ScandAsia May 2020

MAY 2020 Business:

Success and failure is the norm for starting up something new

Community:

Norwegian Church helps the poor in Pattaya during tourist lockout

PERSONAL FEATURE:

Savija Pannark closes Dexter: I’m ready for the next chapter in my life!

Ann Måwe Sweden’s Ambassador to Vietnam

Your Move. Our World.

- Moving Services - Relocation Services - Visa & Immigration - Home Search - School Search - Orientation

www.asiantigersgroup.com

May 2020

ScandAsia Stories

18 Tommy Franssila in Da Nang

8 Fraud in Danida Business Partnership blocked 30 Thai-Dane forced to close her restaurant 32 Norwegian Church helping poor people in Pattaya 34 Naturist Vacation your next experience after Covid-19

Theme: Visiting Vietnam

8 22 Da Nang emerging destination

30 14 Sweden’s Ambassador to Vietnam, HE Ann Måwe.

Photo: Government Offices/Kristian Pohl.

25 Vietnam gives masks to Sweden

32

25 EU-Vietnam Free Trade will increase trade 4 ScandAsia • May 2020

34

Editorial

International Cooperation and Solidarity

- a key to address any global crisis

W

e all entered the New Year 2020 with ambitious plans and hopes, as it marked the beginning of a new decade. This year, Vietnam is assuming a dual role as the Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a non-permanent member of the United National Security Council (UNSC). Norway is going to celebrate the fifth anniversary of our sectoral dialogue partnership with ASEAN and is seeking a seat on the UNSC 2021-22.

Then suddenly appeared the coronavirus.

Leave no one behind!

For three months, this tiny virus has turned the world upside down and caused an unprecedented global crisis.

It has freezed international travel, closed borders, paused economic activities and confined people all over the world to their homes. As now, it has hit almost every country be it poor, developing or developed, all segments of our society, infecting over two million people and claiming over 100,000 deaths. Every country is struggling to control and prevent the virus from spreading. We also know that the most vulnerable in our societies, the elderly, the sick, the migrants, the disabled and the poor are at a heightened risk during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the UN Secretary General, “the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the most dangerous challenges this world has faced in our lifetime. It is above all a human crisis with severe health and socio-economic consequences”.

However, the coronavirus has really shown us that the world is interconnected in all aspects, health wise,

ScandAsia is a printed magazine and online media covering the people and businesses of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland living and working in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Who should subscribe:

ScandAsia subscribers are typically Nordic expats and companies from the Nordic countries living in and active in Asia. Another group of subscribers are Nordic people living in the Nordic countries who subscribe to ScandAsia for personal or business reasons. We also have many Asian subscribers, who for a wide range of reasons are following the activities of the Nordic expats and companies via a subscription to ScandAsia.

6 ScandAsia • May 2020

socially, economically, that we need to act together. Never before has so much importance been attached to international cooperation and solidarity.

Look to Vietnam, Learn from Vietnam

As Norway’s Ambassador to Vietnam, I am ver y impressed with what the Government of Vietnam has done so far to combat the coronavirus nationally, regionally and internationally. Since the very early stage, Vietnam has proactively taken strong actions to isolate and prevent the virus from spreading through information campaigns, medical and administrative measures, such as tracing and testing of people, quarantine arrangements, closing of schools and the most recent measure of social distancing. These measures seem to be effective as up to now among over 200 infected cases in Vietnam, there are no fatalities.

Not only health professionals and caregivers who work days and nights to save people’s lives, but the whole Government of Vietnam seems to make every effort to control the pandemic and to support the affected people and businesses in the spirit of “leave no one behind”.

The pandemic is of course challenging Vietnam’s ambitious plans for its ASEAN Chairmanship. However, from what I see, Vietnam has turned the challenge into opportunity. The theme of ASEAN 2020 “Cohesive and Responsive” is reflected in the early Chairman’s Statement on ASEAN Collective Response to the Outbreak of Covid-19. Vietnam has been actively sharing information and encouraging cooperation regarding Covid-19 within the bloc, and just recently took initiative in holding

The ScandAsia magazine is produced every month and distributed to all print version subscribers via postal services and to all eMagazine subscribers via email. Subscribing to the eMagazine is FREE - simply sign up on the ScandAsia.com website.

Publisher : Scandinavian Publishing Co., Ltd. 211 Soi Prasert Manukitch 29 Prasert Manukitch Road Bangkok 10230, Thailand Tel. +66 2 943 7166-8 Fax: +66 2 943 7169 E-mail: news@scandasia.com

Advertising : Finn Balslev finn@scandmedia.com MB: +66 81 866 2577

Become a ScandAsia user/ get free digital ScandAsia magazine or paid subscription via www.scandasia.com!

Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Møller gregers@scandmedia.com

Production Manager: Sopida Yatprom

Graphic Designer : Peerapol Meesuwan Peerapol@scandmedia.com

Printing : Thanathorn Print​ and​ Packaging Part., Ltd.

H.E. GRETE LØCHEN NORWAY’S AMBASSADOR TO VIETNAM

Special ASEAN Summit and Special ASEAN+3 Summit on the Covid-19 response through video conferences, for the first time. All the participating countries in these Summits strongly supported Vietnam’s call for unity, cooperation and action to combat Covid-19 and maintain the connectivity.

It is encouraging to see Vietnam, while trying its best to control the spread of Covid19 domestically, has started to reach out assisting its neighbour countries, ASEAN member States, and partners with medical equipment and facemasks. It is solidarity in practice!

Norway – a consistent global partner for our common future

In Norway, we do have more or less the same experience. Timely, accurate and transparent information sharing from the political leadership and professional health authorities as well as showing international solidarity has been key in getting the trust of the Norwegian people in the joint efforts to combat the Covid-19. This is about our common future!

Norway, like Vietnam, is a staunch supporter of a rule based international order and a multilateral system with a strong United Nations at its core. Multilateralism unites and gets us all together. For a small nation like Norway, it is our best protection. Norway strongly believes that global threats require global responses. Multilateral and regional organisations already in place such as ASEAN, European Union, African Union and in particular UN with WHO in the frontline would and should play a leading role in driving international cooperation and joint efforts to control the Covid-19.

The pandemic hurts everyone, the poor and vulnerable countries will be most affected. Both urgent humanitarian actions and coordinated efforts are more than ever important to mitigate long-term effects. For this reason, Norway took the initiative to propose the establishment of a global trust fund to help vulnerable countries with weak health systems and which might face devastating social economic impact of this crisis. It is great to see UN acted so quickly on this initiative.

The multidonor trust fund was launched by UN Secretary General Guterres on 31 March. Norway initially committed NOK 150 million (USD 14.5 million).

We do hope that other countries will follow suit. The trust fund will promote a coordinated UN response at

country level in support of national governments. At the same time we’re in continuous dialogue with key partners (UN agencies and NGOs) on how Norway´s humanitarian support can be best tailored to the response in areas and sectors where needs are greatest. UN-earmarked funding is key in this regard.

Norway has initiated and supported global health initiatives for decades.Today international researchers are working around the clock at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop a vaccine to combat the virus - a vaccine that should be made for all and distributed fairly. Recently Norway allocated a further NOK 2.2 billion (USD 209 million) in research funding to CEPI. It comes in addition to the NOK 1.636 billion (USD 156 million) that have previously been announced. It is now vital that we do what we can to enable CEPI to develop a vaccine against Covid-19 as quickly as possible. We all have to pool our resources, make sure of accurate and transparent information sharing and take coordinated, decisive and innovative actions in the spirit of multilateralism and international solidarity to get through this difficult time.

I would like to end by echoing what my Prime Minister Ms Erna Solberg said “It is not just what we do in our country. It is also what other countries are doing. There’s no way that we can handle this crisis without having a stronger international, multilateral cooperation”. Your Prime Minister Phuc also said “We will win this together”.

H.E. GRETE LØCHEN NORWAY’S AMBASSADOR TO VIETNAM May 2020 • ScandAsia 7

News brief

Fraud accusations against two Danida Business Partnerships in Indonesia

T

he Danish Foreign Ministr y announced on 15 April 2020 that its lawyers had initiate legal proceedings against two companies in the Danida Business Partnership programme in Indonesia suspected of fraud. The attorney of the Danish Foreign Ministry demanded on behalf of the Foreign Ministry of Denmark full repayment of the funds which the companies in the partnership had withdrawn.

The repayment would amount to 2.152.744 DKK ($ 314.076,09).

The accused had denied the allegations of the Foreign Ministry of Denmark while also refusing to meet the demand of repayment, the statement said.

