dtac story

How a mother of three used the internet to launch a profitable healthy food subscription service

As the saying goes, “You are what you eat.” Our food choices impact our health, and not just physically. Many studies confirm that a healthy, well-balanced diet can also help prevent anxiety and depression. Healthy food is what helped 60-year-old Natsuda Srisawat from Chon Buri brave the unexpected storms in her life, and in the lives of her family members. Children with Chronic Health Issues Her journey began with her three children, who all happened to suffer from chronic health challenges. At the age of one, her eldest child developed respiratory disorders. Her second child began suffering from asthma since he was eight months old. And her youngest child has had the biggest problems of all. He is allergic to many food types since birth, so much so that it made it challenging to get key nutrients. For example, he cannot consume cow’s milk, eggs, or vegetables. As a result, he had to rely heavily on breast milk, rice, and soy sauce. What’s more, overwork, little rest, and the responsibilities of caring for her children also caused Ms. Natsuda’s health to deteriorate, to the point that she even developed septicemia. And as luck would have it, by the time she…

How Veteran Tour Guides-Turned-Entrepreneurs Went Online and Revived a Traditional Craft

In 2019, tourism accounted for 20 percent of Thailand’s GDP. At the height of the tourism boom, the industry employed some three million people. But in early 2020, in the face of an intensifying COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of countries, including Thailand, closed their borders to all but essential travel. Thai tourism plunged into turmoil. The business impact was devastating, and a huge number of people lost their jobs. Chiang Mai-based veteran tour guide, Ms. Nawaporn Chaijan, was among them. COVID-19 Dooms People in Tourism Industry “Before the COVID-19 outbreak, I made a lot of money because I worked almost every day. As soon as one trip ended, another trip began,” Ms. Nawaporn recalls. “But when COVID-19 emerged, it was the end.” The 52-year-old freelance tour guide had worked in her field for well over two decades, with Spanish, Portuguese and South American tourists as her main customer groups. She had seen the ups and downs of tourism several times before, pulling through Black May, the bird flu crisis, and also Thailand’s political unrest. None of these compared to COVID-19, which has dragged on for more than two years now. Thanks to her savings, Ms. Nawaporn fortunately had enough money to…

How a housewife from Chon Buri revived a disappearing heritage dish and built a successful online business in the process

Food doesn’t just fill the stomach. When made with care and soul, it can lift the spirit and delight the heart. It’s no wonder that even in this age of haute cuisine and quick-service restaurant culture, people continue to yearn for time-honored comfort food – flavors that remind them of family and transport them back home. Chon Buri is well-known as one of Thailand’s most important port cities – but it also has a proud culinary heritage. Stretching over dozens of kilometers, its shoreline has been home of hundreds of fishermen villages, and many unique dishes trace their origins back to this way of life. As the world changes and communities relocate, however, these beloved dishes – the iconic “sauteed pork” among them – are slowly fading from cultural memory. A Recipe Passed From Generation to Generation Chon Buri resident and mother of three, Palita “Pan” Wattakavanich, 51, is passionate about this quintessential dish and its history. She explains that the preparation for sauteed pork came about at a time when food preservation technology was quite rudimentary. When the fishermen’s catch was particularly huge, some of the fish would be sun-dried and preserved as “salty fish”, which could be kept…

Telenor – Building a new telecom-tech company in Thailand for growth 2.0

During a briefing with media in Thailand, Sigve Brekke, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Telenor Group and Jorgen Rostrup, EVP and Head of Telenor Asia, Telenor Group talked about Telenor’s ambition to build great telecom-tech companies in Thailand and Asia. The roundtable discussion happened one day after Telenor and Axiata received regulatory clearance in Malaysia to move on to the next steps with the Celcom-Digi merger in that market. When Telenor enter the Thai market 20 years ago, the company’s vision was that every Thai deserves a mobile phone and should be able to afford it. Telenor launched market-changing initiatives such as per-second billing and new marketing and distribution models to bring affordability to the masses. Today, Thailand’s mobile phone penetration is 86% with 98.5 million mobile connections. That was what Sigve Brekke called Telenor’s growth 1.0 in Thailand. For the next 20 years, Telenor’s growth in Thailand will look very different. Sigve Brekke said that the telecommunications industry is facing a perfect storm with new technologies – artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and 5G - coming together. It will no longer be about connecting people together but connecting machines and physical objects to the Internet. There will…

Fight Cyberbullying with Bully Fighter – a Board Game Based on Self-Respect and Self-Love

Due to their underdeveloped emotional maturity, children are far more impacted by cyberbullying than adults. As such, young people are the target group requiring the most vigilant protection and remedy. At the same time, educating children needs to be fun and age-appropriate. These concerns led to the development of Bully Fighter. A creative and fun board game, it plays similarly to Monopoly with game play progressing via dice-rolling and obstacles. In this game, the obstacles involve bullying scenarios where players have to explain how they would get themselves out of those situations. The role-playing component encourages players to understand and learn how to handle cyberbullying, yet still enjoy themselves while playing a game. Bully Fighter is the brainchild of four students - Pich Paholpak, Nanpawin Teeranangsu, Sanhanat Phanichnantanakul and Jeerun Wechapinan. – who participated in the Young Safe Internet Leader Cyber Camp Season 3 back in 2021. It was organized by dtac Safe Internet and Telenor Group in collaboration with Plan International (Thailand). These students had previously participated in the Paper Ranger volunteer project which upcycled partially-used A4 paper into handmade notebooks for underprivileged children upcountry. The project mascot, “Paper Ranger”, was a hero similar to superheroes in pop culture.…

