Facebook crash shakes up online businesses in Thailand

[webfact]

SOCIAL NETWORK
Facebook crash shakes up local online businesses
ASINA PORNWASIN
THE NATION

WHEN FACEBOOK crashed on Monday night, it had an unexpectedly bad effect on people and businesses in Thailand.

BANGKOK: -- Apisilp Trunganont, president of the Thai Webmaster Association, said that though this could happen to any website, Facebook's infrastructure was more stable than most and, hence, should not have crashed so easily.

As for users who spend a lot of time on Facebook, they might have been irritated when they found themselves unable to post, comment or press the "like" button for a while.

"But the good thing is that it was not down for very long and only affected some features. It did not affect those who just read their timeline. However, shops that rely on Facebook should have a plan B should this happen again," Apisilp said.

Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, president of Thailand's e-Commerce Association, explained that Facebook users were unable to access some 20 per cent of Thai websites on Monday night, which meant that businesses could not post any new products or services, and potential customers could not press "like" for about an hour.

This resulted in a rather large impact considering there are some 700 million to 1.2 billion users who log on to Facebook everyday, he said.

"The impact was worsened as it happened between 10pm and 11pm - peak time for Facebook users," Pawoot said.

Hence, he said, businesses should not only rely on Facebook for links to their websites, but also consider setting up their own Web log-in systems in order to reduce risks.

"Facebook's latest crash has also had an impact on the networking site's image and stability, and also affected people's confidence in the management of cloud computing," Pawoot said.

Art Wichiencharoen, senior vice president of Kasikorn Bank, said the crash did not have much of an impact on his bank, as Facebook is not linked to its online or mobile banking services.

"It is only one of the many channels we use to send transaction alerts," Art said.

However, he added that the KBANK Live Facebook fanpage, which is used for online activities and information, might have been affected by the crash. "But we did not hear about any adverse impacts," he said, adding that the crash should not have an effect on people's confidence in online services, especially in the financial and banking sector, as Facebook is only one of the many service providers.

"Now, ATM machines cannot crash. Since the Internet and mobile banking are starting to play a bigger role, we need to ensure our infrastructure is completely stable so our online services have 100-per-cent availability," Art said.

-- The Nation 2013-10-23

[NeverSure]

I'd like more news about this. The only thing Google has so far is this article. Nothing in any other country. ??

"Facebook's latest crash has also had an impact on the networking site's image and stability, and also affected people's confidence in the management of cloud computing," Pawoot said. From OP

Whose image, as if "face" is in question?

Maybe there is more news...

Edited October 22, 2013 by NeverSure

[Bluespunk]

Did it crash? Didn't notice. Quit it for good last night after reading about it allowing beheading videos to be shown. Scum.

[lemoncake]

Can someone explain for me please how business gets affected by Facebook crash ?

Did he mean staff were unable to play and it resulted in some staff actually doing some work?

[Shurup]

Surprised he didn't say Thai businesses lost millions billions due to the crash and no one blamed falang for the loss... yet.

[ThaidDown]

Who or what is 'Facebook'.

[RickeyParkany]

Too much Face, not enough Book... ;-} rap.

[Songhua]

Facebook went down! Everybody mobilise! It's a national disaster - bigger than the floods.

[Shurup]

Who or what is 'Facebook'.

[doremifasol]

Users might have been irritated when they found themselves unable to post, comment or press the "like" button for a while.

Pathetic!!!!!!!!

[Thaddeus]

OMG LOL

What next, twitter goes down and everyone has to SMS their last meal details.

It's an AIS plot to regain some revenue.

I don't like this world any longer, should I leave?

[petedk]

OMG People probably couldn't post photos of their evening bowl of noodles. What a disaster!

Actually I ahve started using Facebook for business (my income has increased manyfold since using it) and I have noticed over the past few weekes that it can be a little slow or even hang sometimes. I just log off and on again and it seems to work OK.

Edited October 23, 2013 by petedk

[JoeThePoster]

The impact was worsened as it happened between 10pm and 11pm - peak time for Facebook users

Was a disaster for me, I was right in the middle of counting sheeple on Facebook.

