How Far I Will Go

Travelling in Thailand could save more money than going to Japan

 

 

 

 

Travelling in Thailand could save more money than going to Japan. - 10,000 Baht might not be enough to travel abroad but more than enough for the whole family to travel in Thailand and help to recover the country’s economy too.

 

The spring time has just started and in the country like Japan, the famous cherry blossoms are blooming all over.  We would probably be posting and taking lots of photos in Tokyo right now, but sadly we’ve got to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Why not plan ahead during stay home period, when the time is right, we could be ready to pack our baggage and go out to travel again.

 

When the pandemic is over, the travelling cost aboard may be raised up due to the high demand of travelling.  A 10,000 Baht may be enough for one person travelling to Japan for example, but if we’re thinking about taking a whole family trip, travelling in Thailand could be your choice.  Of course, you might say that is different experience between travelling in Japan and in Thailand, well, I admit, but there are some hidden destinations in Thailand awaiting for you to discover…Let’s have a look!!

 

After cancellation of the Sakura trip to Japan this year, hold your tears and let’s start to do your next plan to “MaeFahLaung Arboretum” in Chiang Rai, Thailand.  The wild Himalayan cherry blossoms are recommended for your next photo frame, there is also known as “Thai Sakura”.  They normally start blooming during January and create a pinkish arch over a roadside inside the Arboretum, making it one of the most beautiful spots to take photos. You will also find roses and wild orchids from all over the world lay down for you to enjoy the beautiful land.  Not far from the flowers land, you shall stop by the Doi Tung Palace, where used to be the palace of the King Rama the 10^th’s grandmother. The palace is called as Lanna-Swiss Chalet style with gorgeous wooden carvings where you cannot miss to visit.

 

What made Japan the world famous destination is not just the cherry blossoms, but Japan has got everything a traveler could ask for, whether it be a natural place like a volcano mountain or historical places like the castle or temple and some of the places are credited as the world heritage site by UNESCO.   In Thailand there are also places like that, one of the world famous heritage destinations is the Historic city of Ayutthaya,  where is the most famous tourist destination and you can discover new experiences with the history of the old capital city of Thailand back in  around 400 years ago.

 

Talking about Ayutthaya, trading with foreigners became a common sight during this era and many foreigners started to settle here. Interestingly, there is a Japanese village and Holland house that showed the early settlement of foreigners in Ayutthaya. With the storytelling, virtual reality street museum equipped with the latest VR scope technology, and object presentation, the visitors could immerse through time and see what it is really like to live in Ayutthaya during that time.

 

No doubt that Thailand has a lot to explore and places we have not seen. We could use this time of staying home to plan a trip ahead until the pandemic is over, we could go out to explore the beauty of our country again.  I would recommend you to have a Thailand Museum Pass with you because with this premium pass, you shall enter 64 museums in Thailand, including all places we mentioned in here, plus many privileges, such as free parking, welcome drinks and souvenirs.  Thailand Museum Pass is the first premium museum card with only 299 Baht, offers irresistible deals and discounts worth more than 4,000 Baht. For more details, please click Thailand Museum Pass

 

 

SCG Bangkok Business Challenge @ Sasin 2020

to go ahead online May 2-16, 2020

 

SCG Bangkok Business Challenge @ Sasin 2020, Asia's longest-running global student startup competition, will go ahead in May in an online format for the first time in the competition's 18-year history. While many similar events have been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizers of the competition decided to proceed with an online format to ensure the health and safety of all participants. The main rounds remain intact, with certain adjustments to fit the online format.

 

This year's theme is "Innovating Ideas into Sustainable Ventures", and the competition has been opened to undergraduates (in addition to postgraduate students), also for the first time. This year's competition saw a record number of first-round participants: 208 teams representing 83 institutions from 24 countries/regions across six continents. Nineteen teams from 10 countries and regions are already confirmed for the Semi-Finals.

