Bangkok's exhibition trade is back in business. ProPak Asia 2010 and Asian Paper 2010 — the first two major international exhibitions to be held following the end of the political unrest in May — both opened on June 16 – ProPak Asia at BITEC and Asian Paper at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. The mood was generally upbeat with exhibitors saying they were glad to be in Bangkok and eager to do business.
David Aitken, managing director of Bangkok Exhibition Services, the organiser of ProPak Asia, said the greatest concern in the run-up to the show was international visitor attendance. He said: "Some exhibitors were quite worried about the situation and feared we would postpone the show, but we assured them that the show was not affected by the crisis and that it would go on as scheduled. As a result, the international pavilions continued with their commitment and the individual exhibitors proceeded as planned. Everything turned out very well."
Exhibitors at ProPak Asia said they understood the situation well enough to not be deterred. Kim Anderson, managing director of Sympak Asia-Pacific, Singapore, said: "Being a frequent traveller, what we see on the news affects our travel decisions. But we also know that once in a while, it may look worse on the TV than in reality. It was not a difficult decision for us to come to ProPak."
For Andreas Benischek, managing director of Ziemann Asia-Pacific, his company's commitment to Thailand and the region meant that his decision was a straightforward one. "Our customers are here and they expect us to be here in good times and bad times. That's why we did not cancel," he said.
While ProPak Asia opened as scheduled, Asian Paper was postponed from its original date of April 21-23.
Michiel Kruse, managing director of UBM Asia, organiser of Asian Paper, said the final decision to postpone was a difficult but necessary one. "Safety was our number one priority when we decided to reschedule. We also have to keep in mind that the new dates should not conflict with other paper shows around the world. The availability of the venue was also a factor. For Asian Paper, we also have people who were shipping their goods and machines to Bangkok and if the new dates are within two or three months, they can keep it here and not ship it back to Europe, for example, for another show," he revealed.
Despite the circumstances, exhibitors at the biennial show were generally hopeful when it finally opened.
Craig Ralph, regional product manager, Kemira Asia-Pacific, said the political situation did not impact his company's decision to exhibit at Asian Paper. He said, "We are glad to see that things are back to normal here in a very short time frame. The only impact was the participation level we could offer. The rescheduling meant that we have to wind back our participation slightly in terms of number of representatives here at the booth. But that's purely due to availability and not on any concerns about safety."
First-time exhibitor Samir El-Hin of Hinnli, Taiwan, said the decision to come to Bangkok was a difficult one initially. "We hesitated because we were worried about our security. But because we really wanted to come, we didn't cancel. After things recovered in Thailand and everything went back to normal, we decided to come. We are really happy to be here."
For its part, the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has intensified its promotional activities to restore confidence in Thailand's exhibition industry. The director of its exhibition department, Mrs Supawan Teerarat said, "From what we saw at ProPak Asia and Asian Paper, Thailand is still an attractive place for exhibitions and international business. For TCEB, as a government agency under the Prime Minister's Office, we are dedicating additional resources at this critical period to support exhibition organisers and attract visitors to Thailand."