[A1Str8]

Holy Mary. Thais were not able to use Facebook. Must have been a horrible day.

[bender92]

I heard they hired some ex-obamacare programmers. Another disaster.

[robblok]

Can someone explain for me please how business gets affected by Facebook crash ?

Did he mean staff were unable to play and it resulted in some staff actually doing some work?

Loads of Thai businesses use facebook to promote their products instead of having their own website. I have seen it a few times one of those is coolcase (for bikes) I find it crazy that a company cant pay for a website of its own and manage it.

[draftvader]

Most Thai businesses believe that a Facebook page is a powerful representation of their business online. There is no doubt that, with the take-up of FB by the local populous, this is a good point however it is no substitute for having a true online business presence. As a facet of a solution it is VERY useful indeed.

The reason why many businesses in Thailand do NOT have their own website appears to come down to a number of key points:

Cost

Availability of able web designers and builders

Long term effort in targetting keywords

Lack of interest in international markets

Truthfully I can understand all of those from a Thai point of view but I can't understand putting all your eggs in one basket from a business promotion point of view yet this is a common trait in Thai life so I guess it will remain the same.

The roof doesn't need fixing whilst it isn't raining, eh?

[Suradit69]

Surprised he didn't say Thai businesses lost millions billions due to the crash and no one blamed falang for the loss... yet.

But at least you got in some pre-emptive Thai bashing ... for something that only happened in your imagination.

Edited October 23, 2013 by Suradit69

[JoePai]

If Facebook went down permanently the world would be a better place - total waste of time and space

[Suradit69]

Most Thai businesses believe that a Facebook page is a powerful representation of their business online. There is no doubt that, with the take-up of FB by the local populous, this is a good point however it is no substitute for having a true online business presence. As a facet of a solution it is VERY useful indeed.

The reason why many businesses in Thailand do NOT have their own website appears to come down to a number of key points:

Cost

Availability of able web designers and builders

Long term effort in targetting keywords

Lack of interest in international markets

Truthfully I can understand all of those from a Thai point of view but I can't understand putting all your eggs in one basket from a business promotion point of view yet this is a common trait in Thai life so I guess it will remain the same.

The roof doesn't need fixing whilst it isn't raining, eh?

"yet this is a common trait in Thai life"

Undoubtedly one of the most vacuous generalities regarding all 67 million people made to date. Congratulations.

[SuwadeeS]

That's why Thai people so poor. They waste to much time for shit.

Imagine FB would not have or support the Thai language. That would be a win / win situation.

[spidermike007]

Does anyone think there are any commercial applications for Facebook? I have never heard of anyone selling anything on Facebook. Does someone pressing the "like" tab have any affect on anyones business? Does anyone buy something because many people "like" it? Forgive me if I sound ignorant. But, I have been in sales and marketing all my life, and I fail to see any commercial benefit from Facebook. I understand the amount of traffic the site has. But, does that in any tangible way translate into sales?

[tango]

Did it crash? Didn't notice. Quit it for good last night after reading about it allowing beheading videos to be shown. Scum.

Where exactly on it's Facebook page do you find the buttons to push to 'Quit it for good...'? I wish to do the same.

Cheers

[jpeg]

I'm not a FB user but the Thais use it for looking up and connecting to the judiciary and other government agencies, not just their friends and family. They all use it, no one uses email. So I would assume businesses here are the same and perhaps would cause a big problem if it crashed. Here.

[KRaymond]

　Irritated cause of not being able to press the like button. This is hilarious.

[Songhua]

Holy Mary. Thais were not able to use Facebook. Must have been a horrible day.

Everybody had to SMS for an hour. How old school.

[aechzen]

thats mean: 1.2 billion - 7 billion gives a <deleted> !!

[overherebc]

thats mean: 1.2 billion - 7 billion gives a fuc_k !!

What I really think about the whole thing when I see a couple sitting opposite sides of a table in a restaurant and both are heads down pushing buttons and ignoring each other.

[DGIE]

There are lots of B2B sites to promote business. Facebook is just one way

[bigbamboo]

A loss of Facebook in Thailand?

Someone will pay!

Edited October 23, 2013 by bigbamboo