Food & Fun at USA Fair 2009-Clean & Green

The American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (AMCHAM) joins hands with The U.S. Embassy to present USA Fair 2009-Clean & Green, where top American brands will be displaying and selling their products and services. The annual event, under the theme “Clean & Green”, will be held on 19-22 November 2009 at Royal Paragon Hall on the 5th floor of Siam Paragon Shopping Complex. Well-known model Sirinya Bishop will also attend the event as the fair’s Ambassador for this year, accompanied by the event’s mascot, Mr. Clean & Green Fair Bear.


To celebrate the success of eco-friendly businesses, AMCHAM in association with Amway (Thailand) Limited, American International Assurance Company, Limited – Thailand (AIA Thailand), Coca-Cola (Thailand) Limited, Dow Chemical Thailand Limited, and Ford Sales & Service (Thailand) Co., Ltd. will hold the USA Fair 2009-Clean & Green. Participants will learn about climate control policy as introduced by US president Barack Obama, and many other interesting ‘Clean & Green’ ideas such as an organic farm practicing natural way to control pests and diseases, the process of clean and green chemistry, activities about science and education, green car with a class-leading fuel-efficient technologies, and other environmentally-friendly projects.

Mr. David Carden, AMCHAM President said “This year, we are excited to pursue under the Obama Administration, the U.S. policies energy and environment to advance energy and climate securities to promote economic recovery efforts, accelerate job creation, and drive clean energy manufacturing.”

Mr. Preecha Prakobkit, Managing Director of Amway (Thailand) Limited said “Amway has been an AMCHAM member for 22 years and has been supporting the USA Fair for 4 years in a row. Amway realizes that the fair always offers quality products and activities which benefits both people and society. This idea is really compatible with the policy of Amway, especially the theme of the fair this year ‘Clean and Green’ which helps promote the environmental friendly and corporate social responsibility projects to which Amway also commits. Amway would like to take this great opportunity to present our organic farm practicing natural way to control pests and diseases, no-animal tested products, recycle packages which are all environmental-friendly and consumer-oriented at the same time. Please come and visit us at our organic farm model where visitors could learn about sustainability and environmental friendly farming methods with a lot of souvenirs to giveaway and interesting activities for you to join at Amway booth.”

Mr. Michael Parker, Chief Marketing Officer of American International Assurance Company, Limited – Thailand (AIA Thailand) said, “AIA Thailand has been operating life insurance business in Thailand for more than 70 years. We think of ourselves as innovators but in line with sustainability and longevity. One of AIA Thailand’s core policies is to instill a “Think Green” concept to our people both at work and at home. At work, we engage our people in energy saving and reducing the environmental impact of our business operations, particularly through reduced electricity and paper usage. Our “Operation Green” concept centers on targeting new ways that high technology can result in smarter and more efficient process. The adoption of Imaging and Workflow technology and e-Worksheet are examples of Operation Green projects which save time, office materials and energy.

AIA Thailand also organizes Green Activities by bringing AIA Smile Volunteers, our employee volunteer program, to be Green Ambassadors in reforestation projects. We also invite AIA staff to initiate Green Projects that can better the environment and address climate change through our Be Green with AIA project.”

Mr. Jorge Garduno, General Manager of Coca-Cola (Thailand) Limited said "Coca-Cola is delighted to once again sponsor the USA Fair in support of strong ties between the Kingdom of Thailand and the USA. We're particularly pleased to support the 'Clean and Green' theme of this year's Fair given its fit with our sustainability focus at Coca-Cola. From community water projects to multi-year recycling initiatives, we are committed to making a positive difference in the world by making sustainability part of everything we do."

Dr. Molly Peifang Zhang, Country Manager of Dow Chemical Thailand Limited added "Our 2015 sustainability goals focus on Sustainable Chemistry, Breakthroughs to World Challenges, Energy Efficiency, Addressing Climate Change, Contributing to Community Success, Product Safety Leadership, and Local Protection of Human Health and the Environment. Connecting chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability supports Dow's vision to be to be the largest, most profitable, most respected chemical company in the world. In our booth, we will show how clean and green chemical processes can be and how chemical products are essential to human progress. We will also have a science and education zone with activities and games about science."

Mr. Saroj Kiatfuengfoo, Senior Vice President, Ford Thailand said "Ford is committed to our global vision of sustainable mobility. This is being supported, in part, by Ford's innovative fuel-efficient technologies like our Powershift transmission technology that the Ford Focus TDCi Powershift is equipped with. The six-speed Powershift transmission and commonrail Duratorque engine combine to deliver unmatched fuel economy in its class at 17.8km/l. Additionally, the Focus TDCi Powershift is B5-capable"

Thai-American supermodel Sirinya Bishop has been chosen as this year’s event ambassador with a well-known history of charity work. She has taken part in the Friends of Habitat Build by Habitat for Humanity Thailand by helping to build shelters for those in need. This year, Sirinya will act as the event’s ambassador along side Mr. Clean & Green Fair Bear.

