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HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

HEILER (Siam) Ltd. invests 3 million baht on new Bangkok showroom

Ex-US President Clinton backs Thailand on compulsory licensing

PTT, subsidiaries to invest Bt600 billion in next five years


HEILER (Siam) Ltd. invests 3 million baht on new Bangkok showroom

“All for the customer” and “just being different” are the key philosophies of HEILER, the German manufacturer of quality, frameless shower doors, with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. This is underlined not only in the comprehensive consultancy, delivery and installation by their own trained personal, but especially in the individual solutions and extra services offered to each customer.

HEILER (Siam) Ltd offer high-quality custom made shower doors to their discerning customers.

“Every shower door is unique and tailor made”, says Martin Fuenkner, the Managing Director of HEILER (Siam) Ltd. “About 95% of our work load is taken up with special orders, which are often refused by other manufacturers. And, despite being custom maid, we have a very fast order processing system whereby it’s rare for more than 5 working days to be needed from first measurement to final installation.
“This gives us the edge, not only for individual retail customers but also for the larger residential constructions like the Wongamat Residence, Nirvana Place, La Royale Beach or Siam Royal View projects in Pattaya”, he added.
In order to offer more possibilities and choices to its customer base, HEILER has now invested a further 3 million baht in renovating their new showroom on Srinakarin Road in Bangkok, close to Seacon Square. The showroom is strategically located for easy access to customers from both Bangkok and Pattaya.
Following the completion of the renovations in mid of May, HEILER will be open for business 7 days a week, 12 hours a day in order to better facilitate it’s customers’ requirements.
“Bangkok is certainly our home base, however, after Pattaya, where we have a sample display in Kanyong Homestore on Sukhumvit Road, we are already looking at expansion in Hua Hin as the community there already knows our products and services from Europe” concluded Mr. Fuenkner on the company’s future plans.
HEILER (Siam) Ltd. can be found at 1045 Shira Building, Srinakarin Road, Suan Luang, Bangkok 10250, Tel. 02 704 6101-2, Fax. 02 704 6279, e-mail: [email protected], webpage: www.Heiler-Siam.com


Ex-US President Clinton backs Thailand on compulsory licensing

Thailand’s stance on compulsory licensing won international backing after former US president Bill Clinton announced his full support for the kingdom’s decision to override patents on key drugs to allow the country’s poor to have access to essential medicines, Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla asserted last week.
Speaking in a telephone interview from the United States last Wednesday, Dr. Mongkol said Mr. Clinton backed Thailand’s decision to import or produce generic versions of key drugs.
The minister spoke after signing an agreement to purchase key cheaper drugs in bulk in tandem with other developing countries.
Clinton announced agreements with drug companies last Tuesday to lower the price of so-called “second-line” AIDS drugs for patients in the developing world and to make a once-a-day HIV-AIDS pill available for less than one US dollar a day, or about 20 per cent of a low-income workers daily wage in Bangkok.
Since leaving office in 2001, Bill Clinton has used the foundation that carries his name to tackle the global AIDS epidemic. Some 750,000 people are currently receiving drug treatments for Aids through the foundation.
“We are not coming here today to ask what Americans can do for us,” Dr. Mongkol announced at a press conference with Mr. Clinton. “We’ve come to commit our collective effort to bargain for high quality and low priced drugs in order to free our patients from their catastrophic illnesses.”
In November, Thailand’s Public Health Ministry issued a compulsory licence for Merck’s HIV/Aids treatment drug Efavirenz followed in January by the second-line combination anti-retroviral therapy Kaletra made by Abbot Laboratories and the heart disease drug Plavix made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis.
However, it has yet to be implemented because the stockpile of the two medications is currently projected to last until August.
Dr. Mongkol explained that his action was in accord with the WTO decision which allows developing countries to produce or import generic versions of patented drugs for government use without the permission of the foreign patent owners.
The move won much praise from AIDS activists but is drawing serious flak from the giant pharmaceutical firms and the US government.
On April 30, the US Trade Representative Office (USTR) placed Thailand and 11 other countries, including China and India, on its “Priority Watch List” of countries to be closely monitored for their protection on intellectual property rights.
Dr. Mongkol said he believed Thailand’s move to effect compulsory licensing is the main reason for the US trade representative’s decision. However, US ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce denied the allegation.
The minister is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C. later this month to explain Thailand’s position on compulsory licensing policies to USTR and other agencies concerned. (TNA)


PTT, subsidiaries to invest Bt600 billion in next five years

Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas conglomerate, PTT Plc and its subsidiaries, will together invest Bt600 billion during the next five years, Prasert Bunsumpun, the firm’s president said last week.
Of the combined total investment, PTT plans to invest Bt200 billion in gas separation plants, petro-chemical business and improving refinery plants, said Mr. Prasert.
This year, its subsidiaries will invest between Bt50-100 billion, he said.
Regarding the company’s performance, Mr. Prasert said he expected this year’s earnings would further improve from 2006 when total revenue stood at approximately Bt1.26 trillion and net profit at Bt95.26 billion.
Earnings during the first quarter this year are expected to be almost the same as the corresponding period of 2006 when revenue reached Bt281.84 billion and net profit was Bt23.72 billion, thanks to the growing petro-chemical business and refinery margin, he added. (TNA)