 

 

 

SCG, with Sasin School of Management, is the co-host of the competition for the third year in a row. KASIKORNBANK is the main sponsor, and Victor is a contributing sponsor. A total of 33 experienced judges ranging from investment managers and VCs to managing directors of social enterprises will assess this year's participating teams and help choose the winners. Each round will include a seasoned head judge with extensive experience evaluating startups, as well as a sustainability judge. All 19 semi-finalists will have an opportunity to pitch their ideas to the same number of judges, all experts in their fields, and receive valuable, direct feedback from them.

 

The judges will select the 6 top teams to advance to the Finals on May 16, and the winner will receive H.M. The King's Award. Sustainability remains an integral component of the competition, with H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn's Sustainability Award going to the most sustainable team. Overall, cash prizes totaling over US$60,000 will be awarded to the winners.

 

Thai universities will be represented by three teams: ReNew from Sasin School of Management, Cloudero from Chulalongkorn University, and Beating Heart in a Box from Mahidol University. Don't miss the live stream of the Sustainability Award Round on May 15, 2020, from 08:00-10:40 and the Finals on May 16, 2020, at 08:00-15:00. The announcement of the winners will be at 20:00 on May 16, 2020, at https://www.facebook.com/bangkokbusinesschallenge.

 

*All times are Bangkok time (GMT+7)

 

 

 

 

For media inquiries, please contact:

Pimphan Anankamanee (Think) Tel. 092-262-0458 Email: pimphan@888ideas.com
Weerawat Rakprang (Name) Tel. 097-236-2853 Email: weerawat@888ideas.com

 

 

“depa” Clarifies Assistance Measures Proposed by Thailand Tech Startup Association,

Vows to Continue to Support Startups to Fight COVID-19 Together
 

 

          April 30, 2020, Bangkok – The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa) elaborated on a series of assistance measures proposed by the Thailand Tech Startup Association (TTSA) to help tech startups after the TTSA submitted an open letter to the Thai government calling for assistance. depa emphasized that it is open to all comments and suggestions. The world has changed, we have to change accordingly and when we face the COVID-19 crisis, depa will collaborate with all parties to get through the crisis together.

 

          According to the Thailand Tech Startup Association’s open letter to the government asking for assistance and relief measures for tech startups, the proposal letter comprises three talking points for consideration.

 

1. The TTSA calls on the government to come up with a support measure to enhance the use of products and services created or provided by Thai startups in order to create a new economic infrastructure in preparation for the post-coronavirus era.

 

2. The TTSA seeks the government assistance to provide liquidity support to tech startups such as providing grants or soft loans under the credit criteria suitable to the nature of business of each tech startup. The support funds or soft loan scheme should be allocated and distributed according to the priority and be adjusted to match the business needs of each startup. It is because certain startups cannot access soft loans at a normal circumstance due to their business models. The financial assistance will cover the costs of their employees and income support payments to highly skilled workers.

 

3. The TTSA asks the government to launch a regulatory measure to promote investments, mergers and acquisitions in tech startups by large corporations, investors and shareholders.

 

 

 

          Dr. Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, President/CEO of depa, said after watching a live broadcasting of an online conference at 8 p.m. via the webpage of the TTSA where tech startup representatives shared their views on business development and solutions for Thai startups to survive the COVID-19 crisis that the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) and depa have continuously committed to driving the development of Thai tech startups in all aspects to promote them to grow global as well as stimulating the adoption of the digital technologies innovated by Thai people for the benefits of everyday lifestyle and business development.

 

          Dr. Nuttapon explained the TTSA’s first request in the open letter. He said depa promoted the tech startups that registered as the digital service providers and they are eligible for depa’s support measures to promote the development of digital technologies and innovation for the industrial segment under the depa Digital Transformation Fund and the depa mini Transformation Voucher. The incentives and promotional measures will enable tech startups to expand their customer base especially during the COVID-19 outbreak. Even if several tech startups are dealing with problems, but there is demand for assistance measures from other business operators across segments, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that need to adopt the digital technology and innovation to lower operating costs and create new business opportunities. With this support from depa, it has provided Thai tech startups with greater business growth opportunities.

