The 19th century Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen once described Christmas time in his country as "magnificent,incomparably magnificent." A visit to Copenhagen in the run-up to Christmas is proof that this has not changed with the city looking its most festive. An enormous decorated Christmas tree stands in front of the mayor's house and half a million Christmas lights can be found blinking in Tivoli park which hosts the biggest Christmas market in Scandinavia fromNov 20 to Dec 30. Stall owners sell everything from Christmas gift ideas to homemade wooden items.
Also on sale are festive foods such as cakes and sweets and needless to say there is plenty of Jule Glogg, Denmark's Christmas punch, to be had. Glogg is a mixture of red wine and schnapps with raisins, almonds and cinnamon. Children can ride a carousel or a pony in Tivoli and there's ice skating on the park's small lake with its Chinese tower.
The Danish capital is very pedestrian friendly and easy to find your way around. Stroget pedestrian zone, for example, is a kilometre long and most shops stay open until 8pm at the weekends in December.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Central to expand fashion-watch range
Central Trading, importer and distributor of brand-name goods, will be expanding its portfolio fo wathches next year to serve increasing demand.
The company currently sells five fashion watch brands, including Casio G-Shock and Guess. The segment increases by 30 per cent per year on average and the sale of Casio and Guess models is expected to ries by the same level this year.
Central Trading is holding a "Shock the World" global campaign from December 9 to sell the Casio G-Shock series in several major cities, including Berlin, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Bangkok.
The company currently sells five fashion watch brands, including Casio G-Shock and Guess. The segment increases by 30 per cent per year on average and the sale of Casio and Guess models is expected to ries by the same level this year.
Central Trading is holding a "Shock the World" global campaign from December 9 to sell the Casio G-Shock series in several major cities, including Berlin, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Bangkok.
Flower extravaganza set to return
The floral extravaganza Ratchaphruek Festival returns to Chiang Mai next month from Dec 1-10 to celebrate the 82nd birthday anniversary of His Majesty the King, the world's longest reigning monarch.
Organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives,the provincial administration and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the festival is expected to draw more than 200,000 visitors.
According to Juthaporn Rerngronasa, TAT's deputy governor for marketing communications, on Dec 5,which is the King's birthday,there will be a grand ceremony involving the lighting of candles and offering of prayers wishing His Majesty sound health,followed by fireworks and light and sound presentation.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will preside over the festival opening on Dec 1 when he'd join local notaries to release 999 floating lanterns, followed by Thai classical dances from the four regions of the country,with 99 performers from each region.
Taking place at the same venue that played host to the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of His Majesty's accension to the throne in 2006, the festival is an exhibition of flowers, plants and fruits,sale of farm products, handicrafts and OTOP goods, and contests featuring farm commodities.
The event three years ago featured roughly 2.5 million plants and flowers,including some rare orchids, and drew about as many visitors.
"The festival should help boost tourism and raise hotel occupancy in Chiang Mai," said the deputy governor.
A first in Chanthaburi
Launched on Oct 26 in Chanthaburi,the first training centre for management of shipwrecks and underwater cultural heritage brings together 16 archaeologists from across the Southeast Asia region.
The training programme is a part-nership between Unesco, the Ministry of Culture and the Underwater Archaeology Division of the Department of Fine Arts.
"Thousands of historical items have already been stolen by treasure hunters and if preventative measures are not put into place to combat the illegal trade,even more priceless treasures will disappear from Asian waters," said Ricardo Favis of Unesco's Bangkok office, adding "Asian maritime archaeologists are still in their infancy, so we must improve their knowledge and skills."
The first batch comprises trainees from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.The course runs until Dec 5. It is conducted by experts from Australia, England and Holland, and covers subjects such as maritime law,in situ preservation of shipwrecks and underwater sites, museology, treasure hunters and monitoring techniques, shipbuilding technology and ethnographic boat recording.
