Biz Buzz

CAT telecom to install buddha image for good luck

CAT Telecom thinks it is time to have a Buddha image installed at its head office on Chaeng Wattana Road to bring prosperity and good fortune to its business.

The labour union recently proposed that CAT should have a Buddha image located at its head office to bring better luck to the organisation after it became a public company in 2003.

Some staff believe that due to the lack of the Buddha image at the head office, CAT’s businesses are hardly successful.

Construction of the Buddha statue costs Bt800,000, which will be totally funded by staff donations.

The state enterprise will also spend its own budget of Bt4 million to build the pavilion housing the Buddha image. The pavilion will be located in front of the head office building. It has already held the stone-laying ceremony for the pavilion. The Buddha image and the pavilion are being built.

However, some CAT staff doubt that the lack of the Buddha image at its head office has something to do with the CAT’s failure to perform well in the hyper-competitive telecom market.

Besides, CAT already has spirit shrines at its home office to bring prosperity to its organisation, including an Indra shrine.

But at the end of the day, they think that if the Buddha image can really bring luck and success to CAT, it’s worth spending dearly on the Buddha image and the pavilion.

charamporn out to lunch with thai shareholders

Charamporn Jotikasthira, president of Thai Airways International, met with shareholders last Friday and was bombarded with complaints and suggestions. He was also asked how he would lead the airline out of the crisis and how he would give shareholders satisfaction.

He now knows that shareholders need things like better-tasting food and staff with better manners.

As the leader, he asked the shareholders for their help by asking where to go for the best food and how best to cook it in case the airline wanted to serve better food on board.

Besides making all the stakeholders happy, Charamporn needs to execute a master plan focusing on the progress of the transformation plan like airline adjustment, decommissioning of ageing aircraft and reduction of aircraft types from eleven to eight, operating adjustments and cost-cutting through staff rationalisation.

Also, route adjustment during the summer traffic programme, call centres and Internet sales improvements are being made to boost sales, along with the cabin factor.

Customer service will be upgraded through in-flight catering and other service-related improvements.