FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Fly on Corporate Wall

Fly on Corporate Wall

Shinawatra family clearly struggling Thaksin Shinawatra's daughters Pinthongta "Aim" Kunakornwong and Paethongtarn "Ung Ing" now have their "own" business, The Sisters Nails & More on the second floor of Siam Paragon.

At the opening this week, after welcoming guests including her husband Nattapong and their bouquet-laden mum Khunying Pojaman Na Pombejra, elder sister Aim said the siblings had long planned to go into business together. "Our family has operated a lot of big businesses, but when it came to us, we wanted to keep it small. The nail salon fits us just fine because we normally go to nail salons together.

"And this one is not only small but also a recreational business as well."

They can leave the stress of running the "big" business to Nattapong, who’s in charge of the clan’s flagship property firm SC Asset. He told the press the company would chart Bt8 billion in sales this year, so they seem to be okay there.

Just in case, the sisters will polish your nails for a handsome fee – a manicure and pedicure will set you back Bt1,500. And, at the same time, Ung Ing handed out press invitations to next Wednesday’s launch of her separate new "leisure" business, the Voice Space. It’s a special-events hall on Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road touted as "the first live-broadcasting space". (Space is all the rage these days.)

Hold your private or corporate event there and it will be broadcast for free on Voice TV, which is owned by brother Panthongtae, known as "Oak". That’s assuming you want strangers watching.

Yes, the kids have turned out all right. Obviously Thaksin no longer has to worry about having enough money in his old age.

Partial eclipse at GMM

Paiboon Damrongchaitham, the big boss at GMM Grammy, has hinted that his entertainment conglomerate might not do so well this year – it could even record a loss. Shareholders must have sat bolt upright.

There could be red ink because of the company’s heavy investment in TV. GMM spent Bt1 billion buying the rights to content for its GMMZ set-top boxes, and it doesn’t look like it will meet its target of two million boxes sold by year’s end to cover the outlay.

The shareholders can settle back and put their feet up again, though, because Paiboon said his stars would be "encouraging" next year. Not sure if he’s pinning business success to astrology or just speaking figuratively, but GMM will be bidding for three digital TV channels in April, and he seems pretty confident about the outcome.

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