At A Glance

VietJet Thailand’s “Free Summer” promotion now includes Chiang Mai. The airline is inviting travellers to enjoy a break with families and loved ones by visiting the northern city, with tickets from Bt509. Bookings under the promotion will be taken until October 28. VietJet Thailand operates four direct daily flights between Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and Chiang Mai.
The airline has arranged for passengers to enjoy a special activity in Chiang Mai. The Chiang Mai Karaoke Bus has begun promoting VietJet routes as well as Chiang Mai destinations around the province. Vietjet cabin crews take a local red bus around Chiang Mai City and pick up tourists along the route, showing them attractions as well as providing on-board fun and singing along the way.

AirAsia promotes inflight meals

AirAsia has hosted the Santan Food Festival, the largest inflight food tasting event in Asia, featuring meals from across the region. Santan, the inflight food brand of AirAsia, refers to coconut milk in Bahasa language, as one of the key ingredients of Asean culinary.
The event showcased Santan hot meals from across AirAsia’s network, including the latest dish, Thai green curry with rice, an aromatic chicken curry infused with Thai spices served with fluffy fragrant white rice.
 AirAsia Group chief executive Tony Fernandes said: “Food is a great unifying factor across the region. What we are doing is bringing the wonderful flavours of Asean into Santan to create a unique food experience, with the vision of replicating the on-ground gourmet experience onboard. The flavour profile and pricing of inflight food has always been a challenge but we believe that with Santan, we can create the first restaurant brand in the sky that is both tasty and affordable.”

Marketing in store for Doraemon fans 

AI Thailand, the copyright holder of the Doraemon cartoon character in Thailand, has partnered with Muang Thai Life Assurance and Central Pattana on marketing aimed at Doraemon fans.
 The project “Doraemon from friend to friend” will also be continued to help underprivileged children through the Princess Pa Foundation and the Thai Red Cross Society.
Thawat Imraporn, executive vice president of Animation International (Thailand) Co, said the company is moving forward with a strategy to expand the market and boost the popularity of the cartoon character.
 AI, with Muang Thai Life Assurance and Central Pattana, will organise activities for Doraemon fans to enjoy throughout the year in an effort to expand the fan base.
The Doraemon from friend to friend project will provide dorayaki pillows that will be sold under a promotion of buy one, get one free at Bt270. Donors can bring one pillow from home while the other pillow will be donated to underprivileged children through the Princess Pa Foundation and the Red Cross. “Doraemon is the No 1 cartoon star in Thailand, generating copyright sales and the character can be applied well with any type of business,” Thawat said.

Synology products tap demand for data storage

Synology, a provider of network-attached storage (NAS) equipment, has launched its latest NAS units in Thailand. The company is targeting the line at tech enthusiasts and businesses.
The company says data growth has skyrocketed worldwide and storage technologies play a crucial role in transforming the way data is stored. “The rising demand for data storage pushed businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), to look for efficient and cost effective solutions and Synology has a product range to support the demand in this era of change,” said Victor Wang, sales account manager for Asean at Synology.
 “ As more Thai businesses focus on their digital transformation, and update their software and solutions, it is crucial for Synology to be able to deliver first-class experience for our clients.
“Moreover, we want to be able to find solutions which make SMBs more competitive and help Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, become more attractive for investors.”

Goodyear posts sales of $3.7 bn for quarter

Goodyear Tire & Rubber made sales of US$3.7 billion in the first quarter of 2017.
The result was in line with last year’s figure, said the company, which cited “an improved price/mix and higher pricing of third-party chemical sales” that was partially offset by lower tyre unit volumes.
 “These results are a great outcome given an environment of rising raw material costs and weaker demand,” said Richard Kramer, Goodyear’s chairman, chief executive officer and president. “This solid performance is a result |of the disciplined execution of our strategy.
 “While raw material inflation has moderated in recent weeks, we continue to expect a significant year-over-year headwind in 2017.”