By Ellen Boonstra, Asia correspondent >>

BIOTECHNOLOGY in Thailand has been through more than three decades of development and the country is now regarded by many as being poised to take a lead in the sector.

Today, with its superb infrastructure, substantial scientific capability and strategic location in the centre of the South East Asia region, Thailand is home to many well-established world technology labs and pharmaceutical companies – and is ready to embrace new waves of advanced biotech development.

Becoming a bio-economy leader is also a new ambition of Thai Government, one of 10 targeted growth-engine industries under the new ‘Thailand 4.0’ growth model, which focuses on the concept of inclusive, productive and green growth to enhance the country’s competitiveness and economic development.

Biotech companies in Thailand enjoy a variety of competitive advantages from supporting ecosystems including intellectual property protections and a technically equipped workforce, as well as an abundance of natural resources and rich biological diversity. 

DIVERSE NATURAL RESOURCES

The first key advantage Thailand has, to be a research hub for biotechnology, is the country’s hot and humid climate, which supports tropical ecosystems in which a large variety of plant, animal and microbe species thrive.

The kingdom has about 15,000 species of plants, which account for around 10 percent of the estimated total number of plant species found globally.

Moreover, abundant farmland across the country and a year-round growing season allow agricultural raw materials to be sourced locally at low prices.

Meanwhile, the Thai agricultural sector, the mainstay of the country’s socio-economic foundation, is currently transitioning to ‘Smart Farming’, a key reforming process endorsed by the government to increase the efficiency of agricultural production and enhance cooperation between farmers and the public and private sectors.

R&D INFRASTRUCTURE

Thailand has developed networks of organisations that support research and development in biotech.

Currently, 24 universities across the country have the combined capacity to supply about 7,000 students with a biotechnology background each year.

In addition, well-established research infrastructure, including various pilot plants located in several leading universities across the country, allow biotech companies to scale up their research before commercialising their innovations.

Many of these pilot plants operate as private-public sector partnerships, such as the Agricultural Research Development Agency (ARDA) under the Ministry of Agriculture. 

PUBLIC-PRIVATE SUPPORT

Government and organisational support is provided through the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), which offers government support by acting as a bridge between the requirements of academic research and innovation in the industry.

This occurs through the operation of four national research centres: BIOTEC, MTEC, NANOTEC, and NECTEC, and one technology management centre (TMC).

Thailand Science Park (TSP), the first technology and innovation hub of Thailand, serves as a one-stop service centre to assist both foreign and local companies engaged in scientific and technological research.

TSP is a key hub for research and development where specialists and researchers from industry, academia and NSTDA collaborate to further inspire and stimulate the formation and growth of knowledge-based businesses.

A network of 1,600 full-time researchers and technicians, of which around 400 hold doctorate degrees, can be found at TSP. TMC also provides important support in biotechnology through its Technology Licensing Office (TLO), which is responsible for the licensing of intellectual property.

The recent setting up of the Strategic Talent Center (STC) helps enhance Thailand’s ecosystem for stronger research and development capability.

The centre serves as a platform interacting with the private sector in identifying available specialists or researchers in science and technology to support the private sector in conducting R&D and innovation activities. The STC is actively involved with matching skills and expertise with real demands from the requesting companies.

ENTICING INVESTMENT INCENTIVES

Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) recognises the importance and value of the biotech economy, and offers a wide range of tax and non-tax incentives for projects that meet national development objectives.

Tax incentives for biotechnology companies investing in Thailand include an eight-year exemption from corporate income tax and exemptions from import duties on machinery and raw materials used for manufacturing of export products. 

Non-tax incentives include visa and work permits for experts and permission to own land for promoted activities.

AUSTRALIAN ATTRACTION

To attract Australian SMEs, the board recently approved more incentives for SMEs to cover over 100 business activities and increased the ceiling of corporate income tax (CIT) exemption to up to 200 percent.

These incentives aim to enhance SMEs’ competitiveness in Thailand, including the extension of the scheme's promotional period to December 30, 2019.

The BOI also identified a list of targeted industries for the Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation (EECi) and the Digital Park Thailand (EECd).