The Chantaburi facility is one of the best-equipped in the region and located in proximity of shipwreck sites, allowing the trainees to field-test practical skills.
Major TAT push in Moscow
The Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) office in Moscow has embarked on a major offensive after the number of Russians visiting Thailand dropped 29.43 per cent in the first four months of this year.
In 2008, Russian visitors to Thailand totaled 319,587, up 14.23%over the previous year, and generated 16.24 billion baht in tourism revenue. During 2002-08, the number of Russian visitors to Thailand grew by an annual average of 28.79% while their spending grew by 32.76% annually. However, the global financial crisis saw their number drop by 29.43% during January to April this year.
Therefore TAT's Moscow office launched the "Welcome to Thailand Mega Fam" campaign last week, reining in 70 Russian travel agents and media representatives to its cause."Our research shows many opportunities for growth," said Juthaporn Rerngronasa, TAT's deputy governor in charge of marketing communications."Russia is mainly a winter-season market as Russians love our warm weather, the beaches and the sea. Many also enjoy learning diving and exploring underwater treasures around the Andamans and the Gulf of Thailand."
TAT is targetting high-end tourists and meeting delegates through tour packages to Bangkok with a detour to neighbouring countries, and expects the campaign to generate 293,000 visitors from Russian alone, not to mention the Central Asian republics, for a turnover of roughly 14.03 billion baht this winter.
Park encroachment
The Department of National Park,Wildlife and Plant Conservation last week raided a marine park in Trang Province,the site of a private resort, and seized 20 workers before ordering a halt to further construction.
Almost 80 per cent complete the resort,valued at 20 million baht, belongs to a Songkhla businessman. Located in Hat Chao Mai Marine Park, it's built on a strip of land where construction is forbidden.
The raid followed complaints from locals. Somchai Masathien, director of the Forest Fire Control Division led a 50-strong force to the construction site and arrested the workers, after which he told the local media that the building will be demolished.
Tiger resumes flights
Anticipating a rise in passenger traffic during the upcoming tourist season, Tiger Airways has resumed flights between Singapore and Krabi.
"We are very excited about the resumption of Krabi flights. With four flights a week you now have an additional choice of a holiday destination," said Tiger Airways Managing Director Rosalynn Tay.
All of them are afternoon flights available Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The start-up price is at 535 baht excluding surcharges.
Visit www.tigerairways.com for more information.
Organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives,the provincial administration and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the festival is expected to draw more than 200,000 visitors.
According to Juthaporn Rerngronasa, TAT's deputy governor for marketing communications, on Dec 5,which is the King's birthday,there will be a grand ceremony involving the lighting of candles and offering of prayers wishing His Majesty sound health,followed by fireworks and light and sound presentation.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will preside over the festival opening on Dec 1 when he'd join local notaries to release 999 floating lanterns, followed by Thai classical dances from the four regions of the country,with 99 performers from each region.
Taking place at the same venue that played host to the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of His Majesty's accension to the throne in 2006, the festival is an exhibition of flowers, plants and fruits,sale of farm products, handicrafts and OTOP goods, and contests featuring farm commodities.
The event three years ago featured roughly 2.5 million plants and flowers,including some rare orchids, and drew about as many visitors.
"The festival should help boost tourism and raise hotel occupancy in Chiang Mai," said the deputy governor.
A first in Chanthaburi
Launched on Oct 26 in Chanthaburi,the first training centre for management of shipwrecks and underwater cultural heritage brings together 16 archaeologists from across the Southeast Asia region.
The training programme is a part-nership between Unesco, the Ministry of Culture and the Underwater Archaeology Division of the Department of Fine Arts.
"Thousands of historical items have already been stolen by treasure hunters and if preventative measures are not put into place to combat the illegal trade,even more priceless treasures will disappear from Asian waters," said Ricardo Favis of Unesco's Bangkok office, adding "Asian maritime archaeologists are still in their infancy, so we must improve their knowledge and skills."
