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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021538

Ambitious woman CEO aims to take Dusit brand to global heights

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2022

Opal Varunsuda

On the 19th episode of Business Story, Suphajee Suthumpun, Group Chief Executive Officer at Dusit Thani Public Company Limited, discusses the past, present, and future of Dusit Thani.

Dusit Thani: From past to present

Dusit Thani was founded in 1948 by Thanphuying Chanut Piyaoui, a lady with a vision and strong passion, established Princess Hotel on Charoen Krung Road in 1948. Since then the group has been in the hotel business and hospitality services for more than 70 years.

Today, Dusit Thani is the leading hospitality company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand; and along with fellow peers in the hospitality industry, Thailand has now become one of the most visited countries in the world.

Suphajee Suthumpun, Group Chief Executive Officer at Dusit Thani Public Company Limited

Suphajee Suthumpun stated that Dusit Thani started from a single hotel in a corner of Bangkok 74 years ago and since then the group has grown rapidly, now expanding to 333 properties across 17 countries.

Dusit Thani currently manages 48 hotels across 5 brands, including full service hotels, luxury hotels, wellness-focused hotels, and lifestyle hotels for millennial travelers. And with Dusit Thani’s recent acquisition of Asia’s largest villa management company Elite Havens in 2018, the group has reached new heights.

Apart from hotel management, Suphajee Suthumpun asserted that Dusit Thani has been focusing on education since 1993.

The group provides education on hotel management, hospitality, and culinary programs; and has over 3,000 students in their system each year. Suphajee Suthumpun further mentioned that Dusit Thani also began expanding into food business and real estate development a few years ago.

DUSIT THANI –

Dusit Central Park: 

With Dusit Thani’s vision “uniquely delivering gracious hospitality to the world”, the group is now expanding with their new project: Dusit Central Park.

Suphajee Suthumpun stated that the location of Dusit Central Park is one of the project’s strengths. Located in Bangkok’s CBD, which is the most convenient spot in Bangkok, the project is accessible by both the underground train and skytrain.

Dusit Central Park: A project which integrates legacy, heritage, and futureSuphajee Suthumpun explained the Dusit Central Park project consists of 4 key elements: hotel, residence, office, and retail. The hotel is expected to be completed in 2024 during the first quarter; the other elements to be followed in the same year.

Residences will be divided into 2 living concepts: one residence aims at the younger generations who desire urban lifestyle with luxury services, the other aims at those with bigger families who desire larger living spaces. All residences will be provided 24/7 service by the Dusit hotel.

Suphajee Suthumpun stated that the key for this project lies in the integration between legacy, heritage, and future. Finding the balance between heritage and future is viewed as a critical point for Dusit Thani; it needs to capture new customers while giving the experiences that they had delivered to their past customers.

In areas of architecture, the group consulted with experts in determining which elements should be kept to represent Dusit Thani’s past legacy, and which elements to be added to keep up with the ages.

The pandemic, technology disruption, and shift in consumer preference:

When asked of the challenges Dusit Thani faced during the past 2-year pandemic, Suphajee Suthumpun replied that this period had given Dusit Thani the opportunity to reflect and look into their business model and address the change in consumer expectation and preference.

With technology disruption, Dusit Thani now focuses on collaboration with strategic partners, integrating innovation to deliver to customers, and contribution in growing together with the country, industry, and community.

Suphajee Suthumpun asserted that collaboration, innovation, and contributions all lead to the main objection: to expand, diversity, and balance Dusit Thani’s portfolio.

Suphajee Suthumpun also discussed the change of consumer behavior towards personalized experience. Dusit Thani now aims to understand personal preferences instead of doing mass campaign market segmentation. For insights to customers preferences, Dusit Thani has been spending budget to address data collection and capabilities for the past two years.

Follow the full inteview video episode in Business StoryBusiness Story: Dusit Central Park

Opal Varunsuda

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021515

Thai start-ups raise over THB10 billion in just two months

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2022

Thai start-ups managed to secure more than 10 billion baht in funding in September and October, as investment rebounded with the country’s reopening.

Thansettakij business daily reported on Friday that the past two months have seen major investment deals announced by five Thai start-ups in various industries.

The biggest deal was announced by e-commerce platform LINE MAN Wongnai, which raised US$265 million or 10 billion baht from several partners including Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, Line Corp, BRV Capital Management, PTT Oil and Retail (OR), Bualuang Ventures and Taiwan Mobile. The deal raised the company’s value to over 37 billion baht, making it Thailand’s latest unicorn.

The second deal was announced by Globish Academia Thailand, an online English learning platform, which raised over 90 million baht from leading venture capital firms Premier, NVEST Venture, ECG, 500 TukTuks, StormBreaker Venture and RareJob. Globish is entering a growth stage and aims to become a leading EdTech start-up in the Asean region.