 

          Moreover, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) has encouraged Thai tech startups to collaboratively develop products and services that are beneficial to the employment and the country’s economic development especially during the COVID-19 pandemic such as the development of Thai Delivery platform to improve services for the benefit of customers in a wider scale.

 

          As for the regulatory and policy-based measures, the depa has proposed the development of state procurement mechanism to promote tech startups. The proposal received an approval from the National Digital Economy and Society Commission at the second meeting of 2020 on April 10, 2020. It will be forwarded to the cabinet for consideration.

          Regarding the TTSA’s second request in the proposal letter, Dr. Nuttapon said the depa jointly invested in tech startups from the seed or startup stage, growth stage to the expansion stage in order to boost their liquidity for business development. The investment has been made in the form of the Convertible Grant, which tech startups can convert the seed financing into shares or choose to return the investment funds with low interest rate. The depa has revised the development plans with an initial budget of over 100 million baht earmarked for providing support and assistance to more than 60 tech startups nationwide both during the business startup stage and development stage. The depa also collaborated with InnoSpace (Thailand) to allocate support funds under the InnoBridge Fund worth 50 million baht to startup business operators that were struggling to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. The investment in the tech startups would be made through the debenture issuance so that the tech startups can continue their operations and be able to expand the business even amid the spread of the COVID-19. 

 

          For the next stage of development, the depa is under the process of discussions with state-owned banks such as the Government Savings Bank and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand over the push for soft loan scheme with a focus on promoting businesses related to technological development and tech startups. It is mandatory to have a set of criteria specifically for granting loans to those startups with nature of business related to technology.

 

          According to the TTSA’s third request, the depa is considering measures to encourage investments, mergers and acquisitions of potential tech startup firms by large corporations, investors and shareholders. It might be made through setting up a holding company that can promote collaboration among Thai tech startups, including the mechanism that promotes business consolidation, share swap or joint investments so as to create a highly potential Thailand-made platform that can compete with platforms of other countries.

 

          Furthermore, the depa has always promoted a level playing field for a fair competition among Thai startup firms. The second meeting of 2020 of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission also gave the depa an approval to propose the cabinet issues related to tech startup development promotion such as incentives and privileges that encourage tech startups to register as a company with business operation in Thailand under free and fair competition in trade and service as well as expediting the law revision process and pushing for the amendments to Civil and Commercial Code in certain articles related to the convertible bond, share transactions, private placement and conditions on preferred shares.

 

          The National Digital Economy and Society Commission also assigned the depa to coordinate with relevant agencies to set up the regulatory sandbox for startups with the nature of business related to digital innovation across industries. The regulatory sandbox will help promote a fair competition between Thai startups and foreign startups that operated the business in Thailand. It also helps further attract investments in Thai startups as the law will be amended to make it clearer and suitable to attract investors across the world.

          “The depa accepts all comments and suggestions and will take them into account to improve the operation. Not only have Thai startups been affected by the fallout from the COVID-19, but also businesses across the world. However, the depa remains committed to collaborating with all parties to move forward with the country’s digital economic development. The world has changed and so must we and when we face the COVID-19 crisis, we will unite to get through the crisis together,” said President/CEO of depa.

 

 

 

Bangkok Travel Route for 3 days

 

 

 

When talking about museums, as the young like us, we may think that it is an old school count. In fact, museum is the place for every generation and in Bangkok there is many museums, await for us to visit and enjoy selfies to share on social media, plus lots of new things to learn. Here are the 6 super cool museums from 3 neighbourhoods in Bangkok for your next plan.

 

Due to the corona virus pandemic, many museums are now temporarily closed. Thailand Museum Pass do hope that the situation will be relief soon and, everyone shall be out and enjoy visiting the museums again. We wish everyone stay safe and healthy, until we meet again.