Come and experience the total American lifestyle and take part in a vast number of activities. Shop and enjoy American brand products, have fun with Cartoon Network Live! On Stage – Power of the Omnitrix, taste American food and beverages, and have a blast with your family at USA Fair 2009, held from 19-22 November, at Royal Paragon Hall 3, Siam Paragon Shopping Complex. The official opening ceremony will take place on 19 November.

Siam Park case a matter of safety

       Public must not be distracted by land sale when answers and compensation are due victims of lax standardsIf Siam Park's own history is anything to go by, the chances of another accident happening there soon - like the one in which 28 children were hurt last weekend - are greater than the possibility of the controversial amusement-park complex being sold to a new owner. The expressed wish of apparently depressed park president Chaiwat Leungamornphan to sell the 26-year-old facility for Bt5 billion has stirred up some sympathy for its heavily criticised management, but it has diverted attention from the real issue - accountability and the responsibilities of present and future investors in amusement parks. The usual public outrage in the wake of such an incident was limited this time, with reporters scurrying to interview potential buyers and park employees.
       Chaiwat must have been disheartened by this latest accident, the collapse of a water slide that injured 28 kids on Children's Day. What we cannot get, though, is how that could have happened just three months after the tragic death of a female visitor to the same park. On another public holiday last October, Patchadaporn Kongkarian was on the "Indiana Log Ride" when a sudden drop in power caused the water-pumping mechanism to fail, sending her boat plunging at a higher speed and crashing into the "log" ahead of it.
       Her death prompted similar responses, reactions and excuses, explicit or covert. Expressing their regret, park officials promised enhanced awareness and, while insisting standardised safety measures were already in place, they pledged to improve them. Little was said about another accident five years ago, when a Japanese tourist was injured on the same ride at the same park. It was unclear what caused Tomomitsu Kitagava, 32, to suffer back injuries to the extent that he could not move or get out of the ride by himself, but the Patchadaporn tragedy apparently had not served as a big alarm for the park management.
       Should Chaiwat sell his park? The above record speaks for itself and it should provide the appropriate answer. The question is how serious he really is about selling it. Another question has to do with what motivated him to come out and make the announcement. Was it regret? Or was it a desperate man talking, who was staring at potentially staggering compensation suits or even legal action?
       Other questions have been asked. Will he still sell the park for a profit, knowing that going on by himself might result in lives continuing to be endangered? How has the park, which values itself at Bt5 billion, compensated accident victims, past and present? Who has actually performed inspection and maintenance checks at the park? How often have they done it? Why were children allowed to play on the water slides in big groups? Wasn't that a violation of some basic safety rule?
       Last but not least, what will he do if he can't sell the park? Will he continue to operate it the same old way - expressing sadness one day and adopting a business-as-usual approach the next? Has he come to accept that his financial situation and the way the park has been managed are the main factors behind these accidents?
       Chaiwat is known to have been struggling financially while running the park. That is anything but a solid excuse. While his apparently unwavering intention to offer a source of fun to children and adults alike is laudable, he operates a facility where safety can't be compromised to suit financial circumstances. In other businesses, a person can say he has done his best and would only have to say sorry when his best isn't good enough. As for amusement parks, when one's best isn't good enough, it often ends in tragedy.
       Park employees expressed sympathy with Chaiwat and confirmed he had been fighting hard to keep the facility open. There have also reportedly been some phone calls to give him moral support and urge him not to sell. The media, meanwhile, have been rather lenient following the dramatic press conference after the latest accident. As expected, the emotional announcement has blurred the real issue - which is about safety at amusement parks, not about keeping a place where children can play for the price of admission.
       Chaiwat may harbour good intentions. Yet somehow, his apparent determination to make people happy has led to a few ironic results. Good intentions are not enough when what one offers are thrilling rides that rely on every nut and screw to be in place or the opposite of happiness will be the result.

