With an eye to enabling people who are interested in the Thailand market to get deeper insights into its startup environment, STARTBOARD launched Thailand Theme Night at C.C.Work, Terminal C on September 16th. In the event, Deputy Executive Director of
Thailand Trade and Economic Office, Mr. Phubadi La-Or-ngern, President of Thai – Taiwan Business Association, Ms. Hsiu Min Kuo and Legislator of Legislative Yuan, Ms. Karen Yu joined us as our guests. Apart from that, the speaker lineup included Chairman of Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand, Stanley Kang, who has been delving into business environment in Thailand for years, Managing Partner of Louis Management Consultant, Raymond Yu, who exemplified must-do risk analysis from the legal point of view, and Founder of Yallvend, Duncan Huang, elaborating on how they expanded to five countries within a year and set foot in Thailand.
【Beyond Thailand 4.0- The Value Economy Is on The Horizon】
Chairman of Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand- Stanley Kang
Based on real-life experiences, Mr. Stanley Kang was able to articulate the transformation taking place in Thailand in recent years. Aside from being a geographical pivot, more and more Chinese manufacturers shift production to Thailand, which gradually made Thai as the manufacturer of ASEAN. Thailand 4.0 was therefore generated along with alteration in industrial structures. Mr. Kang mentioned three fundamental elements, which are smart manufacturing, smart city, and intelligent people respectively. In this manner, the value economy based on trade and services as well as technical innovation will be booming as a trend. Meanwhile, by collaborating with Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), the flow of merchandise, talents, and cash can witness a free-flowing, facilitating the technical and market development. To wrap up his speech, Mr. Stanley indicated “ If you want to go fast go alone. if you want to go far go together.”
【Risk assessment and actual case analysis that should be understood when doing business in Thailand】
By combining logical thinking from science and technology and legal know-how, Mr. Yu experienced his transfer at work as an engineer to a counselor. Due to his personal experiences, he’s often enthusiastic about startup projects; nevertheless, kickstarting a business demands compatibility with different knowledge, evaluating potential risks at the same time. Mr. Yu pointed out several risks we need to care about before bounding into the Thai market — language barriers, the legal system, and local custom. First thing first, given that the government sector only receives the application in Thai, loss in translation may be gnawing at entrepreneurs. Additionally, intellectual property protection, trademark process, and holding shares of local partners all come up as problems. Last but not least, Mr. Yu shared one of the cases he ran into. There was such a foreigner who got wasted, doing the graffiti to portraits on the roadside. This guy ended up in jail since the portrait happened to be the monarch of Thailand. The respect for the king and the ruthless law are not outlanders could ever envision.
【The revolution of the vending machine industry】
Yallvend was founded during January 2019, and has already swamped up to five countries and delved into Thailand market. The CEO of Yallvend, Mr. Duncan Huang, blatantly indicated two main pain points that the vending machine industry has been witnessing. For the starters, this industry still sticks with traditional payment methods. Also, inventory management, as well as sales data, could be out of control. By putting their IoT solutions into use, thousands of idle machines can be upgraded without any destruction, in which both online payment and inventory tracking systems are provided. Aside from the vending machine industry, Yallvend also offers strategies with regard to industrial transformation and smart vending solutions to 7-11 the convenience store. Mr. Huang also shared their development in Thailand, inviting talents who are enthusiastic about the vending industry to join in, expanding business scale in Thailand.
The Q＆A section was nicely arranged, where several international and Taiwanese talents demonstrated ambition to jump at Thailand market by exchanging opinions and raising questions, ranging from foreign trade committee to industry expo, and even US-China trade war, whose impact has been heating on. At the end of the day, COO of STARTBARD, Uniform Lin stated: “ Aside from connecting with Thai community in Taiwan, we also provided The Entrepreneurial Manual for those brave enough to set foot in Taiwan; meanwhile, it’s also our measure to help Taiwanese startup team locate Thai talents more precisely.”