The national airline last week appointed Chalit and four others to the board of directors. They are General Chaisawat Kitipornpaiboon, commander-in-chief, Royal Thai Air Force; Sirin Nimmanahaeminda, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Transport; General Pairoaj Panichsamai, managing director of Niyompanich; and General Sivaporn Dardarananda, deputy supreme commander as well as secretary-general of the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation.

Truck-maker bets on U-turn next year

Bangkok Motor Works, the manufacturer of Komatsu forklift and excavation trucks, has spent Bt1.25 billion so far this year to double its production capacity from 3,000 to 6,000 units a year.

President Pornthep Pornprapha expects demand for excavation trucks to rebound next year due to increased investment, reconstruction efforts in flooded provinces and construction works to prepare for next year's floods.

The company expects to sell 525 excavation trucks worth Bt2 billion this year, or a 30-per-cent market share. It aims to sell 650 forklifts. 

BEC-Tero suffers a tennis loss, sales fall

BEC-Tero Entertainment suffered a loss of Bt30 million from sponsoring the Thailand Tennis Open.

Brian Marcar, managing director of BEC-Tero and Thai Ticket Master, said overall concert and event markets are sluggish due to negative political and economic factors.

To boost business next year, the company will bring in world-class artists like Eric Clapton while continuing to sponsor the Thailand Tennis Open.

Thai Ticket Master reported a 10-per-cent drop in ticket sales, or a decline of about Bt1 billion.

The company will next month begin booking provincial bus tickets, a new business that is expected to contribute 20-30 per cent of total revenue.

Power producer's profits shine

Glow Energy reported a net profit of Bt352 million in the first nine months of this year, an 11-per-cent increase from the same period last year.

CEO Peter Termote attributed the increase to a higher sales margin and a higher volume of electricity sales to industrial customers.

He expects the company's full-year performance to meet its target.

Glow Energy plans to expand its co-generation business. It also hopes to win bids for 700-1400 megawatts of additional power production capacity that will come on line between 2011 and 2015.

Energy conference to draw over 1,000

About 1,000 oil and gas industry executives, government representatives and investors from 48 countries will attend next month's oil and gas trade exhibition at the Suntec Convention Centre in Singapore.

The OSEA2006 exhibition, from December 5 to 8, will showcase the latest upstream technologies for seismic, exploration and production activities.

 National groups, governments, and national oil companies from Australia, China, Germany, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, Timor Leste, and Kuwait, are expected at the event.

 Industry players such as Carigali-Shell, PGS, Single Buoy Marine (SBM), Global Process Systems, ABS, Foster Wheeler, Sevan Marine and Liebherr-Werk Nenzing, will make presentations.

Keynote speakers will include Paul Hillegeist of Quest Offshore Resources, William Sember of ABS, and John Westwood of Douglas-Westwood.

 A series of conferences held concurrently with the exhibition will feature topics in three main areas - upstream, production and gas recovery.