 

 

Let’s start the first day around Rattanakosin Island, the most historical area in Bangkok, and visit the 2 famous museums, Banglamphu Museum and Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall. The first stop is Banglamphu Museum, where used to be a printing house, until the Treasury Department was in charge and renovate the building to be the museum. The exhibition at the museum tells the history and the way of life of the Banglamphu community and also reflects the Thai ways of life in the past.

 

 

We started at the 2 storey building, and visit the exhibition inside, which tells the background of Rattanakosin Island, starting with the construction of the 14 fortress of the city which now only 2 are remaining.  Just an hour, made us feel like we traveled through time back in 200 years ago. We continued to the wooden house where we could experience the Banglampoo’s life in every angle. The museum is designed for all ages, and a recommended place to well-spent with your families and friends, last but not least, you can also enjoy the surrounded area  with many famous shop and store, one of them is the famous boiled rice shop opposite the Bawornnivate Temple.

 

Banglamphu Museum

• Opens on Tuesday to Friday from 8.30 – 16.30 pm and on Saturday to Sunday from 10.00 – 18.00 pm.
• The admission fee for adults is 30 Baht and children are 10 Baht.
• The children aged less than 10 years old and senior aged from 60 years old are free admission. 

 

 

The ended destination of the first day in the old city area is Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall, one of the modern museums, where we can enjoy experiencing technology presentations instead of object viewing.  The storytelling here is presented by multimedia, animation, and 4D in interactive and self-learning which lead us to have more fun and enjoyable, especially to the young!!

 

 

Inside the hall, there are nine display rooms to show the different perspective of the Rattanakosin era in the history of the area, the community, the tourist attraction, and the royal ceremony, as well as, the library where you can enjoy reading the rare books.  The highlight of the museum is how they apply multimedia and interactive technology with the storytelling.  Don’t miss to stop by at KruaApsorn on Dinso Road, the traditional Thai cuisine where is in the walking distance from the museum.

 

Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall

• Located on Rajadamnern Klang Avenue, PhraNakhon District.
• Opens on Tuesday to Sunday from 9.00 – 17.00 pm.
• The admission fee for adults is 100 Baht.
• Free admission for the children whose height is not over 120 cm. student (up to BA. Level and must wearing uniforms), monks, disabled, senior (over 60 years old).

 

 

On the second day, we are going to the Thewet District to visit the Bank of Thailand Learning Centre and Golden Teak Museum. We shall start at the Bank of Thailand Learning Centre, which is a beautiful building, located on the Chao Phraya River bank. The old banknote printing house was made to be alive as a learning centre in the occasion of the 75^th anniversary of the Bank of Thailand.

 

 

You will be amazed with the display of “Lidia coin” which is almost 2,600 years old, apart from that, the story of the coins and money systems in different period; Daravadi, Srivichai, Sukhothai, Ayuttaya, Thonburi, till Rattanakosin is line-up here to find out. The highlight here is the story of the national treasure security vault at the basement of the building, the vault is needed three keys to open and the keys will be kept by the three senior staffs assigned. If there is uncertainty situation, the three staffs, must separate themselves in different places, so that, the intruder cannot open the vault easily. It sounds like the movie; Mission Impossible, right? After experiencing the storytelling at the learning centre, find the way-out and get to a good quick meal shop called, MengRacha Fried Rice, just nearby the learning centre.

 

Bank of Thailand Learning Centre

• Located on Samsen Road, PhraNakhon District.
• Opens on Tuesday to Sunday from 9.30 – 20.00 pm. There will be a tour guide service at 10.30, 14.00, 15.00 and 16.00 pm.
• The learning centre is in the list of Thailand Museum Pass.

 

 

Shall we end the second day trip at the Golden Teak Museum, Thailand is always named as the land of Buddhist, so it would be nice to visit the museum where we could find the knowledge of the Buddhism in Thailand.  The must visit here is the wax model of the famous 19 Buddhist Supreme Patriarch of Thailand.

