Dear Members,

This month’s message is brief because holiday breaks have overshadowed business activity during this period; I must say that more long weekends would be easy to get used to.

When writing this I reflected back over the same time last year and what a difference 12 months can make. This time last year we were faced with Red Shirts camped in Rachaprasong, soldiers on the streets and eventually a violent confrontation and curfew. We have certainly moved on from there but with elections looming, there is naturally some nervousness about what the future holds. We are all hoping that the election campaign by all parties continues without problems and violence. The next few months will be an interesting time for Thailand, and a critical one too.

On Anzac day I attended the memorial service at the Allied War Cemetery in Kanchanaburi at which I laid a wreath on behalf of the Chamber.  Even though I have had the honour of doing this previously I still find it a sobering and humbling experience. Unfortunately I was unable to travel to Kanchanaburi on Sunday evening so was unable to attend the dawn service at Hellfire Pass; it is unfortunate that I missed this service as I find the atmosphere in the Cutting quite haunting yet peaceful. Those who attended also listened to very memorable addresses given by our Ambassador, Bede Corry, at both services. 

This month we have a change of scenery for our Corporate Knight which will be on the 26th May. We will be at the Imperial Queens Park Hotel in Sukhumvit Soi 22. For those of you travelling by BTS, remember to get off at Phrom Phong instead of Asoke!  Our sponsor this month is Jentana & Associates who provide Thai language training. Jentana has been training expats in Thai language skills for many years and I’m sure there are a few of you out there who have benefited from using her services.

We look forward to seeing you all at the Imperial Queens Park on the 26th.



Kind regards,

Kindly sponsored by

   

Some recent Kiwi Snippets and Kiwis in the news:

The Formary has clinched a deal with Starbucks providing a  durable upholstery fabric made from a blend of recycled coffee sacks and New Zealand Laneve wool.
Chairs using the new material  will be initially rolled out in Starbucks coffee houses in the UK and Europe as part of a five year program, with the aspiration of global coverage.
The jute (burlap) is recovered fibre from waste coffee sacks.  The wool - New Zealand Laneve wool, is traceable back to farms which meet a comprehensive range of environmental, social responsibility and animal welfare standards.

The Boskke Sky Planter  has just won a 2011 Red Dot award in the product design category. .
The red dot design award is a large and coveted[1] international product design prize awarded by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany. The aim of the prize is to honor outstanding design quality and trendsetters.

(Editors note: The Boskke Distributor for Thailand is a Chamber member Imaginative Growth)

New Zealand burger company moving into Iraq.

A New Zealand company bent on challenging McDonald's international dominance of the fast food hamburger market announced Friday that it was moving into Iraq.
 BurgerFuel Worldwide, which is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, said it had sold a master franchise to an Iraqi consortium as part of a Middle East expansion programme.  It has already announced outlets in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

NZ Breakers win Australian NBL title.

New Zealand strangled Cairns down the stretch to earn a piece of trans-Tasman history with a crushing 71-53 victory in the NBL grand final decider in Auckland recently..
The Breakers became the first New Zealand team to win an Australia-based sporting competition and did it in convincing fashion.

NZ Man hailed for light in Afghanistan

Tony Woods, originally of Wellington, is winning big play on American media recently for the way he has taken solar and wind power to the people of Afghanistan  featuring on CNN and Public Broadcasting in the US, as well as in leading magazines.
Owner and director of Sustainable Energy Services Afghanistan (SESA), he has used funding to bring electricity to remote villages and create a model of local development.
The Wellington man was biking through Pakistan, en route to South Africa and China, when he noticed failed micro hydropower generators.
He asked New Zealand Aid for help and they hired him to fix the generators.
In 1999 he visited Afghanistan and realised it was perfect for renewable energy.
The northeast region had abundant water, the west has steady wind, and the south strong sunshine. So in 2007 he moved to Kabul and started SESA and with US funding began developing solar panels and windmills.

RUGBY WORLD CUP TO BE FILMED IN 3-D 

Rugby fans will be able to watch the semi-finals, final and third-place play-off of the Rugby World Cup 2011 in 3-D on Sky Television and in 3-D cinemas and other venues in New Zealand and overseas, the International Rugby Board has confirmed. 

The filming will be done by an  Auckland company  which will provide the footage to broadcasters and venues around the world.
Rugby World Cup chairman Bernard Lapasset said it was a significant development for the event.
"In a sport where tradition and innovation go hand in hand we will give rugby fans a new viewing dimension."

The International Rugby Board is understood to have warmed to 3-D broadcasts because of the growing momentum behind the technology and enthusiasm for 3-D footage from matches in Europe. 

Cinemas, including Wellington's Embassy, have expressed interest in showing World Cup games in 3-D. Reading Cinemas spokesman Mark Kendrick said it would "certainly would be looking at it".

The International Monetary Fund estimated that rebuilding after the Christchurch quakes will cost about 15 billion New Zealand dollars ($11.9 billion), a heavier burden on the national economy than Japan's 1995 Kobe quake and Chile's huge temblor last year.

"While the scale of damage from the recent Japan earthquake is still uncertain, it is likely to be less than the Canterbury earthquakes as a percent of GDP," or gross domestic product, the IMF said.
New Zealand's second largest city Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3-magnitude quake in February, which claimed 181 lives and followed a more powerful but less destructive 7.1 quake in September.

IMF economists said the quakes would wipe about two percentage points of economic growth this year, and the economy would only grow by about one percent.
"The earthquakes destroyed assets equal to about 2-3 percent of the nation's productive capital stock, and will have temporarily reduced potential output," it said.

"The earthquakes have caused substantial damage and hurt confidence," the IMF's annual report on the New Zealand economy said. "Large uncertainty surrounds the economic outlook, particularly related to the size and timing of reconstruction from the earthquakes."

It also warned that economic risks were "tilted to the downside", especially if emerging Asia's strong demand for commodities falters, and long-term interest rates rise. But it said that reconstruction work, once it gets underway, will push growth up to four percent next year.

Missed out on the Rugby World Cup 2011 ballot?