Our Thai chef Chamlong Pewthaisong, or Jimmy, of Celadon at The Sukhothai Bangkok has prepared a special menu of February Highlights for both lunch and dinner to tempt you during 9-29 February 2012.
Selected delightful dishes include Plaa Hoy Shell – Seared Hokkaido Scallops with Roasted Chilies, Thai Herbs; Yam Pla Tuna – Spicy Tuna, Cucumber and Green Apple, Seafood Sauce; Tom Yam Photeak Thalay – Soup of Spicy Hokkaido Scallop, River Prawns, Manila Clams and Calamari, Lemongrass, Hot Basil; Pla Jaramed Phad Tao Jiew – Wok-Fried Crispy Pomfret, Celery, Mushrooms, Soy Bean Sauce; Poo Phad Pong Ka-Ree – Wok-Fried Whole Sea Crab in Yellow Curry; Pla Tab Tim Tod Krathiem – Deep-Fried Whole Ruby Fish, Shallot and Garlic; Nuea Yang Jim Jeaw – Grilled Wagyu Tenderloin (Marble Score No.7) served with Thai Chili dip; and even more to define your enjoyment of truly fine Thai cuisine.
Celadon is open daily at 12:00—15:00 hrs for lunch and 18:30—23:00 hrs for dinner.
For reservations, please call 66 (0) 2344 8888 or email promotions@sukhothai.com.

Public Relations Department
The Sukhothai Bangkok
Email: pr@sukhothai.com

River City Shopping Complex is inviting couples to celebrate Valentine’s Day by signing a certificate of marriage at their “Enhance Your Love Relationships at Samphantawong” event, where the first 12 couples will receive honeymoon packages with a special dinner on a luxury cruise, a chance to win one baht weight of gold and one night’s accommodation at Shanghai Mansion. In addition, the couple can use the service space at the Grand Hall, River City Shopping Complex, for their wedding ceremony for free. Interested couples can register or ask for more information via 02-237-0077 ext 618. Members of the public can join the event and buy Valentine’s Day gifts or presents between February 13 — 15, 2012, from 10.00am — 8.00pm at River City Shopping Complex, Charoen Krung 24.

Hilton Hua Hin Resort & Spa is offering a Valentine’s Day promotion at its White Lotus restaurant on 14 February 2012.
Guests can treat their special Valentine to a four-course Chinese set menu in the sky complemented by sparkling wines from the old to the new world for THB 1,400 nett per person.

For more information or to make reservations, please call +66 (0) 3253 899

New EMC Virtual Storage Integrator Plug-in for XenDesktop Simplifies Mapping and Management of EMC Storage

EMC Information Systems (Thailand) Ltd., extends its leadership position in virtualization today by announcing a new EMC Proven? solution for Citrix XenDesktop? environments. The solution expands EMC’s portfolio enabling Citrix customers to accelerate the adoption of virtual desktop infrastructures and realize the benefits of a secure, centrally managed end-user computing environment. The robust, flexible and cost-effective solution built on the EMC VNX? unified storage with full NFS support, and the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) platform that has unparalleled desktop density and IO performance provides integrated application streaming and centralized desktop management for 1000 users. The solution utilizes a building-block approach which can then scale to thousands of virtual desktops.

Hilton Hua Hin Resort & Spa is offering a Valentine’s Day promotion at its Chay Had restaurant on 14 February 2012Guests can look forward to a wonderful night at Chay Had where the Chef has created a special set dinner in front of the ocean for THB 1,690 nett per person including a bottle of sparking rose wine and a long stem rose per couple.

For more information or to make reservations, please call +66 (0) 3253 899

Exhibition
You Are Not Alone
A Contemporary Art Exhibition to promote understanding of Aids and those who are HIV infected.
8 March — 18 April 2012
Gallery, 9th floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre
By ArtAids foundation and Bangkok art and Culture Centre

ArtAids foundation and Bangkok art and Culture Centre together present “You are not Alone”, the contemporary art exhibition to promote knowledge and understanding on HIV/AIDS through the works of sixteen Thai and international contemporary artists.

Even with medical advancements, and the fact that HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment are achievable, social problems and negative attitude towards the HIV/AIDS and the patients, or discrimination and prejudice against people living with HIV still persist. Promoting the right notion of AIDS in order to attune a social perception will be the first step to change the attitude and renounce the misunderstanding that is a consequence of bias and ignorance.

