Office Automation, Stationery and IT Fair 2012 (and other shows), March 29 - April 1, 2012, at Impact

Today, March 31, 2012, I went to Impact Center to attend a grouping of comparatively small but interesting trade shows which are running from March 29 to April 1, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

These shows are Miracle Year Amazing Thailand 2012; Office Automation, Stationery and IT Fair 2012; Kaset Sabai Expo; Travel Thailand, Travel the World, #4; Thailand 2012 Coffee & Tea Drinks; and Thailand 2012 Bakery & Ice Cream.

Miracle Year Amazing Thailand 2012 is a national promotion celebrating various aspects of Thailand.  I was very hungry when I arrived at this venue at 2:00 p.m. and was pleasantly surprised to see some kinds of typical Thai food for sale, since there had been no mention of food at any of these shows on the Impact website.

However, there were only a few entrees, including Somtam papaya salad, Pad Thai, Northern Thai noodle dishes and sausages, and Gaeng Massaman Gai chicken curry.  I opted for the Massaman but was disappointed that it was rather sweet and the chicken had not been stewed long enough.

There were some exhibitions of Thai handicrafts, including fruit carving and sweets preparation, plus a service specializing in the Thai “Phaen Boran” (ancient) style of massage.

There was an exhibit of the masks and costumes worn by Khon theatrical performers, and I especially appreciated an exhibit of traditional Thai musical instruments.   I was impressed to see huge-scale models of the Thai fiddles known as Saw Oo and Saw Duang.  These giant display fiddles measured well over seven feet (over two meters) in height, while the actual fiddles are somewhat less than three feet (less than a meter) in height.

There was an exhibition dedicated to the King and Queen of Thailand, with a few young men and women dressed as “Kinaree” deities who posed for photos with visitors.

At the back-center of the of exhibition hall, a stage had been erected, with a wide area of chairs for the audience.  At the time I was there, a veteran Thai male vocalist was performing patriotic songs, backed by karaoke soundtracks.

From there, I went to the next hall for the Office Automation, Stationery & IT Fairs.  I immediately saw that I had made a mistake in rushing to buy the Gaeng Massaman Gai at my first stop, as there was a greater variety of food available at this show.

The fair was heavy on stationery products but had a variety of other products for the office, including printers, fax machines, calculators, security systems, office furniture, etc.  The booths of these office-related items did not fill the whole hall allotted to this fair, so other vendors had been accepted, including those exhibiting an eclectic mix of herbal products, clocks, magazines, honey, frozen seafood, jewelry, leatherwear, clothing, and more.

As usual, there were banks promoting their credit cards, plus insurance companies and private companies offering instruction in foreign languages, music, computer, and other types of lessons.

I noticed one fairly interesting product which was a bladeless fan, called an “air multiplier” fan.  I was amused and a bit puzzled by the explanation shown on a board within the booth:  “Blades cause buffeting.  The blades on conventional fans cause unpleasant buffeting because they chop the air before it hits you.” 

I saw the bladeless fan in action but unfortunately the exhibitor was busy with other customers so I didn’t have the chance to get a detailed explanation from him on how the fan worked, especially the elimination of the dread buffeting.

Next, I went to the Kaset Sabai Expo.  In the Thai language, the word “kaset” refers to agriculture, while “sabai” means feeling good.  Agricultural products on display included farming equipment such as motorized plows and rice processors, plus plant food, plants and flowers.

The agricultural exhibits didn’t take up the entire hall, so there were booths rented to vendors of clothes, jewelry, wine cooler, small handicrafts, and various types of packaged dried seafood and dried sweets.

There was a small but interesting section selling prepared foods that could be eaten right there, including grilled meatballs on bamboo skewers, chicken curry puffs, roti ( an Indian-style crepe, but sweetened with sugar and condensed milk, as Thais prefer), and Northern Thai food.

The next hall housed “Travel Thailand, Travel the World, #4.”  There were exhibitors of accommodations from all the regions of Thailand:  Central, North, Northeast and South, and Bangkok.

I was interested in their descriptions of their various businesses:  beach resort, boutique resort, sports club & hotel, cabana beach resort, seaview resort & spa, resort condo, and others.

As with the previously mentioned shows, the travel section did not fill the entire hall, so booths had been rented to other types of vendors.  Some of their products were toys, trampolines, batik, suitcases, backpacks, bicycles, knives, etc.  Some of the services were massage, optical, banks, skin clinics, etc.

Finally, I visited Thailand 2012 Coffee & Tea Drinks and Thailand 2012 Ice Cream & Bakery.  There were 20 exhibitors displaying their coffee and tea-making systems, machines and supplies; 20 exhibitors of ice cream-making equipment and supplies; and 12 exhibitors of bakery equipment and supplies.

There was also an Activities Workshop held a certain times during the day.  None was being held while I was there, but I noticed that some of the workshops were “Gelato and Ice Cream Demonstration,” “Coffee of the Day,” and “Importance of Cleaning and Maintenance of Coffee Machines.”

Of these shows, the travel fair was by far the busiest and best attended, though the others were doing reasonable business.

Bob