AsiaDirect

Placement organization

Name of organization: AsiaDirect
Town/city: Bangkok
Country: Thailand
Website: https://www.asiadirect.nl/

Student

Name of student: Anouk Blauen

Specialist area: TM
Placement period: 2018-2019

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Touroperator
Organization’s activities: Your basic task are the marketing and sales tasks. You will sell tours at the sale counter.Or you work on social media, the website and keep contact with affiliates. To know a lot about the tours they will let you go on a few tour inspections(which is really nice, you will learn a lot about the country and the Thai culture and ofcourse about the company). It is flexible young company so if you have an idea to improve the company they will listen to you. I didn’t feel like a trainee i felt like a co-worker.
Target group of the organization: travelers
Company culture: It’s a Dutch and Thai company.
You can speak dutch or english (or Thai).
The atmosphere is nice. Everyone wants to help you. It’s a family culture. Informal.
Number of employees: 15
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

I worked in the sales and marketing.

Brief description of your daily activities: I worked two days at the sales counter at the 7th floor of the hotel. I selled tours to guest. I received guests upon arrivel. I worked on the website from Asiadirect.nl. I did some backoffice task, innovate new hotel contracts. You keep contacts with affiliates. Social media is also an important task.
Brief description of your company assignment: My company assignment was to make a brand awarness of AsiaDirect.
The company is new and unknown for some guests in the Netherlands. I had to make sure that the touroperator became known.
(vergroten van de naamsbekendheid)
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Come to pick you from the airport. He is really nice. Give your the feeling that you are safe and a warm welcome.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS word, writing skills,
English: Basic
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? the company did, you live in a one star hotel 8 min walk from the office
How did you go to work every day? by foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Thai Visa
Do you need a work permit? no
How did you arrange the necessary documents: The company will help you and tell you were you have to go and which documents you need.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? In the second month i left the country to arrange my Visa in Malaysia. But there are a lot of options, and you will see a new country during this project. It takes you in total 2 days to arrange the necessary documents when you are here.
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? two months before i left the Netherlands. (Thuisvaccinatie.nl is een goede)

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? No, you can speak basic english and dutch

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1000
Accommodation (monthly): € They paid my accommodation
Local transport (monthly): € 0
General costs of living (monthly): € you can have a meal for 2.50 euros. Really cheap meals.
Costs of visa: € 150
Costs of work permit: € 150
What did the company pay for/to you? The accommodation, inspection tours. Sometimes they will take you for lunch or invite you for dinner.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I didn’t prepare for the countrys culture. It was my first experience outside of Europe. In the first three weeks a was a bit in shock of the thai culture but after three weeks I didn’t want to leave. The company is really nice, the atmosphere is nice and they will help you with everything. They will pick you up on arrival and let you know, you are safe
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? no

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: anoukblauen@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Dont make fun of the king. Take care that the police is really corrupt. A grab is the safest way to travel.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: You will find a lot of friends and there are a lot of things to do.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link