Bangkok--14 Oct--PR & Associates
5 key business associations see the potential of “Thai Khem Khaeng Project’’ (Strong Thailand Investment Plan) to revive the stability of the economy; but need push from many parties amidst contributing and resistant factors
The ‘‘Thai Khem Khaeng 2555’’ Scheme is a historical and crucial venture that will determine whether Thailand can move on strongly towards the future. It is a mega-project with a strategy to inject massive funds to develop almost all parts of Thailand, from government and private agencies down to grass-roots communities. Significantly, the scheme is expected to stimulate to the economy whilst being rolled out with utmost transparency and consistency. In the past, the framing of long-term strategy has often encountered setbacks despite good and comprehensive principals. This leaves the question of how to allocate a coherent course of action that can be performed consistently.
Five presidents of leading professional associations, including Miss Viriya Vorakittikun of the Thailand Marketing Research Society (TMRS); Mr. Somboon Prasitjutrakul of the Marketing Association of Thailand (MAT); Dr. Phot Jaichansukkit of the Public Relations Society of Thailand (PRST); Mr. Witawat Jayapani of the Advertising Association of Thailand (AAT); and Dr. Nalinee Paiboon of the Thai Direct Selling Association (TDSA) recount their interesting views on the Thai Khem Khaeng 2555 project.
It is agreed by the 5 professional associations that the Thai Khem Khaeng 2555 project:
Is a project based on an excellent concept, with the boldness to generate many good outcomes. The project has the potential to create numerous contributing factors that will substantially aid the economic improvement in both the short and long term
Can stimulate the consumer market, creating consumer excitement while generating liquidity in the markets
Creative Economy must create competitiveness and enhance added value
Every party needs to be involved as a co-owner of the project, not just as an on-looker or playing only an external advisory role
Must be communicated clearly and in earnest, opened to public’s enquiries and publicly reported at all times with measurable results
Extremely cautious on budget spending with utmost transparency and clarity
Believe “Thai Khem Khaeng” - a tool to drive Thai economy
The future of the country meets with high un-certainty as it fully depends on the recovery of the global economy, coupled with the insecurity of the domestic political situation; therefore, the government, as the driver of the economy, needs to assess the risks and find ways to mitigate the effect of uncontrollable factors, otherwise the progress of the project and its impacts may only yield a short term result.
Miss Viriya Vorakittikun, President of the Thailand Marketing Research Society (TMRS), reveals that: “If the economy can recover quickly, it will benefit business entrepreneurs because today, companies are slowing down their investment and adopt a wait-and-see approach to prevent risks that may impact their businesses. As a result, if the economy can really recover and the confidence of investors is boosted enough to allocate more capital into the country, it will help encourage more investment in the industrial sector, which will create better income and more liquidity of investment sources.”
Dr. Phot Jaichansukkit, President of the Public Relations Society of Thailand (PRST), shares his opinion that: “From the entrepreneurs’ point of view, it is another important opportunity that the distribution of capital during the economic downturn under this scheme, through various projects funded by government backing and loans from commercial banks, will expand and rejuvenate the macroeconomic system benefiting large-scale entrepreneurs to grass-root levels. However, business entrepreneurs must adjust themselves and re-organize the company’s resources to match with the situation. For public relations professionals, it is closely linked to the overall economic landscape. It creates an environment of trust and confidence, stimulating consumer consumption whilst attracting capital investment, which impacts the overall market development. Content communication to the public is very important nowadays as there are vast communication channels and diverse topics of interest in each segment. In the recent past, both the government and private sectors have been holding up their business budget spending, as well as keeping their eyes on the clarity of the situation and political factors.”
Dr. Nalinee Paiboon, President of the Thai Direct Selling Association (TDSA), states that: “Although the concrete results from the scheme are still unclear, if consumer spending power can be increased, the Thai Direct Selling Association, one of the distributors of consumer goods, may gain benefits as consumers are happier with greater confidence and increased purchasing power. However, if the budget scheme is misdirected without transparency or without anticipated achievement, consumer’s purchasing power may actually be decreased.
