EV boat ride lessons

 Happy better day with cleaner air na ka.

My friends and I went on a rented sun-powered boat for a trip along Klong Bangkok Yai/ Klong Bang Luang. The passionate owner/captain/guide (Sun-Sira) graduated from Thammasat's Political Science Faculty, showed us around the area with some interesting stories. He initiated this tour, equipped his boat roof with solar panels and came up with quite a few little things to serve passengers including glass bottled water, stops at several places to get some local ice-cream or offering to buy snacks like mangoes and sticky rice on request, etc. He told us from the start that littering on the boat isn't allowed, no food waste, and that we could use his food containers, i.e. Thai lunch boxes. As our group consisted of our Japanese friend and two Americans, he gave the explanation in English. It was a fun learning trip we all enjoyed very much ka.

My impressions/ learnings are:

- Sun's passion to enhance environmental sustainability goes beyond words ka, e.g. his personal actions having this boat, boat ride programs, understanding and sharing of people's lives and sufferings, friendly relation with people along the canals, attempts to help generate some little income for them, etc. My appreciation also comes with empathy as frustration must be high from impractical rules, help not extended from authorities, and resistance from communities.

Feel proud of him and TU as I believe the university did provide some good platforms for him to learn and act ka. I told him to stand firm on his sound principles with hope that there'd be some fine successes ka.

- We learned about the air quality from him. Even there are 7 EV boats, long-tailed boats unfortunately contribute to pollution from air and water to noise. When one passed our EV boat, the air quality shot up from lower than 50 to 500....though briefly, many trips will cause lots of consequences ka.

Besides pollution, Sun told us about the quality of life of long-tailed boat operators. Quite a number of them suffer from sickness like cancer from smelling the polluted air and water, knee issues from using their knees to help control the boats, and from diarrhea (I still don't know the real cause ka!)

 

- Sun, in his early 40, doesn't offer boat rides every day. He said he would do as pleased, wishing to lead a happier life ka....his wife has a secure job and both raise a 6-year old girl!

Any thoughts about my learnings mai ka?

Happy Chinese New Year.

Little things from Danang and Hoi An

 Good Monday kaa!

Recently I went to Vietnam on a 'budget' tour and got some good experience ka.

- Going on such a tour made it a must for us to visit 3 'OTOP' places: Jade, Silk, and Bamboo products. It turned out to be quite interesting in a way, from fun techniques of sharing and presentations ka.

           At the Jade/Ruby place, one young guy showed up to be introduced as the owner. He started talking about himself and said he would host a dinner for our group. We sure knew it wasn't his intention. He followed us to the open room where we learned more about how to separate real from fake stones. He then announced that since we didn't accept his invite for dinner, he'd make a special 50% discount with some gifts. Sure it lured quite a few to buy some ka. I didn't buy any ka.

            I shared the story with my family who went to Vietnam the year before. My niece told me it was the same story and so she looked for the picture of the 'owner'. It wasn't the same guy but it was definitely similar scripts to chat with customers ka. they may have several owners sharing the script and strategy 5555!

- Rules are to be enforced and strictly followed ka. It was so clear how Vietnam can develop much faster as its people obey the laws and regulations. 

              When we did our final shopping at a market, several didn't go to the bus and our local tour guide got really upset. With his anger shown, we heard him talk on the phone with our tour leader that she needed to take a cab to meet the group at the next destination. He told us that he had to be tough not to get a 1 million dong fine...if so, he and the driver would be held responsible. Later, when he calmed down, he apologized for his expression and action. We understood him and in fact I was admiring the people to respect the law fully and my friend told him that he did make a good decision. 

              Jealous of the law enforcement and the compliance ka.

- Leadership shines so much from bold and strategic actions, making Danang and Hoi An tourist attractions. Income generating activities also show united efforts of community members, young and old....especially older females and males to get jobs (basket rowers in particular).

Interesting trip for me ka.