For more information, visit www.boi.go.th or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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By Ellen Boonstra, Asia correspondent >>

IF YOU HAVE EVER dreamed of staying at a wildlife reserve and waking up to a herd of friendly elephants milling around outside your balcony window, this is your jumbo opportunity.

WFFT, the Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand, just opened a luxury eco-lodge and restaurant, affording visitors a bird eye’s view of one of the centre’s largest elephant forest enclosures. With only 10 guestrooms available, the experience promises to be an exclusive one, as well as a great option for anyone looking to book a unique corporate retreat. 

Spacious and airy, rooms have been designed to fit in with the natural environment, with all the modern amenities one could wish for like air-conditioning, a rain shower and flat screen TV. Using filtered groundwater and solar power, it is run as a genuine eco-lodge with its own tree-planting project for carbon offset.

The eco-lodge is currently offering a soft-opening rate of 4000 baht per night (about A$165), which includes breakfast, lunch and dinner. Meals – with Thai and western style options available – are served on a large, rustic-style terrace overlooking the elephant enclosure.

Located near the popular resort town of Hua Hin, a three-hour drive from Bangkok, WFFT was established by Dutch native Edwin Wiek, together with a local mahout – a person who rides and works with elephants – and a second Thai partner in May 2001. 

Until then he had been running a successful fashion business in Thailand when disaster struck. During a late-evening drive home after a stressful working day, he got into a serious road accident, which landed him in a several-day coma.

Upon awakening, he had a personal epiphany that his life would be better spent rescuing endangered animals. The first creature to benefit from this newfound resolution was a macaque at the local bar he used to frequent, whom Wiek freed from having to wear costumes and being chained up for the amusement of patrons.

Mr Wiek contends there are too many ‘attractions’ out there where tourists unwittingly contribute to the suffering of animals – elephant riding and posing with tigers, to give a couple of examples.His centre does not contribute to this suffering. All the animals are treated well.

And education is crucial during the half- and full-day tours, allowing visitors a first-hand opportunity to learn about the rescued creatures living at the Wildlife Rescue Center and Elephant Refuge and Education Center.

Mr Wiek often guides travellers around the 92-hectare-large park, sharing colorful “tails” and background information about the rescued animals – which range from maltreated circus animals and orangutans illegally held at zoos, to endangered species kept as pets. 

The former pets – often given respectable English sounding names like Jim, Charlie or Bob by their former Thai owners are – besides a new lease on life – also given a new moniker.

“We’ve decided that any monkey who comes in with a foreign name will be called after a Thai politician,” Mr Wiek quipped.

Besides several large dedicated enclosures where the animals can roam freely until they are rehabilitated and repatriated, the centre also contains a Wildlife Hospital with fulltime veterinarians and vet nurses, the first such facility in Asia.

All in all, to ensure the whole operation runs smoothly, the centre employs some 92 staff members and 60 volunteers to take care of the 700 creatures inhabiting the sanctuary.

In spite of overseeing all the staff and volunteers, Mr Wiek continues to play a pivotal role in Thailand’s wildlife activism, serving as an honorary advisor to a parliamentary committee which focuses on the creation of better laws to protect wildlife in Thailand.

This has resulted in some groundbreaking legislation like The Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act of 2014 to “strengthen suppression of the illegal trade of African elephant ivory”. 

The act marked the first time in Thai history that a non-native species, the African elephant, was listed as a protected species. Of course, much more work needs to be done in this regard, as Thailand remains a transit point for illegal shipments of elephant tusks bound from Africa to China, where ivory is still in great demand. 

One of WFFT’s main benefactors is Joan Pearson, the wife of the former CEO of Reader’s Digest Australia, who visits the centre in Thailand three times a year.

Thanks to her fundraising efforts in her native Sydney, enough money was collected to rescue 15 elephants and help purchase a piece of land large enough for a 5ha-large forest where some of the rescued elephants are free to roam.

Solely funded by private donations without the support of governments or NGOs, Mr Wiek is aware that in order to achieve long-term sustainability, the wildlife sanctuary must generate independent revenue streams.