The injection of capital from the government into the economic system is a good move to help drive forward the development of the country. Proper conduct of the economic-stimulus plan will be a shining beacon of hope for the Thai economy to continue progressing. It will enhance the employment rate and when the global economy starts to recover, Thailand’s international competitiveness will have a head start. In the long run, it is expected that the investment from 2009-2012 will help create approximately 1.6 to 2 million jobs. If this happens, consumption will be boosted, benefiting the whole business sector.
Create Consumer Market Excitement, Generate Liquidity
The index showing consumer confidence has been recovering steadily since the fourth quarter of 2008, and at a faster pace over the past 4 months (June to September 2009). Marketing communication campaigns, as well as business and social activities have been more actively launched, reflecting the overall picture of the consumer industry. But it still needs to boost more consumers’ purchasing power and increase demand from overseas markets, especially for the promotion of the service sector, tourism, agricultural produce and create added-value to local products and services.
The entire system, including the public as consumers and business operators will benefit from the “Thai Khem Khaeng” project, confirms Mr. Somboon Prasitjutrakul, President of the Marketing Association of Thailand: “This measure has expedited the market mechanism to a more alert atmosphere than that of half a year ago. The project kindles greater buying power, creates more spending from the grass-roots level up to the national level, which generates liquidity in the business system. In addition, the government will need to accelerate the generation of opportunities, which refers to providing of support, promotion, control and creating a strong investment atmosphere for business entrepreneurs. Basic infrastructure is an urgent matter to be taken into account in order to respond to the business growth and the development of people’s quality of life, including the quality of community and society to drive forward into the same direction.”
At the same time, a precaution to be concerned about is the changes that the world is now constantly facing. These changes involve technologies, sources of capital, regulations and policies, as well as consumption behaviors, all of which can contribute to difficulty and complication. Political and business factors from domestic and international impacts can also effect the operation of the “Thai Khem Khaeng” project in both the short and long term. These are all the concerns and risks that the government should consider important to the stake of the country.
Creative Economy; competitiveness must be enhanced by stressing added-value
“Projects under the creative economy concept, especially those which are related to the promotion of local wisdom can create potential to compete amidst changes and crises that occurred everywhere. Therefore, Thai business operators of both large-cap corporations and SMEs must decide to position their business and market in the right way. Branding has become essential to compete in the world’s markets, and the utilization of creative economy — a concept endorsed by the government - can be very advantageous to the business in terms of added value and expanded network of Thai creativity to further more registration of intellectual properties as the country’s legacy for the next generation,” Mr. Somboon Prasitjutrakul, President of the Marketing Association of Thailand, adds.
Mr. Witawat Jayapani, President of the Advertising Association of Thailand (AAT), describes the positive impacts of the project towards private sector that: “As an operator in the advertising industry, the business still exploits the income from advertising and in some initiatives under the ‘Thai Khem Khaeng’ project, can promote direct benefits to some of the association’s members. Furthermore, in the long term perspective, such as in the projects under the creative economy concept, there are a wide range of expectations that the government will allocate a budget to directly support the Thai advertising industry. The support can help develop the potentiality of advertising personnel and the employment sector can benefit from the budget instantly. Moreover, small, mid-sized and large investment projects can be run with more convenience and the quality of life will be boosted when all aspects of the infrastructure are complete, such as transportation, irrigation, sanitation and knowledge to equip people to compete in international markets through the use of creative economy.”
Mr. Witawat adds that: “All the five professional associations are delighted to join the brain storming session in the part that we hold expertise and professionalism, especially in the issues related to ‘creative economy,’ which contributes to the power of ‘creativity’ among the people of Thailand as often seen in the advertising industry, which has established a respected reputation on the international stage.”
To move Forward, It Takes Involvement from Every Party
Government and Private Sectors Need to Collaborate, not Contradict
Miss Viriya Vorakittikun, President of the Thailand Marketing Research Society (TMRS), emphasizes that: ‘’All parties have to take part in the historical investment ‘Thai Khem Khaeng 2555’ project. The interests we give to the project by following the updates, discussing issues on the project’s whereabouts, or sharing our views are considered an excellent way to form an inspective network from the public. It is seen as participation in the research process, because opinions and the results of discussion can draw a higher standard of prudence on budget spending for this mega-project. Public debate will encourage the project operators to consider the productivity of the conduct rather than to garnish the project with striking announcements. Significantly, participation of all parties is a way to create transparency that will benefit society.”