Kasper Helmgaard Rask, political and economic advisor at the Danish Embassy in Indonesia, clarifies that it is not the entire programme that has been suspended – only the cooperation with the two businesses involved.

“The Danish Embassy has decided to suspend the individual par tnerships with two businesses from two different projects under the Danida Business Programme.

It is not the entire programme that has been suspended,” says Kasper Helmgaard Rask to ScandAsia.

The two businesses, whose par tnership agreements has been suspended, are Syntes Engineering and Smoke Solution ApS.

Information provided by one of the other partners in the Daninda Business programme initiated the investigation of Syntes Engineering, while a random test of project partners’ requests for funding led to the investigation of Smoke Solution ApS, according to the political and economic advisor from the Danish Embassy in Indonesia Kasper Helmgaard Rask.

Norwegian’s cabin- and pilot crew companies file for bankruptcy in Sweden and Denmark

T

he Danish and Swedish staff of the airline company Norwegian were technically employed by three companies in Denmark and one in Sweden.These four companies have all filed for bank-

8 ScandAsia • May 2020

ruptcy due to the stand-still situation of the airline industry leaving 1,571 pilots and 3,134 cabin crew staff unemployed.

In a press release issued by Norwegian on 20 April 2020, the

airline explains that the Boards of the Scandinavian companies felt they were ‘left with no choice but to apply for bankruptcy’.

“Our pilots and cabin crew are the core of our business and they have done a fantastic job for many years. It is heart-breaking that our Swedish and Danish pilot- and cabin crew subsidiaries now are forced to file for bankruptcy,” announces the CEO of Norwegian, Jacob Schram.

“I’m truly sorry for the consequences this will have for our colleagues. We are working around the clock to get through this crisis and to return as a stronger Norwegian with the goal of bringing as many colleagues back in the air as possible,” adds the CEO.

NICHADA Nichada Thani, this year celebrating its 35th anniversary in May, is the leading gated community on the outskirts of Bangkok in Pakkret, (www.nichada.com), home to the International School Bangkok, and popularly known as the Expatriate Town of Thailand.

Our family friendly community was designed and built to provide families of all sizes with an array of housing options for rent and for sale which run from one bedroom apartments to 5 bedroom executive houses. The community is lined with tree shaded streets with sidewalks and bike lanes as well as security, allowing kids to safely walk or ride their bikes to school or to access neighbors and facilities. Just as pets are considered members of the family, families with pets will find themselves welcomed into the community as pets are allowed in all long term rental homes owned by the Nichada Group of Companies.

With the ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19, social distancing is of the utmost importance; here at Nichada Thani we strive to provide the best tools to keep our residents and community safe.

The open floor plans of the homes designed and constructed by the Nichada Group of Companies in the sub communities of Premier Place, The Prestige, Baan Rimlake and the Nichada and Natakorn Lake Condominium offer large airy spaces which allow air to move freely through the home. A multitude of windows with insect screens in our homes not only let in the natural light, but when opened helps to cool the home without the need to run air conditioning 24 hours a day, saving energy and money.

Live virtual tours are now available for all of our properties.

To set up a virtual Line tour, contact our Rental office through Line application @nichadareservation If however you would like to tour our properties in person, we also offer customers disposable slippers in which they may tour our homes.

The Nichada Group of Companies offers free disinfection of all of our rental properties before the customer moves in or upon request with additional payment.

True Rapid Speed Internet network is available in all of our homes so customers can surf the web without impediment.

This is important these days as more people are working from home and more students are attending classes online.

Online Service is available from our personal butlers. Services that may have required a trip to the office can now be accomplished online by contacting a butler at customer relations@nichada.com n1n2@nichada.com or through Line @nichadareservation.

Nat Pattarasirin Rental Manager rental@nichada.com 02-960-4329-31

E-payments and wire transfers are now not only accepted but encouraged for the convenience of our customers. Your rent and utilities can now be paid online and customers can receive their acknowledgement of payment both in their mailbox and via email.

Nichada Thani and the surrounding area is full of facilities and amenities catering to residents and many of them now offer take away and or delivery service. Some of the local businesses offering delivery are Villa International Supermarket, Tops Supermarket and Vapor Restaurant. Vapor, Restaurant Starbucks,7-11, Cherry’s Kitchen and O-C Organic are also offering take away service.

Our 125 rai private lake and the more than 2.5 kilometers of surrounding shaded roads, sidewalks and bike / jogging paths offers a perfect place for residents to relax, enjoy the fresh air and exercise while social distancing.

The protection of the health and safety of our residents starts outside of the gates and visitors to Nichada Thani must submit to a temperature check before entering through the gate.

Nichada Thani has put into place procedures and staff training to protect our customers from health risks, which includes the use of protective face masks, requiring frequent hand washing and social distancing through a work from home program.

Scott Roman GM Nichada & Natakorn Lake Condominium n1n2@nichada.com 02-832-0001

www.nichada.com

NichadaThanipage

Chitapat Na Songkhla Sales Manager sales@nichada.com 02-832-0088

NichadaThani

News brief

University of Copenhagen warns of illegal logging in Cambodia

D

enmark’s University of Copenhagen has drawn attention to recently published data which shows increased illegal logging within the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia, according to the Cambodian daily the Phnom Penh Post.

In a letter to stakeholders of the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuar y, the university provides documentation of the deforestation with a tool by the EU that detects processes

of forest degradation by the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN), the EU Reseach Centre and Global Forest Watch. The University of Copenhagen also documents the deforestation of Prey Lang with the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (Glad) that via satellite pictures of earth detects deforestation.

The letter states that there have been approximately 1.000 alerts when deforestation was detected per week in Prey Lang in 2020. The data shows an increase in forest loss in the southern and northern part of Prey Lang, reports Phnom Penh Post.

The spokesman of the Cambodian Ministry of Environment Neth Pheaktra told the Phnom Penh Post that the Cambodian government is dedicated to protecting and con-

serving natural resources, including the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary.

The spokesman stated that rangers employed by the Ministry are stationed in protected areas and enforces the Law on Protected Areas. The rangers patrol regularly and crack down on forest crimes, hunting, animal snaring and land grabbing, said Neth Pheaktra.

“The Ministry of Environment emphasizes that no perpetrator can escape the law. We recognize that there are small-scale natural resource offences in protected areas, but no large-scale crimes,” said the spokesman of the Cambodian Ministry of Environment to the Phnom Penh Post.

Three Taiwanese people lose nationality lawsuit against Norway

T

hree Taiwanese people living in Norway lost a lawsuit against the Norwegian government, where they accused the government of wrongly changing their nationality from “Taiwanese” to “Chinese” on their residency permits, repor ts the Taiwanese daily Taipei Times.

The cour t of Oslo ruled 28 April that the Norwegian government follows the “One China” policy and therefore doesn’t recognize Taiwan as an independent state – and the decision to change the nationality of Taiwanese people residing in the Scandinavian countr y corresponds with the government’s

10 ScandAsia • May 2020

policy. The court ruled the lawsuit as ‘without justification’.

“The ruling was widely expected, but we have decided to appeal,” said Joseph, one of the Taiwanese people who filed the lawsuit.

“The judge did not give us the chance to express ourselves in court, so our right to a fair trial was violated,” added Joseph, who is a lawyer.

The lawsuit was backed by many of the Taiwanese residents in Norway along with numerous Taiwanese exchange students in the Scandinavian country.

According to Taipei Times, Joseph has announced that if they lost the lawsuit, they would file an appeal all the way to European Court of Human Rights to ensure “that the world hears the voice of the Taiwanese people”.

Ups and downs in the World Happiness Ranking

T

he Scandinavian countries are notoriously known for ranking high in reports of happiness and welfare with Finland ranking first place for the third year in a row and Denmark remains as second place. Likewise, Iceland hasn’t dropped or risen from their fourth place and neither has Sweden as the seventh place in the happiness index.

But interestingly Norway has dropped two spots since 2019 – and are now ranked as the fifth happiest country in the world.

These are the findings in the latest annual World Happiness Report which was released 20 March 2020.

Looking at the Asian countries, there are several drops and rises on the ranking of the happiest countries.

For several years Singapore has been the highest-ranking Asian country in the index – and the tendency continues as Singapore rises three rankings since 2019 to 31th place.The Philippines rises a whooping 17 places on the rankings as the 52th happiest countr y in the world – taking over Thailand’s spot of 2019. Thailand drops 2 spots to 54th place.

The next Asian country in the happiness ranking is Malaysia who falls two spots since 2019 to 82th place with Vietnam just after as the 83th happiest country in the world – having risen 11 spots since 2019.