 

 

The building itself is made from 500 years old golden teak, inside the building is formed by 59 golden teak. There are many forms of Buddha images for worship and surrounded by the wax model of the famous 19 Buddhist Supreme Patriarch of Thailand.  Like the Thai always said “When you finish doing all good things, you shall find some good food for your stomach”, so I would recommend “Pad Thai Jay Noi”, famous Thai street food at Soi Wong Pak Dee for you at this time.

 

The Golden Teak Museum

• Located on Sri Ayuttaya Road, Wajira, Dusit District, Bangkok (the museum is located inside Devarajakhunchorn Temple)
• Tel. 0-2282-5793 
• Opens daily during 9.00 – 17.00.
• Admission fee is 30 Baht per person. A group of up to 5 persons is 15 Baht each
• Free Admission for children and senior (aged over 60 years old).

 

 

The last day of the trip, the TrimitrWithayaram temple is recommended. This temple was built by the Thai-Chinese Community incorporated with the entrepreneur group in Sampantawong area.  There is a three storey building, named PhraMahaMondop which is the place of the Golden Buddha image.  The Golden Buddha image was meant to celebrate on the occasion of the 60^th anniversary celebrations of the late King Rama 9 accessions to the Throne.  I would also recommend this place for you to learn the history of the China Town (Yaowarat) in Thailand.

 

The China Town Heritage Center is on the first floor where you could find the story of the Chinese immigrants to Thailand during the Rattanakosin era in between 1782 to 1851.  As we all recognise that the Chinese is well-known as a good merchant, so the exhibit here is presented by the Chinese merchant models, the mockup of the Chinese shop style, which brought us back through time.  Moreover, the exhibition about the Chinese community and the trade during the Rattanakosin time and the China Town today made us learn a lot of the Chinese in Thailand, before you step out the temple, please do not forget to pray respect to the Golden Buddha , which is claimed to be the biggest one in the world for your prosperity.

 

 

After the temple you can further your travel to check-in the Grand Post Office, this grand building itself is 80 years old and used to be the biggest building in Bangkok. It is said to be the most beautiful post office in Thailand with a mixture of art Deco and International Style. Nearby the Grand Post Office is the famous Chinese restaurant ‘New Heng Ki’ located between Soi 39 and 41, it is a perfect place for dinner after a long day.

 

TrimitrWithayaram Temple

• Located on Charoen Krung road.
• Opens Tuesday to Sunday on 8.00-17.00 pm.
• No admission fees for Thai citizens.  The Foreigner is 40 Baht/person or using Thailand Museum Pass.

 

 

The GIT Gems and Jewelry Museum will be the last stop, the jewelry lover and the students whose plan to study the Gems design, can’t miss this place. This museum is under the management of The Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT), and it is responsible for disseminating the knowledge about the gem and jewelry and whole process of its production.

 

 

The museum telling the story about the Gems mining, category, and the production process, as well as, the knowledge about the Industry, presenting by VDO and computer for more easily access of learning.  You can also find the fine piece of jewelry and the rare gems display.  Nearby the museum building, you can stop by to grab a bowl of crab noodle at NaiMeng Noodle House back home to conclude the perfect trip.  This is the three-day trip with the six museums recommended plus where you can eat. Don’t forget to keep in touch, and we will be back to update you more interesting places of the museum and learning centres.

 

GIT Gems and Jewelry Museum

• Located on the second floor of ITF Tower, Silom Road.
• Open Monday to Friday from 9.30-17.00 pm. (Close on Saturday, Sunday, the National Holidays, and the announcement of the institute)  
• Admission fee for adults is 80 Baht. 
• The foreigner is 200 Baht. 
• Student is 20 Baht
• Children aged not over 6 years old, monk, disable, and the MOTS licensed tour guide are free admission