Magnificent seven

       In the most important, most revered event since the invention of the brontosaurus trap,Microsoft shipped the most incredibly fabulous operating system ever made; the release of Windows 7 also spurred a new generation of personal computers of all sizes at prices well below last month's offers.The top reason Windows 7 does not suck: There is no registered website called Windows7Sucks.com
       Kindle e-book reader maker Amazon.com and new Nook e-book reader vendor Barnes and Noble got it on; B&N got great reviews for the "Kindle killer"Nook, with dual screens and touch controls so you can "turn" pages, plays MP3s and allows many non-B&N book formats, although not the Kindle one;Amazon then killed the US version of its Kindle in favour of the international one, reduced its price to $260(8,700 baht), same as the Nook; it's not yet clear what you can get in Thailand with a Nook, but you sure can't (yet) get much, relatively speaking, with a Kindle;but here's the biggest difference so far,which Amazon.com has ignored: the Nook lets you lend e-books to any other Nook owner, just as if they were paper books; the borrowed books expire on the borrower's Nook in two weeks.
       Phone maker Nokia of Finland announced it is suing iPhone maker Apple of America for being a copycat; lawyers said they figure Nokia can get at least one, probably two per cent (retail) for every iPhone sold by Steve "President for Life" Jobs and crew via the lawsuit,which sure beats working for it -$6 (200 baht) to $12(400 baht) on 30 million phones sold so far, works out to $400 million or 25 percent of the whole Apple empire profits during the last quarter;there were 10 patent thefts, the Finnish executives said, on everything from moving data to security and encryption.
       Nokia of Finland announced that it is one month behind on shipping its new flagship N900 phone, the first to run on Linux software; delay of the $750(25,000 baht) phone had absolutely no part in making Nokia so short that it had to sue Apple, slap yourself for such a thought.
       Tim Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web, said he had one regret:the double slash that follows the "http:"in standard web addresses; he estimated that 14.2 gazillion users have wasted 48.72 bazillion hours typing those two keystrokes, and he's sorry; of course there's no reason to ever type that, since your browser does it for you when you type "www.bangkokpost.com" but Tim needs to admit he made one error in his lifetime.
       The International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations, which doesn't sell any phones or services, announced that there should be a mobile phone charger that will work with any phone; now who would ever have thought of that, without a UN body to wind up a major study on the subject?;the GSM Association estimates that 51,000 tonnes of chargers are made each year in order to keep companies able to have their own unique ones.
       The Well, Doh Award of the Week was presented at arm's length to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; the group's deputy secretary-general Petko Draganov said that developing countries will miss some of the stuff available on the Internet if they don't install more broadband infrastructure; a report that used your tax baht to compile said that quite a few people use mobile phones but companies are more likely to invest in countries with excellent broadband connections; no one ever had thought of this before, right?
       Sun Microsystems , as a result of the Oracle takeover, said it will allow 3,000 current workers never to bother coming to work again; Sun referred to the losses as "jobs," not people; now the fourth largest server maker in the world, Sun said it lost $2.2 billion in its last fiscal year; European regulators are holding up approval of the Oracle purchase in the hope of getting some money in exchange for not involving Oracle in court cases.
       The multi-gazillionaire and very annoying investor Carl Icahn resigned from the board at Yahoo ; he spun it as a vote of confidence, saying current directors are taking the formerly threatened company seriously; Yahoo reported increased profits but smaller revenues in the third quarter.
       The US House of Representatives voted to censure Vietnam for jailing bloggers; the non-binding resolution sponsored by southern California congresswoman Loretta Sanchez said the Internet is "a crucial tool for the citizens of Vietnam to be able to exercise their freedom of expression and association;"Hanoi has recently jailed at least nine activists for up to six years apiece for holding pro-democracy banners. Iran jailed blogger Hossein "Hoder" Derakshan for 10 months - in solitary confinement.

Creatures of the Lost Ocean

       Many of us have felt excited when watching adventure films or documentaries related to creatures of the ancient world. For these school holidays, Siam Ocean World is bringing you back to ancient times with "Creatures of the Lost Ocean". The festival will feature a live interactive show,"The Big World of The Sea Turtles",which is the story of the sea turtle and how it has fought for millions of years to survive till now. Through exhibition boards and fossil-digging activities,children can learn about sea turtles and other ancient mysterious creatures.
       "Creatures of the Lost Ocean" will run until November 8 at Siam Ocean World,B1 and B2 floors, Siam Paragon. For more information, call 02-687-2000.

Panda cub's prints taken

       Chiang Mai Zoo staff took prints of panda cub Lin Ping's front paw yesterday to create the world's first such record of the special thumblike pad that helps pandas grab bamboo shoots.
       Staff wanted to get prints of both the 20weekold panda's paws but settled for the right paw only after the cub put up a struggle. Veterinarian Kannika Nimtrakul said the prints were made as a souvenir and education aid.
       Besides the five clawed finฌgers on its paw, a panda has an extra bone that works like an opposable thumb.
       Lin Ping now weighs 11 kiloฌgrams and is growing faster than the average cub, putting on 120130 grams per day. Zookeepers have installed a climbing frame in its cage to help the cub learn to use its hands and mouth to climb. They have also tried to coax Lin Ping to eat a snack enjoyed by many of its peers in China - chopped up bamboo shoots.
       The cub turns five months old on October 27 and the zoo is marking the occasion with a nod to the Loy Krathong festiฌval that runs from November 13. From the end of this month visitors to the panda section will get to see Lin Ping sit on her very own giant krathong.
       October 27 will also see five floating lanterns released. Inside each will be a panda doll and a ticket to the panda secฌtion, which will go to the lucky person who finds the lantern.

