Editor’s Blog Rethink on MLMs after Herbalife fine? WITH so many so-called Multi-level marketing companies of its own, it’s going to be interesting to see how Thailand reacts to the recent news that Herbalife, one of the world’s biggest MLMs, has agreed to pay US$200 million to American consumers and change its business practices to settle a two-year federal investigation. Courts in Los Angeles charged that Herbalife’s compensation practices were unfair because distributors were rewarded more for recruiting others to join and purchase products than they were for selling products as a result of actual demand for them. Herbalife sells weight-loss shakes and nutritional products through independent salespeople, also known as members – in more than 80 countries, including Thailand. MLM is a controversial marketing strategy that compensates the sales force not only for sales they generate, but also for the sales of the other salespeople they recruit. Other terms often used for MLM include pyramid selling, network marketing and referral marketing. It is illegal in mainland China. Critics say the products involved are not the incentive to join an MLM. “Otherwise people might have shown an interest in selling this particular product or service before in the real world. The product is the excuse to attempt to legitimate the real money-making engine. It’s the cover,” explained an observer. Bangkok’s top performance….on traffic issues IT will shock few to learn that on a list of the world’s worst cities for rush hour traffic, Bangkok is No. 1, ahead of Istanbul, Mexico City, Moscow, St Petersburg, Bucharest, LA and five Chinese cities. The rankings come from GPS manufacturer TomTom and reported by TV channel CNN. Bangkok does better in a survey on overall traffic congestion carried out by the oil company Castrol, which puts the city at No. 8 worst in the world. Indonesia’s capital Jakarta heads that list of horrors, followed by Istanbul, Mexico City, Surabaya (Indonesia), St Petersburg, Moscow, and Rome. Another TomTom survey on overall traffic congestion has placed Bangkok at No. 3, while the Thai capital does not appear at all on publisher Forbes’ list of congested cities. Instead, the magazine ranks Brussels and Antwerp as the biggest offenders, followed by Los Angeles, Milan, London, Paris, Honolulu, Rotterdam, Manchester and San Francisco. Yet another GPS navigation app called Waze has named Manila, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Jakarta at its top four traffic congested cities. Brexit and the end of a political class WHEN Britain recently decided to vote in favour of leaving the EU, the result came as a major surprise – even to some Brexit supporters. Among those shaking their heads in disbelief were politicians who had campaigned hard for the ‘Leave’ vote. Since then, rather shockingly, some have distanced themselves from the outcome, inviting considerable and thoroughly deserved criticism. Fair-minded sections of UK society saw the entire Brexit issue as a brilliant example of democracy in action, enabling people with normally small and often overlooked voices to be heard. Crucially, the Leave vote also clearly demonstrated a general disappointment and dissatisfaction with Britain’s political elite. For too long, they have ruled the UK without connecting properly with the wishes of the silent majority. Brexit was the undoing of many of this privileged class – and the fallout continues to this day, with lots of new faces challenging the old guard. In the US, which is heading towards its presidential election this November, there are similar rumblings. The favourite candidate, Hilary Clinton, is by no means sure of victory; her arch opponent Donald Trump has gained huge support against the odds. He has achieved this surprising position not because he is presidential material, but rather because he represents many people who feel that America’s political classes have either lost touch, or are simply uninterested, in their views and hopes for the future. 6
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