Indonesia rises eight spots since 2019 and places 84th on the ranking of the world happiest countries. China drops one spot to 94th place in 2020.

News brief

Finland remains the happiest country in the world, followed by Denmark and a bit further down Norway, Iceland and Sweden. Photo: Lauri Rotko / Visit Finland.

Entering the 100’s of the ranking Laos places 104th – a small improvement of one spot since 2019with Cambodia following right after on 106th place, having risen three spots.

Myanmar is the lowest ranking Asian country in the World Happiness Repor t Ranking on 133th place – and has dropped two spots since 2019.

May 2020 • ScandAsia 11

News brief

Swedish publisher distributes prison-poems by Gui Minhai

Photo: Teller Report.

T

he Swedish publishing firm Kaunitz-Olsson released a collection of 11 poems written by Gui Minhai, the Swedish-Hong Kong bookseller currently impris-

oned in China after being convicted of providing illegal information to foreign countries in February.

The collection is dubbed ‘I draw a door on the wall with my finger’.

The poems were written by the Hong Kong-born Swedish citizen while he was serving his first prison sentence. The themes of the 11 poems, that are printed in both Swedish and Chinese, var y from longing for Swedish forests, Norse Myths, fondness of Swedish culture to reflections on his imprisonment, with a stanza of a poem reading: “It would be embarrassing to stop writing poems because the poetry has been caged” Kaunitz-Olsson repor ts, that Gui Minhai memorized the poems while in prison and smuggled them out to his daughter after haven written them down, when he was released for a short while.

Source: Hong Kong Free Press

Singapore Vikings Football Club raised funds for migrant workers

T

wo weeks after the Singapore Vikings Football Club with more than 100 of its members opened a fund raising campaign with the aim of collection 22.000 SGD, the club has collected 45.000 SGD based on 158 sponsors.

The campaign centred around how many kilometres the players could run while jogging solo in their neighbourhoods, over the labour day weekend (1-3 May 2020).

They aim was to raise $20,000 in support of the Migrant Workers Assistance Fund, the humanitarian charity of the Migrant Workers Centre in Singapore.

The Singapore Vikings is a social football club with players predominantly from Denmark and other

12 ScandAsia • May 2020

Scandinavian countries.

Its charity challenge was conceptualised by the Singapore Vikings management, who wanted to help migrant workers who are living in local dormitories and have been heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

How to support? Click here: https://www.giving.sg/campaigns/ singaporevikingsfc

All 30.000 Nordic TUI travelers came home

T

UI Nordic announced on 31 March that they had completed repatriating over 30,000 Nordic traveler s from different parts of the world to Scandinavia.

The evacuation was par t of TUI’s worldwide evacuation in which a total of 200,000 European guests have now been flown home.

TUI is the largest corporation within tourism and travel in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland and par t of the larger TUI Group, which is the world’s leading tourism group.

In Asia, TUI operates tours to among others Indonesia, Vietnam, Maldives and Thailand.

TUI began early in the corona virus crisis to get everyone home in collaboration with all the Nordic foreign ministries.

“A record-breaking collaboration meant that we were able to get everyone home safely and well,” says Mikkel Hansen, Head of Communications at TUI Denmark and Adam Györki,Head of Communications at TUI Sweden.

“We would like to thank all customers, both those who got the holiday shor tened, but also those who had to re-book a trip they had been looking forward to.”

“A big thank you also to all employees in the Nordic countries as well as the rest of the world,” he adds.

TUI’s employees in the Nordic countries have been working around the clock for the past two weeks. In total, they have handled 25,000 calls on the phone in the customer ser vice depar tment as

News brief

The last TUI Nordic charter plane discharges passengers in Arlanda Airport near Stockholm, Sweden.

(Photo: TUI) well as more than 6,000 questions on social media. Many of the guests who never left now choose to rebook for a new trip.

“We see that the customers with whom we are in contact want to travel. It becomes even more evident to feel that desire when travel options like life are generally limited as these days.”

May 2020 • ScandAsia 13

Sweden’s Ambassador to Vietnam

Photo: Government Offices/Kristian Pohl.

Ann Måwe

By Joakim Persson

F

or the third time in a row seasoned diplomat Ms. Ann Måwe has been awarded the job she applied for within the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This time the appointment is her Ambassador debut - at the Embassy of Sweden, Hanoi.

Ambassador Måwe began her work in September 2019. Two high level business delegations – one in each direction from Sweden and Vietnam – had just taken place so it was, as she describes it, an easy start.

14 ScandAsia • May 2020

“Before the summer, two big delegations had taken place; with the Crown Princess Couple and Trade minister Ann Linde who came here with the largest trade delegation ever; followed by the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s trip to Stockholm with a large delegation,” explains Ann Måwe.

“I had a big advantage with the 50 years anniversary of bilateral relations as point of departure. It’s easy to frame things around such an anniversary and the embassy

The spring of 2020 has been anything else than normal, with all planned activities cancelled due to Covid-19 and instead a lot of work with assisting stranded Swedes in Vietnam to get them back home safely.

and my predecessor had done an excellent job, which has made it easier for me to take over this role.”

“There was a lot to continue with, new MoUs to follow up on and many events that had already been planned for the autumn. It was a just a matter of entering the role while carrying through with things.”

The spring of 2020, however, has been anything else than normal, with all planned activities cancelled due to Covid-19 and instead a lot of work with assisting stranded Swedes in Vietnam to get them back home safely.

A

mbassador Måwe had applied to Vietnam as she wanted to have a completely new challenge, having worked intensively with the Middle East, including for the five last years at the Middle East and North Africa department in Stockholm during the period when Sweden was a member of the UN Security Council.

“I felt I needed a break from that and I’ve been curious about Asia and feel that it’s the region in the world where things are developing rapidly. Vietnam felt exciting based on that Sweden has a very long and deep relation with the country and also that we’ve gone from primarily development aid to supporting trade here. That is a positive and specific agenda to work with in Vietnam,” the ambassador elaborates.

What was new for Ann Måwe was the representative role she would have; to be seen and heard a lot in public, representing Sweden and talking about the bilateral relation.

Her diplomatic career started very early, so early in fact that she has never worked in the private sector.

“I’ve been working at the Foreign Ministry for 20 years now and especially on topics concerning the Middle East and also the United Nations. The Middle East is also my educational background; I studied oriental studies at Uppsala University, followed by a Masters at SOAS, the School of Oriental & African Studies (University of London), so it has been a lot of work connected to the Middle East for me throughout the years, including my latest position as Deputy Head of the Department for the Middle East and North Africa.”

In 1999 she was admitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MFA) internal education, the Diplomat programme, back then called ‘Handläggarutbildningen’.

Outside of MFA headquarters she has been on two postings abroad that both connect to her educational background; the Consulate General of Sweden in Jerusalem, followed by the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations in New York.

“In Jerusalem I was political officer, so my task was political reporting, in particular about the Middle East and the peace process with the concrete negotiations that were taking place back then.Palestinian domestic politics was also in focus etc. In New York I spent five years, of which the first few were dedicated to development topics within the UN and Sweden’s support to some of the UN’s development organisations; specifically Unicef, UNFPA, and UN Women. After that I moved over to the security section, being responsible for the Middle East and also Afghanistan and Pakistan – which also coincided with Swedish Presidency of the EU in 2009. I led the EU negotiations regarding the Middle East in the UN General Assembly.”

Asked about her lasting impression of working with the UN she says: “UN is the organisation we have to solve conflicts and when working with security issues one can notice that they often disagree among the five permanent members in the Security Council. At the same time I think Sweden has a very long tradition and experience of working in the UN and the latest period when Sweden had a seat in the Security Council, during 2017 – 2018, I felt that we could contribute well there thanks to the fact we have a broad contact network and wide understanding of how the UN works. And, for instance, Sweden hosted consultations about the conflict in Yemen in Stockholm in December 2018, which gave progress somewhat. Sweden is a small country in need of a rulebased world order, so it feels worthwhile to work in the UN. Meanwhile, it is of course dominated by bureaucracy and many reforms are needed, so that things could work much better.”

May 2020 • ScandAsia 15

HE Ambassador Ann Måwe handing over her credentials to Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong of Vietnam. Photo: Embassy of Sweden, Hanoi.

HE Ambassador Ann Måwe visiting Bai Bang. Photo: Embassy of Sweden, Hanoi.

“With this background in multilateral and UN affairs it is particularly interesting to arrive in Vietnam when the country is embarking on a two-year term in the UNSC 2020-2021 and also presiding over the ASEAN in 2020,” she adds.

ish companies in Saigon and meet with those who can make it at those times.”