Mall's animal exhibit described as "torture"

       Environmentalists have accused the organisers of the "King of the Jungle"wildlife exhibition at the Emporium shopping mall of animal torture.
       "A white tiger is locked up in a confined cage, a young jumbo is forced to walk around under the scorching sun to promote the event, while the nocturnal barn owl has to endure flashlights from visitors' cameras," said Vanchai Tantivitayapitak, deputy secretarygeneral of the Green World Foundation.
       The King of the Jungle Flora & Fauna Exotica runs from Oct 8 to 18 with free admission. It is co-organised by several state agencies, such as the Zoological Park Organisation (ZPO), the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry,the Chiang Mai Night Safari, and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
       Among the animals and plants displayed at the shopping complex are a lion, a meerkat, a rusa deer, a bateared fox, an ostrich and lemurs.
       Mr Vanchai said the exhibition was a distasteful marketing strategy that abuses wildlife for business purposes.
       "All of the animals on display are apparently stressed because they are kept in an unsuitable environment. They can even go into shock and die," he said.
       The veteran environmentalist blasted the ZPO for cooperating with business people to exploit the animals.
       Rangsarit Kanchanavanich, of the Sueb Nakhasathien Foundation, said state and private agencies misunderstood that the display of animals in shopping malls would raise environmental awareness among the public.
       "This kind of activity is torturing animals and will send a wrong signal to younger generations that humans can do anything with these creatures,"he said.
       Amphan Patharakorn,the Emporium's operations general manager, said the event, held under the theme "Save the world. Save the wild",was aimed at promoting environmental awareness and educating children about wild animals.
       The animals were being taken care of by a team of veterinarians from state agencies.
       "The veterinarians are on standby to look after the animals and to ensure the safety of visitors," she said.
       ZPO chief Sophon Damnui said the animals had been hired from zoos and farms so they were used to crowds."Moreover, they will only be [at the shopping mall] for 10 days, not forever,"he said.

Busch theme parks sold for $2.3 billion

       Anheuser-Busch InBev said on Wednesday it would sell its 10 theme parks across the US, including the three SeaWorlds and two Busch Gardens, to the private equity firm Blackstone Group for at least $2.3 billion.
       The world's largest brewer, based in Belgium, has been shedding assets to help pay for the $52 billion takeover of St Louis-based Anheuser-Busch that formed the company last year.
       The two sides confirmed the deal on Wednesday, saying Blackstone would pay $2.3 billion in cash for Busch Entertainment Corp and give Anheuser-Busch InBev the right to up to $400 million of Blackstone's initial returns.
       New York-based Blackstone's other investments include Universal Studios Orlando and Madame Tussauds wax museums so the theme parks fit into its portfolio.
       Some amusement park operators are showing signs of stress amid the recession. Six Flags Inc, saddled by debt,is in bankruptcy court protection. And the nation's top amusement park operator, The Walt Disney Co, is offering numerous discounts and specials to keep visitors coming - and spending money.
       Blackstone sees opportunity investing in media and entertainment businesses,said Michael Chae, senior managing director at Blackstone.
       "We are delighted to be investing in a company with such iconic brands,irreplaceable assets and strong growth prospects," he said.
       The company declined to detail its plans."Blackstone probably will try to get visitors to spend more at the parks by starting to charge money for extras like taking pictures with characters,"said David Miller, an analyst with Caris & Co.
       Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito said last year as InBev took over Anheuser-Busch that the company would sell $7 billion in non-essential assets to help pay for the deal. The company has sold its Irish and Scottish businesses,factories and some interests in Asia.
       Brito said in a statement on Wednesday that the theme parks "perform well but are not a focus for the brewer."
       Busch Entertainment's 10 parks include SeaWorlds in Florida, Texas and California; Busch Gardens in Florida and Virginia and others such as Sesame Place and Adventure Island.
       Busch is considered the second-largest US entertainment park operator with about 25 million visitors a year and 25,000 employees.
       The company benefits from a diverse geography, including parks in vacation destinations like San Diego and in regional hubs. That means people can make spur-of-the-moment decisions to visit them and don't have to plan a full vacation, which they're less likely to do during the recession, Caris & Co's Miller said.
       "You don't need an airline reservation or a hotel reservation. You get in your car. You grab your kid and say let's go to Busch Gardens," he said.
       It's not clear how much the business is worth. According to Anheuser-Busch InBev's annual report from 2008, the entertainment unit had pro-forma revenue of 932 million, or about $1.37 billion. The parent company has not included the unit's quarterly performance in its results this year.