The first batch comprises trainees from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.The course runs until Dec 5. It is conducted by experts from Australia, England and Holland, and covers subjects such as maritime law,in situ preservation of shipwrecks and underwater sites, museology, treasure hunters and monitoring techniques, shipbuilding technology and ethnographic boat recording.
The Chantaburi facility is one of the best-equipped in the region and located in proximity of shipwreck sites, allowing the trainees to field-test practical skills.
Major TAT push in Moscow
The Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) office in Moscow has embarked on a major offensive after the number of Russians visiting Thailand dropped 29.43 per cent in the first four months of this year.
In 2008, Russian visitors to Thailand totaled 319,587, up 14.23%over the previous year, and generated 16.24 billion baht in tourism revenue. During 2002-08, the number of Russian visitors to Thailand grew by an annual average of 28.79% while their spending grew by 32.76% annually. However, the global financial crisis saw their number drop by 29.43% during January to April this year.
Therefore TAT's Moscow office launched the "Welcome to Thailand Mega Fam" campaign last week, reining in 70 Russian travel agents and media representatives to its cause."Our research shows many opportunities for growth," said Juthaporn Rerngronasa, TAT's deputy governor in charge of marketing communications."Russia is mainly a winter-season market as Russians love our warm weather, the beaches and the sea. Many also enjoy learning diving and exploring underwater treasures around the Andamans and the Gulf of Thailand."
TAT is targetting high-end tourists and meeting delegates through tour packages to Bangkok with a detour to neighbouring countries, and expects the campaign to generate 293,000 visitors from Russian alone, not to mention the Central Asian republics, for a turnover of roughly 14.03 billion baht this winter.
Park encroachment
The Department of National Park,Wildlife and Plant Conservation last week raided a marine park in Trang Province,the site of a private resort, and seized 20 workers before ordering a halt to further construction.
Almost 80 per cent complete the resort,valued at 20 million baht, belongs to a Songkhla businessman. Located in Hat Chao Mai Marine Park, it's built on a strip of land where construction is forbidden.
The raid followed complaints from locals. Somchai Masathien, director of the Forest Fire Control Division led a 50-strong force to the construction site and arrested the workers, after which he told the local media that the building will be demolished.
Tiger resumes flights
Anticipating a rise in passenger traffic during the upcoming tourist season, Tiger Airways has resumed flights between Singapore and Krabi.
"We are very excited about the resumption of Krabi flights. With four flights a week you now have an additional choice of a holiday destination," said Tiger Airways Managing Director Rosalynn Tay.
All of them are afternoon flights available Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The start-up price is at 535 baht excluding surcharges.
Visit www.tigerairways.com for more information.
Fitness for the office-bound
Sports Mall's latest marketing campaign, "Get Fit with Sports Mall", is expected to generate sales of more than Bt700 million this quarter.
Sports Mall is the trendy sports apparel and equipment section in every The Mall branch, Emporium and Paragon.
Suntorn Sureeleungkhajohn, assistant general manager for merchandise, said yesterday that the initiative focuses on office employees and fitness-minded individuals, especially those who are too busy to exercise.
Sports Mall wants office employees to concentrate on their physical well-being and exercise more and also wants to inspire people to exercise and participate in sports.
Sports Mall spent Bt2 million on this campaign along with the two largest fitness centres in Thailand. Fitness First has 17 branches and at least 80,000 members and California WOW has at least 160,000 members. The cross promotion seeks to provide value-added benefits to customers, including a strategy for using the M Card, Sports Mall's membership card with at least one million members.
Sports Mall is the trendy sports apparel and equipment section in every The Mall branch, Emporium and Paragon.
Suntorn Sureeleungkhajohn, assistant general manager for merchandise, said yesterday that the initiative focuses on office employees and fitness-minded individuals, especially those who are too busy to exercise.