“Opinion surveys conducted with public bodies is an effective way to draw in all groups to take an active part in the process, rather than being mere observers. Studies and surveys have to be carried out systematically with clear-cut principals in order to be able to determine the success of the project. We are pleased to hear that the government has appointed a team of non-public personnel to inspect every aspect of the project. It is essential to follow the movement of the project closely, as well as to evaluate each minor project to match the allocated objectives. The Thailand Marketing Research Society has assessment mechanism for such projects to make sure that the operation is running according to the plan, utilizing the association’s tools for accurate measurement standards.”
Communicate clearly and in earnest, answering to all queries from the public
Dr. Phot, a communications guru, urges that: “The government needs to give importance to communications and understanding in public relations in a more efficient direction. Budgets should be allocated and means of public relations that are suitable and cost-effective should be rolled out through network expansion and connections. In the past, the communications directions of the operation plan focused more on perception and understanding towards the details of launching activities, including advertising and public relations via various media channels. The overall plan from the owner agencies has been described to the public through public relations. The development should also include an establishment of center for data management that serves as a hub for information collector, provider, inspector that can cater to the needs in the national and international stages, as well as the network of business organization, social sector to community through aggressive, timely, communications strategies.
The first part of the project, which has been performed well, includes the website: www.TKK2555.com, a center to provide indication on the development period, development of the project, the budget spending, and updates of each project. However, channels to communicate to the public at large should be leveraged in order to provide consistent reports for the people. Apart from this, the website should also consolidate the explanation of individual operations rather than to contradict different viewpoints - to create a transparent system of information announcement through the utilization of communications tools.
The heart of communications aspect, apart from the understanding and perception, is the two-way communications strategy which aims to stimulate feedback. This is a penetrative approach that can draw participation rather than a propaganda as its related information is clearer in content and a means of on-target communications with integrity.
Weak-points with Large Budget, Transparency is the Most Important Issue and should be Verifiable
Large budget spending must be transparent and clear. The government must move ahead with the the Thai Khem Khaeng” project with utmost caution and prudence. “The prevention of corruption through the appointment of an inspecting committee must be carried out and reports on the results of budget spending should be published. The prompt action on this matter should be performed alongside distribution of details and facts over a consistent period of time in every stage of the operation. The sincerity of operation has to be shown to the public at large.
The increased awareness from all parts of the country towards the projects under the “Thai Khem Khang 2555” especially the inspection of budget spending for proof of transparency before the actual deployment of plan is a good thing for the Thai behaviour, which refers to the habit of waiting until problems occur before dealing with it. The movement is an important foundation to create accountability of the country on the whole in the long run.
Dr. Nalinee Paiboon, President of the Thai Direct Selling Association (TDSA), concludes that: “These projects really use immeasurable amounts of budget and the profitability is still a question. Everyone now has queries about the transparency of the management and how to verify it. Maybe we should think about down-sizing the budget to reduce risks. There are several ways to help business operators and create employment without using a large amount of money. The thing that we should be concerned about most is the skills of government representatives to push forward the project successfully.”
All in all, the “Thai Khem Khaeng 2555” project is based on an excellent concept. If all operations can achieve their goals, the four economic drivers, which include government spending, public spending, tourism and exports, can help return Thailand to economic normalcy and growth. This will create confidence from investors in both domestic and international markets and will result in the sustainability of Thailand’s business growth. However, the government will need to reinforce all the procedures of the project concretely. Public relations for better understanding and collaboration from the public should be verified and inspected for thorough transparency.
This will guarantee an overview for several groups that are considering thorough inspection on each aspect of the project that may have immoral conducts. In the next step, how do we make these stakeholders move from passive to active participation to push forward the project that will contribute utmost benefits to the whole system of the country.