There are also some Swedes in Hanoi, she informs, who have remained after the development programmes stopped, continuing in professional capacity where partnerships have continued, within for example healthcare (one of the sectors where Sweden used to have significant development cooperation).

The embassy shares office with Business Sweden, which is now also free-standing (previously under Bangkok). Björn Savlid is now Trade Commissioner appointed by the Swedish Government.

“It is very practical to share office as our main mission also concerns the trade relationship. They do an excellent work here, and we do almost everything together though we work separately. And since Vietnam is a oneparty state, and with everything more or less controlled by the state, the embassy is needed as a door opener to solve questions relating to trade barriers and various red tape complications. We can therefore help each other a lot by working together,” thinks the ambassador.

She has also noticed, since arriving, that there is a positive momentum, with Swedish companies expanding and wanting to expand further; doing big investment in sectors like infrastructure, urban transport, and sustainable manufacturing.

N

ow, with her focus turned to Asia she gets the chance to learn more about a region she has had little to do with previously.

“I’ve been here only on missions to Cambodia and Myanmar when I was working on multilateral healthcare topics. Other than that I have only visited as tourist.”

With her family she has been on a wedding trip to Bali and on vacation to Sri Lanka two times. She is married to outgoing left wing party leader Jonas Sjöstedt and together they have 13 years old twins; a boy and a girl who are attending school in Hanoi. Intending to move to Vietnam and join the family her husband’s arrival has been delayed as the party congress was postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The family has also had the time to explore the country a bit.

“We travelled during the autumn, in Laos and Cambodia, including on the waterway from Phnom Phen into the Mekong delta, and then took the night train from Saigon to Hanoi, which takes 36 hours and during which one get to see a lot of the country passing by. We’ve also been on shorter excursions to the coast etc. There are still lots to see though we managed to travel quite a lot during the first six months.”

The epidemic has of course stopped all travel though, and that of course includes official trips in the region that had been planned and that she had been looking forward to very much.

In order to engage with the vibrant Swedish business community in Vietnam the ambassador also needs to travel frequently to Ho Chi Minh City, where most of the Swedes are based. These work either for Swedish companies or are own entrepreneurs.

“We are bit off up in Hanoi, so I try to travel there every sixth week. We hold breakfast meetings with Swed16 ScandAsia • May 2020

The ambassador has also pointed to a huge potential for business oppor tunities and trade between Sweden and Vietnam, and which also includes exchanging business solutions and technology transfer.

“Ericsson is busy rolling out 5G, Tetra Pak opened a new production plant last year and there’s a lot of expansion going on over all. We can also see lots of SMEs wanting to come here but who find that this is a difficult market with lots of red tape and corruption. And there is hope that once the EU-Vietnam FTA is implemented later this year it will get easier for the smaller companies with less capacity than our multinationals.”

T

he embassy works very closely with the Swedish companies, with a focus in recent years on three themes that were previously jointly identified to focus on: innovation, safety and sustainability. They see that Swedish companies have comparative advantages within these themes and that are quite relevant in the Vietnamese contexts.

“The three priorities have been there for several years and it has worked very well, they function as a sounding board; there is an interest from the Vietnamese side for solutions within them.”

Directly upon Ann Måwe’s arrival to Vietnam it was time for the kick-off of the annual ‘Innovate like a Swede’ competition, where teams of two persons (university students) can pitch an idea or innovation and that has to be connected to one of the SDGs. “I immediately had to get an understanding of why Vietnam is interested in innovation and why Sweden is focusing on that here, and what Sweden has to offer.

Vietnam has moved very fast during the last ten years, in terms of reforms, having joined WTO and established 17 FTAs with various blocks and countries. They have also understood in this country that they want to raise their position in the global value chain and add more value for products. They then also realise that innovation is something that is needed, and are thus very active within this, and have climbed a few positions in the global innovation index too.”

Ann Måwe also informs that when the Vietnamese

First Vietnamese New Year for HE Ambassador Ann Måwe.

Photo: Embassy of Sweden, Hanoi.

Prime Minisiter visited Sweden he in particular brought up innovation and sustainability with Sweden’s PM Stefan Löfven - wanting to see collaboration.

“We have also had both the Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi Governors visiting Sweden last year, studying innovation and the start-up scenes etc. So it feels like a very given priority.”

“Within sustainability, also there Vietnam has very high ambitions but also enormous challenges, as their economic growth has moved so fast, so for example air quality in Hanoi is during periods very bad. There, they have evident challenges, with plastic waste being another.

And waste management over all is a big challenge,” she continues.

The amount of waste in the country is expected to double in less than 15 years. Meanwhile, less than 10% of waste in Vietnam is recycled and a significant amount of waste ends up directly in landfills or in the ocean. Sweden, meanwhile, is one of the world’s leading countries in waste management and recycling.

“We have Swedish companies that want to get involved within these topics. We arrange seminars and held one on circular economy, co-organised with Business Sweden, in November 2019. We spoke about the Swedish experience within waste management and recycling, and Tetra Pak, a big supplier food packages in Vietnam, would like to see more recycling.They have a pilot project in Hanoi where they help to recycle milk cartons in 800 schools.”

“Vietnam did fulfil all Millennium Goals before deadline and now they are very determined to continue working on the sustainability development goals. But it’s a balance act when they at the same time want strong financial growth while at the same time trying to make it as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible.”

Ann Måwe has also had the time to notice how strong the Vietnamese – Swedish relation and friendship remains still today. In every meeting she has been to, Bai Bang, the Swedish paper mill development aid project has been mentioned.

“It is one positive par t that there are plenty of people-to-people relationships no matter in what sector, be it a radio station or at a hospital! As the first western country to do so, Sweden recognised Vietnam as an independent state already in 1969 while the war still raging, and subsequently had a major development cooperation programme for Vietnam, And within companies they have either been to Sweden or have worked with Swedes who were here. Those connections make it very easy to work here because it’s much appreciated that we were here and helped in developing the country after the war.”

Now, the ambassador says it is the Swedish embassy’s task to convey a more modernised image of Sweden to Vietnam’s overall very young population.

“Sweden is very different now. We must nurture that history that is appreciated here but also contribute to the understanding that Sweden today offers something completely different.”

May 2020 • ScandAsia 17

Tommy Franssila: Enjoy your holiday in Da Nang

T

Photos and text: Joakim Persson ommy Franssila, Director - Culinary Operations, who was previously a familiar Nordic face at Grand Hyatt in Kuala Lumpur is since May 2018 based at Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa – in a leisure-focused setting.

Tommy therefore constitutes our best possible guide to get a grip on what this destination called Danang has to offer holiday-makers.

Today this Vietnamese seaside city is accessible directly from many cities in Southeast Asia and even fur ther away – South Koreans being its number one visitor group, for instance.

A former landing zone for US soldiers in the war, today, Danang boasts Vietnam’s third biggest airport.

18 ScandAsia • May 2020

“Danang receives 400 inbound flights per week.

It’s a busy airport. There are lots of visitors from Asia in general but we also see those from other countries such as from Europe, Australia and the US. Previously it wasn’t the most popular destination here; Hoi An Ancient Town was – especially among Western as well as Asian travellers, because it’s a Unesco heritage city and a travel destination in that sense,” says Tommy as we meet for lunch at Pool House.

Hoi An is situated only 25 minutes from the Hyatt hotel, which is situated on an expansive beachfront land in southern Danang, so an excursion there is easily organised with the hotel.

“It’s worth visiting, especially at night time. There’s a

Da Nang is also very famous for its marble deposits, where Marble Mountain with lots of marble factories is a popular excursion near to the hotel.

lot of lantern fabrication in the area so they display a lot of that at night and it becomes very idyllic,” suggests the Finnish-Swede.

He describes Danang as a bit calmer than a big city.

“There’s a bit less shopping etc. but on the other hand it’s quite calming, in the sense that it’s not as hectic as a big city. People come here for leisure so they’re a little bit more relaxed. In more business-oriented hotels people are more in a hurry, whereas here they come to wind down and enjoy. And that’s the kind of environment that we’re trying to create for the guests and of course that reflects on you as well.”

With that Tommy means that the staff is influenced by the slightly more leisurely atmosphere among the guests, even though they of course still work long days and are busy.

“Hyatt Regency Danang Resort is a beach resort where we want people to enjoy the good food and beverages, our spa and hopefully also good weather, so they might also come back another time. We have a lot of returning guests coming here annually, some even several times per year.”

