.

Kirin to raise SanMiguel stake to 48.3% Japan’s second-largest breweryKirin Holdings is set to raise itsstake in San Miguel Brewery to48.3 per cent, thereby becoming astrategic foreign partner in SanMiguel’s flagship business.

The value of the stake is reported to be 65.8 billion pesos(Bt48 billion).

In a report to the PhilippineStock Exchange, SMB said Kirinhad completed an offer to buy outshares of minority holders.

The shares to be acquired fromthe public would be paid for incash, while payment for theshares to be bought from SanMiguel will be settled by May 29.

While Kirin is buying into SMB,which is strategic to its beer busi-ness, it is also selling its 20-per-cent stake in parent San Miguel toa group led by former trade minis-ter Roberto Ongpin.– Philippine Daily Inquirer

Shinsei, Aozora banksin merger talks Shinsei Bank and Aozora Bank,the country’s seventh- and eighth-largest banks respectively, haveentered into talks that could leadto the creation of the sixth-largestbank in terms of assets, it waslearned on Saturday.

The banks are now under cor-porate rehabilitation through apublic-funds injection. The gov-ernment, a shareholder in the twobanks, will likely support thenegotiations, believing the movecould underpin their operations.

The banks are currently in theprocess of evaluating each other’sassets. They are expected to firstset up a joint holding company in2010, with a view to an eventualmerger. – The Yomiuri Shimbun

BRIEFS

VARIOUS currencies on display outside a money-changer in Kuala Lumpur. TheMalaysian ringgit has fallen to its lowest level since December 2006 as investorsflee emerging-markets on concerns the global economic recession will deepen.

BL

OO

MB

ER

G

nationmultimedia.com

MANAGEMENT&INNOVATION

8A THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009

“ It’s alright to be Goliath, but always act like David.” PHIL KNIGHT

GENDER FACTOR

JOSH GOHSPECIAL TO THE NATION

Women today are described asthe main driving forcebehind decades of growth.

With technology and education with-in reach, women have infiltrated thegender barrier over the decades, and arenow able to ascend the corporate lad-der and start their own business ven-tures – previously male-only domains.

It is estimated that women accountfor more than half of the world’s out-put. In the US alone, women hold 49.1per cent of the nation’s jobs, while inAsia, the female labour force partici-pation has been growing steadily overthe last five years. Nonetheless, morecan be done to encourage women, par-ticularly those who have been out of theworkforce, to come back to work.

TAPPING INTO THE FEMALE WORKFORCEDiversity in the workplace is key to

maintaining the competitive advantageof organisations. Research has shownthat a diverse workforce not only pro-motes creativity, but different voicesencourage critical analysis – helpful inimproving company practices and serv-ices. The positive vibe will help to attractthe best talents and develops the com-pany’s brand as an employer of choice.

Talent comes in all shapes and sizesand from various backgrounds andlifestyles – mothers and older womenincluded – and such diversity can bringpositive change to the organisation. Forexample, in a traditionally male-dom-

inated industry, women can not onlybring a refreshing change to the work-place but also present alternative per-spectives.

With the current economic climateand widespread retrenchments, skillshortages are prevalent in some indus-tries while those who have been sparedthe axe are faced with greatly increasedworkloads. Women rejoining or enter-ing the workforce, especially trainedprofessionals who have been upgrad-ing themselves, can help to bridge skillsgaps.

However, while many women arekeen to enter or rejoin the workforce,they face unique challenges such asprejudice from employers or how theirskills in raising children and managingthe household can be translated to thecorporate world.

THE GLASS CEILINGAccording to a study by the

University of Texas in the United

States, the top three reasons whywomen exit the workforce are family-centric – personal/family obligations,excessive work hours that preventedthem from meeting familial obliga-tions, and personal choice to be a stay-home wife or mother.

Recessions will compel manywomen to enter or rejoin the workforceto supplement the household income.However, many of them will find them-selves disadvantaged in the job mar-ket, primarily because they have beenout of the workplace for some time andtheir skills are no longer relevant.Furthermore, with employers’ morestringent hiring requirements, thesewomen face fierce competition fromthe retrenched, fresh graduates andmid-career switchers.

Additionally, women’s obligationsto family are also seen negatively bysome employers who equate familypriorities to lack of commitment. Suchperceptions would also hamper

women’s opportunities to advancetheir careers.

ATTRACTING AND RETAINING THEFAIRER SEX

To attract and retain valuablewomen staff, there must be a paradigmshift where mindsets are concerned.Working mothers and older womencan still contribute to the organisation,given a supportive work environmentto help them balance work and familycommitments.

During tough economic times, flex-ibility can bring some of the best tal-ent to the table to fill in the gaps, espe-cially if hiring permanent employees isnot an option. Studies have shown thatorganisations with high levels of flex-ibility reported strong job satisfaction.For women who are keen on returningto the workforce full-time, part-timeor flexi-work can also be implement-ed as a gradual transition to full-timework. For working mothers, flexibleworking arrangements can help themmanage their familial obligations with-out compromising their responsibili-ties at work.

Additionally, career developmentor leadership programmes not onlymotivate working mothers, but alsodemonstrate how they are valued bytheir employers. Such practices willpromote loyal staff while building upthe employer brand.

With a supportive network andfamily-friendly environment, workingwomen can more easily attend to theirpersonal lives and individual careergoals. Being more focused and com-mitted at work would mean they areable to contribute to the organisationto their best abilities.

This article is contributed by Mr JoshGoh, Senior Corporate ServicesManager, GSI Executive Search,www.gsiconsultants.com.

PROCESS OF CONVERTING CRISIS INTO OPPORTUNITY CRISIS AND OPPORTUNITYare two sides of the same coin.Typically, a crisis is required toreally drive change into an organ-isation. That change, if managedproperly, can turn into an oppor-tunity.

The financial crisis over thepast several months has forcedmany companies to reconsiderkey elements of their businessstrategy. When demand is strong,it hides inefficiencies. But as thelevel of revenue drops, those inef-ficiencies begin to show and crisesarise. But crises offer opportunity.Rather than discuss specificcrises, I’m going to review a fewcritical charac-teristics of thedecision-makingprocess. Thefocus is on largerdecisions thatwould impact thebroader organisa-tion.

Team selec-tion: The deci-sion-makingprocess should, tosome level, be ateam activity. Thesenior executiveand facilitatorshould select theteam membersfrom a broadrange of backgrounds. They needto be empowered as “scepticalgeneralists”. That means theyshould consider the alternativessceptically from a general per-spective and not limit their inputto the organisation they repre-sent.

Culture: The team membersmust feel and the team must bemanaged such that there is anabsence of hierarchy. Open dis-cussion of the alternatives mustoccur. And yes, that means thereshould be conflict in the meet-ings. Not personal conflicts butconflicts that focus on the topic ofdiscussion. A key role of the facili-tator is to solicit input, forcedebate but keep the conflict con-

structive and not personal.Process: If the broader team

can outline two key alternativesfor consideration, it helps to breakinto subgroups, with each sub-group exploring an alternative.After study, each subgroup shouldpresent their recommendations tothe other subgroup. The othersubgroup then needs to critiquethe recommendations. With thisinput considered, the overall teamcan either present the two alter-natives to the senior executive fordecision or make an overall teamrecommendation for senior exec-utive approval.

Senior executive role: Veryimportantly, thesenior executive(or decision-maker) should beabsent from themeetings wherethe alternativesare being devel-oped. If the teamsenses, or misin-terprets, a seniorexecutive’s prefer-ence, the alterna-tives will not befully explored bythe team. And, inmany cases, dis-senting opinionswill not be raised.In the end, the

senior executive needs to makethe decision, either by ratificationof a recommendation or by mak-ing the decision outright fromalternatives presented.

Small decisions would notrequire all the characteristics ref-erenced. But, impactful decisionsthat will affect the broader organi-sation or company should bemanaged systematically. Crisiscan lead to opportunity. And bet-ter decisions enable a higher like-lihood of realising the opportunity.

JEFFREY D NYGAARD is vicepresident & country manager ofSeagate Technology. Follow hisarticle every fourth Monday of themonth.

JEFFREY D. NYGAARDEMAIL: TH_CORPCOMM@SEAGATE.COM

Hi! MANAGERS

They are still theuntapped workforcebosses oftensidestep, but need

PUTTING WOMEN POWER TO WORK

RESEARCH has shown that a diverse workforce not only promotes creativity, but different voices encourage critical analysis. (photo from www.siamcement.com)

The political turmoil in Thailand andthe global economic crisis will causeproblems of non-performing loans(NPL) to re-emerge in Thai financialinstitutions, but on a lesser scale thanduring the ‘Tom-Yum Gung” crisis of1997. Nevertheless, if not properlymanaged, Thai banks’ NPL ratio couldescalate from single to double-digits.

The central bank deputy governorsaid on March 25 that the ratio of NPLsto total credit at Thai banks hadincreased from 5.6 per cent inDecember to 5.9 per cent in February.This escalation was caused by the eco-nomic downturn.

The aftermath of political instabil-ity will likely putmore pressure onthe downward trendof the economy.Thailand’s GDP in2009 is now fore-cast to contract by4.5 per cent to 5 percent compared toearlier forecasts ofaround minus 2 tominus 2.4 per cent.It may be even worsethan this if the measures of variousgovernments fail to counter the glob-al economic recession. US FederalReserve chairman Ben Bernake saidlast week that the fallout from the cri-sis will likely be felt for a long time.

The extent of the crisis was con-firmed in The Economist magazine’spoll of forecasters on March 7, whichfound that the real GDPs of mostindustrialised countries in 2009would contract. The US GDP isexpected to contract by 2.2 per cent;Japan (minus 5.3 per cent); Eurozone(minus 2.4 per cent); Germany(minus 3.2 per cent); and Britain(minus 3.1 per cent).

Therefore, it is unavoidable that thepolitical unrest of April, coupled withthe world financial crisis, will prolongthe economic recovery of Thailand,which in turn will accelerate the accu-mulation of bad assets in the bankingsystem.

How can the NPL problem be alle-viated and the NPL debtors rescued?

The painful lessons learned fromthe crisis of 1997 indicate that there isno quick-fix mechanism to solve theproblems. It took more than 10 yearsto reduce the NPL ratio from 48 percent to less than 6 per cent.

To solve such huge NPL problems,Thailand has established many insti-tutions and instruments to facilitatedebt-restructuring through court andout-of-court processes. Examples arethe Central Bankruptcy Court, asset-management companies, CorporateDebt Restructuring AdvisoryCommittee, Court Mediation Centreand SME and Financial AdvisoryCentre.

The govern-ment has alsorevised theBankruptcy Lawand procedures,the tax regimeand the land-transfer fees. Atax exemptionand reduction ofl a n d - t ransferfees were offeredto creditors and

debtors who restructured their debtsaccording to the Bank of Thailand’snotifications. Frameworks and venueswere also established for creditors anddebtors to facilitate out-of-court nego-tiations.

It’s undeniable that these institu-tions played major roles in the reduc-tion of NPLs, an achievement that sub-sequently supported the economicrecovery. Some of the aforementionedinstitutions and instruments are stillactive. The government and other rel-evant stakeholders should revise theframeworks, debt-restructuring insti-tutions and venues, to facilitate debt-restructuring negotiations to ascertainwhether NPL problems are a threat toeconomic recovery.

We cannot afford to wait until theNPL ratio reaches double-digits andbecomes even harder to fix.

TUMNONG DASRI is former directorof the Bank of Thailand’s DebtRestructuring Department

FINANCETHE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 9A>>

Apparently, oil price has fadedfrom news headlines after peak-ing around US$147 per barrel inJuly last year. Having said this,the oil price has graduallyclimbed from its low of $30/bar-rel to around $50/barrel inrecent weeks. To many, this rais-es the question of where the oilprice is heading next. To answerthis, a lot can actually be learnedfrom the shape of the crude-oilfutures curve, which is a linegraph of forward prices of differ-ent months of delivery.

Last year, spot prices of oil fellbelow their futures prices, caus-ing the futures curve to form ashape known as “contango”. Thismeans that forward prices forcloser delivery dates are lowerthan those of further deliverydates (the opposite developmentis called “backwardation”). Forexample, during Q4 2008, thetime spread – the differencebetween 12-month and one-month forward prices – was ashigh as $30/bbl, which promptedthe name “Super-contango”.

What caused this super-con-tango? Following the global econ-

omy meltdown, oildemand declinedmore rapidly thansupply, pushing downspot prices andwidened the timespread. Though thisdevelopment openedan opportunity toarbitrage away thesuper contango,tightening world liq-uidity meant that anyinvestment thatrequires high lump-sum upfront is diffi-cult because thestrategy needs cashto buy physical crudeand store it until thedelivery time.

Usually, there is a very closerelationship between the shapeof futures curve and the changein crude inventory. Contango typ-ically indicates that crude stockis accumulating (and backwarda-tion is vice-versa). Hence, thefact that the super-contango hassubsided to a normal contango(ie, the decrease in the 12month-one-month time spread) in

recent weeks mayimply that invento-ry accumulation isdiminishing. Thus,a reassessment ofglobal oil demand-supply condition isin order.

According toInternationalEnergy Agency(IEA), the rebal-ance of the oilmarket is inprogress as globaloil demand isimproving, at leastfrom the house-hold sector inOECD countries.

Although industrial demand hascontinued to shrink, recent signsof stabilising in GlobalPurchasing Manager Index (PMI)may indicate future improvementof industrial demand for oil.

On the supply side, non-Opecoutput continues to decline whileOpec remains strict on its pro-duction target. Prospects of tight-ening world oil supply thereforeraises concern on future avail-

ability of energy as well as poten-tial increased price volatility. Theflatter contango, thus, could besignal from the markets that oildemand will soon outpace sup-ply, especially if the economyrecovers at the end of the year asmany people have anticipated.

Of course, lots of uncertain-ties remain. But, what’s certainis that the world’s oil is limitedand that tighter oil marketmakes its price more vulnera-ble to any shocks, be it risingdemand or supply disruption.Higher oil price, whatever itscause, could re-emerge as athreat to oil-dependenteconomies, like Thailand, thatare in a fragile recovery stagefrom the present global crisis.Sooner or later, we will need aserious energy master plan thattruly strengthens our economicresilience against the next oilprice shock.

TANAWAT RUENBANTERNG,Economist, Domestic EconomyDepartment, Bank of Thailand.Views expressed are the author’sown.

VIGILANCE ON WORLD OIL PRICE TRENDS IMPORTANT

TANAWAT RUENBANTERNG

GURUSPEAK

Managing NPLs in times of crisis

OUTS

IDE

VIEW

TUMNONG DASRI

CHAIYAPORN NOMPITAKCHAROENHead of Research, BualuangSecurities

The Stock Exchange of Thailand(SET) should continue itsupward trend this week follow-

ing the government’slifting of the state ofemergency in andaround Bangkok.

Risk premiumsshould fall, favouringmarket valuation.Trading sentimenthas improved a lot,according to AD Line,which measuresbroad-based stock movements.

The market usually rises by an aver-age of 20 per cent before seeing a majorcorrection.

The time span for this is about twomonths.

If the statistic bears out, I expect theSET index will rise to its previous highof 488 soon.

Over the last two weeks, a lot ofmoney went into commodity-relatedstocks such as oil, coal, steel, petro-chemicals and shipping.

This reflects the fact that investorsare starting to take more risks, andhave more confidence in an economicrecovery. This week investors shouldlook to domestic plays.

Our stock picks are Preuksa RealEstate, Total Access Communication,Airports of Thailand and ThaiVegetable Oil.

TISCO SECURITIESThai equities have continued to

advance in recent days despite theSongkran political violence and heavyselling by foreign investors. One keydriver has been the Abhisit govern-ment’s attempts to heal the country’s

deep political divide by proposingpolitical reforms and a possibleamnesty bill. Another factor is theSET’s sharp discount to the region. TheThai market is currently trading at a2009 price-to-equity ratio (PER) of8.5 times, a huge discount of 40 percent over the average PER of 14.2 timesfor regional peers.

Lingering concerns over Thailand’spolitical stability are likely to limit theupside for the SET in the very nearterm, although we expect Thai equi-ties to soon resume their bear marketrally. Sentiment should be supportedby further gains on global stock mar-kets and better than expected 2009first-quarter results by US banks amidgrowing perceptions that the worst ofthe global recession is behind us.

Tourism, banks and industrialestate developers could suffer thebiggest fallout from Thailand’s latestbout of political strife. Our currentGDP estimate of minus 3.9 per cent forthis year is already below consensusestimates, but we may need to lower itto nearer minus 5 per cent.

Note that we have downgraded ourratings on major banks due to risingNPL risks and the sector’s disappoint-ing results. Aggregate 2009 first-quar-ter earnings for the seven banks underour coverage fell by 22 per cent year-on-year, while gross NPLs rose to 7 percent of loans from 6.5 per cent in thefourth quarter of 2008. However, wehave upgraded our target prices forpetrochemical stocks to reflect a recentrecovery in demand.

STOCK OUTLOOK

SET INDEX LIKELY TO SUSTAIN CLIMBRemoval of emergency, undervalued market to be tempting

SET50 SOARS 3 PER CENT INPOSITIVE WEEKThe SET50 Index last week rose 12.36points or 3.86 per cent from the pre-vious week, while the SET50 IndexFutures with the nearest contractmaturity S50M09 expiring in the endof June surged 11 points or 3.49 percent.

Thai shares mostly moved in posi-tive territory throughout last weekdespite a spate of negative news,including the Bank of Thailand’s low-ering of its 2009 GDP forecast from 0-2 per cent to a contraction of 1.5-3.5per cent.

The Federation of Thai Industriesestimates that the Thai labour situa-tion will hit a crisis in the second quar-ter. Exports in March dropped 23.1 per

cent. T h e

b u y i n gs p r e ewas seenobvious-ly lastF r i d a y

when the government announced thelifting of the state of emergency. TheSET index closed at 474.04 points lastweek. The local political situation,which remains uncertain, will stillpressure the stock market and theeconomy in the long run.

Among overseas stock markets, theDow Jones Industrial Average lastweek was in high fluctuation. Theindex gained 127.83 points on April 21when US Treasury Secretary Timothy

Geithner was upbeat about the USfinancial institution sector. But it fellsharply after Morgan Stanley report-ed poor first-quarter earnings and theInternational Monetary Fund issued awarning that the world economy thisyear would contract 1.3 per cent.

The average trading volume lastweek on Thailand Futures Exchangesurged from the previous week to 8,767

contracts a day, an 18.31-per-centincrease, while open-interest contractsas of last Thursday were 33,843 or a2.07 per cent rise.

Weekly trading volume numbered43,833 contracts worth Bt15.24 bil-lion. Of the total contracts, 39,216 wereSET50 Index Futures, 553 were SingleStock Futures, 3,411 were Gold Futuresand 653 were SET50 Index Options.

Weekly Total

SET 50 Index Futures

SET 50 Index Options

All Market

Volume (contracts)

Volume (Bt m)

Daily Average

Volume (contracts)

Openinterest*

(contracts)Volume (Bt m)

39,216 12,613.60 7,843 2,522.72 30,134

653 2.04 131 0.41 1,392

43,833 15,241.40 8,767 3,048.28 33,843

SUMMARY APRIL 20-24

Source: Thailand Futures Exchange

290

300

310

320

340

330

Price (Index point) Volume

0

4,000

2,000

6,000

10,000

8,000

Apr 2

0

Apr 2

1

Apr 2

2

Apr 2

3

Apr 24

PRICE MOVEMENT

SET50

S50 M09

NATION GRAPHICS

TRADING VOLUME BY INVESTOR TYPE

Local institution

27.7%

Local institution

27.7%Local

investor

61.2%

Foreign investor

11.1%

Given high market volatility in2009, we continue to favour defen-sive consumer plays and utilities.We also maintain our view that theSET is currently enjoying a bearmarket rally and advise short-terminvestors to use corrections to buyquality beta stocks in the energy,property and construction sectors.

VAJIRALUX SANGLERDSILLAPACHAIExecutive Director, TrinitySecurities

The SET Index continuedclimbing last week to close at 474with a significant rise in dailyturnover of above Bt17 billion.Overall market sentiment con-firmed our view of a bear marketrally with a short-term target of 520in the next fewweeks. However,we expect somecorrection thisweek, due mainlyto overbuying andother negative fac-tors.

A stress test ofthe 19 largest US banks scheduledto be released on Friday will be thekey risk to the global stock mar-ket, especially for the financial sec-tor, this week. The results, expect-ed to be announced on May 4, willanswer questions about whetherUS banks need a further capitalinjection, and of how much.

The Bank of Thailand recentlyrevised its 2009 GDP forecastfrom 0-2 per cent growth to a con-traction of minus 3.5 to minus 1.5per cent. However, Trinity expectsa GDP contraction of minus 4 percent this year. A slowdown in theglobal economy and poor domes-tic demand are key pressure fac-tors for this year.

However, there are some posi-tive signs. The revoking of the stateof emergency in the capital andeasing political violence shouldrestore foreign investors’ confi-dence in the Thai stock market.

The first-quarter earnings ofthe banking sector, released lastweek, look quite satisfactory whencompared to economic indicatorsand other sectors. Aggregate first-quarter net profit was Bt21.5 bil-lion, up sharply from 71 per centquarter-on-quarter, due to a lowbase effect, but down 19 per centyear-on-year. Banking stocks per-formed well over the past month,particularly deep-discount medi-um-sized and small banks. Weexpect some correction for out-performing stocks and recom-mend switching to large bankswith stronger balance sheets andlower risk, including SiamCommercial Bank andKasikornbank.

The first-quarter earnings forthe energy sector look unimpres-sive for exploration and produc-tion, refineries and petrochem.The best performer should be thecoal industry. We select PTT andBanpu as top buys.

Chaiyaporn

Vajiralux

“The economy is going forward as the stimulus packagehas started working.” Yi Gang, vice governor of thePeople’s Bank of China.

In spite of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s removal of the State of Emergency lastweek, the political turmoil is far from over. We have witnessed only the first roundof the unrest. Jakrapob Penkair, one of the leaders of the red-shirt protesters,vowed to continue the fight on the ground or underground until he could bring

down the bureaucratic polity (elite class) in Thailand. Ousted prime minister ThaksinShinawatra has not stopped fighting either.

Abhisit would like to send a signal that he has been able to bring the crisis under con-trol. First, he said he is willing to consider constitutional reform and political amnestyfor politicians barred from politics for five years and who were not directly involved inalleged election frauds. But the road ahead for political compromise is not going to beeasy as it is likely to face opposition from the Thai public, who stand opposed to the redshirts.

Second, Abhisit took part in the parliamentary debate on the red-shirt demonstra-tions and violent protests. He took time to explain the incident prior to and during theSongkran turmoil, while the Opposition Pheu Thai attacked him over his government’shandling of the protesters. It was a rather bizarre show because nobody was debatingwhy the rallies took place or what objectives they were trying to achieve. Instead, theywere debating the military’s use of force to quell the protesters, who should have beensquashed any way because they were setting fire to buses and destroying public proper-ties.

Third, before the parliamentary session ended, Abhisit rushed to announce his deci-sion to end the State of Emergency. The PM had declared the emergency on April 12,one day ahead of the clashes between red-shirt protesters and the military forces. Thisallowed him to consolidate all power into his hands. It created an atmosphere of highpolitical risks. Businesses and tourists had been hard hit by the State of Emergency.Thai companies doing business abroad faced a premium on their transactions due to therisk associated with the State of Emergency.

Initially, many expected that Abhisit would move swiftly, backed by the emergencydecree, to reshuffle the top police and military commanders who failed to secure peaceduring the turmoil and who might have stood idle intentionally while the rallies weregoing on. As it now happens, Abhisit has not announced any reshuffle. The premier ismore concerned with the country’s image in the international community. He would liketo hold the Asean Summit in June in Phuket after it was postponed in April due to thered-shirt protest. It is not certain whether regional leaders would give him anotherchance, given the ongoing turmoil.

Over the weekend, the red shirts heldrallies again at Sanam Luang afterAbhisit’s removal of the State ofEmergency. It was soft music this time.Without a clear signal from their leaders,the red shirts would only say that theywon’t go away easily.

The red shirts suffered a big set backon Songkran Day when they thoughtthat they would be able to triumph witha people’s revolution. In the people’s rev-olution, supporters of Thaksin were totopple the Abhisit government includingthe elite class. Thaksin was reported tobe staying in one of the neighbouringcountries, ready to get into the countryto lead the charge. But when he realisedthat his red-shirt rallies could not makethe advance in the capital becauseAbhisit had put up a big fight, he decidedat the last minute not to enter Thailand.It was one of the most dramatic episodesin modern Thailand’s history.

Thaksin’s top lieutenant, JakrapobPenkair, escaped the authorities’ netwhen he managed to sneak out of thecountry during the ensuing turmoil. Buthe told BBC later that he would continueto fight, an armed struggle if necessary,on the ground or underground to fulfilhis goal. Jakrapob is facing an arrestwarrant for his role in instigating theturmoil during Songkran. Jakrapob is akey operative of Thaksin. He had beentelling the foreign community inBangkok for more than a year that hewould one day lead a people’s revolution

to topple the elite in Thailand. Many foreign media did not take his words lightly.Several had written editorials to suggest afterwards that Thailand would risk plunginginto a Nepal-like situation.

The people’s revolution did not take place as Jakrapob predicted. For whatever rea-son, it took place without him standing in the front. The people’s revolution was quelledby a military group, who supported Abhisit. Without a counterattack, the history ofThailand would have been completely changed by now.

The road ahead remains bumpy. The polarisation is still alive. There is little room fora political compromise. The red shirts will not stop until Thaksin can prevail or at leastget his Bt76 billion in frozen money back. The stability of the Abhisit government isshaky. His allies are planning to backstab him. Abhisit has few allies around except thathis approval rating has been soaring in the aftermath of the Songkran turmoil. Withouta strong mandate and coalition support, Abhisit might find it difficult to last beyond thisyear.

OPINION10A THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009

EDITORIAL

In the people’s revolution,supporters of Thaksin wereto topple the Abhisitgovernment including theelite class. Thaksin wasreported to be staying in oneof the neighbouringcountries, ready to get intothe country to lead thecharge. But when he realisedthat his red-shirt ralliescould not make the advancein the capital because Abhisithad put up a big fight, hedecided at the last minutenot to enter Thailand. It wasone of the most dramaticepisodes in modernThailand’s history.

Will govt find the time toencourage innovation?A French developer, MDI, along with ZeroPollution Motors showed a car that runs oncompressed air at this year’s New YorkInternational Auto Show.

MDI’s compressed-air car can travel 200kilometres between refuelling, and it costsabout Bt35 per 100km. The car gets refu-elled with compressed air, taking aboutthree minutes, at a cost of about Bt70.

Hybrid propulsion systems are alsobeing developed using a combination ofcompressed air and other fuels. Air com-pressors could readily be rigged to rechargecars using solar or other clean powersources. There must be Thai innovatorswho could develop such concepts. If theThai government were functional, it couldset up programmes that could encourageand fund such innovations.

In reality, encouraging Thai innovators isnot even on the government’s radar.Politicians are far too busy with theirNixonian catfights, endlessly trying to gainadvantage over rivals – so there’s no timeleft over for governing.

If Thailand ever does get innovativetechnology, it will likely be decades afterWestern countries get plugged in. Not onlythat, by the time such technology gets toThailand, it will either have to be licensed(unlikely) or pirated (likely), because suchinnovations don’t get created here.

Perhaps private enterprise could take thebull by the horns, by actively

encouraging/funding creative non-pollut-ing alternatives. KEN ALBERTSEN CHIANG RAI

Address the needs of the underprivileged

A basic covenant of a “true democracy” isfree speech and for the government to ensurethe public has a legal right and reasonableplatform to make its voice heard outside thevoting booth. It seems that groups like thered shirts, yellow shirts, blue shirts, or shirtsof whatever colour can “organise” mass ral-lies whenever and wherever they choose.

Only yesterday the red shirts decided tomove “today’s” rally location from SamutSakhon to Sanam Luang. How can the gov-ernment expect to maintain order whenlarge rallies can be moved around withoutconsideration for public safety and welfare?