Sports Mall wants office employees to concentrate on their physical well-being and exercise more and also wants to inspire people to exercise and participate in sports.
Sports Mall spent Bt2 million on this campaign along with the two largest fitness centres in Thailand. Fitness First has 17 branches and at least 80,000 members and California WOW has at least 160,000 members. The cross promotion seeks to provide value-added benefits to customers, including a strategy for using the M Card, Sports Mall's membership card with at least one million members.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Magnificent seven
In the most important, most revered event since the invention of the brontosaurus trap,Microsoft shipped the most incredibly fabulous operating system ever made; the release of Windows 7 also spurred a new generation of personal computers of all sizes at prices well below last month's offers.The top reason Windows 7 does not suck: There is no registered website called Windows7Sucks.com
Kindle e-book reader maker Amazon.com and new Nook e-book reader vendor Barnes and Noble got it on; B&N got great reviews for the "Kindle killer"Nook, with dual screens and touch controls so you can "turn" pages, plays MP3s and allows many non-B&N book formats, although not the Kindle one;Amazon then killed the US version of its Kindle in favour of the international one, reduced its price to $260(8,700 baht), same as the Nook; it's not yet clear what you can get in Thailand with a Nook, but you sure can't (yet) get much, relatively speaking, with a Kindle;but here's the biggest difference so far,which Amazon.com has ignored: the Nook lets you lend e-books to any other Nook owner, just as if they were paper books; the borrowed books expire on the borrower's Nook in two weeks.
Phone maker Nokia of Finland announced it is suing iPhone maker Apple of America for being a copycat; lawyers said they figure Nokia can get at least one, probably two per cent (retail) for every iPhone sold by Steve "President for Life" Jobs and crew via the lawsuit,which sure beats working for it -$6 (200 baht) to $12(400 baht) on 30 million phones sold so far, works out to $400 million or 25 percent of the whole Apple empire profits during the last quarter;there were 10 patent thefts, the Finnish executives said, on everything from moving data to security and encryption.
Nokia of Finland announced that it is one month behind on shipping its new flagship N900 phone, the first to run on Linux software; delay of the $750(25,000 baht) phone had absolutely no part in making Nokia so short that it had to sue Apple, slap yourself for such a thought.
Tim Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web, said he had one regret:the double slash that follows the "http:"in standard web addresses; he estimated that 14.2 gazillion users have wasted 48.72 bazillion hours typing those two keystrokes, and he's sorry; of course there's no reason to ever type that, since your browser does it for you when you type "www.bangkokpost.com" but Tim needs to admit he made one error in his lifetime.
The International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations, which doesn't sell any phones or services, announced that there should be a mobile phone charger that will work with any phone; now who would ever have thought of that, without a UN body to wind up a major study on the subject?;the GSM Association estimates that 51,000 tonnes of chargers are made each year in order to keep companies able to have their own unique ones.
The Well, Doh Award of the Week was presented at arm's length to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; the group's deputy secretary-general Petko Draganov said that developing countries will miss some of the stuff available on the Internet if they don't install more broadband infrastructure; a report that used your tax baht to compile said that quite a few people use mobile phones but companies are more likely to invest in countries with excellent broadband connections; no one ever had thought of this before, right?
Sun Microsystems , as a result of the Oracle takeover, said it will allow 3,000 current workers never to bother coming to work again; Sun referred to the losses as "jobs," not people; now the fourth largest server maker in the world, Sun said it lost $2.2 billion in its last fiscal year; European regulators are holding up approval of the Oracle purchase in the hope of getting some money in exchange for not involving Oracle in court cases.
The multi-gazillionaire and very annoying investor Carl Icahn resigned from the board at Yahoo ; he spun it as a vote of confidence, saying current directors are taking the formerly threatened company seriously; Yahoo reported increased profits but smaller revenues in the third quarter.