The resort is a bit outside Danang proper, which does have a downtown, but which is still relatively dominated by low-rise buildings. Among the waterfront highrise hotels are lining up, though Hyatt, situated further southeast is a low-rise property.

T

o define the Regency among the different Hyatt brands Tommy says that it consists in many resorts but also city hotels around the world.

“Its characteristics are more towards a familyoriented hotel rather than a typical business hotel where Grand Hyatt is more business hotels and our Park Hyatt hotels are more boutique style; with butler service etc.

Any ranges of our brands, depending on the location where they are, also typically cater for that segment of business where you are located.”

A lot of construction is visibly also going on and Tommy confirms that there are a lot more hotels coming up, with hopes of course also for more tourist arrivals. If one wants to visit when it is less crowded, high season, that starts end of May and ends towards early October, as well as Tết (the Vietnamese New Year), should be avoided.

More shopping centres are anticipated but what people shop mostly in Daning is locally produced clothing and accessories, such as straw handbags.

“Danang is also very famous for its marble deposits, where Marble Mountain with lots of marble factories is a popular excursion near to the hotel.”

May 2020 • ScandAsia 19

At Pool House, we have a weekly local market evening, serving more street food-like dishes offered at different stations.

So, you can have the experience of local food here at the resort

Regency Club, the hotel’s club lounge, boasts an enormous marble slab which functions as a table for the breakfast spread and canapés served to guests in the evening.

Tommy introduces the remaining outlets in the fivestar resort. Greenhouse, the-all-day-dining whose main fare is Mediterranean cuisine, is also decked out with marble. “We do our own home made pastas, pizzas and so forth; comfort food. That’s our western food offer.”

Pool House sits next to the Non Nuoc Beach. “Here we serve authentic local dishes and western comfort food paired with some delicious desserts, so you have your typical noodle dishes, and some stir-fried items that are popular throughout this region. The dish Cao lầu is prepared with hand-crafted smoked Noodles from our neighbouring town, Hoi An. It’s served with roasted pork belly, local fresh herbs, rice crackers, at the bottom of the bowl there is a soy-based, sweet pork broth sauce with local spices. The smoked noodles are a traditional noodle only found in Hoi An and its only prepared by two families today.”

20 ScandAsia • May 2020

“At Pool House, we have a weekly local market evening, serving more street food-like dishes offered at different stations. So, you can have the experience of local food here at the resort,” continues Tommy.

“Beach House is our evening dining restaurant, where we focus on Vietnamese cuisine, mainly seafood, a little bit refined but with an authentic taste. We serve steaks as well as to satisfy all guests’ tastes. On Fridays we offer a barbeque dinner there. Each restaurant has a buffet theme night actually.”

As part of the hotel there are also residences so the European-style eatery Baguette functions both as convenience store and café.

“Baguette is a great stop for Vietnamese coffee and it stocks traditional Vietnamese grocery products and hard-to-find Western items for expats and tourists so they can cook their own meals.”

B

eing in charge for the whole F&B operation Tommy describes his job as follows: “My role is to help and support teams. Sometimes it is more about administration than being in the operations but sometimes it’s the opposite. You provide five-star service to guests by working with the team, being on the floor etc.; helping and ensuring that the guest get ever ything that they expect to experience when they are visiting us.”

This means that Scandinavian visitors can most definitely get to see this outgoing Nordic chef and have a chat with him too.

When asked to compare Vietnamese cuisine with Malaysian cuisine Tommy responds: “The cuisine is in general quite light and not very heavy, in comparison to Malaysian food where they use a lot of coconut milk, coconut cream etc and heavy curries. Here they use lots of vegetables, salads and herbs in their dishes. Usually when you eat street food you can enjoy many things as the portions are quite small.You don’t overwhelm yourselves.

And as in many countries in Asia at lot of the food is made

for sharing, which is a great way of enjoying a meal, and try even more dishes,” he adds.

The vegetables are to a large extent organic and sourced locally, Tommy highlights. “We work with many local farmers. The majority of our fruits and vegetables are organic – we actually try to work towards a 100 percent target of organic produce and we’re nearly there.”

Among the organic farmers that can supply all year around is one run by nuns: “They have an organic farm tied to their school, so since the opening of the hotel, we’ve been buying their produce. Now they’ve been able to grow their production so there are other hotels that are buying their produce as well. But I believe we were the first hotel customer. We have helped and guided them on what kind of herbs and vegetables we would like.”

Seafood is also sourced locally as much as possible; from the local fishing boats. “We try to make sure we use sustainable seafood,” he adds.

May 2020 • ScandAsia 21

Da Nang

emerging Vietnamese resort and business destination Text and photos by Joakim Persson

D

a Nang is a trending and growing seaside city in central Vietnam, with sandy beaches, a wide selection of hotel choices – including many international five-star brands- and with the popular Hoi An Ancient Town in its vicinity. One can fly there from many of Asia’s other main destinations.

Da Nang’s development (a commercial port since in the early 18th century) is also supported by a master plan with a vision to 2030, under which the central city will become one of the major socio-economic hubs in Vietnam.

Under the revised plan, the city has set a target of becoming a centre for start-ups, innovation, tourism, trade, finance, logistics, and information technology etc. Tourism development will be paired with environmentally-friendly industrial projects and eco-industrial zones, is the aim.

An impression one easily gets of Da Nang is that it is very spread out and with many empty plots of land waiting to be developed. Along the beachfront hotels are however lining up for many kilometers, while there are also many seafood restaurants right by the beach. One handy transportation service to get around is the many Grab motorcycle taxis. The city also has a patchy bus network that is not used by many, and very affordable, if one can learn its routes.

For excursions these are some highlights: My Son Holy Land, one of five UNESCO World Heritage sites in Vietnam, 70 km fr Danang; Hoi An Ancient Town; and the Marble Mountains.

Among the many hotels, we have experienced two of the beachfront five-star resorts.

Pullman Danang Beach Resort

It is easy give a strong nod of approval for the resort’s hallmarks: distinctive cuisine and creative beverage concepts, as well as its excellent Nang Spa. A crew of female bartenders at the lobby-based Infinity Bar (with two evening Happy Hour periods) hosts cocktail classes as well as mixes excellent ‘Collection’ 22 ScandAsia • May 2020

concoctions and other drinks from an eclectic list. This al fresco venue overlooks the resort’s expansive garden with pond and pool as well as the sea beyond.

Nearby the pool (large, blue with white underwater spotlights at night), Azure Beach Lounge seafood restaurant sits directly on the soft white sands of Danang’s shores, offering both indoor and outdoor dining in a Mediterranean atmosphere, with seasonal BBQ buffets.

Pan-seared scallops and grilled mushroom, green bean puree, pumpkin puree and herb salad is an example of one of the sumptuous dishes there, perfectly paired with wine by the glass: Woolshed Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay.

Next to Azure is the spa, which reveals a truly calming setting. The signature treatment: Harmony of Energy Massage (inspired by ancient massage rituals and combining 7 massage techniques) is recommended as truly different!

Accommodation comes with backlit bathroom marble counters, tubs with glass window, and overall beige and white colours accented by dark brown timber floors and furniture. Choices include cottages, rooms and suites, where the penthouse type boasts vast terraces with sea view.

Finally, the choices from the International buffet on Saturdays at Epice is not to be taken lightly. Steamed seabass with soy sauce, Potato gratin, Grilled oyster, Spanish Omelette, Paella, an array of desserts etc. form an awesome and really delicious buffet selection, also with option for free flow wine and beer.

May 2020 • ScandAsia 23

Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa

Some three kilometres southeast down the road the Hyatt brand’s Da Nang property, including Residences, sits on a sprawling piece of beachfront land, where guests can directly step on to the powder white sandy and long stretch of beach.

The resort boasts several pool zones, with the main pool featuring a water slide, while adults also have a pool for themselves - as do the Regency Club guests.

The guestrooms and suites, two-bedroom residences as well as three-bedroom villas come with white and creamy-white hues (such as the tub) and sandy veined marble twin sinks, bathroom walls and floors.

Especially striking is the see-through blonde/brown wood planks enclosing the walk-in wardrobe plus foyer.

Woven cocoon lamps hang to the left and right of the bed. There is a Vietnamese traditional teapot and cups, with tea to brew – ideally paired with some pastries brought from Baguette’s bakery (also selling Vietnamese chocolate and with late afternoon happy hour).

Elsewhere, Terrasse, on lobby level overlooking the resort and beach, offers three hours of happy hour on drinks.