The government is in a position to dealwith this situation in a much more effectivemanner and should do so now.

Why not control to the extent possiblewhere, when, how and what various colouredbut organised groups plan to do?

Simple. Use whatever city or provinciallaw structure is in place to impose controls.

Require an approval process designed toallow the city of Bangkok to consider publicwelfare and safety and ensure the normaldiscourse of daily life would not be obstruct-ed by an organised rally.

Require rally organisers to obtain a per-mit not less than 30 days prior to the event.The permit would be approved after dueconsideration of the date, time, location,attendance, logistical support plans, etc.

The government cannot let moderatelylarge and organised events like political ral-lies to come and go as they please.

I personally don’t know, maybe the lawalready exists on the books to do the things Isuggest. This leads us to the big problem –enforcement of the law in Thailand. Peopletreated in a fair and equitable manner.

Maybe I am beginning to understandwhat underscores the red-shirt movement.

This government must go direct to thepeople with programmes designed to cor-rect these conditions and show goodwilland empathy for the people. Should thegovernment fail to address the legitimateneeds of the underprivileged, I cannot seehow we will create an orderly society. JAMES SEYMOURBANGKOK

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“Americans know that the best ideas often come fromworkers, not just management. That’s why we’ll establish a process through which every government worker can submit their ideas for how their agency can save moneyand perform better.” US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

>>

Thai-Burmese diplomatic relations cameunder the public spotlight recently whentwo retired diplomats – Poksak Nilubol,former Thai ambassador to Burma, andSurapong Jayanama, former director-gen-eral of the Foreign Ministry’s East AsiaDepartment – came together at an eventorganised by the Thailand Research Fund.

The function was organised last week tolaunch Poksak’s book, “UnderstandingBurma”, an analysis of Thailand’s trou-bling diplomatic ties with the junta duringhis years there, as well as a dose of per-sonal recollections of the people he met,including rebel leaders along the troubledcommon border.

The book is part of a larger study spon-sored by the research fund.

Poksak admitted for the first time thathe was against the idea of granting BurmaAsean membership unless the regimedemonstrated progress towards democra-tisation. He had rejected the argumentthat the junta would move that much clos-er to China if the regional grouping didnot permit the military regime to join itsfamily.

More than 10 years have passed and thejunta isn’t as close to China as it was backthen. Moreover, said Poksak, by losing itsbiggest leverage, Asean membership,Thailand has little left to influence the

course of Burma’s political direction.So why should Thailand be so con-

cerned about Burma’s democratisationand reconciliation? Poksak argued in hisbook that, essentially, Thailand is a stake-holder. A healthy Burma is good forThailand. A trouble-wracked Burma, saidPoksak, would continue to plagueThailand with illegal migrants, humansmuggling, border insurgency and illicitdrugs.

Like Surapong, Poksak was criticisedfor his stance towards Burma on groundsthat it violated Asean’s long-standing tra-dition of non-interference. But the two areno longer wearing ambassadorial hatsand deemed it necessary to make publictheir positions.

One of the mistakes, said Poksak, wasthat successive Thai governments reliedtoo heavily on military-to-military con-tacts in their dealings with the Burmese,while more emphasis should have beenplaced on diplomacy.

Poksak said Burma’s military intelli-gence apparatus was one of the world’sbest but all that came to an abrupt endwhen then spy chief for the junta, GeneralKhin Nyunt, was sacked in a power playwithin the junta. But even with Khin Nyuntand his entire intelligence operation out ofthe picture, the Army’s grip on the coun-

try remained strong in spite of the factthat the much-feared intelligence-gather-ing mechanism was abruptly removed.

According to Surapong, real change willbe hard to come by in Burma, given the cli-mate of fear. Even in the face of great inter-national pressure following the monk-leddemonstrations that were bloodily crushedby the junta, and Cyclone Nargis thatclaimed the lives of tens of thousands, thejunta continues to place the interest of theregime above the needs of its people,regardless of the level of disaster.

The regime knows what it wants anddoesn’t want and has played its cardswell, said Surapong. The junta, he said,has somewhat successfully used its natu-ral resources and its strategic location asbargaining chips in its dealings withChina, Asean, India and the United States.

Surapong said one of the biggest con-cerns for the time being is that the inter-national community, fatigued with the factthat their tough policy against the regimehas not produced the desired outcome,will decide to wash their hands of theBurma problem if and when the generalelection, scheduled for 2010, is pushedthrough.

Considering the fact that Burma’sConstitution was overwhelminglyapproved (according to the Burmese gov-ernment, more than 90 per cent of thevoters approved it), don’t be surprised ifall the parliamentarian seats in the gener-al election next year go to the junta.

BANGKOKIAN

THE NATIONEditor: Thanong Khanthong

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TOUGH TIMES AHEAD FORABHISIT TO STAY IN POWERSimmering political turmoil and unreliableallies will continue to pose challenges to PM

REAL CHANGE IN BURMA ELUSIVE

AT THE CABINET MEETINGon April 21, the Prime Ministergave a warning that entering intothe rice-sale contract with thePhilippines must be done in sucha way that complied with Clause190 of the Constitution. It wasobserved that the PM also askedabout the sale price and otherconditions of the contract. Thiswas a sign that the PM had startedto pay attention to the rice matter,which was a good move for him toget to know what has been goingon as it has been under a lot ofnegative criticism lately. The recent introduction of therice-pledging scheme for the sec-ond crop at a price much higherthan the market price as well asthe preparation for untimely saleof a large amount of stocks in away that seems to be irregular have drawn such criticism.

In the proposed rice contract with the Philippines, itwas not clear whether it would be a government-to-gov-

ernment transaction or an export transaction throughprivate exporters to private buyers in the Philippines. Ifit is the G-to-G transaction, the deal should be conclud-ed as soon as possible before the buying countrieschange their minds as happened last year when the thenCabinet did not approve the deal in time and thePhilippines finally turned to Vietnam. More interestingis that exports to foreign governments would have theleast pressure on the market price and we would need alot of these G-to-G transactions in order to reduce ourstockpile without much effect on the market price.

What concerns me is not the Philippines rice deal, butrather the fact that the Minister of Commerce is pre-pared to sell out stock of milled rice totalling 3.8 milliontonnes. This quantity of rice has been accumulatedthrough various pledging programmes for rice paddytotalling more than 8 million tonnes, most of which havebeen milled and kept in stock as milled rice of 4.1 milliontonnes. This amount of milled rice needs to be sold.However, the process to sell such a huge quantity ofmilled rice must be handled with care. The amount to besold should not be pre-announced, especially when it isthis high, as such information would put pressure on themarket price. Furthermore, the sale should not be imple-mented during the harvest of the second crop as it wouldbring down the market price that the farmers deserve.One reason for the immediate sale of existing stock as

put out by the Minister ofCommerce is that it is necessary toreduce stocks in order to welcomethe incoming stock from ricepledging of the second croprecently announced for a total of2.5 million tonnes. It was sad tohear that the minister planned tosell the existing stock at the mar-ket price in order to have room fortaking in more stock from ricepledging at a price more than 20per cent higher than the marketprice. If the rice-pledging was notintroduced, the output from thesecond crop would be available forprivate exporters to serve theircustomary buyers while the gov-ernment will not have to absorbunnecessary losses from the pricedifference.

To prevent undue pressure onthe market price for the second crop, the sale of govern-ment stocks should start after the farmers have soldmuch of their output from the second crop to merchantsand rice mills.

The next question is why was it so necessary for theMinister of Commerce to preannounce the high quantityof 3.8 million tonnes that were to be sold? Was it anadvice from a private businessman? The preannounce-ment of the sale of such volume would definitely putpressure on the market price and thus benefit the poten-tial buyer. During the whole year of 2008, when theMinistry of Commerce had to sell a few million tonnes ofrice in their stock, they never announced the amountthat needed to be sold. They quietly executed the saletransactions gradually and the market was not at allpressured down. Why were experienced bureaucrats notallowed to participate in the current scheme? Besides,among the potential members of the committee to beestablished by the minister for this purpose, one isknown for his talent in pleasing the politicians whileanother is still new to the current position as the prede-cessor was, very recently, removed from that position.

More interesting is the fact that the person who is widelyaccepted to be the most capable and experienced in sell-ing rice is not appointed to this committee.

The Prime Minister has successfully led the countrythrough the tough political protest. I do not want to seethe PM allowing irregular practice in the rice matter togo on unchecked.

The rice pledging for the second crop has been imple-mented only recently and has accumulated only part ofthe intended amount. The sale of stock is only in apreparation stage. It is still not too late to correct the sit-uation.

I am compiling data on the financial losses incurredfrom the rice-pledging scheme implemented by variousgovernments. I do not want to include the name of theDemocrat Party-led government in my report.

Until next Monday.

THANONG KHANTHONGTHE NATION

HAVE YOU EVER experienced Paradise, Helland Purgatory in the City of Angels? Let meshow you around Bangkok because I do attimes venture beyond my home in theSukhumvit area to visit Old Bangkok.

PARADISEYou start at Phanfah Leelas Bridge, a dis-

tinct point that leads you to the gateway ofParadise. The King Rama III statue offers youthe golden key to enter the realm of Paradise,where at night angels descend to dance andpick up flowers. You can smell Paradise, thefragrance that is not of this world, as youwatch the stupas and the Loha Prasath in theback.

There, Paradise interacts with you in sever-al dimensions, with the lure of aesthetics. Ifyou can make your way up to Paradise, thebackground scene behind the Rama III statuewould have been the physical structure wherethe angels take their residence.

That’s the outer layer of Paradise. ButParadise is also hidden in your consciousness.As you experience the beauty of the stupas andthe Loha Prasat and the temples, which movesyour yearning for Paradise, that Paradise grad-ually permeates your own consciousness in astruggle for self-realisation. You finally cometo terms with your self, your elusive self.

That which is Paradise is your process ofunderstanding or the denial of all happiness,which characterises the self, so that you con-front the self at the most critical moment.

Between the self and no self, which path doyou choose?

Then you walk on along Rajdamnoen Road.It’s about midnight. You pass the DemocracyMonument. How many people have died futiledeaths for this worthless landmark that signi-fies greed and crude power in this land? Howmany military strongmen come and go as theDemocracy Monument is forever cursed withtheir arsenals buried around? How manypoliticians have promised us the loot beforeending up in rampant corruption? How manytimes do the poor have to shed tears just to geta fair share of life on this earth?

HELLAlong the pavements, you see Hell and all

the suffering that goes with it. Homeless peo-ple lie on the benches or on the tiny spacesclose to the shop windows. They do not haveany other place to sleep.

Prostitutes, in their forties or fifties, gestureto you with their sign language. This is theirturf. When darkness descends onRajdamnoen, they come out to reclaim theirterritory. They practice the oldest trade of thisworld just to survive, with a heart that isbeyond the suffering of any human descriptionuntil it becomes normal.

You see people at a loss because they cannotafford even Bt200-Bt300 for a night, say, inone of the cockroach motels in the dark backstreets, where rats scurry around looking forfoul-smelling food.

The suffering you encounter manifests Hellin its physical form. But Hell is also yourobsession with the self. The homeless and theprostitutes suffer from all kinds of physicalabuse.

They struggle to keep their self moving.They only have the will to live, to protect theself. The Hell in your consciousness is yourdenial of the suffering from the outside andthe struggle for the maintenance of your hap-piness from the inside.

But as an observer of Hell, you at once set

yourself apart from the suffering before youreyes. You start to doubt whether your comfort-able life in a four-cornered office room is bet-ter than theirs.

Your continued obsession with the self doesnot gain you any higher status than theirs. Forwe all are born and have to pass through thecycle of birth and death, in an eternal strugglefor existence.

Those people living in rags and ruin have nomore strength left to be obsessed with the self,as they only need a few breaths of strength tokeep up their fragile existence. The Hell that isin your consciousness returns to haunt you asthe self perpetuates the state of ignorance andcomparison between good and bad, peace andsuffering.

You have almost forgotten Paradise, the realParadise that you walked past almost a kilo-metre behind you, the real Paradise that pointsto redemption.

PURGATORYThe Trilogy would not come a full cycle

without your final confrontation withPurgatory. Purgatory signifies your aimlesstravelling through time. You are now in thehuman world, lying perhaps on the edge of thisworld.

In Buddhist terminology, Purgatory is aregion where you place three circles together.You see vendors of fake Buddhas and second-hand or third-hand garments and electronicsproducts. You can also buy a mobile phonethere, with the service excellence of a mouth-to-teeth technician. You can have your futureread on your palm by the astrologers of theland. You can eat a plate of phad thai or khaidao with garlic pork for Bt15 or Bt20. You canbuy a buay beverage to quench your thirst aftera long, hot walk. This is the medieval marketof Siam, cut off from the Finance Ministry’s taxarm. Prices are in the low range. You can buyan antique clock or watch for a couple of hun-dred baht.

You aren’t sure how these people can makea living with their medieval trade because inthe afternoon of that day, you just had a nicemeal at Siam Paragon. As you pass the courtbuildings opposite Sanam Luang, you feeltired with the weighing down of the sights onyour mind.

After Paradise and Hell, you could havethought that you could find the answer to yourtrue self. But no, you’re still wandering aim-lessly.

If you’re not sure about Paradise and rejectHell altogether, you’ll be left in a state of flux,of not knowing where else to go to or what elseto do.

Finally, you stop at the City Pillar on thecorner opposite Wat Phra Kaew. You pay hom-age to the City Pillar, which provides strengthand power for the longevity of this Kingdom.You glance at Wat Phra Kaew, which stands asa testimony of the ultimate Paradise. You payyour utmost respect to the ultimate sacred siteof Bangkok, while the nihilism that goes onaround Wat Phra Kaew is intensifying on thebedrock of ignorance.

There, you at once come to terms with yourself for the third critical moment of your brieftravel in search of the lost meaning of life.Among Paradise, or the redemption of yoursoul, Hell, your preoccupation with the igno-rant self, or Purgatory, your travel throughtime without any meaning or purpose, whatpath would you choose?

The interplay among Hell, Purgatory andParadise allows you to at once realise the suf-fering, the peripatetic travelling through timebefore you arrive at the crucial juncture ofwhether you will enter the gate of the no self.

ONE DOES NOT have to be Nostradamusto predict that by next year the currentBurmese junta leaders would be strongerand have a tighter grip over the countryand its people, thanks to various efforts tobreak the current Burmese impasse. Theyall mean well, to rescue the Burmese peo-ple from the brutal and heartless regime,and in the past one year from the disas-trous consequences brought by CycloneNargis. Somehow, their efforts have notproduced the outcome they have in mind.

After the planned election next year,the perception of Burma and its regimewill certainly shift even though it may notbe transparent, free and fair and a gen-uine expression of the people’s will. Wehave heard repeatedly the appeal of theUnited Nations and other organisationsfor inclusive and credible polls, but thejunta has not yet responded. If history isany indicator, the answer in months tocome is clear: Rangoon will remain mute.During the referendum on the constitutionlast May, despite all the criticism andglobal calls for transparency and account-ability, the Burmese junta did nothing, noteven the possible changes to the pollingdate following the cyclone. Now, this con-stitution serves as the framework for thejunta’s exit strategy.

The world as it is today, with a full-blown economic crisis, will not pay muchattention to the quality of the democracyor the form of governance inside Burma,especially when recovery efforts continuein the Irrawaddy Delta. Under these cir-cumstances, policies and measuresadopted by the US, European Community,Asean and other major countries will

inevitably benefit the junta since theseplayers do not have unified positions andcoordinated approaches. Each thinks itspolicy is better and result-oriented thanothers. Sad but true, that policy-makerson Burma have spent more time dis-cussing their differences than trying tobridge perception gaps or consolidatingtangible engagements that could immedi-ately impact on the Burmese junta andchanges on the ground.

Indeed, the situation today is very idealto further augment the power of GeneralThan Shwe and Tatmadaw. They just haveto stay put, totally immune to internation-al outcry, and never show signs of weak-ness. Than Shwe has demonstrated politi-cal prowess, knowing the so-called inter-national community will succumb to hiswishes and plans provided he is not thefirst one to crack. The generals inNaypyidaw have also provided policy-makers on Burma and donors in state ornon-state organisations abroad withnuances on their political future andprospects, which raise hopes of better-ment the next day. Altogether it has beenover two decades of such expectations.

Still, they have never failed to push for-ward their views that the Burmese peopleneed help in a big way, especially inhealthcare and education. Outside help isalso much needed. Of course, the juntadoes welcome foreign humanitarian assis-tance especially from those ready toaccept its terms and conditions. One yearafter Nargis, the voices calling for moreassistance are louder. Dominant interna-tional humanitarian organisations, includ-ing UN agencies and other nongovern-

mental organisations – both that werethere before or after the cyclone – havealready urged more assistance to help theBurmese people to rebuild their lives.They still need US$691 million (Bt24.5billion) for the next three years.

Since May 19 last year, the presence ofAsean and UN relief agencies on theground have coordinated with the junta indistributing aid and helping the Burmesecyclone victims. The tripartite cooperationhas repeatedly received the thumbs up.They reiterated the Burmese rural com-munity leaders are now having unprece-dented opportunities to learn and worktogether with foreign relief officials.Currently they have developed the capaci-ty to organise themselves into informalcivic groups to help their own peopleaffected by the cyclone and rebuild their

community. This progress could lay thefoundation for increasing civic participa-tion and the democratisation process inBurma.

The argument that helping Burma andsaving lives is urgent and should not bepoliticised have been used by all partiesconcerned both inside and outsideBurma. Everybody knows, despite such amantra, everything in Burma has beenpoliticised, more than people would liketo admit. In the post-Nargis recoveryprocess, the calls for additional assistancewill be more pronounced. Foreign relieforganisations, which have made it insideBurma, have been quite satisfied with thecurrent state of affairs. They want to staythere beyond the one-year time-frame.When doubts were expressed about thepossible abuse of distribution of aid, theylabelled them as bias.

Now it has become a self-fulfillingprophecy. Some quarters in the interna-tional community have come round toaccept that the Burmese generals are abunch of lunatics and will not change anytime soon. It is better to show flexibilityand understanding of the Burmese quag-mire and help the Burmese people eventhough the regime will benefit from suchgenerosity.

During her Asian trip in February, USSecretary of State Hilary Clinton threw awrench in the works by saying the US wasreviewing its Burmese policy as neitherengagement nor sanction was working.Immediately, it caused ripples in thedebate on Burmese policies. The EU hasmade it clear that it would continue withthe sanctions one more year unless there

is genuine progress inside Burma. In theUS, lawmakers and lobbyists have alreadycalled for an end to the long-list of USeconomic sanctions. Under the new USleadership, Washington would like to workclosely with Asean to find a lasting solu-tion to the Burmese political crisis.Nobody knows what would be the revisedUS policy on Burma. Asean does not sup-port sanctions against Burma. SomeAsean members such as Thailand andSingapore have suffered from the TomLantos-Jade Act. Thai gem traders andjewellers have complained to the Thaigovernment of the damages caused totheir billion-dollar business.

Under the chairmanship of Thailand,Asean supposes to have a more pragmat-ic approach on Burma with the Abhisit-led government. As a frontline state,Thailand wants to restore respect for theconduct of its regional foreign policies.That hope was prematurely dashed by thepolitical chaos in Pattaya. At first, it wasthought that Thailand, with a more broad-based approach, without the past vestedinterests on Burma personified byThaksin, would garner Asean support andbeyond. The Pattaya mayhem, followed bythe Songkran riots, completely tarnishedthe chair’s reputation and leadership onthe Burmese issue.

At the Foreign Correspondents Club ofThailand last week, British Ambassador toBurma Mark Canning was very candid,revealing that the largest aid donors topost-Nargis Burma were the US andEurope--they have imposed all sanctions.For the Burmese generals, this formula isa win-win roadmap.

What concerns me is not the Philippinesrice deal, but rather the fact that theMinister of Commerce is prepared tosell out stock of milled rice totalling 3.8million tonnes. This quantity of rice hasbeen accumulated through variouspledging programmes for rice paddytotalling more than 8 million tonnes,most of which have been milled andkept in stock as milled rice of 4.1 milliontonnes. The next question is why was it so

necessary for the Minister ofCommerce to preannounce the highquantity of 3.8 million tonnes that wereto be sold? Was it an advice from aprivate businessman?

nationmultimedia.com THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 11A

OPINION

THAN SHWE’S WINNING FORMULA TO RETAIN THE REINS OF POWER

THE THAI DIVINE COMEDY BID TO SELL HUGE RICESTOCK NOT ABOVE BOARD

MR PRIDIYATHORN DEVAKULA

GOOD.. I PRAISEDOUBTFUL.. I RAISE

KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN

REGIONALPERSPECTIVE

SIRIPORN CHANJINDAMANEETHE NATION

Investors in Thailand will soon havemore alternatives after the StockExchange of Thailand (SET) addsSingle Stock Futures of 10 newunderlying stocks.

The Single Stock Futures will bechosen based on trading liquidityand price volatility to allow investorsto exploit them in a bid to managerisk, said SopawadeeLertmanaschai, the SET’s chief mar-keting officer for markets and post-trade services.

Most of the 10 new Single StockFutures are banks. The rest are ener-gy and property developers, she said.

The precise debut date has notbeen set, as some Single StockFutures with banking stocks asunderlying assets are not listed onthe SET50 Index. They will need tobe approved by the Securities andExchange Commission (SEC), shesaid.

The SET has already sub-mitted the filing to the secu-

rities watchdog, she added.According to the SET’s data,

Thailand’s six largest commercialbanks, Bangkok Bank, Krung ThaiBank, Siam Commercial Bank,Kasikornbank, TMB Bank and Bankof Ayudhya are listed on the SET50Index.

In November, the ThailandFutures Exchange (TFEX) – a unitof the SET– introduced the first threeSingle Stock Futures: PTT, PTTExploration and Production, andAdvanced Info Service. The under-lying assets of these, PTT, PTTEPand AIS, are the SET’s three largest-market cap stocks at Bt498.45 bil-lion, Bt324.95 billion and Bt229.58billion, respectively as of April 23,according to the SET.

The standard contract size is1,000 shares. Contracts mature inMarch, June, September andDecember. The minimum tick size isBt0.10, and a ceiling and floor of 30per cent of the previous trading dayis applied.

Sopawadee admitted that the firstthree Single Stock Futures had not

caught investors’ interest, as seen inthe thin trading volume.

As of April 23 this year, there wereonly 56 Single Stock Futures con-tracts: 16 AIS, 3 PTT and 37 PTTEP.

“We hope that after the numberof underlying assets of Single StockFutures increases from three to 13,investors’ appetite and trading liq-uidity will increase. We expect SingleStock Futures’ trading volume toaverage 100 contracts per day,” shesaid.

Sopawadee said DerivativeWarrants (DWs) would be unveiledin the third quarter of this year. Twoor three brokers have alreadyexpressed interest in becoming DWbrokers, she said.

The SET is also conducting astudy on the introduction ofExchange Traded Funds, whoseunderlying assets are on foreignindexes.

The TFEX, which commenced in2006, now has four products –SET50 Index Futures, SET50 IndexOptions, Single Stock Futures andGold Futures.

How many people does Kasikornbankplan to recruit this year and in whatareas?

Our survey early this year putthe total demand in the bankingindustry at around 9,000 jobs.Kasikornbank plans to recruit4,000 people. But this is a flexi-ble target,

depending on the situation. Therecruitment goal is in line withour business plan to open about150 branches this year. Of thetotal, 4,000 would be hired in thesales and services areas. This yearwe’ve recruited around 500 newemployees.

What are the most desired qualifica-tions?

First, you need to demonstratean ambition to succeed. Second,you need to be able to work as partof a team. The “one-man-show”type of person won’t work, asbanks’ work requires coordina-tion. Third, you need to be cus-tomer-focused, working toaddress customers’ needs, notyour boss’ needs. Fourth, it is nec-essary that you can solve prob-

lems. In this new era ofbanking, we need peoplewho are “solutionproviders”, not “serviceproviders”. This is veryimportant.

How would you assess a jobapplicant’s ability to solveproblems?

We would try to findout whether the appli-cant has ever solved com-plicated problems. How

does he or she analyseinformation and solve aproblem? Why chooseSolution A rather than B?

We would ask them totell us whether theyhave ever faced a chal-lenging problem, and ifso, how they solved it.Through interview-ing them, we try todetermine theirexperience level.

What other criteria does thebank focus on?

Education is very

important. In several positions, weprefer master’s degrees, as theapplicant is already done with theeducation and is ready to growinto maturity. A high GPA is notnecessary, but it helps us reducerisk. Good grades help us withscreening to a certain level, and itjust serves as good “packaging” forthe applicant.

You need to stand out.Preparation for answering ques-tions is the key. In addition, appli-cants need to take some tests,starting with three-hour IQ andEQ tests, which tell us about theirpersonality. Then, we test basicskills. They can choose from sub-jects they are good at, includingEnglish-language tests such asTOEFL and TOEIC, Thai lan-guage, mathematics, decision-making and computers. Finally,we test technical knowledge. Forexample, a relationship managerneeds to know about credit analy-sis and risk management.

What has changed in terms of the supplyand demand of skilled workers?

In terms of demand in thebanking sector, we need “solution

providers” that can advise people,while in the past you only tried toserve customers’ needs. On thesupply side, kids nowadays havehigh self-confidence and lesspatience. They want challenging,modern and flexible jobs. Theywant to express views and partici-pate in decision-making. They’renot shy and easy to govern any-more. But this new generationreflects customers’ needs. I stillbelieve patience is the key, howev-er, as we live like a family here.You need to work with people ofdifferent ages.

What is the main problem when it comesto training?

In many fields, we need to trainnew staff ourselves, as universitiesdon’t provide it. There’s a big gapbetween corporate needs and whatthe universities provide to us. Forinstance, in product managementand marketing, universities teachonly consumer products, notfinancial marketing. For risk man-agement, they teach some of thisin universities, but not enough. ITtraining is still lacking.

In addition, there’s a lack of

staff with five to 10 years’ experi-ence. After the 1997 financial cri-sis, everyone cut costs and jobs.Not many recruited staff at thattime. So, now we don’t have manypeople with that amount of expe-rience.

What is the wage situation?It hasn’t been affected much by

the current crisis. But nor have weseen significant wage rises. Ratesare quite stable. No one is increas-ing the salary base. The markethasn’t seen wages fall, either: it’sbasically stable.

As a bank you deal with other people’smoney. How do you assess a job-appli-cant’s honesty?

It’s quite tough to judge peopleat first. But we look at their back-ground. Their family relationsshould be sound. We also seekinformation from their formeremployers. In addition, we have asystem that doesn’t give themchance to commit fraud, and weconduct internal audits. Thosewhose parents have worked at our bank before are at an advan-tage.

YOURFINANCIALWINDOW

MONEY12A THE NATION MONDAY, April 27, 2009

& I N V E S T M E N T

THE NATION is edited by Thanong Khanthong and published by NMG NEWS CO LTD,, at 1854, Bang Na-Trat Road, Bang Na District, Bangkok 10260, and printed by WPS (THAILAND) CO LTD Tel (02) 338 3000, Fax (02) 338 3334. EDITORIAL: Tel (02) 338 3333; Fax (02) 338 3958. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Tel (02) 338 3000; Fax (02) 338 3964. DISPLAY & SUPPLEMENT: Tel (02) 338 3141, (02) 338 3565; Fax (02) 338 3912, (02) 338 3913. TRAFFIC: Tel (02) 338 3124, Fax (02) 338 3911. CLASSIFIED ADS: Tel (02) 338 3034, (02) 338 3054; Fax (02) 338 3904 l CHIANG MAI BUREAU:24/1 Nantaram Road, Soi 5 Kor Tambon Hai Ya, Muang District, Chiang Mai 50100. EDITORIAL: Tel (053) 274 467. ADMINISTRATION: Tel: (053) 271 831; Fax: (053) 282 110. l HAT YAI BUREAU:: 88/9 Kanjanawanit Road, Tambon Ban Pru, Hat Yai District, Songkhla 90250. EDITORIAL: Tel (074) 210975–9; Fax (074) 210-979. ADMINISTRATION: Tel (074) 210 035–8; Fax (074) 210 039 l KHON KAEN BUREAU: 67 Moo 8, Laonadee Road, Muang District, Khon Kaen 80000. EDITORIAL: Tel (043) 324 238–9; Fax (043) 324 243. ADMINISTRATION: Tel (043) 324 170, 324 241–2; Fax: (043) 324 186 lNAKHON RATCHASIMA BUREAU: 32/1 Moo 1, Tambon Ban Koh, Muang District, Naakhon Ratchasima 30000. ADMINISTRATION: Tel (044) 371 128. l PATTAYA BUREAU: 23/7 Moo 6, Sukhumvit Road, Tambon Na Klua, Bang Lamung District, Chon Buri 20260, ADMINISTRATION: Tel (038) 727 111.

