At A Glance

BMW Group has announced the appointment of Christian Wiedmann as president of BMW Group Thailand, effective 1st April 2018. Wiedmann succeeds Stefan Teuchert, who is now set to take up a new position as CEO of BMW Group Russia.
A 17-year veteran of the BMW Group, Wiedmann previously served as managing director and CEO at BMW Group Financial Services Australia in 2016 after having spent several years in South Korea to oversee the overall financial operations as CEO of BMW Financial Services Korea. In his new position, Wiedmann’s responsibilities will cover the management of all BMW Group Thailand business divisions – including BMW, MINI, and BMW Motorrad.
Wiedmann joined the BMW Group in 2001 and has since served various functions in BMW Group in many regions across the globe – including Germany, Japan, Austria, Greece, South Korea and Australia. His previous roles have taken him to Thailand on two occasions –in 2003 for one year and again in 2011 for three years – to supervise financial operations at BMW Financial Services Thailand.
On this occasion, Hildegard Wortmann – formerly head of BMW brand prior to her appointment as senior vice president region Asia Pacific in January 2018 – said, “I am delighted to give Wiedmann a warm welcome as the new president of BMW Group Thailand. His many years of management experience in the BMW Group, together with his profound understanding of Thai culture, will definitely drive BMW Group Thailand towards further achievements and outstanding growth in Thailand’s premium car market – which has long been one of our key strategic markets in this region.”

Cloud and AI solutions make debut in Barcelona 

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, has launched eight products ranging from big data and artificial intelligence (AI) to infrastructure, security and private cloud solutions at the Mobile World Congress, which took place in Barcelona Spain. The array of products will meet the surging demand for powerful and reliable cloud computing services as well as advanced AI solutions among European enterprises to support them to capture opportunities in this digital transformation era. Bringing together these products with the expertise and real experience available from Alibaba Cloud, customers can put in place cutting edge solutions particularly in areas such as online and offline retail integration, smart manufacturing and smart city development.
 The new products being launched for European enterprises fall into a number of inter-related categories. In relation to data technology and AI, Alibaba Cloud is launching three key products – Image Search solutions, which allow users to search for information online and offline using images; Intelligent Services Robot, a chatbot for business; and Dataphin, an intelligent data engine developed to cope with the cross-industry big data development, management and application needs. 
 Infrastructure and security will continue to be crucial as the foundation and fundamental consideration for enterprises undertaking cloud migration. In view of this, Alibaba Cloud will launch ECS Baremetal Instance, a new high performance computing solution of ECS that combines the strengths of virtualized systems and bare metal servers. When connected as a supercomputer, ECS Baremetal Instances becomes a Super Computing Cluster that will reduce network latency to the level of micro-seconds while offering elasticity and supercomputing capabilities. 

Presenting the best lifestyle to the region 

Surrounded by sea views and blue skies, the third edition of the Thailand Yacht Show (TYS) came to a successful close on the evening of February 25, with the traditional symphony of horns at Ao Po Grand Marina, Phuket. Over the course of four sunny days, TYS welcomed a total of 4,730 visitors who were treated to the best of the yachting lifestyle. From trying out the latest water sports and toys, to getting on board a wide range of boats and revelling in glamourous yacht parties, TYS was an immersive experience for both seasoned aficionados and newcomers alike.
 “The 2018 edition of TYS has really been excellent, especially given the very short lead time we had to work with again,” said Andy Treadwell, co-founder of the show with the Thai government. “We achieved all our goals, with some significant sales made by our exhibitors, a good number of charter superyachts on display, a great social calendar and a wonderful ambiance – it’s really proved the concept,” he added.
 Importantly, there were several international superyacht owners and captains on hand to confirm to government observers exactly how much they would spend with local shops and service providers, if only they were allowed to stay in Thailand and charter each winter—potentially totalling hundreds of millions of dollars within a few years. 
“With the invaluable partnership we have with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Ministry of Tourism & Sports (MOTS), we are making great headway towards transforming Thailand into a new winter charter base for the global superyacht fleet,” Treadwell affirmed. “As we continue our drive to boost marine tourism here by streamlining regulations, we are more and more confident that a developing yachting industry will trigger a major economic boost for local businesses and communities.”

Thai Vietjet adds Bangkok-Krabi flights 

Thai Vietjet will on April 5 begin flying directly between Krabi and Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok for Bt259, including taxes, surcharges and payment fee.
A320 aircraft with 180 seats will fly twice daily between the locales.
The airline said in a press release the new route represented its “determination to meet passenger demand for popular routes”. 
“As Krabi is one of the biggest cities in the South and a highlight international tourist destination, the latest flight is expected to be very popular with both Thais and expat guests,” it said.
The 80-minute flights will depart Bangkok at 7.10am and 7.25pm and leave Krabi at 9.05am and 9.20pm.
The airline will now be flying to five domestic locales – between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket and Krabi – on top of its daily direct flights between Phuket and Chiang Rai.

Optimising multi-destination travel and day trip planning 

Passengers can now enjoy a daily car rental with chauffeur service with ‘GrabRent’, a new ride-hailing service from Grab. Passengers booking with ‘GrabRent’ will be able to travel to multiple destinations all in one trip, thus optimizing plans for a multi-tasking day as well as a one-day inter-city trip with friends or family.
 With ‘GrabRent’, passengers will benefit from on-demand transportation service from one of Thailand’s largest and most often used ride-hailing fleets. There are two choices for selection. In Bangkok, ‘GrabRent Eco’ fare starts from Bt1,200 for the first 4 hours of riding around the city and Bt2,500 for an inter-city trip from Bangkok. Each additional hour will be charged at Bt300. 
 For those seeking a premium ride experience, ‘GrabRent Plus’ will provide a consistently high-quality service from Grab’s driver partners with a 4.8 and above star rating (out of 5 stars) as well as the comfort of travelling in a vehicle no more than 5 years old.
‘GrabRent Plus’ in Bangkok costs Bt1,600 for the first 4 hours of travelling within the city and Bt3,200 for an inter-city trip from Bangkok with each additional hour costing Bt450. Credit card payment via GrabPay is the only payment method accepted for the service.
On top of these interesting offers, passengers will continue to enjoy the existing suite of safety measures that Grab has introduced to enhance overall passenger, driver and road safety. These safety features include a vehicle tracking GPS system; a ‘Share My Ride’ feature that allows passengers to share driver’s details, estimated time of arrival and real-time location with their loved ones; an in-app 191 button to ‘dial’ in times of emergency; and personal accident insurance coverage for both driver partners and passengers on every Grab ride in Southeast Asia.