Briefs
Krungthai Card says it has witnessed extraordinary success in its marketing collaboration with JCB International, as the number of KTC-JCB cardholders has risen to 40,000 since the launch in 2008.
The cards are issued to Thai nationals enthusiastic about Japanese products and services as well as tourist destinations, as well as Japanese residents in Thailand.
Vice president Vorawut Nispakuntorn said average spending of these cardholders was Bt13,000 per month, higher than the average of about Bt6,000 for all types of KTC cards. Much of the spending is at fuel stations, shopping centres and telecom shops.
“We will launch more promotions to boost spending through the cards by 50 per cent and to expand the credit-cardholder base by 20,000 this year,” he said.
Through a marketing budget of Bt10 million, KTC and JCB are boosting reward points to all spending from June 1 to December 31.
JCB is the largest credit-card provider in Japan, encompassing 13.53 million merchants in 190 countries. It services 70 million cardholders worldwide.
Top rice exporter
The Commerce Ministry yesterday reiterated that Thailand maintained its status as the largest rice-exporting nation thanks to the Kingdom’s shipment of 2.7 million tonnes of rice during the first four months this year.
Yanyong Phaungrach, permanent secretary of the ministry, said total export value reached Bt53 billion in the period. The second-biggest exporter was the US with volume of 2 million tonnes. The third was Vietnam with 1.6 million tonnes.
“We still believe that the country’s total exports should achieve 10.6 million tonnes worth about Bt200 billion this year,” Yanyong said.
The US Department of Agriculture also raised it projection for Thailand’s rice exports from its previous forecast of 6.5 million tonnes to 7.5 million tonnes this year.
3G plans delayed
|Monchai Noosong, TOT’s senior executive vice president and acting president, said the state agency would launch its new phase setting up 3,000 3G base stations this August, delayed from its earlier plan for this month.
TOT had planed to launch new third-generation cellular services with 5,320 base stations covering metropolitan Bangkok and 16 main provinces this month. Currently there are about 2,000 base stations installed. Under the new plan, all 5,320 base stations will be completed by the end of this year.
Currently TOT has only 200,000 subscribers for its 3G services. It is in the process of revising its 3G business plan to avoid major losses. – The Nation