“We can see some signs of recentimprovement in the global economy.”BANK OF JAPAN GOVERNOR MASAAKI SHIRAKAWA>>

TThhee NNaattiioonn recently conducted a survey of Human Resourcesdepartments in key business sectors regarding the employmentsituation amid the global recession and domestic downturn. The poll seeks to determine the latest information on job availability and requirements, particularly with regard to mid-ranking and lower-level positions. In an interview conducted as part of the survey, TThhee NNaattiioonn’’ssJJiiwwaammooll KKaannookkssiillpp speaks to DDuueennppeenn PPaawwaakkrraannoonndd, senior vicepresident and co-head of the Human Resources ManagementDepartment at Kasikornbank, which employs more than 13,000people. This is the first in a series.

HUNTING FOR TALENT AMID A CRISIS

‘TINY TECHNOLOGY’BECOMING HARDERTO DETECTATM skimming is popular notonly in Thailand: look atBaltimore, Maryland.

Privacy experts, banks andothers are warning consumersabout a threat to their personalfinancial information: electron-ic skimming devices thatrecord credit-card and debit-card numbers at ATMs, petrolpumps or vending machines.

Using “tiny technology” dis-guised as part of the machine,thieves use the information topress new cards with cus-tomers’ numbers, to the dis-may of cardholders like KristinKyriakos, 29, of SouthBaltimore, who returned fromvacation on April 13 to numer-ous bank-overdraft notices inher mailbox.

Thieves had stolen her num-ber while she used an ATM at aWachovia branch. With thatinformation, they withdrewcash from several ATMs in NewYork, taking US$2,500(Bt88,500), she said.

“All of a sudden, I’m reallyapprehensive,” Kyriakos said.“I wasn’t aware that peoplewere even capable of doingthis.”

There’s no central source ofdata to determine the extent ofthe problem, said AmericanBankers Association spokes-woman Margot Mohsberg, butanecdotal evidence suggestsskimming is cyclical, like othertypes of fraud.

“As the economy gets worseand people get more desperatefor money, the amount of fraudtends to go up,” she said.

Also, the technology is moreaccessible, with people able topurchase the necessary equip-ment over the Internet,Mohsberg said. Criminals usemagnetic-strip readers torecord information from theATM card. With either a cam-era mounted on the ATM ormodified keypads, they recordcustomers’ keystrokes as theyenter PINs. They then “clone”the cards and use them towithdraw cash.

It is not only ATMs that arevulnerable: thieves have tam-pered with stand-alone credit-card readers at petrol stationsand supermarkets. Employeesof Red Box, a video-rentalvending-machine companywith locations at McDonald’srestaurants and supermarketsall over the US, found credit-card skimmers installed lastyear on machines in threecities, including Baltimore.

The company sent cus-tomers e-mail messages warn-ing about the threat.

“Since then, we’ve really nothad any problems,” said RedBox spokesman ChrisGoodrich.

Wachovia spokesman JimBaum confirmed the bank “didhave a situation happen inearly March” at the branchKyriakos visited.

KASIKORNBANK employs more than 13,000 people and plans to hire 4,000 more this year.

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SINGLE STOCK FUTURES TO ADD 10 NEW STOCKSTECH STOCKS OUTPERFORM

S&P 500 Information Technology Index

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Performance for Jan 1 to April 20 of each year

STOCKS %SET 474.07 +1.72SET50 332.83 +1.8SET100 710.06 +1.88NIKKEI 8707.99 -1.57

INTEREST RATES %US PRIME RATE 3.25LIBOR 3M 1.0919SIBOR 3M 1.20313BIBOR 3M 1.5

GOLD BUY SELLTHAI - BAR 15,100.00 15,200.00THAI - ORNAMENT 14,887.12 15,600.00HONGKONG 904.45 905.45LONDON 904.45 905.45

CURRENCIESBT:100 YEN 36.435 +0.281BT: EURO 46.827 +0.239BT:$ 35.34 -0.14

HANG SENG 15258.85 +0.29SHANGHAI SE B 161.5 -0.96BSE SENSEX (MUMBAI)11329.05 +1.74DOW JONES (FRI) 8076.29 +1.50NASDAQ (FRI) 1694.29 +2.55FTSE (FRI) 4155.99 +3.43

FRANKFURT (FRI) 4674.32 +3.00S.KOREA 1354.1 -1.07MALAYSIA 992.68 +1.41SINGAPORE 1852.85 -0.38INDONESIA 1591.34 -0.09PHILIPPINES 2103.63 +1.7

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

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ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED FORMER Chat Thai MP Janista “Bam” Liewchalermwong and Butrrat Charoonsmith get engaged at the Oriental Hotel yesterday. Planning to marry in three months, Butrrat said he would like his fiancée to quit politics.

WHAT’S EXPECTED

THIS WEEKGovt, opposition,Senate whips meet Government, opposition andSenate whips are scheduledto meet TODAY to agree onguidelines for the appoint-ment of a committee to gath-er information and review theviolence during the red-shirt’s anti-government rallyon April 13 and 14.

And in an attempt to solvethe country’s divisiveness,the whips would also discussthe framework for appointinga committee to study theConstitution and laws relatedto political reform.

The committee of the PM’sOffice secretary-general thatis also considering the samesubject will hold its firstmeeting today.

On FRIDAY, the Senate willopen a special session todebate the government’sadministration without takinga vote. Prime Minister AbhisitVejjajiva would be there toanswer questions.

Last week’s joint parliamen-tary meeting on the samesubject ended with some sen-ators still wanting to talk.

That two-day session turnedinto a war of words betweengovernment and oppositionMPs rather than a discussionby lawmakers to jointly findsolutions for the country.

Outside Parliament, the redshirts did not stop theirmovement. On Saturday, oneday after the prime ministerlifted the state of emergencyimposed in Bangkok, the redshirts rallied at SanamLuang.

They also said they wouldstage a major rally again fromMAY 17-20 to bring back the1997 Constitution. Beforethen, they would organisemobile rallies in theprovinces, starting from UbonRatchathani this Saturday, tomobilise supporters.

The red-shirt leaders alsoplan to take a look at thegroup’s D Station this week inthe serious hope that it couldresume broadcasting soonafter being blocked by thegovernment for provokingpeople.

Outside the country, red-shirt leaders ThaksinShinawatra and former PM’sOffice minister JakrapobPenkair vowed to continuetheir opposition to the Abhisitgovernment. The governmenthas been more active lately intrying to get cooperation fromforeign countries to extraditeThaksin and Jakrapob.

TODAY, the Special BranchPolice commander convenesa meeting to review the inter-views by Thaksin andJakrapob for possible lesemajeste.

On WEDNESDAY, theAttorney-General’s Office isscheduled to decide whetherto prosecute Jakrapob forlese majeste.

While Jakrapob must hearthe indictment in person, theprosecutors might request thecourt to approve his arrestwarrant if he fails to do so.

Also THIS WEEK, police aredue to wrap up their investi-gation of the assassinationattempt on SondhiLimthongkul.

NATIONAL1B THE NATION MONDAY, April 27, 2009

A F F A I R S

CHULALONGKORN HOSPITAL SAYS IT CANTREAT PEOPLEIF SWINE FLU HITS THAILAND

Page 2B

The PAD is to set up a new politicalparty. What will “new politics” be like?

The new political party will notbe a copycat of the now-defunctPalang Dharma Party (PDP) that Ifounded 21 years ago, but will beestablished on principles based onlessons learnt by the PDP. A grandPAD meeting on May 24 and 25will discuss the new party’s set-up.

The new party, which has notbeen named, should command amajority of MP seats after the nextgeneral election, and will be acoalition member in the next gov-ernment.

It will be useless if we cannotlead the coalition or form a govern-ment, because there will be nothingnew to Thai politics.

PAD supporters nationwide aredivided into two groups – those infavour of the new party and thosewho prefer that the PAD remainsan independent advocacy group inpolitics. PAD representatives fromeach of the 76 provinces, and thoseliving in the US, will decide at thegrand meeting on the initial princi-ples of the new party.

Palang Dharma actually prac-tised the so-called “new politics”which has been heralded by thePAD, even back before 1988, whenthe party was established. In 1990,an American professor who didhis doctoral thesis at LondonUniversity, later wrote a bookentitled: “Chamlong Srimuangand the New Politics”. I guess itwas then that the new politics was

first recognised. The newparty will be successfulbecause of three factors thatPalang Dharma did nothave at that time: TheElection Commission willwatch out for and punishvote-buying, the sup-port of PADmembers acrossthe country, andcable channelASTV.

It isimportantthat thenewpartylead thecoali-tion in the next government, other-wise it will be no different to all the“old politics”, with its vote-buying,mud-slinging and money politics.

Who attempted to assassinate SondhiLimthongkul, a core PAD leader?

I don’t know, but there twomotives behind the murder attempt:PAD has tremendous support fromthe masses across the country andASTV’s success as a mouthpiece forthe PAD, which is known as the coreof the anti-Thaksin Shinawatramovement.

Why was Sonthi the first target, as aleader of yellow-shirted people, insteadof those in red shirts?

The people who gave the orderdidn’t care who they killed, first orlater. But the current political tur-moil dictated the order of kills. Moreimportanly, there are known leadersof yellow-shirted people, who areeven classsified as prime and sec-ondary leaders, while there are noknown leaders of red-shirted peo-ple. Should Thaksin be killed first?

He stays abroad now.

Was there really an effort tolure yellow shirts and redshirts on to the street tofight one another?

Yes, but we did notwalk into that trap.

Somebody may usethe ensuing vio-

lence as anexcuse tooppress bothyellow and red

shirts, citinghimself as a

knight on a whitehorse. It’s the gov-ernment’s duty todeal with lawless

protesters, not the PAD’s.

As you have confirmed, there was aneffort to stage a coup on April 12 and 13,a day before the red-shirted supporters’busiest activities and street protests.Why was it aborted?

A coup was seen as essential tobring peace – and secondly, it mayhave been used as bargainingpower in exchange for a law to par-don [Thaksin], to promulgate aso-called Reconciliation Act, oreven to amend the Constitution.Yet, I don’t know why it was abort-ed.

What did the people behind the coup andthe assassination attempt want?

They wanted power. They want-ed to pardon some wrongdoers sothey could escape serving prisonterms and asset seizure. Or theywanted more and more power tobecome bigger in the country.

Does the ideology of some die-hard communists still exist? Was there anyeffort to revive it along with other

tactics [used by the red shirts]?Some die-hard communists

who became Thaksin’s allies willstill pursue their ideology despitethe collapse of Soviet-era commu-nism and the capitalism nowadopted by China. But it is verydifficult for them to achieve theirgoal.

They came up this time with aclear stance against the monarchy– a policy they never stated clearlyduring their armed struggle then.And they are complaining aboutthe PAD using their anti-monar-chy policy as the main goal in ourcampaign. It’s clear to everyonenow that PAD always tells thetruth.

Was Thaksin part of the communists’anti-monarchy movement?

Some of them – but we don’tknow clearly who is who – mayview Thaksin as their ally.

It was the government’s duty touphold and enforce the lesemajeste law, as the anti-monarchydoctrine has been spread out andis now widely accepted by peoplewho are highly-respected lectur-ers, who are admired by their like-minded students.

The anti-monarchy doctrinewas a threat to national securityand the government must takeresponsibility for its inaction indealing with the widespread viola-tion of the lese majeste laws. I can’ttell whether the PAD would “takeaction” to tackle the problem, if thegovernment proved incompetentor was inactive in dealing with theissue.

What factors would prompt the PAD tolaunch a new round of rallies? Would theamendment of the Constitution and thepardon law be one of them?

I don’t know. We must wait andsee.

The PAD staged rallies against two previ-ous governments over plans to amend

the Constitution and the pardon law.Why should it be different this time?

We cannot set up such precon-ditions. We need to analyse the sit-uation because the time and cir-cumstances have changed. ThePAD doesn’t own the country andcannot tell the government whatnot to do.

Why do the same conditions not applylike they did during the two previousgovernments?

We do not know what articles inthe Constitution are set to beamended. It’s wiser for us not totalk about it in advance.

Will the PAD rally to oust the governmentif it does nothing to deal with people whowant to pursue an anti-monarchystance?

It’s a threat the government hasto deal with. It just cannot letthese people get away.

How much time should the governmentbe allowed [to act]?

Oh. We don’t own the govern-ment. We are not that big or pow-erful. We campaigned against theSamak and Somchai governmentsbecause they clearly acted as nom-inees or puppets of the Thaksinregime.

Even the Abhisit government ispractising the old politics at a cer-tain point – by kowtowing to cer-tain groups of powerful people. Forexample, it has changed its stanceon relocation of Thai Airways’operations from Don Mueang toSuvarnabhumi Airport, and iteventually decided to draw backfrom a ban on alcohol sales during Songkran,under influence from liquor com-panies.

I don’t think the Abhisit gov-ernment has the actual control, orthe Asean Summit in Pattayawould have proceeded and therewould have been no attack at theInterior Ministry.

A core leader of the People’sAlliance for Democracy (PAD),Chamlong Srimuang, gives hisviews on a new PAD-led politicalparty, the attempt on the life offellow PAD leader SondhiLimthongkul, and currentpolitics, after the end of theviolent red-shirt protests. He spoke to The Nation’sChularat Saengpassa.

‘ABHISIT GOVT NOT IN ACTUAL CONTROL’EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

SOLDIER’S BODY TO UNDERGO ANOTHER AUTOPSY, COMMANDER RULES OUT FOUL PLAY THE NATION

The body of a soldier who was founddead in the residence of Army RegionCommander Lt-General KanitSapitak in Bangkok will undergo a sec-ond autopsy at Siriraj Hospital today.The Forensic Science Institute, how-ever, rejected his family’s request tohave outsiders besides relatives andtheir lawyer witness the autopsy.

Forensic Science Institute directorKhunying Pornthip Rojanasunandsaid the institute had rejected the

request from the family of PrivateApinop Kruasuk to have outsiders whoare not his relatives or lawyers witnessthe autopsy because it was against theregulations. Pornthip said she did notwant to be accused of having doublestandards as the institute had nevergranted such permission to anybody.

Apinop, 22, was found dead in theresidence of Kanit on April 15. The ini-tial autopsy conducted at RamathibodiHospital found that he had subduralhaemorrhage. His neckbone was bro-ken. There were bruises on his arms.

Media reports had earlier said hehad fallen in the bathroom and waslater found dead. However, his familysuspected irregularities in his deathand filed a complaint with the PheuThai Party and the Department ofSpecial Investigation to investigate thecause of his death. His body was sentto the Forensic Science Institute onSaturday.

Pheu Thai spokesman PrompongNopparit said Apinop’s family fearedthey would not receive justice becausethe Army had told them to finish his

cremation fast. The family had organ-ise a false cremation and kept his bodyfor a second autopsy to find out howhe had died.

Siriraj Hosptial has agreed to con-duct the autopsy by allowing a team ofother doctors, including a Pheu ThaiParty MP, to witness the autopsy today.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajivasaid he was sorry about the death ofApinop, who had looked after himwhile he stayed at Kanit’s residence.The PM said he was ready to provideany information if an investigation is

launched to look into the issue. He saidhe had nothing to do with his deathbecause the private died on April 14after he had left the place. Abhisit saidhe and Deputy Prime Minister SuthepThaugsuban took refuge there on April12-13.

Reports had it that Apinop mes-saged to his mother and girlfriend inLoei telling them that he was at Kanit’sresidence where Abhisit also tookrefuge during the Songkran riots.

Kanit said he had asked three sol-diers, who had been stationed to guard

his house, about what had happenedto Apinop. They told him the privatehad skidded and fallen down. Theyhad asked Apinop if he wanted to seea doctor but he had refused, saying heonly had a headache. They later foundhim dead on Wednesday morning.

“I assure that no one had assaultedApinop till he died. I also lost my sonin an accident three months ago. Iunderstand losing a son is tough andI am sorry for his family. I am ready todo everything they wish me to do toclear any doubts,” he said.

PREMIER: GOVT MAY HOLDREFERENDUM ON AMNESTY

DOUBTS OVER IMMUNITY FOR CHATUPORNBUDSARAKHAM SINLAPALAVANTHE NATION

Though MPs and senators who seekparliamentary immunity from arrestand prosecution while Parliament sitsare normally granted it, doubts aresurfacing about the case of Pheu Thaiparty-list MP Chatuporn Prompan.

No member has ever been chargedwith so grave a threat to democracyor national security.

Chatuporn, prominent in theDemocratic Alliance AgainstDictatorship, is wanted for incitingunrest by leading red-shirt rallies forthe abolition of the 2007Constitution. Chatuporn has yet tosurrender to face charges and mayask for immunity.

This is generally granted on

request, but the enormity ofChatuporn’s alleged crime hassparked a move for a break withprecedent.

Democrat spokesman BuranatSamutrak said the party would meetto decide whether to back Chatupornonce he made a request.

Chulalongkorn University politi-cal-science lecturer ChaiyanChaiyaporn said immunity was just atradition and the law clearly statedthat members could vote for oragainst granting it.

He said that if Pheu Thai PartyMPs voted in support of Chatupornit would show that they did not putthe public interest above their own.

Cases in point are: Then Senate speaker Chalerm

Promlert was given immunity after

being sentenced to 36 years in jail onNovember 13, 2007 for raping anunderage girl.

Then senator SukhumCherchuen was given immunity frombeing prosecuted for mastermindingthe murder of Dr NichareeMakornsarn of ChulalongkornHospital.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajivawaived immunity when sued by DrPrommin Lertsuridej for defamationin connection with a press conferenceat which Abhisit accused the Thai RakThai Party of hiring small parties tocompete in the April 2, 2006 electionand said he would abide by the court’sverdict.

Democrat party-list MPSomkiat Pongpaiboon waived immu-nity on a charge of lese majeste.

THE NATION

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva saidyesterday that the government mayhold a national referendum on theproposal to give amnesty to bannedpoliticians.

Speaking during his weekly“Confidence in Thailand with PrimeMinister Abhisit” on Channel 11, theprime minister said political partieshave yet to discuss the proposal togrant amnesty for political offences.

“The process may require a pub-lic referendum to be carried out first,”Abhisit said.

He reiterated that criminaloffences must not be covered underthe plan to grant amnesty.

The prime minister said the ideaof political amnesty was floated bymany sides throughout the pastweek.

“All politicians will heed the pro-posal and find a common solution. Iwon’t attempt to influence the out-come,” the prime minister said.

He said a committee would be setup to compile proposals from allgroups, including politicians, on theissue.

The issue of amnesty would beconsidered by a tripartite committeeof the government, opposition andSenate.

Abhisit said he had requestedParliament President Chai Chidchobto invite all sides to discuss the

amnesty and other issues, includingpolitical reform, constitutionalamendments and reconciliationamong political opponents.

The prime minister said if all sidescould not agree on a set of rules, anyattempt to solve political problemswould fail.

Abhisit said any agreement orchange must be done without dis-crimination against anyone.

Speaking to reporters atGovernment House, the prime min-ister said it was not certain yetwhether a referendum would coveronly the amnesty issue or also covercharter amendments.

He said a working committee,representing the three sides, wouldconsider the referendum issue later.

Meanwhile, an opinion surveyfound that most voters around thecountry support charter amend-ments and amnesty for bannedpoliticians.

The survey was carried out byRajabhat University Suan Dusitamong 3,079 voters from Friday untilyesterday.

The university said the surveyfound that 68.72 per cent of therespondents agreed with charteramendments while 31.28 per centdisagreed.

The survey found that 64.89 percent of the respondents support theamnesty idea while 35.11 disagreedwith it.

Chamlong

2B THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 nationmultimedia.com

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Teaching novice monks mannersPhra Maha Wudhijaya Vajiramedhi, director of the VimuttayalayaInstitute, will launch the country’s first “good manners” curriculum fornovice monks next month.

The curriculum, to be introduced at the Novice DemonstrationSchool founded by the monk in Chiang Rai’s Chiang Khong district,was aimed at educating novices so that they would have more appro-priate manners and solving the problem of homosexual novices andmonks.

The good manner curriculum comprises 75 dharma principlesfocusing on the proper behaviour of monks and novices as taught bythe Lord Buddha in Buddhism’s 227 precepts.

“When the Lord Buddha was a prince, he was educated by his royalhousehold. As a result, he had really good manners and was admiredby Buddhists.

“The school has decided to introduce the curriculum to teachnovices because he did not want people to lose their faith in novicesand monks due to unbecoming conduct,” said Wudhijaya, also knownas W Vajiramedhi.

“Every novice studying at the school will be taught the curriculum.We’ll also evaluate how much the curriculum can help inculcate goodmanners in novices. If it succeeds in improving their manners, I’llexpand the curriculum to other novice schools nationwide.”THE NATION

FACT website blockedThe Freedom Against Censorship Thailand(FACT) yesterday claimed that its blogsite hasbeen blocked since Saturday noon, apparentlyon orders of the Information andCommunication Technology (ICT)Ministry.

“This is typical of a censorship regime in thatover-blocking always occurs,” FACT founder andcoordinator CJ Hinke told The Nation. “Thereare always innocent websites that are swept upin the general censorship.”

The free-speech advocacy group will file acomplaint with the ICT Ministry today, as min-istry officials were not available to take a peti-tion over the weekend.

Hinke, a Canadian citizen based in Bangkok,said his group is non-political and non-partisanand the website contained no illegal content.

Hinke urged FACT readers to use bypass soft-ware to access the site, which provides detailedinformation on censorship in Thailand includingmeasures to avoid lese-majeste charges.

Hinke claims the ICT Ministry has admittedto restricting access to 6,218 websites deemed athreat to national security and the monarchy.

Last Friday, the ministry said it has allowedthe anti-government Democratic AllianceAgainst Dictatorship’s 71 websites to go backonline.PRAVIT ROJANAPHRUKTHE NATION

Simply:1. Go to apple.com or itunes.com2. Type “Nation News” in search3. Click download, and you are ready to go

Nation News via iPhoneNow! you can catch breaking news from The Nation, Krungthep Turakij, Kom Chad Luek and OK Nation.

STORMHAVOCTHE ROOF of a housein Tambon Huai Phoin Kalasin’s Muangdistrict is destroyedby a storm onSaturday night. Thehouse was among 73destroyed homes.The storm injured twopeople. TheMeteorologicalDepartment yester-day issued a warningof summer thunder-storms caused by amoderate high-pres-sure system fromChina. Residentsshould be wary of“dangerous” weatheruntil tomorrow bystaying indoors,keeping buildingssecured and avoidusing communicationtools during thunder-storms.

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THE NATION

Chulalongkorn Hospital hassaid it is ready to cope with thepossible spread of swine flu in

Thailand and could treat peoplesickened by it.

Meanwhile, an emergency watchhas been ordered following thedeadly swine-flu outbreak which isnow spreading in Mexico andthreatening to turn into a pandem-ic, the Public Health Ministry saidyesterday.

Pubic Health Minister WitthayaKaewparadai urged people to staycalm, saying the H1N1 viral breedwhich had caused the disease inMexico had never been reportedhere.

However, anyone travelling to theUS or Mexico should monitor healthadvisories issued by both Thai andforeign authorities, he said.

Dr Praj Bunyawongviroj, theministry’s permanent secretary, saidhe would not recommend that peo-ple stop eating pork, but noted thathuman-to-human transmissionwas possible through direct contactof body fluids or mucus throughsneezing and coughing.

People down with the commonflu should stay away from public andkeep themselves in good health untilthe flu is gone, he said.

Chulalongkorn medical lecturerYong Phooworrawan said swine flucould spread faster than bird flu, butit was much less fatal.

Citing a comparative study, thedoctor said 80 out of 1,000 people

infected with swine flu had died, but250 out of 400 of those sickenedwith bird flu had succumbed.

Swine flu can attack both wildhogs and farm pigs, or other typesof swine, he said, adding that theH1N1, H1N2 and H3N2 strains pos-sibly found in Thailand could not betransferred to humans.

In Chiang Mai, no order has beengiven at the international airport toquarantine Mexicans who mightarrive, although there are no directflights landing there, airport direc-tor Juturongkhaphol Sodmaneesaid.

Under regular procedures, med-ical assistance was on standby andwould be provided to any sick for-eign visitor, but those with appar-ent flu would be on the A-list fortreatment upon their request, hesaid.

The outbreak in Mexico hasclaimed at least 81 lives, accordingto the World Health Organisation,which declared the virus a publichealth emergency of “pandemicpotential”.

In New Zealand, 22 students andthree teachers have been quaran-tined amid fears they may have beeninfected by swine influenza duringa language trip to Mexico.

PUBLIC HEALTH

CHULA HOSPITALPREPARED TOTACKLE CASESOF SWINE FLUMinistry calls forcalm; dangerousstrain of virus ‘notfound in Thailand’

Citing a comparativestudy, the doctor said80 out of 1,000 peopleinfected with swine fluhad died, but 250 out of400 of those sickenedwith bird flu hadsuccumbed.

SONDHI CASE:ARRESTS NOTLIKELY SOON THE NATION

Police have made good progress intheir investigation into the assas-sination attempt on SondhiLimthongkul but would not like-ly make any arrests within a week.

A complete trajectory studywould take seven days, Pol Maj-General Suraphol Phinijchob,commander of the ScienceRecords Division, said yesterday.

Prime Minister AbhisitVejjajiva had earlier dismissed abold estimate by Pol Lt-GeneralAssawin Khwanmueng, the chiefinvestigator, that police couldarrest within seven days those whoordered the execution of the coreleader of the People’s Alliance forDemocracy (PAD) and founder ofthe ASTV-Manager media group.

Abhisit said police should lookfurther into recent discoveries ofwar weapons at various locationsin Bangkok and Si Sa Ket.Measures to keep war weapons incontrol should be put on thenational agenda, he said.

Metropolitan Police chief Lt-General WorraphongChewpreecha said police wouldrelease the names of suspects onlywhen they had obtained sufficientevidence against them.

Chamlong Srimuang, a PADleader, said Sondhi was markedfor elimination because of thehuge support given to him by PADfollowers, as well as of the successof his ASTV station.

Chamlong said he and othercore PAD leaders, includingSuriyasai Katasila, were also tar-gets.

“They have set a Bt3-millionbounty for our heads, whichmakes us not too careless, whilewe don’t want be to be too anxiouseither,” he said.

The government had the dutyto take action against people whoconstantly violated the lese-majeste law or those with an anti-monarchy stance regardless oftheir roles in the red-shirt move-ment, he said.

The chances that the yellowand red shirts could one daybecome allies if they had mutualenemies could not be predicted, headded.

PUBLIC-ASSEMBLY LAW MUSTRESPECT RIGHTS: ACADEMICTHE NATION

Thailand should not rush into pass-ing a public-assembly law like othercountries as the people and civicgroups here have a custom of protest-ing to publicise their demands, ahuman-rights defender said yester-day.

Most street protests are peaceful,but huge demonstrations and violenceas in previous gatherings of the red andyellow groups are rare, Paijot Polpettold a seminar on the possibility forThailand to have such a law to controlstreet protests.

Various governments since the mil-itary coup of 2006 have tried to enacta public-assembly law as people andpoliticians staged demonstrations tomake political demands.

Thammasat University academicChanthachira Aiammayura support-ed the idea of having the law since

protests in recent years have tendedto degenerate into violence and vio-lated the basic rights of other people.

The law needs to protect the rightsof protesters and the public at large,she said.

The Constitution, which guaran-tees the right of assembly, allowsauthorities to rein in protests whenthey go beyond legal restrictions, sheadded.

