Bizarre Promotional Adverts for Thailand

[CTO]

SIPA - a semi independent body of ICT Ministry and Software Park are the two Thai Peak agencies who's roll is to promote "IT Development" in Thailand.

 

Both SIPA and Software Park have good and not so good points.

 

Software Park I'd rate first - a solid long line of clear leadership and success. The ex head is a great Thai - the current was his deputy from inception and also a great Thai. Both committed to promoting Thai Software Development and try to be impartial to politics.

 

SIPA has a cycle of rising and falling depending on the often changing leadership.

 

Has done some very good things - and other times nothing much at all.

 

Typical of Thailand two Ministries fight over the area - ICT and Science. Joining the Ministries together or making ICT a application layer above all Ministries is a better idea than how the system is currently run.

[ThaiHome]

What would any of that have to do with a company deciding to build a large factory and/or office in Thailand and needing buy computers/servers, setup a LAN, get external connectivity and hire local IT support people?

TH

[CTO]

Exactly what SIPA and Software Park does - help with the BOI applications - my old company ended up leasing production lines (mentioned in another thread) getting BOI status - and employing 20+ people for operations here.

 

SIPA exhibits at trade shows around the region - trying to offering inducements for companies to move here.

 

Software Park leases out office space at Chaeng Wattana - I think they have 8 floors there.

 

They hold match maker events for people to meet suppliers etc.

[tartempion]

Is this about promoting investment in Thailands IT?

 

Years ago I tried here to set-up a VOIP business to exploit the empty market (nothing was available).

 

But we soon found out that the monopoly from CAT would not allow anyone to set up some business, all against the rules of WTO. WTO threatened Thailand and Thailand took years to comply with the most basic issues at hand. In the mean time they spent years to set up a VOIP infrastructure with CISCO hardware, and when they were ready at last they conformed, killing possible competition.

 

Then two years ago I got involved in the setting up of a company in Bangkok providing video on demand combined with wifi in 5/4 star hotels.

The infrastructure cost to the hotels would be inexistant, the customers paying the services on their hotel bill and thus recouping our investment cost, the hotel keeping a % of the business. The company finally gave up fighting with the Thai administration ( although we had rented office space and brought/hired some start up staff)and opened business in an other country (Bangkok was planned as their second operation)

 

One has to be foolish to try to run an IT business here, thus the same goes for IT investments. After 20 years of Thailand I must conclude that those who run the show here at any level are just a bunch of idiots.

[CTO]

You touch on areas I am involved in - and I tend to disagree - I've sold VOIP gear - VOD gear - many times the problem to advancing was the Thais stuck to redundant systems because they paid.

[tartempion]

CTO, I don't know what era you're referring to, I talk from the days before the NCC and Thailand just kept on postponing naming the 4 directors, due to "political uncertainties"

Not a single internet shop was allowed to offer VOIP (they would be fined and closed down) and one of the 12 ISP's was threatened to be closed down because at some point they did offer VOIP services.

They soon withdrew their VOIP services.

 

We (at WTL - World Telecom Labs) dropped out and did business in Pakistan, India, Mongolia, Iran, Irak etc in stead.

[CTO]

I was around then - selling GSM Gateways - for VOIP - biggest people buying where there "legal" telcos -regardless it was a very grey area.

 

Video on Demand failed due to content restrictions though - and the strangle hold the company the hotels had all signed too for IT access.

 

BUT

 

This is a far better conversation to be held at the pink house

 

Which day?

[ThaiHome]

I actually think the advert was probably aimed at non-IT companies, but you IT types can discuss anything else, hence the discussion on Thai programmers and now VOIP companies.

 

TH

[tartempion]

Ah, not this month, I am in France to take care of my ailing father, will be back home early November, a visit to pink house then is a must to recover from jet lag.

[shygye]

I disagree; from the perspective of a company looking to setup in Thailand the IT infrastructure is advanced and open. We run a main office with about 200 people and 5 site offices of about 20 people each all connected to the company’s WAN. We have very good connectivity, running our e-mail (from central servers in Singapore) as well as our Oracle based document system. I can access data stored on severs all over the world with no problems.

 

What more does a company need? Unrestricted access to porn web sites? Access to website slandering the King and the country in general? (We actually have that as we connect to the internet outside Thailand). I don’t think so. If you can think of a problem with Thailand’s infrastructure that might impact a company, would like to hear it.

TH

 

I agree TH! Thailands IT infrastructure is great as long as your real IT center is in Singapore!