Briefs

Sopavadee Lertmanuschai, secretary-general of the Government Pension Fund, has been appointed as a director of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The appointment of the financial expert took effect on Monday.
She will replace Benja Louicharoen, who resigned earlier.

Tourism Malaysia closes Phuket office
Tourism Malaysia will close its Phuket office and all other offices outside of Bangkok by the end of this month. “There will only be one office in Thailand, and that will be in Bangkok,” deputy director-general Chong Yoke Har said.
“Our staff will pay visits to the southern provinces to continue our cooperation,” she added. More staff would be concentrated in the Bangkok office to improve operations there.
The Phuket office has been open for 13 years. – Phuket Gazette

Mobile voice ad service coming online
Echo 360 Co, a developer of marketing and communication systems, will launch the Freebie mobile voice advertising service for local brand owners.
Chief executive officer Artima Suraphongchai said this new service would be designed to reach an identified audience and specified group of customers. This tool will also help brand owners and advertisers create better direct and interactive communications, while consumers can also benefit from the information they gain from this service.

Asean-China Import-Export Fair in November
The Asean Trade Promotion Association will hold the third “Asean-China Import & Export Commodities Fair” from November 22 to 24 at Impact Muang Thong Thani.
The fair is supported by organisations like the Thai National Shippers’ Council, the Association for Promotion of Thai Small and Medium Entrepreneurs, the Trade and Investment Promotion Department, the Federation of Thai Industries, the Investor Club Association and trade representatives from China.
The fair will incorporate many activities including seminars, business negotiation and matching, and exhibition of Chinese products with export standards.

Blockbusters to drive|Major ad revenue
Major Cineplex’ in-house advertising unit expects to achieve its target of Bt1 billion from multi-platform cinema adverts as a result of a large number of big blockbuster films lined up throughout this year.
Major CineAd plans to offer separate packages for advertisement at each cinema branch as it anticipates high demand from clients.
Niti Pattanapakdee, general manager of Major CineAd, said clients wanted to advertise directly at each high-traffic cinema. Siam Paragon branch is one example.
The key factors that will attract a large number of movie-goers are this year’s mega-block busters like “Iron Man 3”, “The Fast and the Furious 6”, “Thor: The Dark World (3D)”, and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”.
The cinema industry should see ticket revenue of Bt2 billion this year. Major Cineplex, which sold 33 million tickets last year, expects an increase of 10-15 per cent this year.