The US House of Representatives voted to censure Vietnam for jailing bloggers; the non-binding resolution sponsored by southern California congresswoman Loretta Sanchez said the Internet is "a crucial tool for the citizens of Vietnam to be able to exercise their freedom of expression and association;"Hanoi has recently jailed at least nine activists for up to six years apiece for holding pro-democracy banners. Iran jailed blogger Hossein "Hoder" Derakshan for 10 months - in solitary confinement.
Kindle e-book reader maker Amazon.com and new Nook e-book reader vendor Barnes and Noble got it on; B&N got great reviews for the "Kindle killer"Nook, with dual screens and touch controls so you can "turn" pages, plays MP3s and allows many non-B&N book formats, although not the Kindle one;Amazon then killed the US version of its Kindle in favour of the international one, reduced its price to $260(8,700 baht), same as the Nook; it's not yet clear what you can get in Thailand with a Nook, but you sure can't (yet) get much, relatively speaking, with a Kindle;but here's the biggest difference so far,which Amazon.com has ignored: the Nook lets you lend e-books to any other Nook owner, just as if they were paper books; the borrowed books expire on the borrower's Nook in two weeks.
Phone maker Nokia of Finland announced it is suing iPhone maker Apple of America for being a copycat; lawyers said they figure Nokia can get at least one, probably two per cent (retail) for every iPhone sold by Steve "President for Life" Jobs and crew via the lawsuit,which sure beats working for it -$6 (200 baht) to $12(400 baht) on 30 million phones sold so far, works out to $400 million or 25 percent of the whole Apple empire profits during the last quarter;there were 10 patent thefts, the Finnish executives said, on everything from moving data to security and encryption.
Nokia of Finland announced that it is one month behind on shipping its new flagship N900 phone, the first to run on Linux software; delay of the $750(25,000 baht) phone had absolutely no part in making Nokia so short that it had to sue Apple, slap yourself for such a thought.
Tim Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web, said he had one regret:the double slash that follows the "http:"in standard web addresses; he estimated that 14.2 gazillion users have wasted 48.72 bazillion hours typing those two keystrokes, and he's sorry; of course there's no reason to ever type that, since your browser does it for you when you type "www.bangkokpost.com" but Tim needs to admit he made one error in his lifetime.
The International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations, which doesn't sell any phones or services, announced that there should be a mobile phone charger that will work with any phone; now who would ever have thought of that, without a UN body to wind up a major study on the subject?;the GSM Association estimates that 51,000 tonnes of chargers are made each year in order to keep companies able to have their own unique ones.
The Well, Doh Award of the Week was presented at arm's length to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; the group's deputy secretary-general Petko Draganov said that developing countries will miss some of the stuff available on the Internet if they don't install more broadband infrastructure; a report that used your tax baht to compile said that quite a few people use mobile phones but companies are more likely to invest in countries with excellent broadband connections; no one ever had thought of this before, right?
Sun Microsystems , as a result of the Oracle takeover, said it will allow 3,000 current workers never to bother coming to work again; Sun referred to the losses as "jobs," not people; now the fourth largest server maker in the world, Sun said it lost $2.2 billion in its last fiscal year; European regulators are holding up approval of the Oracle purchase in the hope of getting some money in exchange for not involving Oracle in court cases.
The multi-gazillionaire and very annoying investor Carl Icahn resigned from the board at Yahoo ; he spun it as a vote of confidence, saying current directors are taking the formerly threatened company seriously; Yahoo reported increased profits but smaller revenues in the third quarter.
The US House of Representatives voted to censure Vietnam for jailing bloggers; the non-binding resolution sponsored by southern California congresswoman Loretta Sanchez said the Internet is "a crucial tool for the citizens of Vietnam to be able to exercise their freedom of expression and association;"Hanoi has recently jailed at least nine activists for up to six years apiece for holding pro-democracy banners. Iran jailed blogger Hossein "Hoder" Derakshan for 10 months - in solitary confinement.