Friday BBQ at Beach House is recommended for dining (incl. free-flowing wine, beer) with grill stations outdoors and choices of seafood, meats, or à la minute Vietnamese pancake with peanut sauce – all washed down with a French Sauvignon Blanc! Heart of palm salad with prawn and pork and a very crisp Vermicelli noodle salad are buffet recommendations. The background music is just right for the stylish Vietnamese dining setting: down-tempo and bossa nova tunes. For a lighter dessert choose Coconut & Mango Pannacotta.

Elsewhere, Green House serves à la carte throughout the day and an imposing breakfast spread featuring 24 ScandAsia • May 2020

for instance bircher muesli, smoothies (banana, mango, almond and vanilla etc.), feta cheese and Vietnamese fried eggs (with fish sauce).

Guests opting for Regency Club access also get to enjoy evening canapés and drinks served on top of a huge marble slab placed in the centre of the private club lounge (including separate adult zone): Chicken Ratatouille, Tuna Foccacia, Smoked Salmon etc. These are hours to savour and good moments for intimate conversations or book reading and wine sipping.

EU-Vietnam Free Trade to benefit trade with Sweden

I

t is expected that Vietnam will have great potential in increasing the export of textiles, footwear, farm produce, food, handicrafts and chemicals to Sweden, when the Eu-

ropean Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) takes effect, reports the Vietnamese daily Nhân Dhân.

The EVFTA at the time only

News brief

needed to be ratified by the Vietnamese government scheduled for May 2020.

However, the Vietnamese Trade Office in Sweden said that while the Swedish population spend a large amount of money on textile products, rice, tea, coffee, cocoa, fruits and vegetables, the Swedish distributors require an improvement of Vietnamese regulations on quality and packaging standards, according to Nhân Dhân.

In 2019, the trade between Vietnam and Sweden hit $1.56 billion, with Vietnam ranked 24th among the biggest expor ters to Sweden.

Vietnam gives thousands of face masks to Sweden

T

he Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, To Anh Dung, presented on 17 April 2020 a token to symbolize the 100.000 antibacterial face masks Vietnam is giving Sweden for free to support the Scandinavian country in the fight on COVID-19. The Ambassador of Sweden in Vietnam Ann Mawe accepted the token on behalf of Sweden.

The Deputy Minister emphasized international cooperation and unity as essential to protecting people’s health, according to the Vietnamese daily Vietnam Express International.

The Swedish Ambassador in Vietnam thanked the Vietnamese government and the citizens of Viet-

nam for their help, citing the face masks ‘a valuable gift that represents the friendly and supportive relationship between the Asian and Scandinavian country’.

Vietnam has also sent medical equipment to Cambodia, China, Indonesia and Laos.

Source: Vietnam Express International May 2020 • ScandAsia 25

Successes and failures the norm in the world of start-ups Scandinavian entrepreneur shares insights

By Joakim Persson

T

his is the story about building a start-up and how things can go wrong, depending on how one goes about things, and with some valuable lessons learned, admirably shared by Tommy Lissau Gotfredsen, a Dane who already in 2005 successfully founded and built an online fan base for a community portal in Singapore called Nightlife. sg, while he was a Bachelor Degree-student there This coincided with the dawn for social media.

This adventure had given him appetite for more, when he many years later embarked on realising a neighbourhood platform for commercial announcements based on one’s physical location, called Meeof. All successful entrepreneurs say that before and in-between successes they have always failed – many times. Most ideas, and projects, never survive - for a variety of reasons and hiccups.

As for Tommy’s first adventure, nightlife.sg, it came into trouble due to how “early” the concept was in terms of social media. Bandwith was a big issue back in 2005.

As recently as ten years ago Internet speed was still an issue even in five-star hotels in Singapore, and the mobile networks were not yet the main suppliers of high speed internet.

Tommy’s social media concept for nightlife.sg was to take pictures of people within the nightlife scene, publish them online, and allow the public to become users, with personal profiles.

“Within three months after launch, from being no one on the market we had reached 33% market share.

After six months we had 40 000 people on our platform, every relevant discotheque knew about us and we had partnerships with everyone. We also won two awards in the first two years of operations. We grew so fast that our hosting solution shut us down over night because we were using too much, forty per cent, of their entire band with,” he recalls.

26 ScandAsia • May 2020

You read right, the hosting shut them down, without prior notification! This was of course very damaging to Nightlife.sg’s reputation.

“We had just signed contracts with Jägermeister, Heineken etc. to do branding on our website. We were in the early stages of generating revenue.”

Eventually the hosting company came back with an offer to go from 70 SGD per month to 2,000 SGD in cost.

“Back in 2005 you didn’t have this vibrant start-up scene that you have today, so I couldn’t find anyone to invest in it. But at the same time there was another Danish company in the online industry that we approached for collaboration par tnership. They were trying to set up dating sites etc. and had also to set up in Singapore. I could not see how I could collaborate with them when I could not even keep my website up and running properly.

So I sold the whole company to them and joined them as an employee. But I learned at lot in that year for myself while working for them. At the end of that journey, around mid 2006, I decided to focus on my bachelor degree and migrate back to Denmark and start a job.”

F

ast forward to 2016 and Tommy is back in Singapore - and with a new idea. And this time the circumstances are different. He has relocated back from Denmark, with his Singaporean wife, who has been assigned to set up her Danish employer’s Asia-Pacific operations. Tommy’s employer, Sanofi, also finds him an overseas job there, in charge of the commercial and digital solution center.

“We had a good combined income by now and I was thinking back at my nightlife.sg experience, where I had made so many mistakes. If I did that again could I be successful? So we decided that I would embark on building this new business based on an idea that had been brewing for a number of years.”

It was based on a problem scenario that Meeof would solve; focusing on attracting and engaging with people to visit physical stores and malls: “In retail, in fastmoving goods, everyone is going e-commerce, trying to lure everyone to their website and close the sale. There are so many tactics that e-commerce sites can use to lure customers back as well. More and more offline retail stores see people come in to try clothes, shoes etc. to see if they fit well - who then leave the store and go online to buy items at lower prices.”

“If I’m a new tourist in Singapore I don’t know the local shopping scene, I am not aware of all the promotions happening around town.”

“Meeof was founded on the principle that we should give the digital marketing power back to the retail stores. Meaning: if I’m within say 200 metres of a certain store and if there is a match with my profile and I’m a frequent buyer of the brand, then the technology will ping my phone and inform of a brand store next door. ‘You are a returning or premium customer so we can give you very personalised discount. Not everyone going into the store gets this!’ By using this, stores can pull customers in by using digital technologies such as notifications to your phone.”

There was also a specific incentive for businesses to come on board and utilise the proximity-based tool: events. “If anyone saw an event happening around you, you could take a photo of it and tell where you are. You put it on to Meeof and anyone within the proximity could see that there is a promotion happening right now. So it was not just for the retail companies to tell you what they have but Meeof was to help as well, via crowd sourcing.”

“Living within five minutes from a mall in Singapore I myself missed many cool events for my kids just because I didn’t know. And the places where you find such information are if you subscribe to a particular mall for instance. If you don’t subscribe to everything you won’t know what’s

Tommy Lissau Gotfredsen. Photo: Joakim Persson.

I could not see how I could collaborate with them when I could not even keep my website up and running properly.

So I sold the whole company to them and joined them as an employee.

May 2020 • ScandAsia 27

happening around you. In the trial we did get some traction between members on that.”

Among the lessons learned... one is definitely that if you want to launch a tech company start-up you need to get co-founders in with you that have a skin in the game.

28 ScandAsia • May 2020

O

ne of the key decisions that Tommy made early was to go for outsourcing, since Meeof was very much his own “baby”. He has found one angel investor that supported the project. Aside that Tommy handled all the operational side and development.

“I started out and hired a company in Singapore, to have the provider close to me, tasked to build the native app. They had done many apps before and proclaimed to be the best in town. They were quite pricy and I paid them almost 50 000 Singapore dollars for the job. Everything was outsourced to them. Because I didn’t want to worry about technology, I wanted to concentrate on business development.”

The provider allocated a project manager, and Tommy submitted a very detailed PowerPoint, with all the pre-works and including the requests. This project manager then rewrote that into a formal requirements document, and with Tommy’s documents attached, essentially as the basis for what was to be delivered 4 months later.

“The work document was very loosely defined but I was O.K with that because I knew I was going to get what was in my document, as that had been agreed.”

Then problems started to occur, with two project managers after each other leaving their job at the vendor.

And months passed by without getting any result. When confronted, the CEO of the company confessed that they had outsourced the job to a third party in Vietnam - who was refusing to continue as the requirements did not match Tommy’s PowerPoint (which they had not shared).

Tommy ended up awarding them an extra month and paying another 6,000 dollars to get the job done.