The various contemporary arts from distinctive artists are the medium to help changing misconception and resisting attitude. The oeuvres from artists around the world, including Thailand, are the beginning of a conversation where such subject can be openly discussed. The artworks of internationally acclaimed artists from South Africa, Cyprus, Chile, Lithuania, Spain, Vietnam, Denmark, Norway, Netherland, Morocco, and new artworks from Thai artists are the essence of the exhibition to introduce many accounts of AIDS, its impacts and social aspects as well as current situation of HIV infected people both locally and abroad.

With the collaboration and support of HIV-NAT (HIV Netherlands Australia Thailand Research Collaboration) the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre, the exhibition is presented with an educational program that is based on both clinical and social reality in order to form a public understanding and also provide the different perspectives which improve the livability of those who are affected by AIDS.

Artists:
Otto Berchem (United States/Netherland)
be>our>friend Studio (Thailand)
Matthew Darbyshire (United Kingdom)
Elmgreen & Dragset (Denmark and Norway)
Latifa Echakhch (Morocco)
Pepe Espali? (Spain)
David Goldblatt (South Africa)
Juul Hondius (Netherland)
Sutee Kunavichayanont (Thailand)
Mute Mute (Thailand)
Deimantas Narkevi?ius (Lithuania)
Christodoulos Panayiotou (Cyprus)
Ohm Phanpiroj (Thailand)
Pratchaya Phinthong (Thailand)
Dahn Vo (Vietnam)
Lorena Zilleruelo (Chile)

Curators:
ARTAIDS : Hilde Teerlink, Irene Aristizabal
BACC : Pichaya Suphavanij

The exhibition is operated by Exhibition Department, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre in collaboration with ArtAids Foundation, Spain

For more information, please contact:
Media and Public Relations Dept.
Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (bacc)
Tel. 02 214 6630 – 8 # 520
email — prbacc@hotmail.com
www.bacc.or.th
www.facebook.com/baccpage
www.twitter.com/baccnews

Mr. Veera Sriwattanatrakul, Governor of Prachuab Khiri Khan Province, recently received 200,000 Baht monetary support to organize the campaign “Amazing Three-Bays Town, Travel in Prachuap Khiri Khan and Red Cross Fair 2012” from Mr. Nava Chantasurakhon, Vice President, Public Affairs and Social Responsibility Division of Sahaviriya Steel Industries Plc. (SSI), as the representative of Sahaviriya Group. The objective of this campaign is to sponsor activities and promote sport tourism and boost up economy in Prachuap Khiri Khan.

Thailand in the view of both Thai and foreign investors
“Thailand has no longer been a rising star. Political conflicts, internal conflicts, corruption, labor shortage and communication problem are eclipsing Thailand’s potential more and more. However, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. Looking around and business opportunities in China and ASEAN are still possible.”
Khun Kraisin Wongsurakrai, AEC Prompt vice-president of Thai Chamber of Commerce, member of Thai-Chinese Business Council committee, and president of Thai-ASEAN young businessmen group, gave an interesting interview at the BOI Fair 2011.
Members of ASEAN include Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.

Trade with ASEAN members

2010 Value (million baht) Jan-Nov 2011 Value (million baht)

exporting to ASEAN 1,374,323 exporting to ASEAN 1,505,104

importing from ASEAN 940,137 importing from ASEAN 1,042,961

trade surplus 434,186 trade surplus 462,143

ASEAN has many changes in terms of tariffs, market, competition, trade measures, investment, capital mobility, and skilled labor mobility. Non-tariff trade barriers appear to be major setbacks in trade. These trade barriers are hygiene measures, import certificate issuing, goods control before exporting, and other technical obstacles. As a result, trade liberalization is applied to the service sector to reduce setbacks while personal/juristic person shareholding is raised among ASEAN nationals.
China is another country worth keeping eye on since it is the world’s second biggest economy after the United States.

