Jaffee Yee of Knowledge Media Group Helping Chiang Rai

Jaffee Yee of Knowledge Media Group Thailand has announced the launch of a new business unit called “China Hotel Marketing”, offering China marketing services to small independently owned in Chiang Rai and the Greater Mekong Sub-region.

The initiative will also include offering services to SME hotels and resorts in ASEAN countries that lack professional promotion and marketing resources.

Services offered according to the group’s announcement include “positioning and branding, engineering creative strategic sales and marketing plans, marketing research, performing and fulfilling the professional role of public relations, marketing and communications.”

Various strategies for new niche markets such as golf, shopping, weddings, wellness, medical services, culinary services, and art and culture, plus study tours and MICE are also included.

Jaffee Yee is all about Chiang Rai and the Mekong River

Chief of the professional team is Jaffee Yee, who has had more than 30 years of experience in sales and marketing, with in-depth knowledge of Chinese culture, current business environments, consumer habits and values, and fluency in Mandarin and several major Chinese dialects

Jaffee Yee is all about the Mekong River. Or the Greater Mekong Sub region to be exact. The publisher is passionate about that whole stretch of the world which encompasses the countries contiguous to the Mekong, starting from Yunnan (southwest China) and following its course along through Indochina.

As such, the Malaysian-born Chinese has made Thailand his home since 1985, choosing Chiang Rai as his home base. “It’s a full cycle,” explains the dapper man about town. “When I was a kid in Penang my environment was exactly like that — green environment and mountains. Having lived in Hongkong and Bangkok when I got older I found a place I’d like to retire.”

He regards Chiang Rai as being the real centre of the Greater Mekong. “I can see the river by driving less than one hour. It’s an ideal base to promote the GMS with my new magazine, Yunnan Mekong Travel (www,knowledgemediagroup.com). And I can go to the beach, just 5 minutes away.”

A beach in land-locked Chiang Rai??? Please explain. “Chiang Rai beach is a river beach, of course, the Kok River.”

His favourite part of Thailand is Northern Thailand, the Lanna region. “This whole place is cool, nice culture. In the south you have nice beaches but what else? The rice culture is here, the Lanna influence.”