Bracing for a new lifestyle with huge implications

[webfact]

OPINION

Bracing for a new lifestyle with huge implications

By The Nation

 

Online shopping poised to become the rule, not the exception

Online shopping is swiftly transforming life in Thailand and the new lifestyle requires major adjustments, as a new generation lays down the terms for how the future economy will look. For everybody’s sake, the great leap forward should happen sooner rather than later.

 

Taxation, for example, needs to be effective and clear-cut, not the “cat and mouse” formula currently in use. The state has a duty here to prevent an “anything goes” culture from spiralling out of control at the expense of both the consumer and government coffers. The authorities must also boost efforts to stay one step ahead of sophisticated scammers who have found a happy hunting ground in cyberspace.

 

Thailand has seen an explosion of online shopping in recent years, as growing Internet penetration and cheaper smartphones have brought countless e-retailers within easy reach for millions, often via Thais’ unrivalled love affair with social media. The boom in online shopping is in fact global, with everything from washing machines and televisions to fish sauce being sold online, in a retail revolution that is starting to sweep away traditional stores. The change is most noticeable in the buying habits of the younger generation, who prefer the convenience of browsing the endless variety in Internet aisles to the limited selection on offer in the high street.

 

The new environment will have profound impacts on delicate matters like privacy and business ethics. The opportunities for fraud will increase, along with taxation headaches. Lax supervision risks turning the sporadic problems of today into deep-rooted issues that will be difficult to eradicate later. The government finds itself walking a tightrope of supervision and regulation, a balancing act that requires special knowledge and sensitivity from the appointed officials.

 

The arrival of e-retail giants will threaten the rampant, democratic nature of online business. The big fish are certainly better equipped in terms of delivery, storage and product ranges. Successful entrepreneurs like Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, advocate empowering ordinary people through Internet access. Of course, as one of the biggest fish in online retail, he stands to benefit more than most from such empowerment. 

 

His next steps will be watched closely as the revolution gathers pace, putting his philosophy to the test.

 

The fact is that the online shopping trend looks irreversible, and everyone must play a part in ensuring it serves all, not just an elite group. The fast-advancing technology is democratising the way business is conducted, giving opportunities to people who never had them before. But like anything that is untried and untested, the promise will be accompanied by flaws, which must be kept at bay by everyone involved.

 

Consumers stand to benefit from greater convenience and price-busting competition. But for this to happen, the new business landscape must encourage independent, new and small-time players. New jobs must take advantage of the technology, not be held prisoner by it. The government must have a guiding vision, enforcing effective taxation, ensuring safety and security of online shoppers, and seeing to it that technological access is universal, not limited to a certain group of people. A well-designed and operated system could help push unique or creative Thai products across borders.

 

Simply put, it’s up to everyone to make the new retail landscape a healthy environment. Easier said than done, of course, but Thailand should not sit back and let the opportunity to make a good head start go begging.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30325672

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-09-04

[quadperfect]

Cat amd mouse is from customs and i can say with certain customs will never let there cat and mouse dog and pony show go down this road.

Sure you can shop king poower but forget international. It just wont happen .

Not like this article claims

[tonray]

Malls are major family entertainment and free A/C. Hard to believe that they will be replaced here anytime soon. I myself like to go (and back in America I dreaded going to the Mall) because there are so many activities and the shops and events change dynamically. Part of culture, Thais love to be with other Thais, sitting at home and ordering online is anathema to their 'be with other Thais' way of life.

[mfd101]

27 minutes ago, tonray said:

Malls are major family entertainment and free A/C. Hard to believe that they will be replaced here anytime soon. I myself like to go (and back in America I dreaded going to the Mall) because there are so many activities and the shops and events change dynamically. Part of culture, Thais love to be with other Thais, sitting at home and ordering online is anathema to their 'be with other Thais' way of life.

Sure, modernity with Thai characteristics. But there weren't any malls here 20 years ago. So what will people here be doing in another 10 or 20 years? It seems to me the trend lines are fairly clear, and they're the same as in The West, except a few years behind.

 

In the long run we're all the same and technology, communications & demographics are making it more obvious. We are living the reunification of the human species.

[coconuthead]

thailand needs more integrity in the postal/mail system

[swissbie]

3 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Sure, modernity with Thai characteristics. But there weren't any malls here 20 years ago. So what will people here be doing in another 10 or 20 years? It seems to me the trend lines are fairly clear, and they're the same as in The West, except a few years behind.

 

In the long run we're all the same and technology, communications & demographics are making it more obvious. We are living the reunification of the human species.

First malls in Thailand had been opened in the early eighties and as tonray said, many Thais go there for familiy entertainment and free A/C - as still the majority of Thais can't affort A/C.The use of the same technology doesn't mean, that all different ethnicities will become the same.

[Retiredandhappyhere]

Thailand should be ashamed of its terrible reputation that results in many international companies refusing to ship to Thailand.  I have attempted to purchase several items from abroad, only to be told at the point of providing "shipping" information that the supplier will not ship to this country.  Any other country would be embarrassed about this, but, apparently, not Thailand.

[wakeupplease]

So on-line shopping is taking off then and not so long ago when we touched on the subject there where those on here who said it would never happen and I was wrong.

 

Wait till you see the shops closing like they are in many countries oh they are are they.

[anon4546543]

My Thai sister in law made a hugely bad choice. She borrowed Baht 550,000 to invest in a group of online shopping suppliers.

Of course it was a pyramid type scam. I told her to go to the police. I was crazy she said, she would surely die.

She is left with mounting debt and new threats being made by her creditors. Her creditors have connections to the person that

took a lot of money from many others and fled.

 

 This is just one example of problems with online shopping.

A few others are whether you can trust your bank completely. In 2 instances, banks or their employees have tried to scam me. 

Can you completely trust the internet servers. Self explaining.

Can you trust the supplier that what you order is what you get and what recourse do you have if it is not.

Even if the customs process is squeaky clean, can you trust the employees at the ports not to have a little dip and what recourse do you have. 

I would be wary of going down an online option unless it is only for very small outlay and you have made a history of not being fleeced

somewhere along the chain of purchase. Even then I would be wary.