Meanwhile, Green Yellow, a solar generation start-up, recently secured 831 million baht from the Export-Import Bank of Thailand to expand its solar-panels project for residential and business customers wishing to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.

AutoPair, a provider of automotive-part sourcing and auto-shop management software, also secured 70 million baht from Mitsubishi Corp to expand the Japanese automaker’s parts-manufacturing wing.

Lastly, Fintech and blockchain start-up Forward recently completed its seed or first-stage funding with 160 million baht raised. The six-month fundraising project weathered a volatile cryptocurrency market to secure investments from Primestreet Capital, Beacon Venture Capital, KBANK, Bank of Ayudhya and KASIKORN X, among others.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021505

Thailand needs ‘more investment in renewable energy, digitalisation by public, private sectors’

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2022

Nongluck Ajanapanya

Thailand’s public and private sectors should invest in renewable energy and digital solutions to maintain the country’s competitiveness and growth, according to Delta Electronics.

Green energy and reduction of carbon emissions are now part of the global mega-trend. All transformation processes take time, so the sooner the better, said Delta Thailand’s president, Jackie Chang.

He made the remarks during the annual seminar “Delta Future Industry Summit 2022: Smart Green Energy for a Resilient and Sustainable Thailand”.

The seminar provides a venue for Delta’s partners to network and solve problems while learning about the company’s latest solutions in EV charging, data centre, and industrial automation.

Chang stated that while investment in renewable energy will be high, it will be worthwhile in the long run because the global economy is concerned about the environment. Many regulators will impose regulations requiring polluted or high-emission companies to pay compensation.

One of Thailand’s top priorities right now is to focus on establishing factory plants for electronic vehicles, he said, while praising the government’s policy of encouraging foreign investment, but he believes it should be expedited.

Aside from battery plants, Chang suggested that Thailand consider developing its own chip set and semiconductor in order to sustain Thailand’s EV industry as well as digital economy.

He emphasised the importance of assisting traditional automobile suppliers in Thailand in transforming their businesses to serve the EV industry.

He also pledged to assist the Thai government and entrepreneurs during this period of energy transition.

“As an EV parts manufacturer and EV charging solution provider, Delta has the local engineering and service capabilities to implement comprehensive EV charging infrastructure solutions,” Chang said.
 

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Supattanapong Punmeechaow thanked Delta for supporting the National Energy Plan 2022, which will reduce carbon emissions to meet the country’s 2050 carbon neutrality target.

“Today, we are already seeing Delta contributing to Thailand 4.0, new S-Curve and sustainable goals, by building many essential EV parts and charging infrastructure in Thailand to supply top car brands, as well as paving the way for environmentally friendly buildings and manufacturing practices by promoting rooftop solar, batteries, and energy efficiency technologies,” said Supattanapong.

Chang concluded by saying that Delta is looking forward to collaborating with its partners to put solutions into action that promote e-mobility and digital transformation in support of Thailand 4.0 and thus create a new green economy.

Delta Electronics is a global producer of power and thermal management products and solutions. Currently, the company’s business categories include power electronics, automation, and infrastructure.

Nongluck Ajanapanya

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021503

Finance Ministry to spend THB10bn on recapitalising Thai Airways

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2022

The Finance Ministry will sell stocks in other state enterprises to ensure its majority stake in Thai Airways International (THAI) does not fall below 40 per cent when THAI is recapitalised, the State Enterprise Policy Office (SEPO) said on Friday.

The debt-to-equity recapitalisation comes under the THAI’s revised rehabilitation plan, which was approved by the Central Bankruptcy Court last week.

Under the rehab plan, the Finance Ministry must maintain at least 40 per cent of THAI’s shares. It currently owns a 47-per-cent shareholding in the ailing national carrier.

SEPO is now considering which stocks will be sold to fund the recapitalisation, said its director-general Pantip Sripimol. She expects at least 10 billion baht will be needed to increase the government’s shareholding in THAI.

She added that THAI’s financial performance is improving now that it has resumed flights after pandemic restrictions were lifted.

Since filing for bankruptcy protection, the airline has halved its workforce from over 29,000 to 14,000 and reduced its fleet to 58 aircraft. It forecasts better-than-expected performance with cabin loads at 80 per cent or higher this year.

Pantip predicted THAI would be relisted on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in the latter part of 2024.

Kasikorn Bank (KBank) also expects THAI’s performance to improve as operating costs fall and tourism recovers. KBank forecasts the carrier’s earnings will rise to 40 billion baht in the fourth quarter of this year from 21 billion baht in the second quarter.

However, it predicts performance losses until 2024 due to rising fuel costs.

“It depends on how THAI deals with fuel and flight ticket prices to gain profit,” a KBank analyst said.

The airline filed for bankruptcy protection in late 2019 after reporting massive debts of 245 billion baht. The rehab plan was given the green light by Cabinet in May 2020 before being approved by the Central Bankruptcy Court. The rehab plan was then revised following a better-than-expected performance by the airline.