The law would need to balancethree elements – effectiveness, neces-sity and proportional protectionbetween the protesters and publicinterest, she said.

Administrative Court officialWasunee Wattanapraser said somedemocratic countries have laws onpublic assembly.

In France, any public assemblymust have a permit from the author-ities. The protesters must set up a com-mittee to supervise the rally. The gov-

ernment has the authority to limit theassembly if it stirs up trouble or socialdisorder, she said.

However, French authorities havelimited power to declare a state ofemergency and can ban public assem-bly for only 12 days, she added.

The United States has no public-assembly law but uses normal crimi-nal law to keep violence in check, shesaid.

Lt-General Chet Mongkolhatthifrom the National Police Office saidthe law was needed to authorise policeto issue permits to people for publicmeetings.

If police refused applications for apermit, the organisers should have theright to petition the AdministrationCourt, he said.

The law should state clear rules ofengagement so police know when theycan employ force to subdue protests,he said.

VILLAGERS PETITIONOVER MEKONG EROSION SUPALAK GANJANAKHUNDEETHE NATION

A group of villagers yesterday signed a petition to lodgewith the United Nations, the Thai and Chinese govern-ments demanding that China take responsibility for theerosion of banks along the Mekong River because of itsdams.

Some 200 villagers who live along the Mekong River,including residents of Chiang Rai’s Chiang Khong districtand Ubon Ratchathani’s Pho Chai district, helped buildsandbag walls to prevent further erosion in Chiang Khongyesterday. Villagers believe that China’s dams on the main-stream of the Mekong, including the Jinghong andManwan dams in Yunnan province, were responsible forthe rapid erosion of the river’s banks.

“After the completion of the Chinese dam in the Mekong,people downstream could not predict the water levels inthe river,” said Bounkong Bounvas, village head of Ban PakIng Tai.

The disappearance of reefs is another cause for con-cern. To make the Mekong more navigable, China had toblast all the reefs from Jinghong down to the GoldenTriangle, causing the flows of the river to change consid-erably, said Mekong conservationist Niwat Roikaew. Heavyfloods in August last year, after a huge amount of waterwas released from the dams, caused damage to agricul-tural areas in Thailand worth more than Bt85 million.

nationmultimedia.com THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 3B

ASSOCIATED PRESS Mexico City

Anew strain of swine flu has thiscity of 20 million peopleincreasingly fearful as sus-

pected flu deaths grow, and worldhealth officials warn that Mexico Citycould be at the epicentre of a globalepidemic.

Everything from concerts to sportsmatches and church services werecancelled yesterday to keep peoplefrom congregating and spreading thevirus in large crowds.

President Felipe Calderonassumed new powers to isolate peo-ple infected with a deadly swine-flustrain that Mexico’s health ministersays has killed up to 81 people andlikely sickened 1,324 since April 13.

Mexican soldiers and health work-ers patrolled airports and bus sta-tions, looking for people showingsymptoms, which include a fever ofmore than 100 degrees, body aches,coughing, a sore throat, respiratorycongestion and, in some cases, vom-iting and diarrhoea.

Markets and restaurants werenearly empty. And throngs ofMexicans – some with just a fever –rushed to hospitals.

Mexico appears to have lost valu-able days or weeks in detecting thenew flu strain, a combination of pig,bird and human viruses that humansmay have no natural immunity to.

Health officials have found casesin 16 Mexican states. Two dozen newsuspected cases were reported in thecapital on Saturday alone.

Eleven cases of swine flu were con-firmed in California, Texas andKansas, with more suspected in NewYork City.

The World Health Organisationon Saturday asked all countries tostep up reporting and surveillance ofthe disease, as airports around theworld were screening travellers fromMexico for flu symptoms.

WHO director-general MargaretChan said the outbreak of the never-before-seen virus has “pandemicpotential”. But she said it is still tooearly to tell if it would become a pan-demic.

WHO guidance calls for isolatingthe sick and blanketing everyonearound them with anti-viral drugssuch as Tamiflu. Too many patientshave been identified in Mexico’steeming capital for such a solutionnow. But some pandemic flu expertssay it is also too late to contain the dis-ease to Mexico and the United States.

“Anything that would be aboutcontaining it right now would pure-ly be a political move,” said MichaelOsterholm at the University ofMinnesota.

Mexican authorities orderedschools closed in the capital and thestates of Mexico and San Luis Potosiuntil May 6, and the Roman Catholic

Church announced the cancellationof Sunday masses in the capital.

A team from the US Centres forDisease Control had arrived inMexico to help set up detection test-ing for the swine flu strain, some-thing Mexico previously lacked.

Health authorities started notic-ing a threefold spike in flu cases in lateMarch and early April, but theythought it was a late rebound in theDecember-February flu season.

Testing at domestic labs did notalert doctors to the new strain. HealthSecretary Jose Cordova acknowl-edged that Mexican labs lacked thenecessary profiling data to detect thepreviously unknown strain.

The first death occurred in south-ern Oaxaca state on April 13, butMexico didn’t send the first of 14mucous samples to the CDC untilApril 18, around the same time it dis-patched health teams to hospitalslooking for patients with severe flu orpneumonia-like symptoms.

Those teams noticed somethingstrange: The flu was killing peopleaged 20 to 40. Flu victims are usual-ly either infants or the elderly.

Even though US labs detected theswine flu in California and Texasbefore last weekend, Mexicanauthorities as recently as Wednesdaywere still referring to it as a late-sea-son flu.

BRIEFSCruise ship fights offSomali piratesAn Italian cruise ship with 1,500people on board fended off apirate attack far off the coast ofSomalia when its Israeli privatesecurity forces exchanged fire withthe bandits and drove them away,the commander said yesterday.

Commander Ciro Pinto toldItalian state radio that six men in asmall white boat approached theMsc Melody and opened fire onSaturday night, but retreated afterIsraeli security officers aboard thecruise ship returned fire.

“It felt like we were in war,”Pinto told state radio.

None of the roughly 1,000 pas-sengers and 500 crewmemberswere hurt, Melody owner MscCruises said in a statement issuedby its German branch. – Associated Press

Tamil Tigers declare unilateral ceasefire Tamil Tiger rebels yesterdaydeclared a unilateral ceasefireamid growing concern for thou-sands of civilians trapped amidthe fighting.

A rebel statement e-mailed toThe Associated Press yesterdaysaid it would stop its militaryoperations immediately.

The rebels are cornered in atiny strip of land on Sri Lanka’snortheastern coast. The UnitedNations and others have called fora negotiated truce to allow civil-ians trapped in the sliver of terri-tory to escape.

Aid groups estimate 50,000civilians are stuck there.

However, the Sri Lanka govern-ment rejected the ceasefire,defence secretary GotabhayaRajapakse said, instead demand-ing that the cornered guerrillassurrender. – Agencies

WORLD HEALTH SCARE

MEXICO ON EDGE AS SWINE-FLUCASES CONTINUE TO INCREASEExperts say it is too late to containdisease, raising fears of epidemic

A COUPLE try and kiss in Mexico City. The WHO has warned governments worldwideto be on alert for any unusual flu symptoms.

WORLD4B THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a

morale-boosting visit to Lebanon yesterday aheadof elections that could see militant groupHizbollah and its allies emerge victorious.

>>NEWS&BUSINESS

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OBAMA SEEN ASDOMINANT INFIRST 100 DAYSAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSEWashington

In his high-velocity first 100 days,Barack Obama has sketched theoutlines of a presidency ofastounding ambition, whichwould remake the United States athome and transform its roleabroad.

“It is clearly the most ambitiousagenda at least since the 1960s,” saidPrinceton University historian andpolitical scientist Julian Zelizer.

Abroad, Obama swappedGeorge W Bush’s swagger for acupped ear, giving Russia respectit craves, reaching out to Muslimsand vowing to drain decades ofenmity with foes Cuba and Iran.

Tom De Luca, professor of polit-ical science at Fordham University,said Obama’s foreign policy was“breathtaking in its scope”.

“I think it clearly illustrates theimmense self confidence Obamahas in himself and in his adminis-tration.”

Obama is enjoying the bestpresidential job approval rating atthis point in 20 years, a new opin-ion survey showed.

The poll, by ABC News and TheWashington Post, indicated 69 percent of Americans approve of thejob he is doing, which is the high-est evaluation in about two decades.

Fifty-four per cent say Obama’sdoing a better job than theyexpected, far above former presi-dents George W Bush and BillClinton at their 100-day mark.

They got a 39 per cent and 35per cent better-than-expected rat-ing, respectively.

But talking about change iseasy, effecting it is not: Obamaadmits America is a “big oceanliner – it’s not a speedboat; it does-n’t turn around immediately”.

ITTHI C TANTHE NATION

The business world of the com-ing decade may be as unrecog-nisable to us today as that of

Bangkok 30 years ago, says WichaiSubvithayanond, country director ofAvaya Asia Pacific.

“I remember going to technicalcollege in Bang Mod across the riverin Thon Buri. It was green, full oforchards, rice fields and forests,”Wichai reminisces. “The campus andfarming community knew each otherwell, and we always helped eachother.”

Wichai, a 10-year veteran withSiemens before joining the local unitof the US communications firm,misses the easy pace.

“My college days were full of happymoments. People were cheerful,friendly and supportive of each other.There was none of the bitterness we have witnessed in the past fewweeks.”

Clearly Wichai believes the past

may hold some of the solutions totoday’s woes. “Today Bang Mod is allcondominiums and housing estatesand thick with cars and trucks.” Theorchards and farms are gone,replaced by congested highways andexhaust fumes.

But to Wichai, a native of Sadao inthe south who later migrated toBangkok, the changes he experiencedhave taught the importance of learn-ing to cope with challenges that comewith an increasingly automated andefficient work environment.

It is important not to lose yourway.

Thailand was the darling of glob-al investors from 1987 to 1997, whenthe stock market index rocketed from150 to more than 1,750. Today it is at474.

“Vietnam is today the fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asiaand one of Avaya’s most dynamicmarkets,” says Wichai.

“It is important for our businesscommunity to appreciate the chal-lenges and competition coming fromnext door.”

Vietnam is hungry for growth,investment and opportunities aftersuffering more than half a century ofwar, strife and communism.

In contrast, some quarters heremay be so blinded by decades of pros-perity that they are able to toy withthe idea that civil strife is tolerable

even as the country sinks deeper intothe red. But Wichai is optimistic. “Ina way, we have to be balanced.Consider a few years ago when all themedia ran was the daily killings in theSouth.”

Today that’s largely forgotten,overshadowed by coloured shirts.

When competing, Thailand hasmany advantages still, he says. “Ourbanking and trade system is moredeveloped, and our infrastructure isalso in better shape.

“The key is now is to return toharmony.”

Avaya’s outlook here was improv-ing before the state of emergency wasannounced.

That scuttled everything, and ittakes time to rebuild, he says.

“Our annual revenues are aboutBt400 million, and we believe thetrend of the market remains positivenext year.”

Once a subsidiary of AT&T underLucent, Avaya is now a leader in voicetechnology.

With more companies and organ-isations seeking practical ways toreduce their impact on the environ-ment, Avaya is enabling them to gogreen by investing in more efficientsystems, he says.

“For instance most major banks,domestic and foreign, are our keycustomers,” he says.

“We provide them with call-cen-tre systems and services that are keyto their operations 24 hours a day.”

If you lose your credit card or ATMcards, it is likely you will be using itstechnology to obtain a new one.

“More medium-sized firms arelooking to us to upgrade their sys-tems.”

The recent global financial crisisis forcing companies to trim expens-es while increasing output.

One way to achieve these goals isto employ technology and productsthat cut down on time and expendi-ture.

“Our conferencing and VOIP[voice-over Internet protocol] serv-

nationmultimedia.com THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 5B

GREEN & CSR PROFILES

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ONE OF Avaya’s communications products that generate about Bt400 million ayear in the local market.

AVAYA’S country directorWichai Subvitayanondsays more local firmsare turning to his company to upgradetheir communicationssystem to competeeffectively in today’s dig-ital world.

COMMUNICATIONS

AVAYA’S WICHAIWARNS OF LOSTOPPORTUNITIESAMID UNRESTAs Vietnam roarsahead after years ofwar, Thailandstumbles backward

USD1 USD : 1 34.24 35.62 - - -

USD5 USD : 5-20 34.58 35.62 - - -

USD50 USD : 50-100 35.02 35.7 35.17 35.27 35.52

GBP UNITED KINGDOM 50.61 52.52 51.3225 51.4575 52.0925

EUR EURO ZONE 46.02 47.25 46.28625 46.3975 46.995

JPY JAPAN (:100) 35.87 37.3 36.2 36.285 36.8475

HKD HONG KONG 4.45 4.64 4.52625 4.54125 4.59625

MYR MALAYSIA: 10, 50, 100 9.11 10.15 UNQUOTE UNQUOTE UNQUOTE

SGD SINGAPORE 23.3 24.02 23.44875 23.5125 23.89125

BND BRUNEI 22.78 23.92 - - -

CNY CHINA 4.33 5.62 UNQUOTE UNQUOTE UNQUOTE

IDR INDONESIA (:1000) 1.87 4.03 2.91095 2.94895 3.6581

INR INDIA : 50-1000 0.61375 0.75375 - - 0.7525

KRW KOREA 0.0221 0.0367 - - -

PHP PHILIPPINES 0.53 0.8 - - 0.745

TWD TAIWAN 0.85 1.15 - - -

AUD AUSTRALIA 24.7 26.26 24.93 25.005 25.5225

NZD NEW ZEALAND 19.53 20.82 19.6875 19.75 20.1775

CHF SWITZERLAND 30.39 31.25 30.61 30.7075 31.145

DKK DENMARK 5.98 6.32 6.19 6.2075 6.305

NOK NORWAY 5.16 5.43 5.305 5.32125 5.40625

SEK SWEDEN 4.08 4.34 4.2475 4.25875 4.32125

CAD CANADA 28.35 29.21 28.725 28.79 29.1525

RUB RUSSIA 0.87 1.2 - - -

VND VIETNAM (:1000) 1.41 2.23 - - -

ZAR SOUTH AFRICA 2.71 4.95 - - -

AED UNITED ARAB EMIRATE 7.74 10.06 - - -

BHD BAHRAIN 63.26 94.72 - - -

OMR OMAN 62.42 93.16 - - -

QAR QATAR 7.62 10.05 - - -

SAR SAUDI ARABIA 7.49 10 - - -

CURRENCY DESCRIPTION BANKNOTE BUYING RATES SELLING RATESBUYING SELLING SIGHT BILL TT BILL & TT & DD

F O R E I G N E X C H A N G E R AT EBANGKOK BANK

AS OF APRIL 24, 2009

ices can reduce costs in many ways,”he says. “By allowing voice confer-encing, executives can communi-cate with their provincial counter-parts without having to fly there,book hotels and spend hours at air-ports.”

Less travelling, less driving andmore tele-conferencing: this isprobably what the future of busi-ness in Thailand will look like. It isalready looking like that in manyparts of the world.

To help businesses determinehow much energy they can save,the company recently launched anew green website and an energy-savings calculator.

The tool reckons savings in kilo-watt energy, carbon emissions andpetrol consumption.

One way is to decrease theamount of hardware needed forcommunications.

Vanke, one of the largest prop-erty-developers in China, consoli-dated its communications infra-

structure by eliminating stand-alone PBXs at each of its 20 branchoffices.

Instead it centralised core com-munications operations at its head-quarters and extended a systemover an IP Telephony network tothese branches.

“That reduced the requirementsfor administration, maintenanceand power consumption whileenabling faster, more consistentservice, increasing collaborationand improving business continu-ity,” he says.

Meanwhile, Avaya’s“Communication Manager”telephony software makes it possi-ble to build an efficient communi-cations foundation that supportsup to 36,000 endpoints acrosshundreds of locations with a singlepair of centralised servers.

Also, its work-at-home pro-gramme is solving staffing andbusiness issues in a fast-changingbusiness environment.

SAHAVIRIYA GROUP organised an environment training programme for over 50 healthvolunteers in Bang Saphan. They were taken to a green park in Cha-Am and expectedto share the knowledge with other villagers in their home.

SONY THAILAND recently organised ‘Young Creative by Sony Season 2’, where 80 junior high-school students with interest in entertainment technology and TV programming were taken on a one-day trip to RS Studio for direct experience and trials.

JET AIRWAYS, led by Thailand manager Lackana Wantaywin, took 50 children fromthe Foundation For The Better Life of Children to watch the animated movie BalGanesh, inspiring them with Ganesh’s tale of never giving up.

PITAK PRUITTISARIKORN, 4th left, director of Honda Automobile (Thailand), presentedthe company’s financial assistance to the Department of Disaster Prevention andMitigation to provide shelters and working equipment during disasters. The donation wasa part of Honda’s support to help reduce road accidents during the Songkran festival inthe ‘Bon Voyage – Be More Conscious…Be More Safe’ campaign.

ADIREK SRIPRATAK, president and CEO of Charoen Pokphand Foods, recently presented 375,000 eggs worth Bt900,000 to Bangkok Governor MR SukhumbhandParibatra in ‘Dried wastes to exchange for CP fresh egg’ at Khlong Toey community.For the second consecutive year, the project aims to encourage people in 25 communi-ties to be concerned about their living environment as well as provide them goodnutrition by consuming quality eggs.

CHAO PHYA Hospital recently organised a grooming session for would-be parents,where applied yoga was demonstrated for the happiness of the parents and their children.

CSR SCENE

6B THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 nationmultimedia.com

WORLD BUSINESS

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSEWashington

The IMF says it is time to talkexit strategies since all mem-bers now endorse the stimu-

lus measures taken to combat theglobal financial crisis and the needto clean up banks’ bad assets.

“Everybody is happy with whathas been done on fiscal stimulus ...all agree on the absolute necessity ofcleansing the financial system,” thehead of the International MonetaryFund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn saidon Saturday.

He said there were substantialdifferences, however, over what stepsshould be taken to prepare for theeconomic upturn on the other sideof the crisis, adding that countriesneeded to have a view three to fouryears ahead.

Some wanted to discuss the issuelater but “our point of view is that theexit strategy view has to be taken intoaccount as soon as possible,” the for-mer French finance minister told anews conference.

As the worst global slump sincethe 1930s spread through 2008,there were substantial differencesover how much money governmentsshould spend – even at the risk ofgoing heavily into debt – to get theireconomies going again.

The United States advocated

spending any amount necessarywhile Europe generally, and espe-cially Germany, was reluctant tocommit ever more funds, preferringto wait and see the effectiveness ofinitial steps.

Recent economic data has sug-gested that the worst global slumpsince the 1930s Great Depressionmay finally be touching bottom aftermonths of relentless bad news.

The Group of Seven majoreconomies on Friday said the situa-tion appeared to be stabilising evenif the outlook remained uncertainand major problems still had to betackled. Strauss-Kahn, speakingafter the spring meeting of the IMFboard’s International Monetary andFinancial Committee, said the 185-nation IMF had been right to stressthe need to clean up the toxic assetsat the banks.

The ultimate recovery “is heavilyreliant on this clean-up”, he said.

Strass-Kahn said the meeting inWashington, picking up from theGroup of 20 London summit ofdeveloped and developing countrieson April 2, confirmed that the IMFwas now at the centre of policy coor-dination on the crisis.

He noted positively broad agree-ment on supplying the IMF withadditional funds so that it can helppoorer countries struggling in the cri-sis. “A key achievement of today’s

[Saturday] meeting is ensuring thedoubling of the Fund’s lendingresources,” the IMF steering com-mittee said in a statement.

In a first stage, $250 billion (Bt8.9trillion) will be available through aspecial facility to help “member coun-tries with external financing needs”.followed by another $250 billion, asagreed at the G-20 summit on April2.

The possibility that the IMFwould raise extra funds by sellingbonds to member states was alsoraised, Strauss-Kahn added.

Marita Hutjes, senior adviser atOxfam International, an anti-pover-

ty non-governmental organisation,condemned the meeting as “a wast-ed opportunity for poor countries”.

“More should have been done.The poorest countries are still wait-ing for the bail-out they have beenpromised to survive this crisis.

“They moved heaven and earthfor banks; the question is when willthey put the money on the table forpoor countries?” Hutjes said.

The IMF earlier this week sharplydowngraded growth forecasts, say-ing it now sees the global economycontracting by 1.3 per cent this yearbefore returning to growth of 1.9 percent in 2010.

FINANCIAL CRIS IS

IMF SAYS TIME HAS COME TODISCUSS EXIT STRATEGIESSubstantial differences remain on howto prepare for upturn: Strauss-Kahn

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, right, and EgyptianFinance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, chairman of the International Monetary andFinancial Committee, hold a news conference in Washington.

AP

In the midst of a gloomy globaleconomic environment, at leastthree rays of economic light areshining out of China which will begood for Thailand – these areChery cars, beer manufacturingand the BOI's moves to expandChinese investment in this coun-try.

The proposed construction of amanufacturing plant in Thailandfor China's new Chery car willmake Thailand the main produc-tion base for right-hand driveChery cars rather than Indonesiaand Malaysia. The cars areintended to be sold in Thailandand export markets. Theannouncement comes at a timewhen the automotive industry inThailand is experiencing a drop inlocal and international demand.Over the last year, domesticdemand has declined over 30 percent, while exports have also fall-en by over 30 per cent. Withunemployment in many sectorsincreasing, China's proposedinjection of investment in ourautomotive manufacturing indus-try will provide a welcome lift forthe industry and a stable pool ofjobs for Thai auto workers.

China's famed Tsingtao Beerhas recently entered into a jointventure with a group of Thai busi-ness partners to establish a basein Thailand. Thailand's low logis-tic costs for exports to theEuropean and Australian marketsand an attractive Australian free

trade agreement are among thefactors that have made this dealattractive to Tsingtao. If the dealgoes ahead, the Bt2 billion brew-ery will be built in a province nearBangkok close to shipping portsand will export 80% of its pro-duction to the Australian andEuropean markets.

The new BOI office in Beijingwhich opened earlier this monthis the second BOI office to beopened in China. It already hasan established office in Shanghai,and a third is due to be opened inGuangzhou later in the year. Thegrowing presence of the BOI inChina not only reflects interest byChinese companies in Thailandbut it presents an excellentopportunity for Thai businessesto form strategic alliances withChinese companies that are look-ing to expand into SoutheastAsia.

As we have seen from theactions of companies such asTsingtao and Chery, Thailand isan important strategic gatewayinto the Southeast Asian,European and South Asian mar-kets. Thailand's geographic loca-tion, combined with free tradeagreements with other countries,makes Thailand a very attractiveinvestment destination whichbodes well for our future prosper-ity.For more columns in this series,please seewww.bangkokbank.com.

PRASONG UTHAISANGCHAISenior Executive Vice President andDirector of International Banking Group,Bangkok Bank

WWW.BANGKOKBANK.COM

Cherys, beer and other tastybusiness opportunities

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ACROSS 1 Big name in copiers5 Improvise on stage10 Yawn-inducing speaker14 “You want the light – off?”15 Gaucho’s rope16 Manipulative sort17 One who’s at home on the range19 Venetian blind part20 Make haste21 Transvaal settler22 Words after “Hi, honey!”24 Counting everything26 Crock-Pot potful27 Antiquity, once28 Gunfighters’ graveyard32 Boneless cut35 Jean Auel’s “The – of the Cave Bear”36 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit37 Boatloads38 In what place

39 Penny40 1960s Cosby/Culp espionage series41 Roger of “Cheers”42 Do axels and lutzes43 Corned beef is usually ordered on it45 Payable46 Throw out of office47 Take back, as a public statement51 Fozzie Bear, e.g.54 Litigant55 Org. that sticks to its guns?56 At the peak of57 Noisy eater60 Doily material61 Clear the chalkboard62 Queen played by Liz63 Norse thunder god64 Patch the lawn, in a way65 Labor Day mo.

DOWN 1 Coffee-chocolate mix2 How some tuna is packed3 Beach drier4 Dada pioneer Jean5 Governor Schwarzenegger6 Cut into cubes7 Bert of “The Wizard of Oz”8 Suffix with Canaan9 Voice between bass and tenor10 Oater villain who attacks from hiding11 Norway’s capital12 Paper quantity13 Art Deco designer18 Horseshoe-shaped hardware23 “Have we –?”25 Girl idolizing a pop star,perhaps26 Uses a hang glider28 Run, as colors in the wash

29 Thought30 Fabric fuzz31 Not punctual32 Light-skinned33 __-bitsy34 Easy gait35 Use crib notes38 Andre the Giant, e.g.42 Kama __44 Regret45 Considered47 Rene of “Tin Cup”48 Bracelet site49 Advance slowly50 Deck with a Death card51 Ice cream drink52 Great Salt Lake state53 Somewhat, in music54 Sauna sites58 Rage59 IV amounts

ACES ON BRIDGEPUT YOURSELF in South’s shoes in this deal from a team game.Your partner’s intelligent call of five hearts suggested good heartsand clubs, but no controls in the unbid suits. Your excellent spadeand diamond values allowed you to bid the heart slam. But how doyou plan to make the contract after West leads a trump?

One declarer drew trumps, cashed the top clubs, and when theyfailed to break 3-3, led a spade back to his king and West’s ace. Westnow cashed the spade queen.

South felt he had done his best by combining his chances in theblack suits. However, at the score-up, he discovered he had lost aslam swing. Can you see why?

The declarer at the other table spotted an extra chance – name-ly, that the Q-J-x of diamonds would fall in three rounds. After draw-ing trumps, he cashed the A-K of diamonds, then crossed to dummywith a club to ruff the diamond seven. As you can see, dummy’s dia-mond 10 was established for the 12th trick.

Of course, if the diamond play had failed, the second declarerwould have tested the clubs, and only when they failed to breakwould he have led up to the spade king.

Plays of this sort are sometimes called echelon plays. If you can,you want to exploit all of your chances in order before falling backon the play that will commit you to success or failure.

NORTH♠ 9 8♥ A 9 4 10 7 5 3♣ A K Q 8

WEST EAST♠ A Q 5 3 ♠ J 10 7 6 4♥ 6 3 2 ♥ 7 9 6 4 2 Q J 8♣ 5 3 ♣ J 10 9 6

SOUTH♠ K 2♥ K Q J 10 8 5 A K♣ 7 4 2

Vulnerable: NeitherDealer: South

The bidding:South West North East1 ♥ Pass 2 ♣ Pass

3 ♥ Pass 5 ♥ Pass6 ♥ All pass

Opening lead: Heart three

LEAD WITH THE ACES

South holds:♠ K J 4 3♥ 10 5 10 7 5 4♣ Q 7 4

South West North East1 ♥ Pass 1 ♠

Pass 2 ♠ Pass 3 NTAll pass

ANSWER: In auctions of this sort,there is no clear-cut reason to despair; your spades appearto be lying well enough, and your partner’s heart honors are over dummy. So simply lead adiamond (your long suit). Even if partner is not stacked in the suit, you may still be able toestablish your long card.