Value – million baht

Thai-Chinese trade 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011(Jan-Nov)

exporting to China 511,109.61 532,319.04 548,760.05 678,631.84 763,027

importing from China 564,566.24 670,342.74 586,127.09 775,450.63 853,338

balance of trade -53,456.63 -138,023.70 -37,367.04 -96,818.79 -90,311

Financial status, distribution network and customer service should be taken into consideration when looking for a business partner. Investors should bear in mind that imposters, out-of-game competition and imitation are parts of investment. Big markets can be both investment opportunity and risk. Investors thus have to thoroughly study and analyze to understand Chinese consumers. They should learn about China’s history, culture and quality of people in each province so as to build good relationship with China and select suitable products to supply to the market.
Rules, laws and etiquettes when doing business with China
Give importance to name cards
Smile
Learn about measurement system
Have eye-contact with business partners
Create good relationship first and do business later (Kuansi) = connections and relationships
Learn to save everybody’s face
Seek a face-to-face meeting
Do not be too friendly too much
Let him smoke
Avoid white outfit
Do not give wall clock as a gift
Investors have to understand China’s history when doing business with Chinese people, in particular, political situation between China and Taiwan. Good understanding about trade culture, way of life and China’s politics will help your business grow well in China.

– Daily average trading volume up 12.74 pct month-on-month to USD 796 mln,
– Market cap at THB 8.89 trillion, up 5.75 pct from end-2011
– Derivatives trading down 6.13 pct month-on-month at 28,104 contracts per day

The Stock Exchange of Thailand’s (SET) securities trading volume in January rose 12.74 percent from the previous month, but down 31.48 percent from a year earlier. The increase was supported by easing monetary policy of the United States and the faster-than-expected Thai economic recovery after the floods.
Foreign investors were net buyers of Thai shares in January as the downward trend of global interest rates and China’s better-than-expected economic growth boosted fund inflows and revived investment sentimentCombined average daily trading volume of the SET and the Market for Alternative Investment (mai) was at THB 24.67 billion (approx. USD 796 million), while daily trading volume of derivatives was down 6.13 percent from a month ago at 28,104 contracts per day, with oil futures trading rising to 383 contracts per day, the highest since it launched.

Key highlights for January

Securities
– Market capitalization was at THB 8.89 trillion (USD 286.81 billion), up 5.75 percent from the end of 2011, and market valuation of the mai was at THB 85.29 billion (USD 2.75 billion), up 10.33 percent.
– The SET Index rose 5.72 percent in January to 1,083.97 points, in line with moves of other regional markets.
– Forward P/E ratio for the SET was at 11.42 times, down slightly from 11.46 a year ago and from 12.37 at the end of last year, while mai’s forward P/E ratio increased to 10.33 times from 9.50 a year ago and 9.40 at the end of 2011.
– Dividend yield of the SET was at 3.91 percent at the end of January, making it Asia’s second highest (after Taiwan). It was up from 3.82 percent a year earlier, and mai’s dividend yield was at 2.22 percent.
– Foreign investors were net buyers, purchasing Thai shares worth a net USD 97 million in January. They accounted for 24.46 percent of the total trading volume, the highest level over the last eleven months.
– Listed companies raised funds through equity worth a combined THB 367 million in January.
Derivatives
– Derivatives trading volume dropped 6.13 percent from a month earlier to an average of 28,104 contracts per day, due mainly to falling trading of SET50 Index futures and single stock futures.
– Average daily trading of 50-baht gold futures and 10-baht gold futures increased from a month ago to 4,807 contracts and 9,571 contracts, respectively, while oil futures, which started trading in October, reached a daily average trading volume of 383 contracts, the highest since it launched.

For more information, please visit www.set.or.th or S-E-T call center 0 2229 2222

Spend the pre-Valentine weekend or the big day itself with your loved one in an elegant suite at our award-winning downtown hotel in the lap of luxury and romance.
Upon arrival receive a fragrant garland, bottle of sparkling wine and bowl of fresh strawberries. Spend your afternoon relaxing before enjoying a decadent candlelit dinner in the privacy of your own suite. Don’t feel the need to rush up the next morning as we’ll give you late check-out at 3:00 p.m. So lie in and indulge with breakfast in bed courtesy of our extensive room service menu. Savour your fond memories with a beautiful keepsake souvenir photo frame.
This amazing offer for you and your beloved is available at only Baht 5,750++ per couple on February 10, 11 and 14, 2012
For further information and reservation, please call 0-2247-0123 ext.1103-8, or www.siamhotels.com, or www.facebook.com/siamcity, or www.twitter.com/SiamBuzz