Innovative Thai Advertising

I am spending a few days on Koh Samui with my family, one of my favorite tropical islands. The place has everything: from unspoiled beaches and endless coconut plantations, to high-end dining and a good night life. Although I was here mainly for business related reasons I had a great time.

This morning I drove from our villa to the French bakery to buy a baguette for breakfast and then wanted to get gas, when I realized I did not bring enough cash. So I stopped at an ATM (every 7-11 and Family Mart has an ATM here, meaning that you are never more than a few hundred meters away from one) to get some more Thai Baht. In Thailand you normally first get your receipt, then your money and only then your bank card. Not smart, because people may forget their cards after taking their money, but that’s a different story.

Anyway, I got my receipt and money and was waiting for my card to come out. After waiting for about 10 seconds the card still did not come out, and I got a bit worried that my card may have been lost. But that was not the case, because when I looked at the ATM screen I saw and ad with the question whether I liked the advertising or not. Only after clicking that I would get my card back!

I have seen a lot of ATMs all over the world, and many of them have advertising on it. Either before you start, during the transaction or you get your money. But this is the first time that I was asked to let the bank know whether I liked the ad before getting back my card! An innovative idea, but I hope China won’t start copying this.