AGRO & FOOD INDUSTRYAGRIBUSINESSASIAN SEAFOODS COLDSTORAGE ASIAN 1 1.7 4 6 1.74 1.7 -2.30% 0.85 2.04 624.5 0.00%SEAFRESH INDUSTRY CFRESH 1 1.27 706 901 1.27 1.19 6.72% 0.12 10.86 529.4 19.69%KIANG HUAT SEA GULL TRADING FROZEN FOOD CHOTI 10 108 4 376 108 106 1.89% 15.69 6.1 805.5 8.70%CHIANGMAI FROZEN FOODS CM 1 3.3 111 362 3.3 3.18 3.77% 0.41 7.99 1,124.00 9.09%CHAROEN POKPHAND FOODS CPF 1 3.26 9,836 32,213 3.28 3.16 3.16% 0.44 8.25 24,184.10 3.37%CHUMPORN PALM OIL INDUSTRY CPI 1 3.8 28 108 3.86 3.74 1.60% 1.06 2.89 1,061.70 9.47%GFPT GFPT 10 19 213 3,993 19 18.4 2.70% 8.58 2.51 2,329.60 13.16%LEE FEED MILL LEE 1 2.2 0 0 2.36 2.2 -0.90% 0.18 13.01 1,667.10 2.73%PAKFOOD PPC 10 19 3 60 20 19 5.56% 8.14 3.74 564 10.53%PATUM RICE MILL AND GRANARY PRG 10 33 0 0 40 0 -17.50% 1.83 6.32 2,232.00 4.55%BANGKOK RANCH RANCH 10 35 201 7,046 35 34.5 1.45% 3.8 10 2,991.90 0.00%SEA HORSE SH 1 0.47 3,180 1,508 0.48 0.45 2.17% -0.01 0 1,295.50 0.00%SURAPON FOODS SSF 1 2.96 204 603 2.96 2.9 2.07% 0.64 4.61 791.6 10.14%SRI TRANG AGRO-INDUSTRY STA 5 8.7 91 781 8.7 8.35 4.19% 3.14 2.26 1,696.00 11.49%THAILUXE ENTERPRISES TLUXE 1 1.56 0 0 1.56 1.5 5.41% 0.2 7.5 514.6 6.41%TRANG SEAFOOD PRODUCTS TRS 10 1.2 20 24 1.22 1.2 -0.83% -9.36 0 24.2 0.00%THAI RUBBER LATEX CORPORATION (THAILAND) TRUBB 10 8.5 0 0 8.5 0 0.00% -7.42 0 231.7 0.00%UNITED PALM OIL INDUSTRY UPOIC 10 59.5 9 561 59.5 58 2.59% 10.23 5.01 1,911.90 6.72%UNIVANICH PALM OIL UVAN 5 69 2 153 69.5 67.5 -0.72% 15.37 4.19 6,467.20 5.80%

FOODS & BEVERAGESAGRIPURE HOLDINGS APURE 0.7 0.88 40,558 37,080 0.95 0.86 -5.38% -0.16 0 259.3 0.00%FOOD AND DRINKS F&D 10 3 0 0 3 0 0.00% -1.08 2.79 37.5 0.00%HAAD THIP HTC 1 1.96 0 0 1.96 0 4.26% 0.13 14.38 317.4 3.57%KHON KAEN SUGAR INDUSTRY KSL 1 6.9 2,952 20,453 7.15 6.75 2.22% 0.27 13.01 10,710.50 3.19%LAM SOON (THAILAND) LST 1 2.92 10,451 30,495 2.92 2.74 6.57% 0.43 5.58 2,299.30 6.85%MALEE SAMPRAN MALEE 10 1.9 22 42 2.74 1.9 -30.66% -4.21 0 164.4 0.00%MINOR INTERNATIONAL MINT 1 6.75 38,433 254,874 6.75 6.3 3.85% 0.57 12 23,331.00 3.41%OISHI GROUP OISHI 2 34.5 3 95 34.5 33.5 2.99% 3.16 10.25 6,365.60 8.70%PRESIDENT BAKERY PB 10 84 2 187 84 83 0.00% 8.88 11.75 3,771.00 3.42%PREMIER MARKETING PM 1 1.13 5,650 6,408 1.13 1.08 4.63% 0.73 1.68 722.8 0.00%PRESIDENT RICE PRODUCTS PR 10 101 1 71 102.5 101 -1.46% 16.14 7.61 1,215.60 5.62%S & P SYNDICATE S&P 5 26 3 69 26 25.5 1.96% 2.15 11.25 2,680.00 6.35%SIAM AGRO-INDUSTRY PINEAPPLE AND OTHERS SAICO 1 2.28 25 56 2.28 1.45 59.44% 0.41 5.53 356.8 0.00%THAI THEPAROS FOOD PRODUCTS SAUCE 10 137 1 192 137 135 0.74% 10.42 12.36 4,896.00 6.39%SIAM FOOD PRODUCTS SFP 10 51 0 0 51 0 0.00% 14.15 3.62 1,071.00 9.80%S.KHONKAEN FOOD INDUSTRY SORKON 10 10.5 14 145 10.5 10.2 2.94% 1.57 7.43 83.4 7.14%SERM SUK SSC 1 9.9 111 1,094 9.9 9.3 6.45% 0.53 18.18 2,560.60 7.58%TROPICAL CANNING (THAILAND) TC 10 13.4 0 0 13.4 0 0.00% 3.26 0 436.3 5.97%THAI PRESIDENT FOODS TF 10 476 0 0 476 0 0.00% 40.64 12.05 8,568.00 1.63%TIPCO FOODS (THAILAND) TIPCO 1 4.22 117 485 4.24 4.14 0.48% 0.12 34.96 2,032.60 6.40%THAI UNION FROZEN PRODUCTS TUF 1 20 2,457 49,243 20 19.5 2.56% 2.51 7.56 17,451.50 3.50%THAI VEGETABLE OIL TVO 1 11.8 2,942 33,861 11.8 10.8 4.42% 1.2 9.58 7,044.50 0.00%THAI WAH FOOD PRODUCTS TWFP 10 79 1 95 79 78.5 0.00% 15.21 5.77 749.1 6.96%UNITED FLOUR MILL UFM 10 15.1 0 0 15.1 0 0.67% 2.72 4.47 601.6 0.00%

CONSUMER PRODUCTSHOME & OFFICE PRODUCTSCOMPASS EAST INDUSTRY (THAILAND) CEI 1 2.46 6 15 2.5 2.46 -1.60% -0.51 7.41 469.2 3.25%D.T.C. INDUSTRIES DTCI 10 5.35 0 0 5.45 0 0.00% 0.86 6.19 53.7 0.00%FANCY WOOD INDUSTRIES FANCY 1 1.18 0 0 1.18 1.14 3.51% -0.01 0 541.4 6.78%INTER FAR EAST ENGINEERING IFEC 1 0.57 1 0 0.59 0.57 -3.39% 0.14 3.86 238.2 7.02%KANG YONG ELECTRIC KYE 10 41.25 165 6,890 42.25 41 -1.20% 17.71 2.72 919.6 3.88%MODERNFORM GROUP MODERN 10 27.75 233 6,474 28.5 27.75 -2.63% 4.6 5.71 2,334.80 6.31%OCEAN GLASS OGC 10 33.5 0 3 33.5 32.25 3.88% 4.5 7.39 706 4.18%ROCKWORTH ROCK 10 11 0 0 11 0 0.00% 2.38 4.62 110 2.27%SIAM STEEL INTERNATIONAL SIAM 1 1.51 8,424 12,973 1.59 1.49 -5.03% 0.22 3.23 913.4 11.92%SRITHAI SUPERWARE SITHAI 10 5.15 84 433 5.15 5 3.00% 0.36 13.8 1,363.10 6.80%SUN WOOD INDUSTRIES SUN 10 5 0 0 5 0 0.00% -18.19 0 50.7 0.00%

PERSONAL PRODUCTS & PHARMACEUTICALSDSG INTERNATIONAL DSGT 1 3.58 53 187 3.6 3.4 -0.56% 0.76 4.91 1,070.40 1.40%JACK CHIA INDUSTRIES (THAILAND) JCT 10 44 1 22 44 41.25 2.33% 6.56 7.21 577.1 5.68%O.C.C. OCC 1 10 0 0 10 0 0.00% 1.03 10.09 600 5.00%S & J INTERNATIONAL ENTERPRISES S & J 1 13 0 0 13 0 7.44% 1.86 7.81 1,315.40 7.69%SHUN THAI RUBBER GLOVES INDUSTRY STHAI 1 1.8 1 2 1.8 1.73 4.05% -0.19 0 873.9 0.00%THAI OPTICAL GROUP TOG 1 2.68 337 904 2.9 2.62 -7.59% 0.34 9.77 1,265.60 5.60%

FASHIONASIA FIBER PUBLIC AFC 10 2.4 0 0 2.4 0 -0.83% -0.06 0 109.6 0.00%BATA SHOE OF THAILAND BATA 10 4.5 0 0 4.5 4.3 5.14% 0.86 5 141.4 0.00%THE BANGKOK NYLON BNC 10 3.3 0 0 3.3 0 0.00% 0.31 10.63 43.5 0.00%BOUTIQUE NEWCITY BTNC 10 13 0 0 13 0 0.00% 0.26 49.13 156 0.85%CASTLE PEAK HOLDINGS CPH 10 3.36 0 1 4.12 3.3 -24.66% -0.56 0 150.7 0.00%C.P.L. GROUP CPL 10 10.4 0 0 10.4 0 -3.70% 2.91 3.57 276.7 14.42%I.C.C. INTERNATIONAL ICC 1 44.25 0 0 44.25 0 0.00% 2.68 14.16 12,860.50 2.26%LUCKYTEX (THAILAND) LTX 10 23.3 0 2 23.3 23 1.30% 2.12 6.87 1,201.70 5.36%NEWCITY (BANGKOK) NC 10 4.08 0 0 4.08 0 2.51% 1.43 2.38 60.1 0.00%PAN ASIA FOOTWEAR PAF 5 0.81 770 617 0.81 0.77 2.53% -0.12 0 423.4 0.00%PEOPLE'S GARMENT PG 1 11 50 550 11 10.8 1.85% 1.22 9.27 1,052.20 4.91%PRANDA JEWELRY PRANDA 1 3.5 239 838 3.5 3.28 6.71% 0.46 7.44 1,342.40 11.43%SABINA SABINA 5 63.25 23 1,428 63.75 63.25 -0.78% 2.74 24.39 4,409.80 1.03%SAWANG EXPORT SAWANG 10 3.62 0 0 3.62 0 0.00% -2.45 0 86.9 0.00%SAHA-UNION SUC 10 13.3 84 1,104 13.3 13 1.53% 0.97 14.07 3,948.00 7.52%THANULUX TNL 1 18.6 0 0 18.6 0 3.33% 1.74 10.4 2,179.20 2.90%TEXTILE PRESTIGE TPCORP 1 10 0 0 10 0 0.00% 0.52 16.14 1,080.00 3.00%THAI RAYON TR 1 23.5 77 1,810 23.6 23.2 1.29% -3.94 8.57 4,729.50 5.53%THAI TEXTILE INDUSTRY TTI 10 15.1 0 0 15.1 0 0.67% 0.49 30.9 753 3.31%TTL INDUSTRIES TTL 10 17.6 0 0 17.6 0 0.00% 0.75 22.1 264 0.00%THAI TORAY TEXTILE MILLS TTTM 10 39.25 0 0 42 0 -6.55% 0.79 49.49 242.1 2.55%UNION PIONEER UPF 10 24 0 0 24 0 0.00% 2.46 9.76 180 10.42%UNION TEXTILE INDUSTRIES UT 10 2.1 0 0 2.1 0 0.00% -0.87 0 94.5 0.00%THAI WACOAL WACOAL 1 38 5 190 39 38 6.29% 3.69 10.58 4,500.00 3.95%

FINANCIALSBANKSASIA CREDIT ACL 10 3.36 0 0 3.36 0 55.56% 0.34 14.42 3,237.70 0.00%BANK OF AYUDHYA BAY 10 10.2 60,584 607,677 10.2 9.6 6.25% 0.83 11.97 59,526.60 1.47%BANGKOK BANK BBL 10 78 4,417 344,093 79.75 76.25 -2.19% 10.6 7.24 148,126.20 2.56%BANKTHAI BT 0.5 0.82 4,380 3,639 0.82 0.75 9.33% -0.31 0 10,706.20 0.00%KASIKORNBANK KBANK 10 49.5 10,295 508,559 49.5 48.25 1.02% 6.41 7.57 116,910.80 3.03%KIATNAKIN FINANCE KK 10 14.2 3,886 55,651 14.2 13.1 8.40% 3.57 3.87 7,167.20 5.28%KRUNG THAI BANK KTB 5.15 5.35 32,151 173,721 5.75 5.3 -6.14% 1.1 4.83 62,159.40 8.22%THE SIAM COMMERCIAL BANK SCB 10 56.75 15,037 852,591 56.75 55 1.34% 9.03 8.81 145,259.70 3.52%SIAM CITY BANK SCIB 10 9.85 4,448 44,059 10 9.65 -1.50% 1.95 5.03 20,811.20 7.11%THANACHART CAPITAL TCAP 10 11.1 3,451 38,364 11.1 10.7 2.78% 2.08 5.08 14,531.20 5.41%TISCO FINANCIAL GROUP TISCO 10 14.9 5,198 76,396 14.9 13.2 12.03% 2.11 5.94 7,468.40 10.07%TMB BANK TMB 10 0.52 252,837 132,204 0.52 0.47 10.64% 0.01 52.4 20,768.40 0.00%

FINANCE & SECURITIESAEON THANA SINSAP (THAILAND) AEONTS 1 23.5 6 129 23.5 22.3 2.17% 3.6 4.67 5,745.00 4.47%ASIA SERMKIJ LEASING ASK 5 3.22 17 56 3.22 3.12 3.21% 0.78 4.06 729.6 16.77%ADKINSON SECURITIES ASL 1 0.45 190,230 82,488 0.45 0.38 15.38% -0.08 0 920 0.00%ASIA PLUS SECURITIES ASP 1 1.28 89,964 115,301 1.28 1.21 4.07% 0.1 12.19 2,606.00 2.34%BANGKOK FIRST INVESTMENT & TRUST BFIT 5 3.04 159 489 3.04 2.92 4.11% 0.38 7.85 596.8 6.58%BUALUANG SECURITIES BLS 2 9.6 1,459 13,836 9.6 9.05 4.35% 0.76 11.94 1,668.60 7.29%BFIT SECURITIES BSEC 1 1.87 23,502 44,802 1.94 1.87 -0.53% 0.12 16.5 1,547.20 4.28%CAPITAL NOMURA SECURITIES CNS 10 16.1 114 1,822 16.1 15.1 5.23% 0.18 11.05 1,106.80 9.32%EASTERN COMMERCIAL LEASING ECL 1 0.39 253 99 0.44 0.39 -4.88% 0.07 5.37 168.9 10.26%FINANSA FNS 5 3.2 0 0 3.3 0 14.29% -4.98 0 382.9 0.00%GLOBLEX HOLDING MANAGEMENT GBX 1 0.45 67,770 31,436 0.45 0.43 4.65% -0.1 0 470.6 0.00%GROUP LEASE GL 5 23 0 0 23 0 0.00% 3.46 6.76 1,242.00 0.00%KRUNGTHAI CAR RENT AND LEASE KCAR 1 3.78 10 37 3.92 3.78 -2.07% 0.91 4.3 970 6.61%KIM ENG SECURITIES (THAILAND) KEST 5 9.5 15,274 144,705 9.5 9 4.97% 0.95 9.5 5,190.80 5.26%KGI SECURITIES (THAILAND) KGI 1 0.9 63,483 56,753 0.9 0.83 4.65% 0.09 8.83 1,708.90 8.89%KRUNGTHAI CARD KTC 10 7.05 5,483 39,254 7.1 6.55 7.63% 2.02 3.47 1,773.90 14.18%MFC ASSET MANAGEMENT MFC 1 10.5 0 0 10.5 0 28.05% 0.6 17.61 1,156.80 6.67%MIDA LEASING ML 0.1 0.12 5,147 618 0.12 0.11 9.09% 0.01 11.33 464 0.00%NAVA LEASING NVL 1 0.29 6,595 1,905 0.29 0.27 7.41% -0.16 0 211.5 0.00%PREMIER ENTERPRISE PE 1 0.36 4,909 1,811 0.38 0.36 -2.70% -0.01 0 292.8 0.00%PHATRA SECURITIES PHATRA 5 13.4 3,117 41,482 13.4 12.3 4.69% 0.97 12.87 2,728.50 7.46%PHATRA LEASING PL 1 2.22 13 29 2.24 2.18 1.83% 0.11 4.55 987.8 13.51%SCANDINAVIAN LEASING SCAN 10 7 79 559 7.15 7 0.00% -0.82 0 423 0.00%SIAM GENERAL FACTORING SGF 1 0.26 0 0 0.26 0 0.00% 0.38 0.69 153.8 0.00%THE SIAM INDUSTRIAL CREDIT SICCO 5 1.96 5,362 10,524 2.26 1.85 5.95% 0.03 64.24 1,236.70 10.20%SICCO SECURITIES SSEC 1 0.62 18,029 11,166 0.62 0.56 10.71% -0.04 0 372.1 0.00%SYRUS SECURITIES SYRUS 2 2.8 0 0 2.8 0 27.27% -0.47 0 592.5 0.00%RATCHTHANI LEASING THANI 1 0.63 32 20 0.64 0.61 3.28% 0.11 5.66 414.6 11.11%THITIKORN TK 1 3.1 20 62 3.2 3.02 -3.13% 0.65 4.76 1,562.00 10.97%TRINITY WATTHANA TNITY 5 4 112 450 4.38 4 -6.98% -0.71 0 738 0.00%UOB KAY HIAN SECURITIES UOBKH 1 3.06 326 1,013 3.08 2.88 6.25% 0.27 11.52 960.7 1.96%UNITED SECURITIES US 5 2.1 34 73 2.32 1.91 3.96% -0.45 0 359.6 0.00%SEAMICO SECURITIES ZMICO 1 1.82 2,042 3,712 1.82 1.76 3.41% -0.21 0 1,482.40 27.47%

INSURANCETHE AYUDHYA INSURANCE AYUD 1 11.1 31 341 11.1 11 0.91% 1.43 7.71 2,755.00 3.15%BANGKOK INSURANCE BKI 10 193 2 347 193 192 0.00% 17.38 11.05 9,764.80 1.94%BANGKOK UNION INSURANCE BUI 10 10 0 0 10 0 0.00% 1.14 8.77 200 7.00%CHARAN INSURANCE CHARAN 10 62 0 0 62 0 0.00% 5.44 11.4 372 6.45%INDARA INSURANCE INSURE 10 52 0 0 52 0 0.00% -1.72 0 520 0.00%MUANG THAI INSURANCE MTI 10 45.5 49 2,210 45.5 45 1.11% -0.34 0 2,660.90 0.00%THE NAVAKIJ INSURANCE NKI 10 62 0 0 62 0 0.00% 3.98 15.58 1,860.00 5.65%NAM SENG INSURANCE NSI 10 9.1 0 0 9.25 0 -7.14% 4.31 2.11 130.8 0.00%SIAM COMMERCIAL NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE SCNYL 10 179 0 0 180 0 -0.56% 17.98 9.96 11,930.10 2.01%THE SIAM COMMERCIAL SAMAGGI INSURANCE SCSMG 5 23 0 0 23 0 0.00% -3.42 0 2,090.50 0.00%SYN MUN KONG INSURANCE SMK 10 57 0 0 57 0 -1.72% 6.59 8.65 1,144.00 5.00%THAI REINSURANCE THRE 1 4.6 91 417 4.6 4.58 0.00% 0.4 11.49 5,457.10 3.91%THE THAI INSURANCE TIC 10 8.1 0 0 8.1 0 0.00% 0.09 115.78 153.5 0.00%DHIPAYA INSURANCE TIP 1 12.4 20 249 12.5 12.4 -0.80% 1.82 6.87 3,744.00 4.84%THE THAI SETAKIJ INSURANCE TSI 10 10 0 0 10 0 0.00% -0.2 0 310.4 2.50%THAIVIVAT INSURANCE TVI 1 1.9 0 0 2.1 0 -9.52% -0.22 0 306 0.00%

INDUSTRIALSPETROCHEMICALS & CHEMICALSGLOBAL CONNECTIONS GC 1 2.34 98 219 2.4 2.2 -2.50% 0.38 6.22 467.2 5.13%INDORAMA POLYMERS IRP 1 5.1 945 4,855 5.45 5 -5.56% 1.12 4.48 7,228.90 4.71%PATO CHEMICAL INDUSTRY PATO 10 42.5 8 353 42.5 42 1.19% 8.06 5.28 590.8 17.65%PTT CHEMICAL PTTCH 10 40.5 8,797 367,449 45 40 -10.00% 7.84 5.32 63,315.90 2.47%THAI CARBON BLACK TCB 1 12 123 1,474 12 11.6 3.45% 1.5 7.94 3,552.00 3.75%THAI CENTRAL CHEMICAL TCCC 3 5.25 2 11 5.4 4.92 9.83% 0.21 25.93 2,970.30 7.62%THAI POLY ACRYLIC TPA 10 53.5 5 289 55 53.5 -2.73% 3.96 13.56 659.1 7.48%THAI PLASTIC AND CHEMICALS TPC 1 15.2 396 5,949 15.4 14.8 -1.30% 2.53 5.94 13,230.00 4.93%UNION PLASTIC UP 10 15.4 5 74 15.5 15.2 1.32% 2.67 5.78 385 16.23%VINYTHAI VNT 6 4.72 286 1,341 4.72 4.46 5.36% 0.87 5.25 5,432.90 7.42%WHITE GROUP WG 10 40 1 36 40 39.5 0.63% 7.86 5.06 708.6 9.98%YONG THAI YCI 10 4.8 0 0 4.8 0 0.00% -6.11 0 33.6 0.00%

PACKAGINGA.J. PLAST AJ 1 2.58 86 221 2.58 2.52 0.78% 0.45 5.65 914.6 1.16%ALUCON ALUCON 10 109 0 0 109 0 1.87% 17.84 6.11 3,104.60 8.26%CROWN SEAL CSC 10 11 6 62 11.4 11 -1.79% 3.12 3.58 578.2 7.00%NEP REALTY AND INDUSTRY NEP 1 0.24 2,223 533 0.24 0.23 4.35% -0.06 0 315 0.00%NIPPON PACK (THAILAND) NIPPON 10 21 0 0 21 0 5.00% 0.35 60.53 251.3 9.52%POLYPLEX PTL 1 4.4 735 3,145 4.4 4.02 9.45% 1.01 3.28 3,312.00 9.09%S. PACK & PRINT SPACK 1 2.26 203 459 2.28 2.26 -0.88% 0.42 5.4 681.6 8.85%THAI COATING INDUSTRIAL TCOAT 10 11.2 0 0 11.2 0 0.00% 1.68 6.66 117.6 4.46%THAI FILM INDUSTRIES TFI 1 0.84 2,301 1,948 0.85 0.8 1.20% 0.12 7.16 881.8 0.00%THANTAWAN INDUSTRY THIP 10 16.3 0 0 16.3 0 2.52% 1.34 12.21 128.5 3.07%THAI METAL DRUM MANUFACTURING TMD 10 43.75 0 18 43.75 43.25 1.16% 9.6 4.51 650.3 9.14%THAI O.P.P. TOPP 10 43 0 0 43 0 7.50% 7.64 5.63 247.2 5.35%THAI PACKAGING & PRINTING TPP 10 4.8 0 0 4.8 0 0.00% -1.69 0 180 0.00%

PAPER & PRINTING MATERIALSTHAI CANE PAPER TCP 10 10.1 5 51 10.2 10.1 -0.98% -0.28 0 3,647.00 0.00%UNITED PAPER UTP 5 2.88 0 0 2.88 0 0.00% -0.26 0 374.4 0.00%

AUTOMOTIVEAAPICO HITECH PUBLIC AH 1 4.08 236 964 4.08 3.96 2.51% 1.07 4.55 962.9 0.00%THAI STORAGE BATTERY BAT-3K 10 33 1 25 36 30.75 7.32% -23.59 0 646 6.06%CHAI WATANA TANNERY GROUP CWT 5 1.29 1 2 1.29 1.04 22.86% -2.43 0 50.8 0.00%DISTAR ELECTRIC CORPORATION DISTAR 1 0.35 1,630 583 0.36 0.31 12.90% -0.13 0 204 0.00%EASON PAINT EASON 1 1.44 60 85 1.45 1.4 0.00% 0.22 6.33 313.2 9.72%GOODYEAR (THAILAND) GYT 10 200 0 79 200 0 -5.66% 4.06 52.21 1,551.00 2.50%HWA FONG RUBBER (THAILAND) HFT 10 13.3 88 1,181 13.3 11.9 11.76% 1.16 11.48 845.4 15.04%INTERHIDES IHL 1 8.5 0 0 8.5 0 0.00% 0.44 19.52 2,550.00 0.00%INOUE RUBBER (THAILAND) IRC 1 7.2 18 123 7.2 6.6 9.09% 0.34 5.31 1,370.00 6.25%SOMBOON ADVANCE TECHNOLOGY SAT 1 4.28 2,761 12,077 4.4 4.18 2.39% 2.12 2.08 1,285.20 0.00%S.E.C. AUTO SALES AND SERVICE SECC 1 0.22 0 0 0.22 0 0.00% 0.08 3.25 135.9 18.18%SWEDISH MOTORS CORPORATION SMC 10 0.68 434 307 0.69 0.65 4.62% -0.65 0 156.4 0.00%THE SIAM PAN GROUP SPG 10 40.5 0 0 41 0 0.00% 10.5 3.86 1,400.70 10.37%S.P. SUZUKI SPSU 5 5.2 0 0 5.2 0 0.00% -0.14 0 821.6 3.85%THAI STANLEY ELECTRIC STANLY 5 68 41 2,797 68.5 67.25 -0.37% 13.65 3.8 5,210.50 7.79%T.KRUNGTHAI INDUSTRIES TKT 1 1.09 22 23 1.1 1.04 3.81% 0.19 5.38 227.7 11.01%THAI NAM PLASTIC TNPC 5 5 18 93 5.45 5 -6.54% 6.08 0.9 263.9 0.00%THAI RUNG UNION CAR TRU 1 1.4 1,020 1,386 1.4 1.26 11.11% -0.02 0 646 0.00%THAI STEEL CABLE TSC 1 3.78 7 26 3.78 3.62 1.07% 0.74 4.9 955 13.23%YARNAPUND YNP 1 1.1 132,712 151,067 1.1 0.79 39.24% -0.11 0 1,449.60 0.00%

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS & MACHINERYAGRO INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY AMAC 1 0.41 11 4 0.41 0.38 2.50% 0 0 82.5 0.00%ASIA METAL AMC 1 0.95 339 326 0.99 0.95 -4.04% 0.26 3.66 461.7 10.53%CITY STEEL CITY 1 1.16 484 562 1.16 1.1 5.45% 0.16 3.62 340.2 12.07%CSP STEEL CENTER CSP 1 2.1 3 6 2.1 2.08 0.00% 0.13 15.49 1,046.00 0.00%CHAROONG THAI WIRE & CABLE CTW 5 2.62 0 0 2.62 0 0.77% -1.57 0 1,037.70 0.00%FURUKAWA METAL (THAILAND) FMT 10 10.1 0 6 10.1 0 -17.89% 1.54 7.98 569.3 4.95%G J STEEL GJS 0.69 0.16 165,827 26,181 0.16 0.14 6.67% -0.1 0 5,876.00 0.00%G STEEL GSTEEL 1 0.37 364,119 134,512 0.37 0.33 0.00% -0.09 0 4,871.20 0.00%THAINOX STAINLESS INOX 1 0.8 1,192 969 0.82 0.8 -1.23% -0.15 0 6,464.00 0.00%KULTHORN KIRBY KKC 1 0.91 0 0 0.91 0.9 0.00% -0.14 0 632.8 0.00%CHIANG MAI MEDICAL SERVICES LHK 1 1.01 98 100 1.02 1 -0.98% 0.02 13.64 322.6 3.96%PATKOL PATKL 1 0.5 5 3 0.5 0.47 6.38% -2.32 0 115.4 0.00%PERMSIN STEEL WORKS PERM 1 1.27 8,255 10,597 1.34 1.24 -5.22% -0.02 0 641 0.00%SAHAMIT MACHINERY SMIT 1 1.33 22 29 1.34 1.29 -0.75% 0.27 4.79 694.3 8.27%SNC FORMER SNC 1 4.06 207 841 4.08 3.96 2.53% 0.33 11.82 1,212.80 3.69%SAHAVIRIYA STEEL INDUSTRIES SSI 1 0.42 65,085 27,161 0.43 0.4 -2.33% -0.39 0 5,371.50 0.00%SIAM STEEL SERVICE CENTER SSSC 10 13.1 136 1,786 13.1 12.2 7.38% 9.55 1.79 611.5 11.98%T.C.J. ASIA TCJ 10 2.56 9 21 2.56 2.4 0.79% -2.24 0 141.4 0.00%THAI-GERMAN PRODUCTS TGPRO 1 0.29 5,897 1,718 0.29 0.27 7.41% -0.46 0 143 0.00%THAI METAL TRADE TMT 1 3.94 537 2,116 3.94 3.92 0.00% 1.73 2.28 1,674.50 25.38%THAI UNIQUE COIL CENTER TUCC 1 1.25 184 230 1.35 1.24 -7.41% -0.3 0 402.1 0.00%TYCOONS WORLDWIDE GROUP (THAILAND) TYCN 10 4.12 11 47 4.4 4.12 -6.36% 0.05 82.54 2,730.20 0.00%VAROPAKORN VARO 5 3.22 6 18 3.22 3 7.33% 0.03 97.87 275.7 0.00%

