User:Occlumency/Vision Thai

Vision Thai is a Thai-themed Chinese online media affiliated with the VT Group. It was founded by Chit Lee and Angel Chen, a Taiwanese Millennial couple based in Thailand. To create new horizons and possibilities for Thailand, Vision Thai was published in February 2014, featuring current events, social issues, business information, travel, food, culture, life, street interviews, exclusive interviews, and more. Contents are presented through images and videos on its website, social media, and video platforms. Main audience include business owners and expats in Thailand, as well as Chinese speakers (Sinophone) interested in the country.

Feature
Vision Thai’s main audience include business owners and expats in Thailand, as well as Chinese speakers (Sinophone) interested in the country.

Development
With its market positioning as a two-way bridge between Taiwan and Thailand, Vision Thai assists the New Southbound Policy with actual experiences and helps push Taiwanese startups and small to midsize companies into the Thai market. It provides integrated marketing services to Taiwanese businesses and brands looking to enter the South through information sharing, media advantage, acquaintance with arterial industries and trends in Thailand, and local media relations management.

Vision Thai’s services include translation, influencer marketing, local media advertising, and event planning and execution. Vision Thai is also experienced in carrying out projects such as public sector visits to the South, market research, and Taiwan-Thailand matching. Client countries range from Thailand, China, Hong Kong, to Taiwan.

Philosophy
According to founder Chit Lee, “‘Difficult but not impossible’ is the core ideology of VT Group. It is a VT member’s mission to face challenges and to turn ‘impossible’ into ‘I’m Possible.’”. “Cross over, exceed, and excellence are the beliefs we’ve held along the way. There is no limit. Everytime you cross over, you exceed yourself, and it drives you towards excellence.” - This is Lee’s principle of management.

The Origin
With his background in computer science, Chit Lee was expatriated to Bangkok, Thailand in 2009 by the tech firm he was working for. He was later promoted to director in Thailand. From his life and work experiences, Lee noticed there were unfulfilled market demands, thus came his idea of starting a business that serves Chinese speakers who want to understand Thailand.

Lee invited his then-LDR partner, Angel Chen, to go to Thailand from Taipei and help him with publication. In 2014, the two of them started a new business with their residence being the base. Through a prototype magazine, they started developing advertisers by targeting hotels, restaurants, department stores, and other local businesses in Bangkok that needed Chinese market. Given the fact that the New Southbound Policy had not been implemented at the time, Chen once stated, “We want to help Thaissee the Chinese market and to let Chinese people see Thailand so they can have two-way exchanges instead of being in their own bubbles. Even though we insist on using Traditional Chinese in our paper magazines to show people the power of Taiwanese culture, Taiwanese businesses are not our target advertisers. We want to enter the most challenging market and to differentiate ourselves from other Chinese media. That’s why, up until now, our clients are mostly local Thai businesses.”

Digital publishing had started to thrive in Taiwan in 2014. Vision Thai was to be online-only originally, but Lee expressed, “You must understand what’s different locally in order to start a business overseas.” Realizing that the Thai society was going through a transitional stage with old and new publications, they decided to publish paper magazines first. To help clients experience the transition, they also included QR codes in the magazines. More than 30 issues of Vision Thai paper magazines were published prior to the implementation of the Thailand 4.0 economic policy, after which it ceased publication.

Milestones

 * February 2014: Established online media “VISIONTHAI.NET.” Posted contents on Facebook and website. Office set at the founders' residence.


 * January 2015: Published prototype issue of paper magazine.


 * November 2016: Awarded with the highest amount of subsidy for startups of $1 million NTD by the Project of Subsidies & Incentives for Taipei Industry.


 * October 2017: Scaled up operation and moved to office building in Si Lom Commercial Center in Bangkok.


 * December 2017: Ceased publication of paper magazines in response to the Thailand 4.0 digital economic policy. Thirty-four issues of paper magazine were published during the previous 3-year span.


