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Vista Group plans ISO Certification for movie theatres

TFRC warns local banks of increasing foreign competition

Banks to inject B1.3 billion into grassroots economy

Vista Group plans ISO Certification for movie theatres

“Sia Tommy” confident after receiving ISO 9001 for restaurant

Phitsanu Thepthong

The Vista Entertainment Group, Chiang Mai, late last year celebrated Vista’s 11th anniversary, and marked its honor on being awarded ISO 9001-2000 certification. The celebration was held at Vista Khum Kaew Khantoke palace on Phra Pokklao Road, Chiang Mai.

Thavatchai
Rojanachotikul

Thavatchai Rojanachotikul, known locally as “Sia Tommy,” the owner of the group that manages the Vista Hotel and Entertainment received the certificate from Chamroon Chinathammamitre, the chairman of KSL Group, the consultant company.

Thavatchai, who is also a movie business tycoon, said that this year, he aims to get one more ISO 9001-2000 award for his Vista movie theatre project. He said his Vista movie theatres provide a service for the local people and he wishes them to be of the highest standards.

Now having the ISO certification for his hotel and restaurant, he felt that this was a very positive step, and will apply the same standards to his movie theatres. “Some of the staff don’t understand why the movie theatre should have ISO certification, but in fact, ISO rules and regulations could be applied with all general staff from small, medium and large businesses. Working to follow the ISO conditions could be applied as a system. We get lots of good feedback,” he asserted.

TFRC warns local banks of increasing foreign competition

Thailand’s commercial banks are being urged to revamp themselves, and if they do not, foreign banks are likely to grab increasingly larger slices of the market.

In a recent report, the Thai Farmers Research Center (TFRC) cautioned that although foreign banks tended to focus on corporate banking, they were increasingly making inroads into the personal banking sector, offering services such as personal credit.

While Thai commercial banks currently have an overall credit base 10 times higher than that of their foreign counterparts, this was likely to change.

According to TFRC foreign banks are stronger on a number of fronts, such as their international networks, stable sources of capital in the country of the parent bank, their ability to transfer technology and experience from the parent bank, and their flexibility.

The report also found that foreign banks gained capital from deposits and borrowing between banks and the financial market, while Thai commercial banks had most of their capital in deposits alone.

In terms of income and expenditure, foreign banks have higher net interest income than Thai banks, due to lower interest servicing costs, as well as a higher proportion of income from commission fees.

The fact that foreign banks have a large proportion of corporate clients means that they have a lower proportion of bad debts to overall credit. Their staff tends to be highly effective in making profits, despite the fact that per capita staff costs are higher. (TNA)

Banks to inject B1.3 billion into grassroots economy

Thirteen projects are to get cash injections of 100 million each as part of a program established by three state banks to inject money into the grassroots economy.

The credit will be offered by the Bank for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises together with the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) and the Government Savings Bank (GSB).

Samran Phu-anatanon, manager of the SME Bank, stated that most of the projects were those that presented high potential and low risk, but that if any of the projects had problems with collateral the Small-scale Industries Credit Assurance Corporation could be called on to act as a guarantor.

Praising the initiative as the first collaborative effort among the three banks, Samran said that the BAAC and GSB would be in charge of offering credit to projects based outside Bangkok, as the SME Bank’s network did not yet extend to the provinces.

He said that the SME Bank has also requested a capital increase of around 10 billion baht from the Finance Ministry so the bank has sufficient capital for future business operations. This capital injection would be spread over several years, with 3.2 billion baht given to the bank for the present fiscal year.

The SME Bank manager admitted however that plans to enter into investment partnerships with foreign institutions were running into difficulties, as foreign investors were concerned about the fact that the bank was state-run.

He added that the SME Bank would begin to sell its shares within the next five years, but that the government would still retain a 49% holding. (TNA)

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