PROPERTY & CONSTRUCTIONCONSTRUCTION MATERIALSBANGSAPHAN BARMILL BSBM 1 1.04 331 341 1.09 1 -4.59% 0.11 9.35 1,175.50 0.00%CHONBURI CONCRETE PRODUCT CCP 1 0.82 36 29 0.85 0.8 2.50% -0.37 0 253 0.00%DYNASTY CERAMIC DCC 1 14.5 206 2,966 14.5 13.7 5.84% 1.63 8.72 5,777.30 1.93%DCON PRODUCTS DCON 1 1.4 0 0 1.9 1.39 -15.15% 0.12 11.86 319.6 5.00%DIAMOND ROOFING TILES DRT 1 1.96 375 732 1.96 1.91 2.62% 0.29 6.6 1,934.00 5.10%EASTERN WIRE EWC 5 8 1,301 10,381 8.15 7.95 -1.84% 2.17 3.72 806 0.00%GENERAL ENGINEERING GEN 1 0.44 1,327 594 0.45 0.42 4.76% -0.13 0 224.3 0.00%WIIK & HOEGLUND KWH 1 0.79 871 696 0.79 0.75 5.33% 0.08 9.96 229.8 5.06%M.C.S. STEEL MCS 1 2.32 1,900 4,380 2.32 2.1 10.48% 0.71 3.25 1,120.00 8.62%MILL CON STEEL INDUSTRIES MILL 1 4.94 509 2,523 4.98 4.94 -0.80% 0.66 7.95 2,842.10 0.00%PACIFIC PIPE PAP 1 0.95 122 116 0.95 0.92 1.06% 0.19 5.06 619.1 2.11%QUALITY CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS Q-CON 1 0.94 3 3 0.96 0.92 -2.08% -0.08 0 376.8 0.00%THE ROYAL CERAMIC INDUSTRY RCI 1 0.43 150 68 0.45 0.43 -2.27% -0.5 0 138.3 0.00%RICH ASIA STEEL RICH 0.1 0.08 201,613 16,129 0.08 0.07 14.29% -0.02 0 760 0.00%SAMCHAI STEEL INDUSTRIES SAM 1 0.6 3,857 2,336 0.62 0.58 -3.23% -0.08 0 508.3 0.00%THE SIAM CEMENT SCC 1 109.5 1,769 191,901 112 106 -2.23% 13.98 7.58 130,560.00 1.83%SIAM CITY CEMENT SCCC 10 137 29 3,947 137 134 2.24% 13.79 9.79 32,038.80 3.28%SOUTHERN CONCRETE PILE SCP 10 4.72 13 59 4.72 4.12 14.56% 1.91 2.36 135.4 5.30%SINGHA PARATECH SINGHA 1 0.25 2,111 512 0.25 0.24 4.17% -2.23 0 108.4 0.00%STP&I STPI 1 7.9 111 878 8 7.85 -1.25% 3.97 1.96 1,980.00 30.38%SUPERBLOCK SUPER 1 0.42 353 146 0.42 0.4 0.00% -0.33 0 186.3 0.00%TIPCO ASPHALT TASCO 10 9.45 35 332 9.45 8.85 6.78% -7.14 0 1,392.80 0.00%THAILAND CARPET MANUFACTURING TCMC 10 3.8 2 8 3.8 0 -11.63% 0.65 6.66 287.5 0.00%THAI-GERMAN CERAMIC INDUSTRY TGCI 1 0.85 0 0 0.92 0 -7.61% -0.44 0 879.6 0.00%THAILAND IRON WORKS TIW 10 50 0 0 50 0 0.00% 8.69 3.67 300 7.94%TPI POLENE TPIPL 10 3.36 14,317 48,355 3.36 3.24 1.82% -2.72 0 6,670.80 0.00%TATA STEEL TSTH 1 1.08 96,856 104,661 1.13 1.04 -4.42% 0.01 5.74 8,838.60 7.41%THAI WIRE PRODUCTS TWP 10 6.5 19 127 6.55 6.45 -0.76% 1.77 3.65 175.5 0.00%THAI YUAN METAL TYM 0.1 0.41 29,859 12,443 0.42 0.41 -2.38% 0.01 35.88 1,648.00 2.44%THE UNION MOSAIC INDUSTRY UMI 1 0.59 5 3 0.59 0.56 3.51% -0.24 0 273.4 0.00%VANACHAI GROUP VNG 1 1.31 882 1,142 1.31 1.27 3.15% 0.31 4.21 1,674.10 9.92%

PROPERTY DEVELOPMENTAREEYA PROPERTY A 1 3.28 181 592 3.28 3.26 0.00% 0.04 76.3 2,486.20 0.00%AMATA CORPORATION AMATA 1 3.76 20,134 74,884 3.76 3.5 7.43% 1.12 3.26 3,888.10 2.66%ASIAN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT AP 1 3.04 74,319 220,566 3.04 2.68 6.29% 0.7 4.1 6,649.00 8.22%ASCON CONSTRUCTION ASCON 1 4.12 36 148 4.2 4 -1.90% -1.28 0 1,246.90 0.00%BANGKOK LAND BLAND 1 0.23 54,238 12,480 0.23 0.22 4.55% 0.06 4.1 3,949.70 0.00%BAAN ROCK GARDEN BROCK 1 0.52 619 322 0.52 0.48 8.33% 0.08 6.07 496 9.62%CHARN ISSARA DEVELOPMENT CI 5 1.99 36 72 1.99 1.93 6.99% 0.77 2.53 232.1 2.01%CH.KARNCHANG CK 1 3.74 19,250 72,640 3.74 3.58 4.47% 0.38 9.93 5,338.70 2.67%CHRISTIANI & NIELSEN (THAI) CNT 1 1.8 0 0 1.8 0 0.00% 0.01 185.48 721.3 4.44%CENTRAL PATTANA CPN 1 13.5 5,591 74,796 13.5 12.9 3.85% 1 12.86 28,498.90 2.44%EMC EMC 0.1 0.13 136,171 17,698 0.13 0.11 8.33% 0.02 7.51 703.6 0.00%EASTERN STAR REAL ESTATE ESTAR 1 0.34 2,060 713 0.34 0.32 6.25% 0.02 14.04 1,470.50 0.00%EVERLAND EVER 1 0.65 494 328 0.68 0.65 -4.41% 0 187.4 205 0.00%GOLDEN LAND PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT GOLD 10 1.66 5,500 9,301 1.76 1.56 6.41% -0.73 0 1,057.30 0.00%HEMARAJ LAND AND DEVELOPMENT HEMRAJ 0.4 0.51 6,046 3,084 0.51 0.49 2.00% 0.14 3.57 4,700.10 7.84%ITALIAN-THAI DEVELOPMENT ITD 1 2.28 78,784 181,720 2.32 2.24 0.88% -0.63 0 9,544.80 0.00%K.C. PROPERTY KC 1 0.61 106 64 0.62 0.59 -1.61% 0.07 8.5 530.3 0.00%KRISDA MAHANAKORN KMC 2.3 0.25 4,957 1,238 0.25 0.23 4.17% -0.42 0 212.7 0.00%K-TECH CONSTRUCTION KTECH 1 1.16 0 0 1.16 0 0.00% -2.11 0 537.9 0.00%KEPPEL THAI PROPERTIES KTP 10 0.63 2 1 0.63 0.57 10.53% -0.25 0 132.4 0.00%LALIN PROPERTY LALIN 1 1.32 300 403 1.32 1.12 17.86% 0.22 5.95 1,014.80 3.79%LAND AND HOUSES LH 1 3.76 63,864 239,643 3.76 3.42 5.03% 0.36 10.53 35,812.60 3.19%LIVING LAND CAPITAL LL 1 0.32 7,207 2,307 0.32 0.3 6.67% 0.05 6.69 241.8 0.00%L.P.N. DEVELOPMENT LPN 1 2.86 20,753 59,484 2.86 2.7 2.88% 0.82 3.38 4,102.40 9.44%MBK MBK 10 50.75 8 406 51 50.5 0.00% 4.37 6.83 9,572.90 3.94%METROSTAR PROPERTY METRO 1 1.1 2,593 2,872 1.13 1.07 2.80% 0.75 1.52 514.5 0.00%MAJOR DEVELOPMENT MJD 1 1.62 16,443 26,521 1.63 1.59 -0.61% 0.64 2.5 1,125.60 9.26%M.K. REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT MK 1 1.26 2,112 2,645 1.26 1.22 2.44% 0.47 2.63 1,069.50 11.90%N. C. HOUSING NCH 1 1.93 36 69 1.93 1.93 0.00% -0.04 0 2,289.00 0.00%NAVANAKORN NNCL 1 0.7 1,555 1,093 0.7 0.68 2.94% 0.07 10.17 782 5.71%NOBLE DEVELOPMENT NOBLE 3 2.54 2,216 5,627 2.58 2.5 0.00% 0.76 3.35 1,166.70 9.84%NATURAL PARK N-PARK 1 0.02 84,064 1,347 0.02 0.01 100.00% -0.16 0 748.6 0.00%NAWARAT PATANAKARN NWR 1 0.26 43,339 11,111 0.26 0.24 8.33% 0.09 2.93 611.2 0.00%PAE (THAILAND) PAE 1 0.29 6,433 1,898 0.3 0.28 -3.33% -0.22 0 197.1 0.00%PROPERTY PERFECT PF 6 2.7 15,858 42,628 2.7 2.62 3.05% 1.02 2.6 2,082.70 13.33%POWER LINE ENGINEERING PLE 1 1.24 7,261 8,974 1.24 1.2 3.33% -0.81 0 665.2 0.00%POWER-P POWER 10 2.14 0 0 2.14 0 0.00% -0.07 0 449.4 0.00%PRE-BUILT PREB 1 0.75 57 43 0.82 0.75 -8.54% 0.2 3.7 156 6.67%PREECHA GROUP PRECHA 1 0.49 51 25 0.49 0.48 2.08% -0.08 0 162.6 0.00%PRINSIRI PRIN 1 0.81 2,071 1,645 0.81 0.73 10.96% 0.31 2.42 757.8 0.00%PREUKSA REAL ESTATE PS 1 4.76 5,891 27,889 4.76 4.5 2.15% 1.08 4.2 10,121.80 6.93%QUALITY HOUSES QH 1 1.01 361,429 358,535 1.01 0.93 5.21% 0.2 5.28 8,172.20 7.92%RAIMON LAND RAIMON 1 0.21 6,800 1,436 0.21 0.2 5.00% 0.05 4.46 663.1 0.00%RASA PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT RASA 5 3.6 2 6 3.94 2.78 -8.16% 0.07 47.52 280.3 0.00%ROJANA INDUSTRIAL PARK ROJNA 1 3.6 1,855 6,553 3.6 3.28 9.76% 0.73 5.16 3,089.80 6.94%SAMMAKORN SAMCO 1 1.49 0 0 1.49 0 33.04% 0.16 9.55 594 4.70%SC ASSET CORPORATION SC 10 7.65 4,171 31,360 7.65 7.2 6.25% 2.03 3.63 2,365.80 9.15%SEAFCO SEAFCO 1 2.92 4,798 13,953 2.92 2.72 7.35% 0.05 53.31 607.2 0.00%

as of April 20-24, 2009 Source: KGI Securities (Thailand) Plc

Par Closed Avg Daily Turnover Hight Low Weekly EPS P/E Avg Market Cap DivApr 24 (Shares m) (Bt m) (Bt) (Bt) Change % (Bt) (x) (Bt m) Yield

Par Closed Avg Daily Turnover Hight Low Weekly EPS P/E Avg Market Cap DivApr 24 (Shares m) (Bt m) (Bt) (Bt) Change % (Bt) (x) (Bt m) Yield

STOCK MARKETSTHE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009 7B

W E E K LY S T O C K S U M M A R Y

SIAM FUTURE DEVELOPMENT SF 1 2.94 115 338 2.98 2.82 2.80% 0.44 6.75 1,486.10 0.00%SANSIRI SIRI 4.28 1.85 6,375 11,833 1.85 1.72 7.56% 0.62 2.97 2,658.40 16.22%SUPALAI SPALI 1 2.12 6,322 13,371 2.22 2.08 -4.50% 0.65 3.11 3,721.50 7.08%SINO-THAI ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION STEC 1 3.74 13,863 51,979 3.74 3.6 2.75% 0.15 24.91 4,374.70 0.00%SIAM SYNTECH CONSTRUCTION SYNTEC 1 0.43 98,777 42,313 0.43 0.39 10.26% 0.17 2.39 643.2 0.00%THAI FACTORY DEVELOPMENT TFD 1 0.57 2,768 1,595 0.57 0.53 7.55% 0.09 6.23 345.6 3.51%TICON INDUSTRIAL CONNECTION TICON 1 6.75 5,342 35,655 6.75 6.1 10.66% 1.11 5.86 4,218.20 11.85%TANAYONG TYONG 1 0.43 26,869 11,791 0.45 0.4 -4.44% 0.02 31.41 2,511.40 0.00%UNIQUE ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION UNIQ 1 2.04 64 129 2.04 1.98 2.00% 0.18 11.23 1,253.80 3.92%UNIVENTURES UV 1 1.36 6,086 8,491 1.36 1.3 4.62% 0.08 16.08 1,004.90 3.68%

PROPERTY FUNDSBANGKOK COMMERCIAL PROPERTY FUND BKKCP 10 7.65 0 0 7.65 0 -2.55% 0 0 769 2.35%CPN RETAIL GROWTH PROPERTY FUND CPNRF 10 7.8 500 3,900 7.8 7.7 1.30% 0 0 8,459.10 2.82%CENTARA HOTELS & RESORTS LEASEHOLD PROPERTY CTARAF 10 7.9 35 275 8.1 7.75 -2.47% 0 0 2,544.00 2.91%FUTURE PARK PROPERTY FUND FUTUREPF 10 8.9 21 178 8.9 8.65 2.30% 0 0 4,151.00 2.70%MUTUAL FUND PROJECT OF GOLD PROPERTY FUND GOLDPF 10 7.75 1 5 7.75 6.8 10.71% 0 0 1,472.90 4.77%JCP PROPERTY FUND JCP 10 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 496 0.00%LUXURY REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT FUND LUXF 10 8.7 31 270 8.8 8.6 -1.14% 0 0 1,717.40 4.14%MILLIONAIRE PROPERTY FUND MIPF 10 12.3 0 0 12.3 0 0.00% 0 0 2,337.00 4.07%MAJOR CINEPLEX LIFESTYLE PROPERTY FUND MJLF 10 8.4 0 0 8.4 0 5.00% 0 0 1,858.40 2.62%MUTUAL FUND PROJECT OF MFC-NICHADA THANI MNIT 10 10.1 1 10 10.1 9.55 5.76% 0 0 1,341.40 2.97%NICHADA THANI PROPERTY FUND 2 MNIT2 10 10.1 0 0 10.1 0 0.00% 0 0 1,014.70 1.68%MUTUAL FUND PROJECT OF MULTI-NATIONAL RESIDENCE MNRF 10 9.8 0 0 9.8 0 -2.00% 0 0 1,057.80 3.98%PROPERTY PERFECT FUND PFFUND 10 9.85 0 0 9.85 0 0.00% 0 0 512.2 4.26%QUALITY HOSPITALITY LEASEHOLD PROPERTY FUND QHOP 10 6.95 0 0 6.95 0 0.00% 0 0 1,329.50 2.45%QUALITY HOUSES PROPERTY FUND QHPF 10 6.4 89 560 6.4 6.2 3.23% 0 0 5,021.10 3.28%BAAN SANSIRI PROPERTY FUND SIRIPF 10 9.75 16 152 9.75 9.7 0.52% 0 0 842.5 1.85%SAMUI AIRPORT PROPERTY FUND SPF 10 6.25 1,127 6,989 6.25 6.15 1.63% 0 0 5,861.50 2.88%TICON PROPERTY FUND TFUND 10 8.3 569 4,637 8.6 8 -3.49% 0 0 6,302.10 0.72%THAI INDUSTRIAL FUND 1 TIF1 10 8.9 0 0 9.35 0 -4.81% 0 0 825.3 1.80%T.U. DOME RESIDENTIAL COMPLEX PROPERTY FUND TU-PF 10 9.85 0 0 9.85 0 0.00% 0 0 1,026.70 0.00%UOB APARTMENT PROPERTY FUND 1 UOBAPF 10 4.22 0 0 4.22 0 0.00% 0 0 358.7 5.69%URBANA PROPERTY FUND URBNPF 10 10.1 0 0 10.1 0 0.00% 0 0 727.2 2.18%

RESOURCESENERGYASIAN INSULATORS AI 1 3.18 218 692 3.18 3.14 0.63% 0.33 9.57 1,584.00 15.72%EKARAT ENGINEERING AKR 1 1 8,723 8,766 1 0.99 0.00% -0.06 0 788.6 10.00%BANGKOK AVIATION FUEL SERVICES PCL. BAFS 1 5.85 146 856 5.85 5.8 0.86% 0.86 6.76 2,968.20 4.27%BANPU BANPU 10 273 2,873 791,920 273 251 8.76% 33.96 8.01 71,524.00 1.83%THE BANGCHAK PETROLEUM BCP 1 10.8 12,354 133,411 10.8 10 8.00% -0.67 0 11,706.10 4.63%EASTERN WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT EASTW 1 2.8 1,114 3,116 2.82 2.78 -0.71% 0.09 7.91 4,658.40 0.00%ELECTRICITY GENERATING EGCO 10 65.75 777 51,275 66.25 65.25 0.77% 13.16 5.04 34,615.10 3.80%ESSO ESSO 4.9338 4.22 15,059 63,189 4.22 4.06 1.93% -2.16 0 14,328.00 0.00%GLOW ENERGY GLOW 10 23.2 3,752 87,032 23.2 20.6 12.62% 2.42 9.22 31,861.20 4.91%IRPC IRPC 1 2.98 301,530 888,638 2.98 2.66 9.56% -0.93 0 55,254.40 2.68%THE LANNA RESOURCES LANNA 1 7.4 11,540 85,392 7.4 7.05 4.96% 1.35 5.39 2,527.00 5.41%M.D.X. MDX 10 1.29 9,522 12,390 1.32 1.22 5.74% 0.26 4.85 603.1 0.00%PICNIC GAS & ENGINEERING PICNI 1 0.21 0 0 0.21 0 0.00% -0.81 0 620.7 0.00%PTT PTT 10 180 14,188 -1,740,965 180 173.5 1.12% 18.33 9.64 499,575.60 1.11%PTT AROMATICS AND REFININ PTTAR 10 14.9 100,606 1,471,063 14.9 13.1 12.03% -2.86 0 40,720.30 3.36%PTT EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION PTTEP 1 99 9,046 898,409 102 96.75 -2.94% 12.62 7.8 328,087.50 2.59%RATCHABURI ELECTRICITY GENERATING HOLDING RATCH 10 37.5 721 27,163 38.25 37.25 -1.96% 4.48 8.32 54,810.00 2.93%RAYONG PURIFIER RPC 1 2.04 167 340 2.08 1.99 0.00% -1.01 0 1,079.90 0.00%SAHACOGEN (CHONBURI) SCG 1 4.26 14 60 4.42 4.22 -3.62% 0.27 16.16 4,190.50 3.52%SIAMGAS AND PETROCHEMICALS SGP 1 4.36 1,293 5,668 4.38 4.34 -0.46% 1.3 3.76 4,134.40 5.73%SOLARTRON SOLAR 1 0.95 2,314 2,191 0.95 0.87 9.20% 0.01 128.24 275.4 0.00%SINO-THAI RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT STRD 10 2.28 0 0 2.28 0 14.00% 0.02 101.56 44.5 0.00%SIAM UNITED SERVICES SUSCO 1 0.36 3,602 1,273 0.36 0.33 9.09% 0 0 392.7 0.00%THAI CAPITAL CORPORATION PCL TCC 1 1.89 2,390 4,585 1.89 1.8 3.28% -0.17 0 1,346.90 0.00%THAI OIL TOP 10 32 31,532 1,020,880 32 30.5 0.79% 0.11 287.43 64,158.90 3.13%THAI TAP WATER SUPPLY TTW 1 3.98 13,139 52,722 4.02 3.82 4.19% 0.37 11.81 15,768.50 5.03%

MININGPADAENG INDUSTRY PDI 10 13.4 166 2,218 13.4 13 0.75% 1.17 11.26 2,992.20 6.12%TONGKAH HARBOUR THL 1 1.41 35,951 50,806 1.41 1.34 5.22% 0.15 9.41 1,040.00 0.00%

SERVICESCOMMERCEBIG C SUPERCENTER BIGC 10 41 76 3,123 42 40.75 -2.38% 3.56 11.52 33,217.50 3.98%BERLI JUCKER BJC 1 4.56 34 152 4.56 4.44 2.70% 0.68 6.64 7,178.30 3.29%CP ALL CPALL 1 11.9 7,041 84,444 11.9 11.7 1.71% 0.74 16.2 53,198.90 5.04%HOME PRODUCT CENTER HMPRO 1 4.48 1,260 5,656 4.54 4.46 -1.32% 0.5 9.03 8,678.30 7.81%IT CITY IT 1 3.9 78 304 3.98 3.76 3.72% 0.5 7.93 1,288.90 6.15%LOXLEY LOXLEY 1 2.04 45,812 92,051 2.04 1.91 6.81% -0.99 0 3,924.00 0.00%SIAM MAKRO MAKRO 10 67 121 8,073 67 65 3.08% 6.98 9.46 15,768.00 3.73%MIDA ASSETS MIDA 1 0.43 2,441 1,043 0.43 0.41 4.88% 0.04 9.56 436.7 0.00%MINOR CORPORATION MINOR 1 7.4 286 2,028 7.4 6.9 4.23% 0.77 9.2 3,447.10 0.00%ROBINSON DEPARTMENT STORE ROBINS 3.55 7.9 338 2,700 7.9 6.95 13.67% 0.92 8.33 8,252.20 5.06%SINGER THAILAND SINGER 1 1.06 236 252 1.08 1.02 2.91% -0.3 0 282.4 0.00%SAHA PATHANAPIBUL SPC 1 18 0 0 18 0 0.00% 1.95 10 5,731.60 3.33%SAHA PATHANA INTER-HOLDING SPI 1 16.8 0 7 16.9 16.8 -0.59% 1.87 8.99 8,329.40 1.19%SUNSHINE CORPORATION SSE 0.1 0.12 412 49 0.13 0.11 -7.69% -0.01 0 746.3 0.00%

MEDIA & PUBLISHINGAMARIN PRINTING AND PUBLISHING APRINT 1 12.4 57 705 12.4 12.3 0.81% 1.38 8.99 2,472.00 6.45%ASIASOFT CORPORATION AS 1 6.55 20 131 6.75 6.4 -2.96% 0.69 10.65 2,010.00 4.89%BEC WORLD BEC 1 18.9 6,251 117,887 18.9 18.6 1.61% 1.44 13.08 37,560.00 3.97%CVD ENTERTAINMENT CVD 10 14.2 0 0 14.2 0 -3.40% -0.69 0 509.8 0.00%EASTERN PRINTING EPCO 1 1.51 40 61 1.51 1.49 1.34% 0.26 5.57 775.2 5.30%FAR EAST DDB FE 10 78 0 0 78 0 0.00% 8.03 9.74 585 6.41%GMM GRAMMY GRAMMY 1 12.1 25 305 12.1 11.9 0.83% 1.44 9.02 6,352.60 5.37%ITV ITV 5 1.05 0 0 1.05 0 0.00% -0.37 0 1,267.00 0.00%LIVE INCORPORATION LIVE 0.1 0.12 112,957 13,202 0.12 0.1 20.00% -0.06 0 506 0.00%MAJOR CINEPLEX GROUP MAJOR 1 6.35 5,158 32,752 6.4 6.25 -0.78% 0.71 8.68 5,564.80 3.94%MATCHING STUDIO MATCH 1 1.5 25 38 1.54 1.5 0.00% 0.15 10.62 317.4 6.67%MATICHON MATI 1 7.5 3 22 7.5 6.8 7.14% 0.78 8.75 1,301.20 5.33%MCOT MCOT 5 13.9 2,838 40,345 14.2 12.8 8.59% 1.79 7.89 9,330.80 6.12%MEDIA OF MEDIAS MEDIAS 4 4.52 50 226 4.6 4.5 -1.74% 0.32 14.16 1,486.80 6.64%M PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT MPIC 1 1.37 6,802 9,077 1.37 1.2 12.30% -0.66 0 450 0.00%NATION MULTIMEDIA GROUP NMG 10 3.04 0 0 3.04 0 4.83% -0.33 0 487.1 0.00%PRAKIT HOLDINGS P-FCB 1 6.35 0 0 6.35 0 0.79% 0.84 7.57 370 9.45%THE POST PUBLISHING POST 1 5.55 0 0 5.55 0 0.00% 0.03 209.56 2,775.00 1.08%PONGSAAP PSAAP 1 0.13 4,187 555 0.13 0.11 18.18% -0.76 0 50.5 0.00%R.S.PROMOTION RS 1 1 692 691 1 0.98 0.00% -0.57 0 695.8 0.00%SE-EDUCATION SE-ED 1 6.7 159 1,060 6.7 6.55 1.52% 0.6 11.05 2,141.10 4.33%SIAM INTER MULTIMEDIA SMM 1 0.58 2,218 1,306 0.58 0.55 5.45% -0.43 0 136.3 0.00%SIAM SPORT SYNDICATE SPORT 1 1.63 282 461 1.63 1.59 0.00% 0.08 19.19 437.6 3.07%THAI BRITISH SECURITY PRINTING TBSP 10 73 0 7 73 70 3.55% 6.2 11.29 778.8 5.82%TON HUA COMMUNICATIONS TONHUA 5 4.1 1 5 4.5 4.1 17.14% 0.02 198.9 96.5 0.49%WORKPOINT ENTERINMENT WORK 1 5 1,390 7,129 5 4.6 8.70% 0.81 5.95 952.8 4.80%

HEALTH CARE SERVICESAIKCHOL HOSPITAL AHC 10 47.5 20 932 49 47.5 -3.06% 5.25 9.33 608.8 2.63%BANGKOK DUSIT MEDICAL SERVICES BGH 1 20.4 3,150 62,300 20.4 17.8 14.61% 1.37 13.66 22,686.80 2.94%BUMRUNGRAD HOSPITAL BH 1 24.1 488 11,367 24.1 22 9.55% 1.64 13.79 16,415.20 1.66%KRUNGDHON HOSPITAL KDH 10 18.8 2 34 18.8 18.6 1.08% -0.25 0 279.6 2.66%BANGKOK CHAIN HOSPITAL KH 1 7.55 837 6,291 7.55 7.35 2.72% 0.64 11.86 7,087.00 3.31%CHIANG MAI MEDICAL SERVICES LNH 10 21 2 42 21 20.9 0.48% -0.22 0 841.6 4.76%MAHACHAI HOSPITAL M-CHAI 10 20.9 0 0 22.5 0 -7.11% 3.52 5.98 339.2 7.18%WATTANA KARNPAET NEW 10 13.1 0 0 13.1 0 0.00% 0.13 103.56 131 0.38%NONTHAVEJ HOSPITAL NTV 10 96 1 48 96 95 1.05% 10.88 8.82 1,529.60 6.80%RAMKHAMHAENG HOSPITAL RAM 10 536 0 0 536 0 1.52% 36.94 14.64 6,384.00 1.12%SIKARIN SKR 6.5 10 136 1,347 10 9.9 1.01% 1 9.91 992 1.00%SAMITIVEJ SVH 10 57 0 0 57 0 0.00% 4.74 5.28 5,700.00 1.75%VIBHAVADI MEDICAL CENTER VIBHA 1 2.64 188 493 2.64 2.5 5.60% 0.2 13.02 1,659.30 6.06%