The eco lodge and restaurant will provide an important source of income besides the revenue streams generated from operating the guided tours and volunteers who pay to volunteer at WFFT.

Mr Wiek expects the addition to substantially contribute towards the operational costs of the new wildlife enclosures.

“In this day and age it’s important for charities to be able to fund themselves through commercial enterprise and not just rely on donations,” Mr Wiek explained.

https://ilovephants.org

https://www.wfft.org

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By Ellen Boonstra, Asia correspondent >>

OVER THE LAST decade, video has taken the internet by storm. Now Thailand-based video content creation platform, Crave Asia, is brewing its own storm.

In a modern world in which YouTube has become Google’s dynamic all-the-bells-and-whistles younger search-engine brother -- and in our multi-screen lives -- the relevance of video has evolved tremendously. Online video content is no longer purely for entertainment.

Creating a successful marketing strategy in today’s online environment must include video. Businesses big and small are using it for promotion and education, and customers are watching on smartphones, tablets and computers.

They are viewing on all of the social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, pre-roll YouTube ads, Snapchat content, Netflix ads and website landing pages

According to US-based online video platform Brightcove, social video is what people want. Businesses would all be well-advised to create engaging video experiences.

Brightcove claims that three-quarters of consumers who watch social video make a purchasing decision based on that video and are more likely to recommend that company. Consequently; it is important to get it right.

However, ror smaller businesses video marketing can seem intimidating.

Australian Raine Grady, who has more 25 years experience in TV and video production at the helm of Thailand’s Capital Television, saw a need for cost effective and easy to use video solutions. She established a new ‘disruptive’ video content creation agency called Crave Asia, which, in partnership with the video creation tool Binumi, is both affordable and manageable.  

“We live in the age of video and every business has a story to tell,” Ms Grady said. “Video is one of the most exciting mediums to do so because it tells a story in a way that text and photos can’t compete with.

“It is predicted to reach 80 percent of all internet traffic by 2020. It is exciting to be able to enable everyone to bring their business narrative to life, and to do so while offering an attractive RoI.”

BINUMI INNOVATION

The Binumi video tool used by Crave Asia was created by media tech entrepreneur and former National Geographic filmmaker Anthony Copping. It allows its partners to scale their video marketing quickly and inexpensively for fast turn around social media and event promotion.

The unique aspect of the tool is a massive royalty-free footage and music library from around 50 countries. Clients also get access to templates, edit effects and utilise cloud storage.

There is no limit on how many videos can be made each year.

Thailand-based marketing and commercial sponsorship business founder Paul Poole counts himself as a devotee of Crave Asia’s capabilities.

“We subscribe to Crave Asia’s rights-free content library and creation tool,” Mr Poole said. “This allows us to edit existing promotional videos and materials into a short mpeg and/or windows media files.

“This is an excellent way of bringing offers to life, massively aiding sales drive and giving an audio visual flavor to the offers.”

The cloud-based platform allows videos to be added onto landing pages that can be shared out direct to customers via e-mail, SMS, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.

“When I saw what Anthony was creating with Binumi I realised this was the future of marketing,” Mr Poole said.

“She (Crave’s Raine Grady) added my own content library into his platform and is now working in partnership with Binumi to bring this solution to a wide diversity of businesses.”

Another big advantage he noted was that existing staff members could become an in-house digital marketing resource, able to represent the business, brand, and voice as employees “with just a little training”. 

Videos are everywhere and their dynamic ‘feed me information quickly appeal’ is in-synch with today’s audiences that have increasingly shorter attention spans.

Unique, engaging content is the key to effective video that holds viewers’ attention and motivation to take action.

Fashion and jewellery designer, Matthew Campbell Laurenza said, “Photos are great, but videos bring my jewellery to life like nothing else can. I love it.”

Crave’s Ms Grady said most users also rapidly discovered what a time saver the platform can become.

“Of course the one commodity no one has is unlimited time,” she said. “To this end we can also create storyboards, film, and edit stories that can be quickly re-purposed as needed.”

www.craveasia.tv

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