But the problems escalated, as Tommy was presented with the first look of the result - after three and a half months. It contained 500 issues, which he listed and sent back for fixing. Then it continued like this, with issues being sent back and forth that were still not being fixed in the application. After another four months the Dane decided to part with the vendor.

“I was doing it part-time while having my full time job. It had been going on for about eight months. I decided to quit my job and to stop building native apps. I could instead quickly build a website to prove that this technology was going to work and raise interest for it.”

So, within the next four months he built the website, fully available with location-based marketing and profiles and where companies would join. It was launched in June 2017.

But there was a catch with this. “I knew that. Only when your mobile phone is turned on, with the website on you would get a notification - which is obviously a very big limitation for success. But the objective was to build the website and get a lot of PR out there and then get some investors in and help me hire people to build the native apps. So there was a reverse strategy to success because I couldn’t get the people to build it for me,

missing a large enough budget. The angel investor that I had found gave high risk investment to try and get to the Proof of Concept stage,” Tommy explains.

“We did a massive push, with paid advertising to get people to join this. We reached that we had about 50 people who were sharing stuff and we had a lot of traffic coming to the website but not many signed up.”

When visitors were asked they responded they could not find the app in the app store and therefore had not joined. Also, some eight VC companies responded that they liked the idea but needed to see at least 20 000 people in the database and at least five big malls as customers. Then they would consider investing with growth money. With an app even a local radio station was be willing to dedicate a whole programme to promote the concept.

This gave Tommy new energy to turn back to realising the native app. “We started out with a Chinese vendor that was given the source code but wanted to start from scratch. Things looked promising for one month but then it seemed they started dragging their feet, because they were paid weekly, so they saw that the longer it would take the more money they would earn. So I fired them and instead found a start-up company in Sri Lanka.

This time the provider was even promised equity, no less than 20 %, in the company, upon delivering the native apps for both Android and IOS, and would remain the main tech company for all development.

“This Sri Lankan company got very excited and star ted delivering some amazing works for about 8 weeks, and I was finally thinking: ‘Now, we’re going to get it this done – at last!’”

Unfortunately, yet again, and despite have partnered up, also with this company issues started to occur, and with really bad responsiveness.

“The passion that they had had just seemed to die.

So I flew to Sri Lanka and sat with all the developers for two weeks. Being a developer I could scrutinize the code myself and see what was going on. And after that trip I decided that I had had enough; they were simply not able to do the job for me. When it came to the logical implementation of it they were simply not capable. The competence, the technical aspects were not there. Now another 15 000 dollars had been wasted.”

Here, the start-up adventure came to an end for Tommy.

By February 2018 Tommy went back into the corporate world, having been offered a very attractive job with AstraZeneca.

“I got excited about the thought of making money again and the angel investor agreed to shut down the project, because we did not know when we would be able to get the product launched. I paid him back the 60 000 SGD that was still left from his investment.”

“AstraZeneca is a great place to work at and I‘ve got good responsibilities and good career path opportunities so I wouldn’t put that at jeopardy to start something again. We’ve got kids too so I need to manage my risk responsibly.”

“Among the lessons learned... one is definitely that if you want to launch a tech company start-up you need to get co-founders in with you that have a skin in the game.

I am a website developer but I needed an app developer as co-founder and either of us with sales and marketing experience. Probably three or four people would have been needed in the team that all had skin in the game, equity and the motivation to make it work. Otherwise you’ll struggle with vendors,” concludes Tommy.

May 2020 • ScandAsia 29

Thai-Dane forced to shut down beloved restaurant in Laos

“All the money, blood, sweat, tears and hard work I have invested in Dexter have gone down the drain.

Dexter is like my baby,” says Savija Pannark. Photo: Savija Pannark.

S

By Sofia Flittner

avija Pannark, a Thai-Danish woman living in Laos, is one of many people affected by the restrictions imposed by governments to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“When I realized I had to close Dexter because of the lack of tourist, logistic problems and a scared staff, I felt … acceptance. It was unfair, but I accepted it.

I couldn’t change the situation, no matter how much I wanted to,” says Savija Pannark.

But the Thai-Danish restaurant owner had already prepared herself emotionally for the inevitable as soon as Savija heard the news of the neighboring countries’ restrictions and measures to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. Regarding her business Savija Pannark had informed the staff of Dexter in January that she would be forced to let half of them go. But the situation quickly turned from bad to worse during February and March.

“My staff feared contracting the virus, my suppliers 30 ScandAsia • May 2020

had already closed their stores and there was a significant decrease in customers by that time. Shortly after, there were no customers,” says Savija Pannark to ScandAsia.

And so on the 27 March Savija Pannark turned the key to her restaurant. Quickly the Thai-Dane began to worry about the future of Dexter.

“I began to worr y about when I could reopen Dexter again. If I ever could open Dexter again. And if I could… will it even pay off in the end?” wonders the Thai-Dane.

Because even though Dexter has shut down, Savija still has bills, several expenses and loans to pay – but with little to no income. So, the longer Dexter is closed, the more money Savija would have to invest in reopening her beloved establishment. Savija predicts that she won’t be able to reopen Dexter again due to the increasing uncertainty of the situation.

Savija’s dream-scenario would be that she could reopen Dexter – but Savija knows that it’s merely a dream.

Savija Pannark next to the sign inside the restaurant.

Photo: Savija Pannark.

“Even if I could reopen Dexter by some magical coincidence, would any guests come by the restaurant?

There will be no tourists in Laos for a long time and the local guests don’t have much money to eat out,” says the restaurant owner.

Savija Pannark sees the situation as her absolute worst-case scenario come to life: being forced to close Dexter by a situation that’s out of her hands.

“I would feel better if it was my own decision to close Dexter; if I wasn’t good at managing it or my food wasn’t good. But it isn’t like that,” says the Thai-Dane.

An uncertain future

The future concerns Savija Pannark now that she has been forced to shut down Dexter – while also losing her other job as General Manager for three hotels. So now, her biggest worry is not finding work.

“It’s more stressful for me to have nothing to do than being busy,” says Savija Pannark.

Will she be able to make ends meet? Will she be able to financially support herself? Savija Pannark has experienced no demand in her industry – neither in Laos or any other country, where people most commonly lose their jobs during the current health situation. But Savija has a positive mindset and drive to find new challenges, new experiences and adventures.

“Optimism and acceptance are the best way to through tough times,” says the unoccupied woman.

“I just can’t sit around and wait for things to return to normal,” added the Thai-Dane.

Savija has a history of working many different places, such as the Danish Embassy in Bangkok, being Director of the Chamber of Commerce – to mention a few. Her experience has brought the Thai-Dane many skills and competences within the fields of business administration, HR, accounting and management.

“I’m ready to give it all that I have,” she says.

May 2020 • ScandAsia 31

Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Pattaya gives back to the people of Pattaya

S

Text and photos by Sofia Flittner

jømannskirken i Pattaya – the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Pattaya – has been giving away free basic food packages every Thursday since the closing of the city created economic hardship for thousands of local Thais whose income used to depend on the now banned tourists.

ScandAsia visited the church on Thursday 23rd of April to witness this amazing humanitarian initiative.

“People in Pattaya are so friendly and welcoming, so we are happy and proud to give something back to them,” says Camilla Myhre, a volunteer at Sjømannskirken.

“Nobody would stand in this heat for an unknown amount of time if they didn’t really need our help.”

The amount of people coming to receive food has exploded over the last weeks. When the first hand-out was hosted the Norwegian Church had prepared 200 packages of food – but 400 people came. Then the number of packages increased to 700 – but around 1.500 appeared. On 23 April 2020 the Norwegian Seamen’s Church has prepared between 1500 to 2000 packages.

32 ScandAsia • May 2020

“We didn’t expect it to blow up like it did. But the more people that come, the more we will increase our number of relief-packages,” says Camilla Myhre.

The handout was supposed to start at 16.00. But at 14.00, two long lines of Thai people had already formed running from the Norwegian Seamen’s Church and out onto Thappraya Road. The people stand in neat queues, covering themselves from the sun, with distance between each other while local police are keeping watch and maintains safety and social distancing.

“Even if the event starts at 16, the people will show up many hours before, just to secure a spot in the queue.

So we decided as soon as the first person arrived to start distributing the food, so they don’t have to wait for hours in the heat,” says Camilla Myhre.

The lines steadily move forward under the high heat of the burning Thai summer, the people waiting and muttering in anticipation of receiving the package that will help them overcome the loss of their previous income for the time being.