TWO HELD OVER RUMOURS
Police yesterday presented two Thais with reported brokerage backgrounds who have been charged with spreading rumours that led to panic selling on the local stock market earlier this month.
Thiranan Vipuchanan, 43, who reportedly used to work as a securities executive, was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport on her return from a European tour. Katha Pajajiriyapong, 37, also working for a securities firm, was arrested in Silom.
Both were charged with violating the computer law after allegedly disseminating incorrect information that could threaten national security or cause public panic.
An initial police report said Katha worked for KT ZMICO securities. There remained confusion about Thiranan's workplace, and a securities company linked with her strongly denied she was working for them.
After she was arrested, a smiling Thiranan told reporters she was only relaying a foreign news report concerning Thailand on the first day of the two-day stock turmoil.
"People were wanting to know why the market fell like that, so I translated news from a foreign media website. It wasn't my intention to cause the stock index to dive [further]," she said.
Police searched her home in the Ratchadaphisek area and seized a computer notebook, mobile phone, digital camera, memory card and desktop computer hard disk. Similar evidence was also taken from Katha.
Thiranan allegedly posted her "translation" on the Prachathai news website, under the user name "BBB". The other suspect, Katha, allegedly posted his contentious information on the "Under the same sky" website.
Both websites are known for their strong political stance and sympathy for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thai authorities blamed rumours concerning His Majesty the King's health for the stock plunge earlier this month, which not only unnerved the stock market but also caused great anxiety for the Thai public in general. Calls were made for the government to conduct an inquiry into the source of the rumours, which some thought came from abroad.
Yesterday's police press conference on the arrests was brief. The suspects were said to have been apprehended for allegedly violating Article 14 of the computer law by circulating false information concerning His Majesty. They face five years in jail or a Bt100,000 fine, or both.
The suspects, who looked calm, said little to reporters.
Police, however, claimed they had confessed to the initial charge of publishing information about the King's medical condition on the Internet. This was despite Thiranan telling reporters she was reacting to the stock market's deep dip rather than causing the sell-off.
Thiranan Vipuchanan, 43, who reportedly used to work as a securities executive, was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport on her return from a European tour. Katha Pajajiriyapong, 37, also working for a securities firm, was arrested in Silom.
Both were charged with violating the computer law after allegedly disseminating incorrect information that could threaten national security or cause public panic.
An initial police report said Katha worked for KT ZMICO securities. There remained confusion about Thiranan's workplace, and a securities company linked with her strongly denied she was working for them.
After she was arrested, a smiling Thiranan told reporters she was only relaying a foreign news report concerning Thailand on the first day of the two-day stock turmoil.
"People were wanting to know why the market fell like that, so I translated news from a foreign media website. It wasn't my intention to cause the stock index to dive [further]," she said.
Police searched her home in the Ratchadaphisek area and seized a computer notebook, mobile phone, digital camera, memory card and desktop computer hard disk. Similar evidence was also taken from Katha.
Thiranan allegedly posted her "translation" on the Prachathai news website, under the user name "BBB". The other suspect, Katha, allegedly posted his contentious information on the "Under the same sky" website.
Both websites are known for their strong political stance and sympathy for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thai authorities blamed rumours concerning His Majesty the King's health for the stock plunge earlier this month, which not only unnerved the stock market but also caused great anxiety for the Thai public in general. Calls were made for the government to conduct an inquiry into the source of the rumours, which some thought came from abroad.
Yesterday's police press conference on the arrests was brief. The suspects were said to have been apprehended for allegedly violating Article 14 of the computer law by circulating false information concerning His Majesty. They face five years in jail or a Bt100,000 fine, or both.
The suspects, who looked calm, said little to reporters.
Police, however, claimed they had confessed to the initial charge of publishing information about the King's medical condition on the Internet. This was despite Thiranan telling reporters she was reacting to the stock market's deep dip rather than causing the sell-off.
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