By Don Sambandaraksa
Wednesday, June 06 2007 10:56 AM
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/internet/0,39044908,62018970,00.htm

eBay, the world's largest auction site, will team up with Thailand's leading portal in a long-term partnership. The deal will see Sanook bring the local touch needed to help expand the Thai market in a way that complements the technical e-commerce expertise that eBay brings.

The two companies called it the perfect marriage.

Dan Neary, eBay's regional vice president for Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and India, and Torboon Puangmaha, CEO of Sanook Online, explained that the announcement means that in the next five to seven months, the ebay.co.th Web site and Sanook's own auction portal will both be phased out in favor of the new sanook-ebay Web site.

"Today, in some of the categories such as gems, apparel and sporting goods, some of the largest exporters in the world from an eBay sense already come from Thailand. The question is how do we apply and build on that," Neary said.

eBay's payment system, PayPal, has been supporting the Thai baht since October last year.

Creating a safe and trusted marketplace has long been eBay's mission and today it works proactively with luxury brand owners and local law enforcement. The highlight is eBay's feedback system, which shows the last 100 transactions. "I wish I could see the comments of the last 100 customers in a restaurant I go to," Neary suggested.

Torboon said that the two firms compliment each, with eBay.co.th focused on cross-border trade while auction.sanook.com is mainly a domestic site.

Neary said that in Germany, it is estimated that 17 percent of all non-business post is related to eBay. Globally, an AC Nielson report estimated that 1.3 million people have a livelihood primarily through eBay selling to its 233 million customers in what is now 28 countries.

This is the great equalizer. What this brings to Thailand is the opportunity for people in rural villages to have access to this same vibrant market; for the village craftsman or weaver to sell their wares globally.

"At the moment, the Thai economy is not so good, but with this channel the SMBs (small and midsize businesses) can grow and compete globally with the big guys," Torboon added.

In fact, the sheer volume of post means that eBay works with many post offices, such as in Singapore, to expedite packages coming in from the United States for customs purposes.

Asked about sensitivities such as the fact that Buddha heads are common house ornaments in the west but could be controversial here, Neary said that the market was so big and that eBay has become a reflection of society. "We reflect a lot of the cultural discussion that is going on and with this partnership, we are better equipped to understand these issues than if we had entered the Thai market alone."

Neary noted that eBay reserves the right to take down things that are in bad taste. For instance, it has long banned Nazi memorabilia.

Asked if eBay would provide the Thai government with a certain user's personal data given a Thai court order now that they will have a legal presence in the country, Neary said that eBay takes personal privacy very seriously, but there is an overriding directive to comply with local regulations.