As the people reach the Norwegian Church they are met with organized chaos in the form of masked and gloved police, security people and volunteers from the Norwegian Seamen’s Church, their shirts stained dark as they work under the sweltering summer sun, while their hairlines are painted with beads of sweat. At the front of the queue, police and security check the people temperatures and require people to sanitize their hands and keep distance before they can move forward to receive their food from different stands.

The stands are structured in a U-form to ensure a well-oiled machine that can quickly and efficiently hand out and deliver the products of the relief-package; one volunteer hands out bags of rice, another distributes water, a third hands out eggs and so on.The U-structure also makes sure people enter and leave from different places, preventing many people clustering.

“It’s definitely more structured and organized than the first times we handed out the relief-packages,” says Camilla Myhre.

Not many minutes pass and then in a blink of an eye, the queue is near empty while people trot away holding their bag full of rice, noodles, oil, fish sauce, water, eggs and canned food like a prized possession. Families sit on the side of the road covered by their umbrellas as they wait for their family members to join them so they can go home.

“The people in need come in waves at different times,” adds Camilla Myhre.

The relief-packages includes 2 kilos of rice, two packages of noodles, 2 liters of water, a bottle of fish sauce, canned food and a bottle of cooking oil. The content was chosen with the guidance of a local Thai woman, who explained to the Church that a standard Thai family can make these products go a long way.

As the last package was handed out at 16 (the time the distribution was supposed to start), 1850 reliefpackages had been handed out.

“We are very happy that everybody who came got a relief-package,” says Camilla Myhre.

“If we ever have any food left over, then we will save it until the next hand-out,” adds the the volunteer.

Almost 393.600 baht has been used to distribute 20.000 eggs, 4 tons of rice, fish sauce, cooking oil, water, noodles and canned food.

The Norwegian Seamen’s Church announced on their Facebook that despite their willingness and hopes to continuously distribute food to Thai people in need, they don’t have the financial means to continue if they don’t receive donations to keep up the increasing amount of food.

If a person wishes to donate to keep the distribution of food going, they can donate via VIPSS on the number #64812.

The Danish Church in Thailand has donated money in support of the work of its sisterchurch.

May 2020 • ScandAsia 33

34 ScandAsia • May 2020

When leisure traveling resumes after the Covid-19 lockdown, the way we travel will have changed. Health, hygiene, and social distancing will become top priorities. For one type of traveler, not all that much will change though: The naturist.

N

By Nick and Lins, NakedWanderings.com aturist vacations are still covered with a blanket of ignorance. Maybe you’ve already read an article about naturism or seen a documentary about the subject.

You probably know that it has to do with naked people and maybe even that it’s not related to sex.

But what else do you know about the naturist? For many, their brief research ends with the big “Why?”.

Why on earth would you get naked in front of a bunch of naked strangers? Why would you show them your imperfections and why would you want to see theirs? Why would you book a holiday where clothes are nothing but an unnecessary accessory?

We could write a book about the dynamics of naturism, but for the sake of your reading pleasure, we’ll give you a brief summary instead.

Naturists have a variety of reasons for enjoying their lifestyle, ranging from improved body positivity to more

genuine social interaction to the freedom and comfort of just not having to wear any clothes. And not having to spend many hours carefully selecting them from the closet either. The official definition of naturism says that respect for oneself, for others and for nature are fundamental. Which brings us back to post-COVID-19 traveling.

Traveling after Covid-19

Once travel bans are lifted and airplanes start taking off again, the general idea of the perfect vacation will undoubtedly have changed. Being packed like sardines on the beach or next to the swimming pool will mean an increased risk of getting infected. Crowded places and full tour buses won’t be any different. Mass tourism equates a massive risk. For you, this might mean a completely different way of traveling.

For naturists, it will almost be business as usual.

May 2020 • ScandAsia 35

We never position ourselves at only centimetres from someone else on the nude beach. It’s part of the unwritten naturist etiquette: respect other people’s space.

Hygiene has always been an impor tant factor for us.

We place a towel or sarong between ourselves and any type of furniture we decide to settle our nude body on. And, as the name suggests, naturist venues can often be found in natural spaces. Far away from the big crowds.

Europe leading the way

If we look at the world’s most popular naturist vacation destinations, Europe is head and shoulders the uncrowned queen. Impressive nude beaches, a variety of clothing-optional accommodations and an all-round relaxed attitude towards nudity yearly attracts naked travelers from all over the world. The continent has one major downside: The warm and sunny days are limited to the summer months. With the travel bans still in place in late spring, many naturists are seeing their European travel plans being canceled or postponed. If they still want a liberating skinny dip or bronze equal tan, they will have to explore other places.

In Asia, one country has positioned itself as a premium naturist vacation destination: Thailand. The reasons why more and more naturists are choosing Thailand as their new nude hotspot are obvious: excellent food, affordable prices, splendid nature, amazing culture, hour-

36 ScandAsia • May 2020

long massages at the cost of a Starbucks coffee, and agreeable weather even when most of the world is covered in snow.

Nudity in public places is illegal in Thailand like in most other countries, and dropping your pants on a touristic beach may get you into serious trouble. The vastly growing number of naturist resorts that keep popping up around the country makes up for that. Each in their own unique setting, they provide different experiences for their clothes-free visitors.

Naked in the city

Located in the outskirts of Bangkok, Barefeet Naturist Resor t is an oasis of peace and tranquility in one of the world’s busiest cities. Ideally located near the two major airports and several public transportation hubs, Barefeet is an excellent base for exploring the city or for spending a layover without having to worr y about laundry. The other Thai naturist city resort can be found in downtown Pattaya. From Chan Resort you’re just a shor t taxi ride away from downtown and the nightlife district. If you wish to visit Pattaya and its surroundings but don’t feel much for spending your nights in the city, there is another option for you.

Phuan Naturist Village out in the countryside provides a quiet natural clothes-free environment at only 20 minutes from the city and the major sights and activities.

May 2020 • ScandAsia 37

Asia where you can have a vacation “au naturel”. In the north of the Indonesian island of Bali, you can find the conveniently named Bali Au Naturel resort. The hot and humid Balinese climate turns clothes into a real burden.

Who would want to wear clothes in weather like this?

Apparently not many, given the popularity of the only Asian naturist resort outside of Thailand.

In these times of quarantines and home working, many are discovering the joys of living in their birthday suits. Let’s be honest, who hasn’t had a video call with a client or superior lately, nicely dressed in a shirt and tie but wearing little from the waist down? Can you only imagine the level of comfor t this would add to your vacations? A growing variety of Asian naturist resorts is waiting for you and you won’t have to worry much about hygiene or social distancing.

Naked in nature

Deep into the hilly countryside near Chiang Mai lays Thailand’s first naturist resort without surrounding walls.

Because of the lack of neighbors in this rural area, the views from Oriental Village reach over the farm fields all the way towards the mountains in the far distance. In the very south of the country is another magnificent natural resort to be found. Only open since December 2019, Barefeet Heaven Hill is Thailand’s youngest naturist resort and your ideal destination if you’re looking for nature and authenticity.There is a minor correction we have to make to what we’ve mentioned earlier. Thailand does have one unofficial nude beach, which is the highlight of the Oriental Beach Village. Being located at what seems like the end of the world, or at least the end of Thailand, this resort provides the ultimate opportunity to disconnect and to live like Robinson Crusoe. Without the negative side effects like having to hunt for your own food or not having a fridge full of refreshments.

Naked in Phuket

Phuket is one of Thailand’s most popular tourist destinations and with no less than three naturist resorts, the naked traveler is not be left behind. Lemon Tree Resort was the first naturist resort on the island and still remains a popular destination for those who want to get away from the busy beaches and loud nightlife. Nude vacations in style can be found at Peace Blue Naiharn, a recently built resort where naturism in comfort is the norm without neglecting the social and friendly atmosphere which is so important in the naturist philosophy. Number three on your “places in Phuket where I really have to spend some time without clothes”-list is Harmony Resort. Located in a rural part of Phuket but only at a 15-minute walk from Rawai beach and the shops and restaurants.

Naked in Bali

We’ve been rambling on and on about how Thailand has become such a great destination for the traveling naturist.

But we shouldn’t forget that there is one other place in

January to March 2020 were well off to another record breaking year for naturist rooms sold in Thailand. Then along came Covid-19. But the numbers will climb again once the travel bans are lifted worldwide.

Number of naturist room nights has been growing fast since Naturist Association Thailand star ted registering the room nights at the growing number of resorts in Thailand serving this new travel segment.

Even during the first three months of this year when tourism in general was in a big nose dive, these resorts showed a remarkable resilience.