Learning about AI trends in 2025

Hi to all ka. I'd like to share what I heard from The Secret Sauce, Sunday Jan 5. The title is, '10 Technology Trends for 2025'....making me think of MIT's annual article that will come out next month too.

Let me share the 10 trends from a Thai expert, Dr. Jirawat Tangpanitanon from Quantum Technology Foundation Thailand (QTFT), to be more contextual ka. They are as follows:

1. Agentic AI -- it talks with other devices to come up with more answers catered to our needs .... to the point that there's not much need for good prompts anymore ka.
2. Interoperability -- tech to enhance processes and results, humans need to come up with clear definitions and effective communication among humans and with AI in order to use AI with its max abilities.
3. Reporting software-- tech to manage many types of reports especially climate issues that need to cross sectors/sections/ disciplines
4. Forest carbon monitoring -- tech to help with actual carbon emission measurement of trees in forests...they now have 'lidar' an app to see the 3-dimensional views...yet, need more customized efforts.
5. Biomass -- use of trees we've been trying to grow to link with gene editing processes of trees and clean energy.
6. Smaller modular reactor (SMR) -- tech to get started paving ways for the future.
7. Peak Shaving -- tech to control the use of electricity at its peak demand using AI,  IOT, batteries, etc. 
8. EV fleet optimization -- tech for logistics companies learn how to use batteries to the full use, and to effectively reduce costs of the fleet operation....for cost reduction, operation efficiency, and clean energy too after all ka.
9. Disinformation security -- tech to detect abusive use of AI that poses risks to individuals/ organizations. The use of local dialects could be part of the solutions too.
10. Post-Quantum Cryptography -- app that breaks encrypted codes more easily within a much shorter time.

You may see many opportunities for our startups to try and innovate for the right solutions for our country,and  for companies to learn faster and make the right decision to implement faster. On the other hand, I feel the threats to our regulators, education systems, our own and people's learning capabilities and curiosity.

With the advancements, they should be able to help us crack the 'silo' that exists everywhere while having selective data collection, open and effective communication. More importantly, I think leaders and all need not only to keep up with the knowledge to have enough understanding how to operate the tech, but also have the right attitudes at every level of management to make it happen ka.

If interested, you may wish to follow these several links I find very useful for us to keep updated ka.

Gartner about this similar issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9qjraDsaGI and the Secret Sauce on Agentic AI:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQO0tbppAFY 

and on this particular 10 trends:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BqyXObYzlo&feature=youtu.be

Any comments mai ka? 

Gifts for leaders

Hope you enjoyed your New Year celebration na ka. Happy happy in 2025 ka. 

I'd like to share what I read.....again from David Novak (my favorite leadership podcaster and author) under the title,'Surprising Leadership Gifts That Don’t Come Wrapped in Bows', Dec 11, 2024. He offers eight unexpected 'gifts' we should take up to reflect and draw lessons. They could seem negative, yet, they contain treasures for us to grow. 

1. Failure: Teaching us about resilience while offering wisdom. 

2. Competition: With copycats around, they drive us to push for innovation. 

3. Difficult Customers: Revealing gaps in our products, services and offerings or even opportunities. 

4. Disagreement: Helping with rethinking and sharpening our visions...when it's built on trust. 

5. The Unexpected: Leading to think differently and possibly to a better path unseen, unplanned. 

6. Criticism: Urging us to shift our mindset toward curiosity. 

7. Time Constraints: Stressful yet forcing us to focus on what really matters.

8. Resource Limits: Shaping creativity from constraints. 

He offers 5 questions for us to ask too: 

1. Why did this happen? 

2. What does it make possible? 

3. Where is the hidden opportunity here? 

4. What can I do differently going forward? 

5. What lesson do I need to learn from this? 

For those who wish to read the full article, please go to this link ka: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/surprising-leadership-gifts-dont-come-wrapped-bows-david-novak-ydhoc 

Which is one good gift from your view and what is the best question you think you should ask more often ka? What is quite unique in our own Thai leadership culture mai ka?