 * January 2018: Approved by the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) and became Thailand’s key foreign business.


 * June 2019: Established video department. Rolled out Vlog series “Black Bear v. Thailand,” aka “Ter V Thai,” and street interview program “WHAT THAI SAY.”


 * March 2020: COVID Tracker went online in Thailand. Became project partner; responsible for Simplified and Traditional Chinese translations.

Team
Vision Thai’s management team includes people of different fields from China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia. This corresponds with the founders’ belief of “cultural diversity sparking more possibilities.”


 * CEO:  Chit Lee  (aka  Black Bear ,  Ter  .) Co-founder and CEO of the VT Group. Previously served as AVP of business development for The Syscom Group, director of Syscom Computer (Thailand) Co., Ltd., and consultant for the Institute for Information Industry Thailand Division.
 * Content Director:  Angel Chen  . Co-founder and content director of the VT Group. Previously worked for Taiwanese tech industry media “Business Next.”

Contents
The positioning of Vision Thai’s official website is news media. Its contents are presented through writing, images, and video sharing; contents include Thai-related international news, important topics, and latest life tips, etc. The website’s structure is as below:


 * Videos
 * News
 * Food
 * Travel
 * Culture
 * Entertainment
 * Life
 * Topics
 * Exclusive Interviews

Active social media platforms include:


 * Facebook (Page): Post, photo, and link sharing
 * Youtube (Official Channel): Videos mainly cover Thailand’s news, events, business information, culture, food, travel, and other life subjects. Series include “Black Bear v. Thailand,” aka “Ter V Thai,” “WHAT THAI SAY,” “Eat in Thailand,” and such. These self-created contents are presented through unboxing, viewpoint sharing, Vlog, street interviews, and exclusive interviews.
 * LINE
 * Weibo
 * Toutiao
 * bilibili
 * TikTok
 * Xiaohongshu
 * CTrip

Media platform partners include:


 * LINE TODAY
 * Yahoo! News
 * Google News
 * HiNet Times
 * Sina News
 * match life
 * Hujiang

Other Achievements

 * Commerce Development Research Institute (Taiwan) - “2020 Wow! Taiwan Project”
 * Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs’ SIPA - “2019 Thailand-Taiwan Industrial Collaboration Summit”
 * Ministry of Health and Welfare (Taiwan) & Changhua Christian Hospital - “2018 Taiwan Thailand Smart Healthcare Conference”
 * Ministry of Culture (Taiwan), Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand, and PUBAT - “Grant for the Publication of Taiwanese Works in Translation Seminar”
 * Ministry of Culture (Taiwan) & Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand - “Taiwan-Thailand Comics Exchange (ttcomics)”
 * Ministry of Culture (Taiwan) & Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand - “Taiwan-Thailand Picture Book Exchange (TTpicbook)”
 * Worked with Thai film studio GDH 559 on “Remembering Bhumibol Adulyadej” charity movie screening
 * Worked with Thai startup 5Lab on creating the Chinese version of COVID Tracker
 * Assisted in filming SET TV documentary “The Borderless World - Thailand Becomes First in Asia to Tax Sugar”
 * SET News “Salmon Chaos! Funny Reactions from Thai Street Interviews”
 * EBC TV interview “Taiwan Revelation - One Thailand, Two Worlds”
 * EBC News interview “Thailand's 3rd Wave of Pandemic. Restrictions for Business Premises in Bangkok Yet to Be Lifted.”
 * EBC News interview “Thai Lockdown! Groups Prohibited to Go Out. Bangkok Sets Up 12 Checkpoints”
 * TVBS News interview “618 Thai Medical Workers Infected Despite Sinovac Vaccinations. Crowd Refuses Vaccination.”
 * Economy Daily News interview “Streamer Black Bear: Taiwanese in Thailand Swallows 144 pills in 7 Days after Diagnosis”
 * TV program “Tang’s Magic Trip - Thailand: Visiting Bangkok, The City of Angels”