“We were extremely worried and, looking back, it seemed as though they were missing for 15 days,” Chatchai said. “As parents, we therefore decided it would be great if we could do or have something that allowed us to know where our kids were at all times.”
This was the seed of an idea that has since led to the development of a SIM card-based child-tracking watch, which gives parents an all-the-time monitoring capability and peace of mind in knowing where their offspring are at any given time.
“The idea of inventing a product to support a family’s love and preventing children from going missing has been combined and conveyed through the development of what has become a child loss-prevention smart watch – to connect family members anywhere and allow children to explore the world in safety,” he explained.
“Using SIM card technology |similar to that used in mobile phones, we can use the wristwatch to identify a phone number and access our kids,” he said.
The first version of Pomo’s kid-tracking watch was launched onto the market in May last year, with 5,000 units in the initial shipment.
“We earned Bt60 million in sales within the first seven months of the launch, during which about 20,000 units were sold,” he added.
The company then started looking to expand its Pomo House business abroad at the end of last year, he said.
“We opened a branch office, Pomo House International, in Singapore to be our hub for contacting overseas markets,” he said.
The company now exports its smart watches to many markets around the world, including Argentina, the US, Mexico, Russia, the Netherlands and Malaysia, through the appointment of local sole distributors.
It plans to expand into Indonesia as well as more widely in Latin America in the near future.
The company will next year launch a new model for the elderly.
Chatchai, 42, graduated from |the Faculty of Architecture at Chulalongkorn University in 1998.
He then studied English language at Kaplan International in Chicago for about a year, before continuing with a master’s degree in interactive communication at New York University (NYU), graduating in 2002.
“During my study at NYU, I loved and was really happy writing |computer programs, especially in three dimensions on Autocad. I [had already] gained creative vision and learned structural engineering from my architectural study,” he said.
During his master’s studies, Chatchai also took a business course at NYU’s Stern School of Business, where he built up an interest in marketing.
“Whatever you do in the business world, you cannot do it well if you lack marketing and business knowledge,” he stressed.
Prior to completing his studies, Chatchai worked as an intern as a flash programmer at Ruder Finn Interactive, a unit of US-based Ruder Finn, a public-relations agency.
He worked there for 18 months, before being asked by his mother to return to Thailand following the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
Back in Thailand, Chatchai started working for Drum Beat, a US-based interactive agency, again as a flash programmer, this time for about six months, before moving to the mobile Internet arm of DTAC (Total Access Communication) as project manager in charge of new business development.
He worked at DTAC for 18 months, then moved to a South Korea-based telecom solution provider, Uangel, where he focused on business development and looking after the firm’s business in Thailand and Malaysia for two years, before leaving in 2006.
“By working at diversified business firms, I gained much enriched experience, especially in dealing with |people. When I talk with them, I can as a result better read their minds in terms what they’re thinking and |committed to.
“This benefits me in adapting my working style to fit in with people I work with,” he explained.
Owning a business is a kind of destiny for him, he said, referring back to nearly 10 years ago when his wife, Supreeya, who graduated in advertising from North Western University in the US, set up her own digital agency. “In 2007, I exited all forms of professional career to help my wife run her company, so that she would be able to spend more time with kids,” he said. Chatchai spun off a business to set |up Pomo House in 2014 together |with friends, who are strongly |talented in software development, distribution experts – as well as young parent celebrities.