TOURISM & LEISUREASIA HOTEL ASIA 10 38 1 49 38.75 37.75 -1.94% 37.14 1.18 1,235.20 2.63%CALIFORNIA WOW XPERIENCE CAWOW 1 1.24 2,679 3,342 1.28 1.22 -1.59% -0.41 0 374.4 0.00%CENTRAL PLAZA HOTEL CENTEL 1 3.1 286 884 3.1 3.02 1.97% 0.24 12.67 4,114.80 3.23%CITY SPORTS AND RECREATION CSR 10 38 0 0 38 0 0.00% 2.77 13.7 779 4.74%DUSIT THANI DTC 10 19.3 0 2 20 19.3 -3.50% 2.56 7.85 1,688.10 2.59%THE ERAWAN GROUP ERAWAN 1 1.29 637 802 1.29 1.23 4.88% 0.04 35.25 2,788.00 0.78%GRANDE ASSET DEVELOPMENT GRAND 1 1.51 0 0 1.51 0 0.00% -0.2 0 1,889.30 0.00%LAGUNA RESORTS & HOTELS LRH 10 27 2 58 27 26 3.85% 6.62 3.93 4,367.10 8.15%THE MANDARIN HOTEL MANRIN 10 5 0 0 5 0 0.00% -2.14 0 110 0.00%MIDA-MEDALIST ENTERTAINMENT MME 1 0.79 1,588 1,244 0.79 0.75 3.95% 0.03 29.28 191.5 0.00%THE ORIENTAL HOTEL (THAILAND) OHTL 10 502 0 0 502 0 0.00% 20.53 24.46 8,032.00 3.19%PACIFIC ASSETS PA 10 2.7 0 0 2.7 0 23.85% -0.46 0 864.4 0.00%ROYAL ORCHID HOTEL (THAILAND) ROH 10 32 0 0 32 0 0.00% 2.28 14.06 3,000.00 2.50%SAFARI WORLD SAFARI 5 2.4 0 0 2.4 0 0.00% -0.86 0 480 0.00%SHANGRI-LA HOTEL SHANG 10 28.5 0 0 28.5 0 0.00% 2.36 12.1 3,705.00 3.51%

PROFESSIONAL SERVICESBETTER WORLD GREEN BWG 1 1.52 1,593 2,416 1.61 1.51 -5.59% 0.22 6.95 506.9 7.24%GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION GENCO 1 0.43 57 25 0.43 0.42 2.38% 0.01 29.82 381.6 2.33%PROFESSIONAL WASTE TECHNOLOGY (1999) PRO 1 0.25 2,963 716 0.25 0.22 8.70% -0.13 0 232 0.00%

TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICSAIRPORTS OF THAILAND AOT 10 19 6,459 123,522 19 18.5 2.15% -1.18 5.01 26,657.10 13.58%ASIAN MARINE SERVICES ASIMAR 1 0.85 2,563 2,206 0.86 0.85 0.00% 0.25 3.43 200.1 15.29%BANGKOK EXPRESSWAY BECL 10 15.6 2,926 45,422 15.6 15.3 1.96% 1.88 8.21 11,842.60 3.85%BANGKOK METRO BMCL 1 0.72 53,756 39,148 0.74 0.63 9.09% -0.12 0 8,126.00 0.00%BANGPAKONG TERMINAL BTC 1 0.28 793 222 0.28 0.26 3.70% -0.69 0 178.3 0.00%JUTHA MARITIME JUTHA 3 3.46 17 58 3.46 3.34 1.17% 1.48 2.37 284.4 0.00%KRUNGDHEP SOPHON KWC 10 35 0 0 35 0 -12.50% 3.87 9.05 222 5.43%PRECIOUS SHIPPING PSL 1 12.8 6,243 80,084 12.8 12.5 0.79% 4.75 2.69 13,201.90 6.25%REGIONAL CONTAINER LINES RCL 1 6.95 2,279 16,020 6.95 6.5 4.51% -1.26 0 4,428.80 0.00%SUB SRI THAI WAREHOUSE SST 1 4.74 597 2,870 5.3 4.74 -10.57% 0.37 13.01 612 6.33%THAI AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL THAI 10 13 15,430 196,521 13 10.5 23.81% -12.58 0 19,877.10 0.00%THAI SUGAR TERMINAL TSTE 1 6 0 1 6 5.5 9.09% 1.51 3.99 672 0.17%THORESEN THAI AGENCIES TTA 1 16.6 29,305 488,859 16.6 16 0.00% 1.39 1.65 11,639.60 4.52%UNITED STANDARD TERMINAL UST 10 10 0 0 10 0 0.00% 2.03 4.92 387.7 7.50%

WYNCOAST INDUSTRIAL PARK WIN 1 0.32 621 195 0.32 0.3 3.23% -0.19 0 152 0.00%

TECHNOLOGY

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGYADVANCED INFO SERVICE ADVANC 1 78 5,977 465,638 78 76 2.63% 5.54 13.99 229,132.90 4.23%ADVANCED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AIT 5 16.5 186 3,078 16.5 16.4 0.61% 3.52 4.68 988.8 9.09%BLISS-TEL BLISS 0.1 0.05 12,519 632 0.05 0.05 0.00% -0.3 0 157.5 0.00%CS LOXINFO CSL 0.25 2.44 933 2,278 2.46 2.44 0.00% 0.28 8.73 1,540.70 9.02%TOTAL ACCESS COMMUNICATION DTAC 2 28.25 8,084 226,508 28.25 27 4.63% 3.94 6.98 64,996.40 5.31%FORTH CORPORATION FORTH 0.5 2.8 0 0 2.8 0 4.48% -0.08 0 2,645.80 0.00%THE INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING IEC 1 0.65 89,124 59,441 0.67 0.54 20.37% -0.66 0 1,066.80 0.00%INTERNET THAILAND INET 1 0.72 311 223 0.72 0.66 9.09% -0.12 0 171.5 6.94%JASMINE INTERNATIONAL JAS 0.5 0.37 16,298 6,031 0.38 0.36 -2.63% -0.19 0 3,113.50 0.00%JASMINE TELECOM SYSTEMS JTS 1 0.89 12,757 11,564 0.9 0.83 7.23% 0.01 88.94 613 0.00%MFEC MFEC 1 4.16 186 770 4.16 4.08 1.96% 0.65 6.67 995.8 10.82%M-LINK ASIA CORPORATION MLINK 1 1.06 10,743 11,445 1.06 1.03 0.95% 0.23 4.55 565.9 0.00%METRO SYSTEMS CORPORATION MSC 1 2.3 0 0 2.3 0 15.00% 0.38 6 806.4 8.70%PREMIER TECHNOLOGY PT 1 1.34 2,887 3,886 1.34 1.28 4.69% 0.21 6.29 187.7 7.46%SAMART CORPORATION SAMART 1 5.55 6,174 33,374 5.55 5.3 3.74% 0.27 19 5,243.80 1.80%SAMART TELCOMS SAMTEL 1 7.2 55 401 7.25 7.2 0.00% 0.18 39.21 4,326.00 1.39%SHIN CORPORATION SHIN 1 19.3 98 1,826 19.3 18.1 6.63% 1.76 10.43 59,091.70 6.48%SAMART I-MOBILE SIM 0.1 1.69 134 226 1.7 1.68 -0.59% 0.03 63.71 7,267.00 0.59%SIS DISTRIBUTION (THAILAND) SIS 1 4.5 8 31 4.5 3.72 13.64% 1.02 3.66 804.6 7.78%SVOA SVOA 1 0.62 12,072 7,485 0.67 0.51 21.57% 0.12 5.74 352.1 0.00%SYNNEX SYNEX 1 1.19 73 86 1.19 1.16 0.00% 0.21 6.49 803.8 10.08%THAICOM THCOM 5 3.78 69,164 258,654 3.78 3.26 15.95% -0.65 0 3,765.60 0.00%T.K.S. TECHNOLOGIES TKS 0.1 0.18 1,368 246 0.18 0.17 0.00% 0.01 17.82 436.6 5.56%TRUE CORPORATION TRUE 10 1.54 29,217 45,922 1.6 1.52 -0.65% -0.66 0 10,954.30 0.00%TT&T TT&T 10 0.61 89,126 54,241 0.61 0.56 7.02% -0.9 0 1,887.10 0.00%TWZ CORPORATION TWZ 0.1 1.21 9,240 11,095 1.21 1.19 0.83% 0.01 191.77 2,880.00 0.83%UNION TECHNOLOGY UTC 10 9.85 35 341 9.85 9.85 0.00% 0.9 10.98 591 0.00%

ELECTRONIC COMPONENTSCAL-COMP ELECTRONICS (THAILAND) CCET 1 1.81 9,673 17,540 1.81 1.54 13.84% 0.54 3.31 6,652.20 0.00%DELTA ELECTRONICS (THAILAND) DELTA 1 12 994 11,866 12 10.6 13.21% 2.32 5.12 14,070.50 9.17%DRACO PCB DRACO 1 1.52 156 234 1.52 1.43 6.29% 0.59 2.44 232.3 9.87%ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY EIC 1 4 3 12 4.1 4 -1.96% 0.13 31.05 1,620.80 1.50%HANA MICROELECTRONICS HANA 1 11.9 155 1,846 12.2 11.7 1.71% 2.3 4.94 9,882.70 10.08%KCE ELECTRONICS KCE 1 0.89 1,790 1,603 0.96 0.89 -7.29% -0.86 0 419 0.00%MURAMOTO ELECTRON (THAILAND) METCO 10 96 5 485 96 91 5.49% 8.49 3.14 2,043.80 8.33%SINGLE POINT PARTS (THAILAND) SPPT 1 2.58 1 2 2.58 2.28 10.26% 0.25 9.37 594.8 2.71%SVI SVI 1 1.26 5,265 6,638 1.27 1.18 6.78% 0.44 2.9 1,845.20 4.76%TEAM PRECISION TEAM 1 1.9 21 40 1.9 1.86 0.00% 0.13 14.67 1,071.40 5.26%

NON-PERFORMING GROUPABICO HOLDINGS ABICO 1 1 0 0 1 0 0.00% 0.3 2.01 159 0.00%ADVANCE PAINT & CHEMICAL (THAILAND) APC 1 0.6 0 0 0.6 0 0.00% -0.16 0 133.5 0.00%APEX DEVELOPMENT APX 1 2.8 0 0 2.8 0 0.00% -0.14 0 969.8 0.00%BANGKOK RUBBER BRC 10 2.48 0 0 2.48 0 0.00% 1.31 1.86 357.4 0.00%CIRCUIT ELECTRONIC INDUSTRIES CIRKIT 10 1.84 0 0 1.84 0 0.00% -2.34 0 92 0.00%CENTRAL PAPER INDUSTRY CPICO 10 2 0 0 2 0 0.00% -5.72 0 96 0.00%DAIDOMON GROUP DAIDO 5 4 0 0 4 0 0.00% -2.17 0 208 0.00%THAI-DENMARK SWINE BREEDER D-MARK 10 2.1 0 0 2.1 0 0.00% -11.05 0 32.2 0.00%DATAMAT DTM 2.5 1.06 0 0 1.06 0 0.00% -0.3 0 1,150.60 0.00%INDORAMA POLYESTER INDUSTRIES IPI 1 1.92 0 0 1.92 0 0.00% 1.63 0.16 743.6 0.00%MANAGER MEDIA GROUP MGR 1 0.4 0 0 0.4 0 0.00% -0.14 0 17.5 0.00%NATIONAL FERTILIZER NFC 1 1.36 0 0 1.36 0 0.00% -0.08 0 2,105.90 0.00%NEW PLUS KNITTING NPK 10 1.2 0 0 1.2 0 0.00% 0.43 2.77 12 0.00%KUANG PEI SAN FOOD PRODUCTS POMPUI 10 2.16 0 0 2.16 0 0.00% -0.09 0 81.3 0.00%PRASIT PATANA PYT 1 1.5 0 0 1.5 0 0.00% 0.16 0.48 810.4 0.00%SAHAMITR PRESSURE CONTAINER SMPC 10 1.85 0 0 1.85 0 0.00% 19.92 0.09 45.4 0.00%THAI DURABLE GROUP TDT 1 0.5 0 0 0.5 0 0.00% 1.77 0.21 212.7 0.00%THAI PROPERTY TPROP 10 0.7 0 0 0.7 0 0.00% 0.02 11.57 78.3 0.00%UNIVERSAL STARCH USC 10 1.72 0 0 1.72 0 0.00% 1.11 1.54 135.1 0.00%

PREFERRED SHARESASIA CREDIT ACL-P1 10 2.58 0 0 2.58 0 29.00% 0 1,238.50 0.00%BUMRUNGRAD HOSPITAL BH-P 1 44.5 0 0 44.5 0 0.00% 0 81.7 0.00%CROWN SEAL CSC-P 10 70 0 0 70 0 0.00% 0 56 0.00%JUTHA MARITIME JUTHA-P 3 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% 0 20.4 0.00%KRUNG THAI BANK KTB-P 5.15 55 0 0 55 0 0.00% 0 302.5 0.00%THE SIAM COMMERCIAL BANK SCB-P 10 55.75 11 578 55.75 54 -4.70% 0 49,551.40 0.00%SIAM GENERAL FACTORING SGF-P1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% 0 0 0.00%THANACHART CAPITAL TCAP-P 10 860 0 0 860 0 0.00% 0 20.5 0.00%THE THAI INSURANCE TIC-P 10 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% 0 36 0.00%TISCO FINANCIAL GROUP TISCO-P 10 16.2 524 8,396 16.2 14.7 8.72% 0 2,788.00 0.00%TMB BANK TMB-P1 10 10 0 0 10 0 0.00% 0 19,920.00 0.00%

UNIT TRUSTAJF GLOBAL CONVERTIBLE BOND FUND AYFGCB 10 13 0 0 13 0 0.00% 0 1,196.00 0.00%MTRACK ENERGY ETF FUND ENGY 4.11 2.97 1,033 3,070 2.97 2.86 1.02% 0 2,132.80 0.00%GLOBAL BALANCED FUND OF FUNDS GBFF 10 10.5 0 0 10.5 0 0.00% 0 945 0.00%ING THAI ASIAN USD BOND FUND INGFIF 10 12 0 0 12 0 0.00% 0 1,315.20 0.00%MFC GLOBAL EQUITY FUND MGE 10 11.2 0 0 11.2 0 0.00% 0 2,016.00 3.84%GOVERNMENT SAVINGS BANK FUND CLASS A M-GSB 10 0 0 0 0 0 0.00% 0 1,500.00 0.00%THE RUANG KHAO GLOBAL BALANCED FUND RKGB 10 10.7 0 0 10.7 0 0.00% 0 984.4 0.00%SCB SET INDEX FUND SCBSET 10 5.8 0 0 5.8 0 0.00% 0 2,900.00 0.00%THAIDEX SET50 EXCHANGE TDEX 5.68 3.49 6,167 21,534 3.49 3.4 1.16% 0 6,070.40 4.01%VAYUPAK FUND 1 TYPE A VAYU1 10 9.37 115 1,073 9.4 9.34 0.11% 0 65,618.00 1.60%

WARRANTSADVANCED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AIT-W1 0 2.88 105 306 3 2.88 -3.36% 0 17.6 0.00%ASIA METAL AMC-W1 0 0.41 558 235 0.45 0.41 -8.89% 0 16.9 0.00%ADVANCE PAINT & CHEMICAL (THAILAND) APC-W2 0 0.32 0 0 0.32 0 0.00% 0 42.7 0.00%ASCON CONSTRUCTION ASCON-W1 0 0.26 3 1 0.3 0.26 -7.14% 0 28 0.00%THE BANGCHAK PETROLEUM BCP-W1 0 3.3 9,995 33,355 3.3 3.02 9.27% 0 219.8 0.00%BANGKOK LAND BLAND-W1 0 0.01 12,586 126 0.01 0.01 0.00% 0 20 0.00%BANGKOK LAND BLAND-W2 0 0.04 82,147 3,286 0.04 0.03 0.00% 0 247.9 0.00%BLISS-TEL BLISS-W1 0 0.03 220 7 0.03 0.03 0.00% 0 20.7 0.00%CAL-COMP ELECTRONICS (THAILAND) CCET-W2 0 1.27 18,813 24,418 1.28 0.94 35.11% 0 165 0.00%CENTRAL PAPER INDUSTRY CPICO-W1 0 0.3 0 0 0.3 0 0.00% 0 36 0.00%CSP STEEL CENTER CSP-W1 0 0.19 486 96 0.21 0.18 -9.52% 0 24.5 0.00%CHAI WATANA TANNERY GROUP CWT-W1 0 0.6 0 0 0.6 0 0.00% 0 13.5 0.00%DELTA ELECTRONICS (THAILAND) DELTA-W2 0 28 0 0 28 0 0.00% 0 0.1 0.00%EASON PAINT EASON-W1 0 0.4 5 2 0.46 0.35 -13.04% 0 37.3 0.00%EMC EMC-W2 0 0.06 17,966 1,077 0.06 0.05 20.00% 0 77.2 0.00%EASTERN STAR REAL ESTATE ESTAR-W1 0 0.06 2,900 181 0.06 0.05 20.00% 0 40.6 0.00%EASTERN STAR REAL ESTATE ESTAR-W2 0 0.04 9,652 290 0.04 0.02 100.00% 0 35.1 0.00%EASTERN WIRE EWC-W1 0 2.02 61 125 2.08 2.02 -1.94% 0 51.1 0.00%GLOBLEX HOLDING MANAGEMENT GBX-W1 0 0.22 36,557 8,255 0.22 0.2 4.76% 0 75.3 0.00%GENERAL ENGINEERING GEN-W1 0 0.09 2,430 242 0.1 0.09 0.00% 0 21.9 0.00%G J STEEL GJS-W1 0 0.06 38,158 2,289 0.06 0.05 0.00% 0 181.1 0.00%GROUP LEASE GL-W1 0 1.22 4 5 1.49 1.14 -18.12% 0 31 0.00%HEMARAJ LAND AND DEVELOPMENT HEMRAJ-W 0 0.2 100 20 0.21 0.2 -4.76% 0 63.7 0.00%JASMINE INTERNATIONAL JAS-W 0 0.04 17,609 878 0.05 0.04 0.00% 0 48.4 0.00%KIATNAKIN FINANCE KK-W4 0 1.99 37,539 76,795 1.99 1.87 4.19% 0 214.9 0.00%KRISDA MAHANAKORN KMC-W1 0 0.02 0 0 0.02 0 100.00% 0 13.3 0.00%LIVE INCORPORATION LIVE-W1 0 0.05 24,693 1,248 0.05 0.04 0.00% 0 105.8 0.00%MFEC MFEC-W1 0 0.58 121 72 0.68 0.57 -14.71% 0 19.5 0.00%MILL CON STEEL INDUSTRIES MILL-W1 0 0.59 13,658 8,339 0.76 0.57 -21.33% 0 79.5 0.00%MIDA-MEDALIST ENTERTAINMENT MME-W1 0 0.24 807 186 0.24 0.2 20.00% 0 27.5 0.00%NEP REALTY AND INDUSTRY NEP-W1 0 0.07 187 13 0.07 0.06 16.67% 0 94.9 0.00%NAVANAKORN NNCL-W1 0 0.19 7,924 1,536 0.2 0.18 5.56% 0 61.2 0.00%PROPERTY PERFECT PF-W2 0 4.5 0 0 4.5 0 0.00% 0 39.9 0.00%PICNIC GAS & ENGINEERING PICNI-W1 0 0.29 0 0 0.29 0 0.00% 0 2 0.00%R.S.PROMOTION RS-W1 0 0.19 4,064 735 0.19 0.17 11.76% 0 30.4 0.00%SAMCHAI STEEL INDUSTRIES SAM-W1 0 0.35 420 149 0.36 0.34 -2.78% 0 73.5 0.00%S.E.C. AUTO SALES AND SERVICE SECC-W1 0 0.08 0 0 0.08 0 0.00% 0 8 0.00%SIAM GENERAL FACTORING SGF-W2 0 0.08 0 0 0.08 0 0.00% 0 19.8 0.00%SINGHA PARATECH SINGHA-W 0 0.09 504 45 0.09 0.09 0.00% 0 10.1 0.00%SIAM INTER MULTIMEDIA SMM-W1 0 0.28 12,830 3,660 0.28 0.25 12.00% 0 32.4 0.00%SIAM SPORT SYNDICATE SPORT-W2 0 0.34 0 0 0.34 0 6.25% 0 27.2 0.00%SIAM SPORT SYNDICATE SPORT-W3 0 0.82 0 0 0.92 0 -10.87% 0 37.5 0.00%SINGLE POINT PARTS (THAILAND) SPPT-W1 0 0.23 26 4 0.23 0.17 9.52% 0 13.9 0.00%SUNSHINE CORPORATION SSE-W1 0 0.02 100 2 0.02 0.01 0.00% 0 38 0.00%SUB SRI THAI WAREHOUSE SST-W1 0 1.34 4,538 6,298 2.02 1.3 -33.66% 0 48.3 0.00%SHUN THAI RUBBER GLOVES INDUSTRY STHAI-W1 0 0.01 0 0 0.01 0 0.00% 0 1.8 0.00%STP&I STPI-W1 0 4.92 7 33 5 4.92 -1.20% 0 413.3 0.00%SVI SVI-W2 0 0.45 33,670 15,904 0.45 0.31 45.16% 0 136.3 0.00%THAI CAPITAL CORPORATION PCL TCC-W1 0 1.03 75 76 1.03 0.75 3.00% 0 307.5 0.00%THAI FACTORY DEVELOPMENT TFD-W1 0 0.24 396 95 0.24 0.23 4.35% 0 28.4 0.00%RATCHTHANI LEASING THANI-W4 0 0.02 0 0 0.02 0 100.00% 0 3.4 0.00%TICON INDUSTRIAL CONNECTION TICON-W2 0 0.3 596 176 0.3 0.28 7.14% 0 3.7 0.00%TICON INDUSTRIAL CONNECTION TICON-W3 0 0.33 10,682 3,470 0.33 0.3 10.00% 0 68.4 0.00%T.K.S. TECHNOLOGIES TKS-W1 0 0.03 5,936 178 0.03 0.03 0.00% 0 18.6 0.00%THAILUXE ENTERPRISES TLUXE-W1 0 0.14 143 20 0.14 0.12 16.67% 0 5 0.00%TATA STEEL TSTH-W1 0 0.3 16,426 4,896 0.31 0.28 -3.23% 0 320.6 0.00%TATA STEEL TSTH-W2 0 0.09 753 61 0.09 0.08 12.50% 0 130.8 0.00%THAI UNIQUE COIL CENTER TUCC-W1 0 0.31 231 68 0.32 0.29 -3.13% 0 26.8 0.00%UNIQUE ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION UNIQ-W1 0 0.99 221 219 0.99 0.96 3.13% 0 153.4 0.00%UNIVENTURES UV-W1 0 0.3 22,151 7,046 0.3 0.28 7.14% 0 49.2 0.00%VIBHAVADI MEDICAL CENTER VIBHA-W1 0 1.29 145 183 1.29 1.13 14.16% 0 66.4 0.00%SEAMICO SECURITIES ZMICO-W3 0 0.01 0 0 0.01 0 0.00% 0 2 0.00%

DEPOSITORY RECEIPTSTHE BANGCHAK PETROLEUM BCP-DR1 0 11.1 2,785 30,806 11.1 10.8 2.78% 0 1,154.20 4.50%

STOCK MARKETS8B THE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009

as of April 20-24, 2009 Source: KGI Securities (Thailand) Plc

Par Closed Avg Daily Turnover Hight Low Weekly EPS P/E Avg Market Cap DivApr 24 (Shares m) (Bt m) (Bt) (Bt) Change % (Bt) (x) (Bt m) Yield

Par Closed Avg Daily Turnover Hight Low Weekly EPS P/E Avg Market Cap DivApr 24 (Shares m) (Bt m) (Bt) (Bt) Change % (Bt) (x) (Bt m) Yield

W E E K LY S T O C K S U M M A R Y

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‚∑√»—æ∑å (02) 527-7830-9 µàÕ 2101, 2102 ·øì° å (02) 968-9143 À√◊Õ∑’Ë http://www.kpi.ac.thÀ¡“¬‡Àµÿ ∂“∫—π¢Õ ß«π ‘∑∏‘Ï„π°“√‡ª≈’ˬπ·ª≈ß √“¬≈–‡Õ’¬¥µà“ß Ê ¢ÕßÀ≈—° Ÿµ√‚¥¬‰¡àµâÕß·®âß„Àâ∑√“∫≈à«ßÀπâ“

Established since 1961, is currently one of the leading importers, distributors and marketers of healthcareand related products in Thailand. Based in Bangkok, Pacific Healthcare has over 300 full-time employeesand an annual turnover of approximately USD35 million. The company is solid and reliable, with a well-established reputation and a quality of service that is second to none. To cope with our rapid expansion and diversification, we need talented candidates who are creative, energetic, and hardworkingto join out team in the following positions:-

Medical Representative(Bangkok and Up-country)Key ResponsibilitiesResponsible for opening the new product entry, regular visitcustomers in responsible area, maintain and demonstrate scientificknowledge potential or existing customers. Handle sales target andpromote the company’s sales growth.

Qualifications:-• Bachelor’s Degree in Science or related field• At least 3 years experience in sales: hospital, clinic,

modern trade or any other related business • Positive attitude, energetic and able to work independently• Results oriented and keen to learn a new things• Good personality, communication and negotiation skills• Fair command of written and spoken English• Computer literacy • Have own transportation and driving license

Product Manager: PharmaKey Responsibilities:-Responsible for products, which requires more tactful marketingskills. Develop marketing plans and programs for the specific products, review, evaluate and adjust plans to cater for changesmarketing strategy. Continuously assess and develop new channelsto broaden the company’s market share and profit in the specificproducts. Product training and coaching Med. Rep. to deliver correctmessages. Collaborate with SM to drive business and broadenclient base.Qualifications:-• Male or Female, age 25-35 years old (Only Thai Nationality)• Bachelor’s Degree in Science or Nurse would be preferable• Minimum 3 years experience in marketing of Pharmaceutical Products• Positive attitude, energetic, team player, service minded • Able to work independently with result-oriented• Strong leadership with interpersonal, communication and

negotiation skills• Good command of English• Computer literacy• Have own transportation and driver license

We know opportunity is out there, PHC is looking for a great confident candidate who has a passion to join a winning team. We offer a competitive remuneration package for the right candidate. If you believe you are qualified for the above positions, please send a detailed resumein English stating the position you are interested in and your current and expected salary, together with your transcript and a recent photograph to

Pacific Healthcare (Thailand) Co., Ltd.Human Resources Department

1011 Supalai Grand Tower, Room No. 01, 29th Fl., Rama 3 Rd., Chongnonsee, Yannawa, Bangkok 10120 E-mail: recruit@phc.co.th Website: www.phc.co.th

Only successful applications will be contacted! We accept resume in MS Word only.

1. Contracts Engineers PC-1006 Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Civil, Mechanical,

Industrial, Electrical Engineering or related field. Minimum 5 years experience of contracting activities for

both pre and post contract award in oil & gas or petrochemical Construction Management positions.

Candidates must be commercially aware, with effective negotiating and coordinating skills.

Candidates should be familiar with the standard conditionsof contract prevalent in the industry.

Candidates should possess risk management skills and strong technical skills.

2. Quantity Surveyors C-1014 Bachelor's Degree or higher in field of Civil, Mechanical or

Industrial Engineering. 3-5 years experience for Civil, Mechanical work in Oil &

Gas plant / Petrochemical plant. Experience of working for PMC or EPC project is

preferable. Experience in quality surveying (QS) against MTO and

BOQ. Experience in preparation of payment and

re-measurement. Familiar with pricing mechanism and instruction to price

schedule. Ability to review and analysis of estimate quality and

accuracy. Team work attitude and problem solving skills.