How Data Privacy is Coded into dtac’s corporate DNA

As of June 1, 2022, the long-awaited Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 or PDPA has finally come into effect after a two-year delay. The Cabinet had postponed the PDPA’s enforcement twice when the outbreak of Covid-19 made it difficult for enterprises to make adequate preparations to comply with this new law. Despite its postponement, dtac began internal preparations in 2018 to comply with the PDPA given the importance it places on customers' privacy. dtac started its preparations by referring in part to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Privacy as Fundamental Right Montri Stapornkul, an expert in personal-data management and dtac’s Data Privacy Officer (DPO), said dtac puts the principles of good governance and human rights at the heart of its business operations. Privacy, as a fundamental human right, has received a lot of attention from many countries because it underpins many other rights and freedoms. PDPA is rooted in the idea of “restoring a fundamental right” of Thais. This right has to do with privacy, which is protected under the Thai constitution. Privacy is a broad concept, covering bodily privacy, communication privacy, territorial privacy, and information privacy. The three core elements of PDPA are: Transparency: Enterprises…

Biodiversity Means National Security: What lies inside the National Biobank’s Vault

Through a joint research project between dtac, NECTEC and Chaipattana Foundation, Lingzhi mushrooms herald massive benefits for Thailand’s future Thailand ranks among the world’s richest countries in terms of biodiversity. In ASEAN, it is the third-most biodiverse. Around 10% of the world’s fauna species can be found here, as well as 8% of all flora species. In fact, at least 20,000 plant types are known to grow on Thai soil. But during the past five decades, the rate of species extinction has been hundreds of times higher than the rate of species discovery. This net loss is due to human encroachment, habitat loss, natural disasters and climate change. Recognizing this problem, dtacblog spoke to Sissades Thongsima, CEO of the National Biobank of Thailand. His agency is in charge of protecting what he likes to call “the country’s bio-security.” National Infrastructure for Biodiversity Dr. Sissades said that the biodiversity of fauna/flora species and microorganisms has historically been one of Thailand’s strengths. Such diversity is a precious resource that can be utilized for economic purposes. However, even Thailand’s level of abundance is exhaustible. Aware of this fact, the Thai government in 2018 approved a budget of roughly THB 800 million for the…

Breakthrough Research in Lingzhi Mushroom Cultivation in Thailand

In Thailand, farmers are recognized as the country’s backbone. But the Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Researchreports that 40 percent of Thai farmers live below the poverty line. Their economic and social development was a strong focus of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who established the Chaipattana Foundation in 1988 to develop practical solutions to benefit his people. With this goal in mind, the foundation’s Highland Agriculture Research and Development Project is now collaborating with dtac for a 5G “Internet of Things” solution set to enhance the cultivation of the lucrative lingzhi mushrooms. Agricultural Lab Anutra Wannaviroj, director of the Highland Agriculture Research and Development Project, says HRH Princess Maha Chakri Siridhorn established the research center to develop agriculture in Thailand’s North. The Chinese government also provided investment in the form of products, machinery, personnel, plants, and technology transfers. Spanning 578 rai (231 acres) of land in Pong Nam Ron, in Chiang Mai, the project aims to train farmers and agricultural experts, making it the “agricultural lab” of the North. Ms. Anutra explains that the project’s operations are designed to match the geosocial context of the surrounding area. The project facilitates studies, experiments and the development of comprehensive organic-farming management…

When international tourism stopped, this retired Batik pioneer from Phuket went online to save local handicrafts

Phuket has now dropped all COVID-19 testing for international travelers and is fully open for tourism Starting May 1, Thailand has lifted all COVID-19 testing and is reopened for fully vaccinated international tourists. A perennially popular destination such as Phuket is expected to see new waves of international travelers flying in, which will no doubt bring a much-needed economic boost to the so-called “Pearl of Andaman”. The island-province’s moniker isn’t just a reference to its picturesque location in the Andaman Sea, but also to its beautiful natural landscapes. With its powdery beaches and turquoise waters, Phuket sits comfortably among the world’s top destinations. Aside from its magnificent nature, Phuket is also culturally rich, with diverse influences from ethnic tribes, navigators, and foreign merchants who came to the Phuket during the Ayutthaya period. Simply put, Phuket is a melting pot – and batik is one if its many treasures. Origin of Phuket Batik Patcharee “Piew” Sangjan, 62, is a pensioner. But even before she retired from the Office of the Non-Formal and Informal Education as a senior-professional-level supervisor, she pioneered the art of batik-making in Phuket. Born in Nakhon Si Thammarat, she has had a passion for painting since she…

Chiang Rai senior entrepreneur goes digital to save her hilltribe clothing business and improve the rights of stateless people

In June 2018, the world fixated on Thailand’s mission to rescue the 12 Wild Boars footballers and their coach who went missing inside Tham Luang cave in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai. The cave became heavily flooded soon after the Wild Boars soccer team ventured in. They were trapped in the darkness, but were eventually safely rescued from the cave 18 days later, bringing an end to the operation dubbed “Thailand’s Miracle Cave Rescue”. But the rescue mission also shed light on a human rights issue, as three of the Wild Boars footballers and their 25-year-old coach were stateless ethnic minorities. Complex Challenges in Mae Sai Mae Sai district is located next to the Thai-Myanmar border. Before the pandemic and the 2021 Myanmar coup, it was a major border crossing, frequented by both Thai and Burmese merchants. The area is also home to stateless ethnic minorities who often face exposure to poverty, drugs, and human trafficking. “About 15 years ago, Mae Sae was a thriving border town with a high volume of investment and trade. But over time, we started witnessing problems like prostitution and illegal entries. Many men came to Mae Sai to earn a living as laborers while…

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