Furniture Consumption in Thailand : A Kano model study of IKEA with implications for the strategy making process

This thesis is a study of Thai consumer behavior that affects the purchasing and servicing in the furniture retail industry. A market survey was conducted in Thailand to support this study. The target group of this study is people residing in Bangkok aged 25 year old and above. In order to find a suitable strategy for the new IKEA in Thailand, the data gathered was analyzed and discussed by applying the type of Kano’s model with IKEA’s strategies. It was also analyzed in terms of conceptual level between Kano’s model and research strategy. The study reveals that consumer behavior and characteristics of consumer requirements in Thailand are different from others counties. IKEA has to adapt suitable strategies that are consistent with Thai consumer behavior to achieve consumer satisfaction. This thesis also discussed that Kano model can inform strategy making process in term of quality and customer satisfaction as the results from Kano model quantitative analysis provide understanding of customer requirements and their attributes

Luminescence characterisation of quartz-rich cover sands from NE Thailand

The genesis of a several-meter-thick cover sand layer, which is widely distributed in mainland SE Asia has been the subject of much debate, being considered by some to be an aeolian mantle of late Pleistocene/early Holocene origin, and by others to represent a Holocene biomantle. Samples were collected from three sites in NW Thailand in 1998 to assess the potential of luminescence studies for characterisation and chronometric studies of the layer. The material is a quartz-rich, iron- stained sand, with high-luminescence sensitivities, a pronounced 325 degreesC TL peak, and high sensitivity to phototransfer and OSL. A number of methods for estimating stored dose were assessed, of which additive TL and regenerative OSL procedures produced good laboratory results. These methods have been used to produce stored dose and apparent age profiles for one of the sites. The data are consistent with a late Pleistocene/Holocene aeolian deposition process, possibly modified in the upper layers by bioturbation. However, the possibility that the recorded profiles are the result of heterogeneous mixing of bleached and unbleached grains within the biomantle model cannot at this stage be excluded. The material has excellent luminescence properties, and it is likely that further luminescence studies will be able to distinguish between the formation models, and contribute significantly to understanding of these regionally significant sediments

Establishing the paleohydrological context of the iron Age floodplain sites of the Mun River valley, N.E Thailand

Many Iron Age sites on the flood plain of the Mun River in northeast Thailand are encircled by channels commonly known as “moats.” Also, the sites are closely associated with complex paleochannels of the river. A comparison between the seemingly human-constructed moats and paleochannels provided an opportunity to assess the relationship between prehistoric human settlement and paleohydrological conditions. In this study, the results of physical, sedimentological, and geochemical analyses are used to characterize sediments deposited within the channels around the Iron Age site of Ban Non Wat and within a paleochannel at nearby Ban Non Ngiu. This allowed us to test the results of previous research that has suggested significant changes in the floodplain hydrology and the geoarchaeologically important conclusion that Iron Age human activity was associated with one particular paleohydrological phase. Our analyses broadly confirm the results of previous stratigraphic studies, but add detail regarding sedimentation processes. The evidence indicates that there are significant sedimentological differences within the complex of archaeological channel features, differences that provide critical evidence for the formation and sedimentation processes of the channels. More importantly, comparison between the archaeological features and the natural channel fills highlights the relationships between the archaeological sites and landscape. Drawing also on previously published chronological, geomorphological, and stratigraphical data, it is possible to place the sites into a floodplain hydrological regime that may have been unique to the Iron Age. Specifically, the moats may have been constructed in response to enhanced water availability on the floodplain. The sites, therefore, may reflect a human response to increased availability of water beyond the main river channels. This water supply, however, appears to have been short-lived (centuries at most), and with its loss, the human adaptation to this enhanced natural resource became unviable. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Sedimentary facies and paleoenvironment of a Pleistocene fossil site in Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeastern Thailand

Quaternary fauna and flora fossils were found in situ in a sand pit at the Khok Sung village of Khok Sung Subdistrict, Muang District, Nakhon Ratchasima province. Six lithostratigraphic units from unit 1 to unit 6 in ascending order were recognized in the sand pit. The sediments in the Khok Sung sand pit were deposited as two meandering channel sets. Units 1, 2, and 3 form the lower channel sequence, and units 4, 5, and 6 form the upper channel sequence. The lower channel unconformably overlies bedrock and generally flowed northward, whereas the upper channel flowed eastward. The parent rocks of the Khok Sung sediments crop out in the western margins of the Khorat Plateau. The flora fossils include fruits (Ziziphus khoksungensis (Rhamnaceae), Dipterocarpus costatus (Dipterocarpaceae), Melia azedarach, and Dracontomelon dao (Anacardiaceae)), seeds, leaves, wood, tubers (Cyperus or Bolboschoenus (Cyperaceae)), amber, and pollen. This assemblage suggests the presence of tropical mixed deciduous and dry evergreen forests. The fauna fossils include fish, gavial (Gavialis cf. bengawanicus), tortoise (Batangur cf. trivittata, Heosemys annandalii, Heosemys cf. grandis, and Malayemys sp.), soft shell turtle (Chitra sp., and cf. Amyda sp.), bovids, rhinoceros, deer, an advanced form of Stegodon, and hyena. The fauna indicate that the climate differed from today, with heavier rainfall and more extensive grassland areas during the Pleistocene.<br/