3. Senior Cost Engineers / Cost Engineers PD-1022 Bachelor's Degree or higher in field of Engineering,

Accounting or related discipline. 5-7 years experience in project cost control or

commercial man agement of Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Works.

Should be able to interpret contracts and manage client budgets.

Must have the ability to understand and manage financial risks.

General:- For all positions, candidates should possess excellent com

munication skills in written and spoken English.- For all positions candidates should be computer literate in

the software relevant to the position.- Foster Wheeler is prepared to consider candidates with

experience outside the petrochemical and related industrieswho are willing to be trained to work in that sector.

- Please refer No. of position in your application.

Foster Wheeler offer an attractive remuneration package withgenerous training internally and externally as well asoverseas travel opportunities; life insurance coverage andmedical scheme benefits including yearly bonus, 5-dayworking week and the opportunity to join an expandingInternational affiliated that provides a challenging andrewarding career. (Only short listed candidate will be notified)

Foster Wheeler is one of the largest International Contractors working in the Oil and Gas, Chemial,Pharmaceutical, and Power sectors. We are very active in both onshore and offshore projects in the Asia-Pacificregion and beyong. Foster Wheeler is continuing to expand its operations in Thailand and the region. To assist us inregion and beyong Foster Wheeler is continuing to expand its operations in Thailand and the region To assist us inthis growth, we wish to recruit enthusiastic, self-motivated individuals. Who are interested in a long-term career with Foster Wheeler, to work in our Sriracha offices, for the following;

Interested candidates should submit a recent photograph, resume qualifications reference, and expected salary to

Human Resource Manager : Foster Wheeler International Corporation 217 Moo 12 Sukhapibal 8 Road, Tungsukhla, Sriracha, Chonburi 20230

Fax : 66(0) 3835 4604 E-mail: Tops_recruit@fwuk.fwc.com

æπ—°ß“π¢—∫√∂„ÀâºâŸ∫√‘À“√µà“ß™“µ‘ë ‡æ»™“¬, Õ“¬ÿ 35-45 ªï, æ—°Àà“ß®“°´Õ¬π“π“ 30 °.¡., 查¿“…“Õ—ß°ƒ…‰¥â¥’, ÿ¢¿“楒·≈– “¡“√∂∑”ß“π≈à«ß‡«≈“‰¥â µ√ßµàÕ‡«≈“·≈–∫ÿ§≈‘°‡√’¬∫√âÕ¬ √âŸ∑‘»∑“ߢÕß°√ÿ߇∑朥’ ¡’ª√– ∫°“√≥増∫√∂¥’°—∫‚√ß·√¡À√◊Õ™“«µà“ß™“µ‘ ®–‰¥â√—∫°“√æ‘®“√≥“‡ªìπ摇»… ¡—§√‰¥â∑’Ë TMF Company (walk-in-interview)‚∑√. 02-266-2660 ‡æ◊ËÕπ—¥ —¡¿“…≥å

Sales Assistance• Dip. or B.A., Enthusiasm, Experience, Hard Working• Clients Oriented, Skills in Eng. & Thai, Car • Interpersonal, Planning & Problem Solving Skills

0 25517589 E-mail : kelly@csplastmach.com

∫√‘…—∑ ‡ÕÁπ·∑¡ªá ®”°—¥‡√’¬π‡™‘≠ºŸâ∂◊ÕÀÿâπ∑ÿ°∑à“π ‡¢â“√à«¡ª√–™ÿ¡„À≠à “¡—≠ª√–®”ªï 2552§√—Èß∑’Ë 2 „π«—π∑’Ë 30 ‡¡…“¬π 2552µ—Èß·µà‡«≈“ 9.30 π. ≥ ∫√‘…—∑‡ÕÁπ·∑¡ªá ®”°—¥ 2 À¡Ÿà∑’Ë 1

‡æ™√‡°…¡ 40 ·¬° 5 ·¢«ß∫“ßÀ«â“‡¢µ¿“…’‡®√‘≠ °√ÿ߇∑æœ10160

Experienced Audit Professionals Required

Mazars is an international, integrated and independent organisation,

specialised in audit, accounting, tax and advisory services. As the market

challenger, Mazars is fully able to provide large corporate multinational

firms, smaller companies and owner-managed businesses as well as high

net worth individuals with seamless tailored solutions.

All Mazars staff are bonded by strong quality guidelines, determined to

exceed technical and ethical standards and convinced that passion for

accountancy, rigour in the way they perform their job on a daily basis and

open-mindedness are the keys to success.

Due to our fast growth in Thailand we are seeking to employ the

following professionals:

Audit Director 1 Position

A CPA with a minimum of 8 years audit experience with a major auditing firm

and enjoy delivering a personalized service to customers.

Audit Manager 2 Positions

CPA with a minimum of 5 years audit experience with a major auditing firm.

Sarbanes Oxley and other internal audit experience would also be

an advantage.

All our internal and external communication is in English.

Please send your brief curriculum vitae to HR Manager of Mazars Group

by email to info@mazars.co.th or call our HR Manager on 02 670 1100

The Norwegian Mission Society(NMS) Mekong Office

NMS was founded in 1842, as an independent society within theChurch of Norway. NMS works today together wit churches on 4continents and approximately 100 missionaries are working onthe field at all times. Our Mekong office is in Bangkok.

Project Monitor (100%)REQUIREMENTS FOR THE POSITION: Thai residence, fluent (verbal and written) in Thai and English Master's degree or equivalent Knowledge of ethical and legal parameters governing project

management Computer literacy Experience from international development projects Good communication and reporting skills (verbal and written) Basic knowledge of budgeting and accounting Loyalty to the Christian faith and Lutheran doctrine

The project monitor will work closely with the NMS representativeto ensure that planning, implementations and reporting supportedby NMS meets the requirements set for these projects andaffiliate evaluations when needed. This position will also beworking with project information to donors.

Pay scales are negotiable and according to qualifications.For moreinformation please contact the NMS RepresentativeDag Johanessen on mobile phone 081 812 1779

Applications and CVs are to be sent by e-mail to:job@nmsthai.com before 30th April.

µâÕß°“√√—∫ ¡—§√ºŸâ√à«¡ß“π¥à«π „πµ”·Àπàß1. Assistant Manager (‡™’¬ß„À¡à)2. Sales/Marketing Professionals

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(„°≈âø“√å¡®√–‡¢â) ¿“¬„π 1 ™—Ë«‚¡ß ¡—§√¥â«¬µπ‡Õß À√◊Õ email ∑’Ëleatherplus08@gmail.com À√◊Õ ·ø° å 02-389-3255

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·¢«ß§≈Õ߇µ¬ ‡¢µ§≈Õ߇µ¬ °√ÿ߇∑æœ 10110‚∑√. 02-254-9520-1 Fax. 02-253-5438

M.J. Bangkok Valve & Fitting Co., Ltd.We are an importer of valve and fitting from U.S.A. for oil & gas,petrochemical, refinery and power generating industries and etc. We arenow looking for the following personnel.

SALES ENGINEER 4 Pos. Male/Female, Bachelor's degree in any field, age below 30 years Take care of existing customers and expand customer base Salary, gasoline & medical allowances plus commission provided A challenging job that offers more than 50,000 Baht/month

depending on candidate's potential Have own car, mobile phone and notebook computer Good command of reading, speaking and writing in English We provide intensive training on company's products

CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICER 3 POS. Female, age below 25 years, Bachelor's degree in any field High responsibility and good human relation, computer literate Good command of reading, speaking and writing in English

ACCOUNTANT 3 POS. Female, age below 25 years Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance, computer literate

PRODUCTION ENGINEER 2 Pos. Male Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Instrument Age below 30 years, Good command of English 3 years experience in panel assembly,tube bending, instrument

assembly Take out parts from drawing and labor cost estimate for assembly

Apply in person or send documents via E-mail to:

M.J. Bangkok Valve & Fitting Co., Ltd.,Vanich Building 1, 16th Fl.,1126/1 New Phetchburi Rd.,

Makkasan, Ratchathevi, BKK 10400TEL: 0-2254-7624 (auto) FAX: 0-2254-7626, 0-2254-7630

E-mail: swagelok@mjbangkok.com

Thailand Burma Border Consortium, a non-profitorganization providing relief to Burmese refugees, invites sealed bids forthe supply of:

393 MT of Mung Beans 391,500 litres of Soya Bean Cooking Oil 3,244 MT of Charcoal 139,200 kg of Iodized Salt 16,920 kg of Dried Chillies, and 314,490 kg of Fishpaste

for delivery between July 2009 and January 2010 to 3 refugee camps inTak province. Invitations to Tender and Bidding Forms are obtainablefrom:

TBBC, 12/5 Convent Rd., Bangrak, Bangkok 10500Tel: 02-238-5027-8, Fax: 02-266-5376

E-mail: procurement@tbbc.orgWebsite: www.tbbc.org

Interested supplier must contact TBBC BKK ProcurementBefore 16.00 hrs on Wed. 6 May 2009.

General ManagerResponsibilities:-The successful candidate is expected to deliver economicvalue to the company’s business via his/her leadership andmanagement abilities. He/she is expected to help his/herteam members contemplate and adopt news ideas andapproaches in promoting the Company’s business. He/shewill inspire his/her team members to make day-to-daydecisions that enhance the company’s long-term viability,while instituting systems to ensure that his/her teammembers comply with top-down policies and directives.

The successful candidate shall provide leadership by continuallyadapting to dynamic and highly competitive environments byinspiring his/her team members to innovate in order toachieve the company’s objectives. At the same time, thesuccessful candidate is also expected to manage byorchestrating a complex system of interactions that deliverorganizational synergies, allocate resources effectively, andensure that valid reporting and control systems are in place.

Requirements:-Besides being able to fulfill the above job expectations,the successful candidate is expected to possess the followingrequirements:• A Bachelor's Degree in any discipline. Preference will,

however, be given to those with postgraduate qualifications;• Prior posting overseas will be an added advantage;• At least 10 years of managerial experience in sales and

marketing within the ICT, consumer and financial sector, especially business-to-business related;

• Excellent interpersonal, communication and public relations skills.

Head-Merchant AcquiringQualifications:-• Bachelor's Degree or higher in Marketing, Business

Administration or related fields;• Proven leadership ability to influence, develop, and empower

employees to achieve objectives with a team approach;• Analyze, monitor competitor sales, marketing initiatives

and overall business trends;• We require the potential candidate who is a creative,

highly responsibly and pro-active person.• Good English communication skill.

System Analysis / ProgrammerResponsibilities:-• Attend and conduct requirement, design and test plan reviews.• Provide estimates on development projects.• Coordination with KL Programmers.• Perform coding and unit testing as required.• Develop Web Application project.• Participation to software development projects run by

Head Office, or Regional IT team.• Procedure setup and control for launching new projects.Qualifications:-• Male and Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Computer

Engineering, Computer science or related fields;• Working Experience - Min. 1 year of experience in software

engineering field. Fresh Graduates are encouraged to apply;• Teamwork, integrity;• Objected-oriented programming skills in C++ or C#;• Good communication skills - Proficiency in written English

is required; spoken English will be an added advantage.

Administrative OfficerResponsibilities :-• Handle all purchasing duties and administrative. • Handle Invoice and Petty Cash.• Coordinate among the team in order to successfully

communicate.• Arrange all kind of meeting and scheduling, both internal

and external.Qualifications:-• Male or Female; • Bachelor's Degree in any related field;• A minimum of 2 years experience in the field of administration;• Basic Accounting knowledge will be an advantage;• Proficient in computer skills especially MS Office applications;• Good command of English;• Problem solving skills, ability to work in a team and

communicate with people on all levels ;• Mature, reliable and able to work under pressure and

work well with deadline.

Interested candidates, please send your application together witha detailed resume and recent photograph to Human Resources

and Administration Division as following address

GHL (THAILAND) CO., LTD. is subsidiary of GHL SYSTEM, main officeis Malaysia, has undoubtedly carved its niche in the payment space as theleading end-to-end payment solution provider in the Asia Pacific region.

GHL (THAILAND) CO., LTD.77//20 2nd Floor, Sinn Sathorn Tower, Krungthonburi Rd., Klongsan, Bangkok 10600

Tel. 02-440-0111 Fax. 02-440-0577 E-mail: recruitmentth@ghl.com

OFFICE ADMINISTRATORForensic Technology is a Canadian company(www.forensictechnologyinc.com), leading in ballisticsidentification systems being used around the world.We partner with hundreds of public safety agencies inover 35 countries to help agencies fight crime.We are seeking applicants for a position of OfficeAdministrator reporting to Asia Pacific Sales Directorand providing accounting and administrative works inBangkok office. Position requirements: • Thai national with very good command of spoken

and written English.• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Business Administration• 2-3 years experience in accounting and office works

including travel arrangements• Proficient in MS Office, Internet and E-mail• Able to work with minimal supervision

Please submit your resume and letter of interest statingyour expected salary by email to:saipin.pinpirom@contactft.com or by postal mail to

Forensic Technology Wai Inc.,3/F Zuellig House,1-7 Silom Road, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500

°≈ÿà¡∫√‘…—∑ ‡™’¬√å ·≈–∫√‘…—∑ ‰∑¬Œ“ ®”°—¥ (¡À“™π) ‡ªìπ°≈ÿà¡∫√‘…—∑ºŸâº≈‘µ ·≈–ºŸâ®—¥®”Àπà“¬ ‘π§â“Õÿª‚¿§-∫√‘‚¿§ ¿“¬„µâ ‘π§â“µ√“ 燰…µ√é ç©≈“¥™‘¡é ·≈– çÕßÿàπé œ≈œ ¡’§«“¡ª√– ߧ宖√—∫ ¡—§√ºŸâ√à«¡ß“π ‡æ◊ËÕ√Õß√—∫°“√‡µ‘∫‚µ¢Õß∫√‘…—∑„πµ”·Àπàßß“π ¥—ßµàÕ‰ªπ’È

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HRD Õ¬à“ßπâÕ¬ 10 ªï ¡’§«“¡√Ÿâ„π√–∫∫§ÿ≥¿“æµà“ßÊ ‡™àπ ISO, GMP, HACCP,

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·≈– “¡“√∂«‘‡§√“–Àå√“¬ß“π∑“ß∫—≠™’·≈–°“√‡ß‘π‰¥â3. Overseas Sales / ‡®â“Àπâ“∑’˪√– “πß“π¢“¬

µà“ߪ√–‡∑» ™“¬/À≠‘ß Õ“¬ÿ 28-32 ªï ª√‘≠≠“‚∑ MBA, Marketing ¡’ª√– ∫°“√≥å¥â“π¢“¬ ‘π§â“Õÿª‚¿§ ∫√‘‚¿§ ·≈–µ‘¥µàÕ

µà“ߪ√–‡∑» À“°¡’ª√– ∫°“√≥åß“π¢“¬ Modern Trade®–æ‘®“√≥“‡ªìπ摇»…

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4. Product Manager À≠‘ß/™“¬ Õ“¬ÿ 26-30 ªï ª√‘≠≠“‚∑ MBA, Marketing ¡’ª√– ∫°“√≥å∑“ߥâ“π°“√µ≈“¥ °“√∫√‘À“√º≈‘µ¿—≥±å

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À√◊Õ E-mail : hr_cheer@yahoo.com,manee@kasetbrand.com, bualuang@kasetbrand.com,

wijitra@kasetbrand.com

√—∫ ¡—§√¥à«π¥”‡π‘π∏ÿ√°‘®„πÕÿµ “À°√√¡™‘Èπ à«πÕ‘‡≈Á°∑√Õπ‘° å¬“π¬πµå ·≈–‡§√◊ËÕß¡◊Õ·æ∑¬å

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∫√‘À“√§ÿ≥¿“æ ISO13485 ®–æ‘®“√≥“‡ªìπ摇»… “¡“√∂ àß„∫ ¡—§√ ·≈–ª√–«—µ‘ à«πµ—«¡“∑’Ë ∫√‘…—∑ ‘߇°‘È≈ æÕ¬∑å æ“√å∑ (ª√–‡∑»‰∑¬) ®”°—¥ (¡À“™π)‡≈¢∑’Ë 41-42 À¡Ÿà 9 «πÕÿµ “À°√√¡‚√®π– µ.∏πŸÕ.Õÿ∑—¬ ®.æ√–π§√»√’Õ¬ÿ∏¬“‚∑√.035-226700-1 µàÕ§ÿ≥«—≤π“À√◊Õ E-mail : watthanaw@spp.co.th

W.R. Grace & Co., is a leading global supplier of catalyst and otherproducts and services to petroleum refiners; catalysts for the manufacture ofplastics; silica-based engineered and specialty materials for a wide-range ofindustrial applications; specialty chemicals, additives and materials forcommercial and residential construction; and sealants and coatings for foodpackaging. To support our growth plans in the Asia Pacific region, we areseeking a dynamic and committed professional to join our team.

Sourcing Manager-APThe Opportunities

Reporting to Purchasing Manager-MPT AP, the successful candidate will beresponsible for leading sourcing strategy development, deployment andsupplier management for Asia Packaging materials business to delivermaximized total cost. He/She will also establish raw materials sourcingprocesses, support global and regional category managers in the directmaterials organization to identify 2nd source in AP. To work closely withCategory Manager, Marketing, R&D, Operation, EHS and Product Stewardshipin the development of new sources and build up effective channels to getupdate market information on supply demand dynamics, pricing and capacity.Monitor competitor move as well as government regulation impact.

The Person

B.S. in Chemical-related field or materials related field, or MBA. Minimum 7 years global sourcing experiences in an industrial

environment with extensive knowledge/industry insight in chemical raw materials. Food Law compliance knowledge preferred.

Ability to work independently on multiple tasks with clear priority. Strong project management skills and communication skills to

effectively work with cross function team to move new source qualification forward.

Resourceful, understand how to get market and supplier information through different channels with strong negotiation skills.

Extensive chemical background, and materials knowledge. Proficiency with entire MS Office Suite required. Familiarity with the

extraction and analysis of SAP data. Good English skills.

Interest candidates, please apply by sending a detailed resume,stating employment history, personal details, present and expectedsalaries to:

The Human Resources Department

W.R. GRACE (THAILAND) LIMITED253/2 Bangpoo Industrial Estate, Sukhumvit Road Km. 34Muang, Samutprakarn 10280Email: naiyana.kulratanarak@grace.com

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π„® àß : √“¬≈–‡Õ’¬¥«ÿ≤‘°“√»÷°…“/ª√– ∫°“√≥å (Resume) ‰ª¬—ß

”π—°∫√‘À“√Õߧå°√‡≈¢∑’Ë 24 ∂ππª°√≥å ߇§√“–Àå√“…Æ√å µ.À⫬‚ªÉß

Õ.‡¡◊Õß ®.√–¬Õß 21150

We are a multinational company engaged in the exploration, developmentand production of onshore oil and natural gas in Thailand. We urgently requireoutstanding individuals to assist in our finance and accounting team.

Upcountry AccountantThe Upcountry Accountant will report to the Foreign Field Manager, Upcountryand the Financial Controller in Bangkok. The position will be based at theCompany’s Wichian Buri Office.Key Responsibilities:• Responsible for establishing and implementing new accounting policies

and procedures at the upcountry office.• Control petty cash at the upcountry office.• Liaise with all upcountry personnel, expatriate management,

and all other upcountry based expatriates on all accounting aspects.• Coordinate with other finance, purchasing, store and operations

personnel in Bangkok to ensure integrity of upcountry financial data and sufficient control over upcountry payments.

• Act as the focal point for all production, support operations and other upcountry cost information.

Qualifications required:1. Degree in accounting, a CPA is a plus.2. At least 2 years experience in similar positions/responsibilities.3. Background in petroleum industry is an advantage. 4. Familiar with computerized accounting systems and MS Office.5. Good interpersonal skill and good command of spoken & written English.6. Ability to work independently with minimum supervision and against tight

deadlines.

We invite qualified Thai nationals only to submit your resume in confidence,stating your present and expected salary to: hr@panorientthailand.com

Gourmets tuck intoGolden Week

The Japanese begin their GoldenWeek – a collection of fournational holidays within sevendays – on Wednesday. To cele-brate, the Peninsula Bangkok’sMei Jiang restaurant led by chefJackie Ho is offering a selectionof à la carte dishes and sumptu-ous six-course Chinese setmenus available for lunch anddinner.

The special Bt3,200 menubeing served up through May 5includes Cantonese-style scram-bled egg-white with scallop andcrispy mantou, double-boiledsuperior shark’s fin soup withblack chicken and wolfberry,sautéed prawns with Brusselssprouts in home-made XO sauce,sliced garoupa cutlet served withhawthorn sauce, fried egg noo-dles with roast duck and mixedpeppers, and chilled sago pome-lo in mango cream.

For a delicate accompani-ment, diners can choose fromMei Jiang’s list of 12 fine Chineseteas.

There’s also the Golden Weekdelicacy menu costing Bt4,800per person.

For a table, call (02) 861 2888extension 6402, or e-mail din-ingpbk@peninsula.com.

An expedition toBhutan

Siam Society is organising a cul-tural tour of Bhutan from thisFriday to May 12.

Bhutan has long been regard-ed as a mystical and mysteriousplace by the western world. Witha population of 600,000 androughly the size of Switzerland, itis a small and under-populatedcountry, especially when com-pared with its giant neighboursChina and India. However, thisdoes not do justice to the ethnicmosaic and variety of popula-tions that make up the country.From the yak herders of thenorth to the orange growers ofthe south, Bhutan boasts a fasci-nating kaleidoscope of people.Most are of Mongoloid stock andspeak languages of the Tibeto-Burman family, but in the souththere are also people of Indo-Aryan stock who speak lan-guages of the Indo-Europeanfamily.

Led by Bilaibhan Sampatisiri,vice president and chairpersonof the society’s travel committee,the trip costs Bt160,000 per per-son.

E-mail info@siam-society.org.

W

Tomorrow: At just 28, the daughter ofBlue Elephant’s founders has beenhanded a heavy load – herding its latest restaurant into Phuket. >>ARTS

&CULTURETHE NATION Monday, April 27, 2009

GREAT THINGS TO SEE AND DO

THE TRANCE OF THE SNOW MOUNTAIN

VITHOON PUNGPRASERTTHE NATION

e trekked up the Hongla SnowMountain in the Tibetan Plateau today,hoping to cover 200 kilometres on our wayto Ch’ang Tu in southeastern Tibet. Theroad was covered with snow and ice.Despite the strong sunshine, an icy windkept blowing.

At 4,200 metres above sea level themountain seemed the most inhospitableplace, with its harsh, freezing conditions.To our surprise, we came across variouskinds of expensive herbal plants growingin the hills.

The views were stun-ning too, and that’s whyour hearts were beatingquickly in an ecstaticthump.

Later, on some parts ofthe mountain, there wereimmense expanses ofgreenery, with herds ofyak grazing the grasslandsdotted with pockets ofsnow.

We found many ever-green perennials growingin the pine forest. We laterfound out that Tibetanscollected pine branches touse in rituals worshippingthe guardian spirit of the forest.

Seeing the prayer flags, you realise thestrength of the people’s faith in nature andtheir respect for it.

At this altitude it was hard to believethat the mountain was home to a breed ofrats that could weigh up to 20 kilograms.

Soon we began to feel the enervatingeffects of the altitude and high pressure.The Tibetans are more acclimated to thethin air because they’re raised at high alti-tude.

The thin oxygen over time has a pro-gressively debilitating effect, and in critical

cases can cause illness and death. Some ofus had bloodshot eyes and started display-ing strange behaviour.

Our cameraman, Pipop Panichpak, sud-denly seemed terribly busy, flitting aboutmumbling or pacing up and down a dirttrack. Later he admitted that he’d no ideawhat had happened to him.

At times it felt like we were in a trancein such a conducive climate. The localspointed out that, up here, we were close toGod, and that’s why we were all in a goodmood.

But the people who had been monitor-ing our progress were extremely concerned

about our safety. I was thinking that, if

we could make it a bit far-ther, we’d probably get tomeet God ourselvessomewhere on theplateau.

Then the journey tookus to a mountain rising5,000 metres, near atown called Pang Da. Thetrail led westward toLhasa and north to Ch’anTu.

The melting snow ofthis mountain flowed intothree great rivers of Asia:the Yangtze, the Lancangand the Salween.

Standing up there, I felt the strong sun-shine and the freezing wind. What inter-ested me was how the snow was meltingaway and forming the headwaters of therivers.

These were the rivers of humanity flow-ing in parallel. One drop of water turnedinto the Yangtze, another the Lancang, andyet another the Salween, creating differentcivilisations, cultures and ways of life.

Right here, we knew we were close tothe headwaters of the Lancang. We keptgoing north to find its source.

At last we reached Ch’ang Tu, where two

rivers converge to form the Lancang.Seeing the Lancang here, I couldn’t helpthinking of Paknam Po in Nakhon Sawan,where two rivers come together just likethis to form the Chao Phya.

But here you could see that one riverwas clear, the other quite muddy. So thelocals called the Lancang the two-colouredriver.

Before I got here, I’d thought Ch’ang Tuwas just a lifeless, desolate outpost coveredwith snow, but we discovered that it’s quitea modern city with high-rise buildings andbrand-name products.

It’s just like any other city where youcan get whatever you want. Surrounded bymountains, with the Lancang cuttingthrough its heart, Ch’an Tu is Tibet’s sec-ond commercial hub. In the fields aregreenhouses, herds of yak and farms. Onthe city streets you see local girls dressedfashionably.

The TV series “Mekong … theUntamed” is on Channel 9 every Mondayat 10.15pm.

‘MEKONG … THE UNTAMED’

Tastes of ecstasy and madness are amongthe surprises en route to Chentu

Our cameraman, PipopPanichpak, suddenlyseemed terribly busy,flitting aboutmumbling or pacing upand down a dirt track.Later he admitted thathe’d no idea what hadhappened to him.

E-mail information onyour interestingupcoming events toartsandculture@nationgroup.com.

>>

CAROLE LANDRYAGENCE FRANCE-PRESSEParis

A global digital library allowing scholars and cyber-surfers toscroll through such unique works as the 13th-century “Devil’sBible” and rare photos from the Ottoman empire was launchedon Tuesday.

Four years in the making, the World Digital Library went online (www.WDL.org), offering free access to hundreds of books,manuscripts, maps, photographs and sound and film record-

ings, all considered world treasures.The state-of-the-art educational tool promotes cultural

understanding by showcasing “primary materials that are bothinteresting and important”, said James Billington, from the USLibrary of Congress, creators of the project.

The website operates in seven languages, with content in 40languages, from mathematical texts in Arabic to the world’s firstnovel, “The Tale of Genji” written in Japan in the 11th century.

“All of these materials have been vetted by curators and schol-ars so that they are dependable,” Billington told a news confer-ence at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO, the UN culturalagency that shepherded the project.

The site was developed by a team from the Library of Congressin Washington with assistance from Bibliotheca Alexandrinain Egypt.

Some 1,200 documents have been chosen for the initialphase, but the plan is to open up the library’s doors and data-bases beyond the current 32 institutions from 19 countries.

“Part of the purpose is to bring together materials that havebeen widely scattered, into a single focus,” Billington said.

The website is open to everyone – scholars, teachers, histo-rians – but much focus is placed on reaching young minds whoare exposed to Internet material of questionable quality, headded.

The content has been compiled from contributions fromnational libraries, many of which have put forward foundingdocuments including oracle bone script from China, the “Devil’sBible” from Sweden and the Hyakumanto Darani sutras from

the year 764 in Japan.Photographs of lost empires – the Ottomans, Tsarist Russia

and Imperial China – are offered for perusal while searchesthrough timelines allows users to compare cultural works froma given period across the globe.

France contributed the world’s first film footage from the pio-neering Lumiere brothers in the late 19th century, and there isalso the first recording of La Marseillaise, the national anthem.

Major contributors to the World Digital Library are Brazil,Britain, China, France, Japan, Russia and the United States, withSouth Africa, Uganda and Mali putting up materials from Africa.

WORLD TREASURES GO ON-LINE IN DIGITAL LIBRARY

A PAGE of the World Digital Library showing an old Islamic text in Arabic.

THE WORLD DIGITAL LIBRARY offers free access to rare books,maps, manuscripts, films and photographs from across the globe.