Companies and individuals nominated for the 3rd Expat Entrepreneur Awards 2018 appear on the following 12 pages. More nominations will be published in the October issue of this magazine. Candidates have been chosen according to a variety of criteria relevant to their individual line of business. A panel of judges will select the eventual winners. The joint Expat Entrepreneur Awards and Thailand International Business Awards (TIBA) will take place on Tuesday 16 October 2018 at the Amari Watergate Bangkok. TIBA is an event organized by the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand (BCCT) with The BigChilli. Special guest of honour at the awards will be His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester. |
CWL Lighting Ian Potter, Founder IN the 27 years since he founded CWL Lighting, Ian Potter has seen the enterprise go from a design and equipment supply company in Phuket to a Bangkok studio providing lighting design services to the hospitality sector across the Asia Pacific. With clients including the Hilton Group, Intercontinental, Indigo and Holiday Inn brands from IHG, together with properties from the Dusit and Accor portfolios, we can certainly say the future is looking bright for Ian. www.cwl-lighting.com | Andragogy Kate Jackson, Founder and Managing Director BASED on the principles of adult learning for the long-life learning sector, Kate Jackson founded Andragogy to offer tailor-made communications training in business English, customer service, as well as leadership communication and presentation coaching for businesses of all shapes and sizes and learners ranging from C-suite executives to low-level staff. Over the years, Kate’s bespoke training programs have worked for clients such as Colgate-Palmolive, Jaymart, Srichand, David Yurman, Tesco Credit Card Services, and Airbus Asia-Pacific. www.andragogy-learning.com |
BO Interiors Patricia Isaac, Founder NOT content to follow her husband’s career from country to country, Patricia Isaac decided to make her own. Patricia found opportunities everywhere she landed, leading to the establishment of her boutique interior design and decoration studio. She describes her studio as a niche business that creates personalised homes with Western décor styles that can be infused with Asian influence. From decoration and furnishing, to renovations and specialised property seach, the company provides services for current and future home owners in Bangkok, Hua Hin, or Phuket. www.bo-interiors.com | Civil Master International (CMI) Matthew Harrison, Co-founder and Managing Director AFTER 19 years at the helm of the Bangkok-based company Civil Master International (CMI), Matthew Harrison couldn’t be happier with his professional and private life in Thailand. His architectural contracting company specialises in virtually anything that involves builiding renovations, including inspection, facade renovation, repainting, and repairs. www.civilmasterinter.co.th |
BKKSUN Jeff Amato, Founder BKKSUN was founded by US businessman Jeff Amato, a full-time Thailand resident for the last 14 years. After a trial and error period and several start-ups later, he launched Thailand’s first full-service tanning salon. BKK SUN has faced its share of obstacles and yet succeeded against all odds. Opening a tanning salon in one of the world’s sunniest places and where fair skin is highly praised is no small feat. The company is proud of its efforts to responsibly promote a new trend, unequivocally distinct from everything else across the country. www.BKKSUN.com X2 Resorts Group and BHMAsia Anthony McDonald, Founder and CEO AUSTRALIAN national, Anthony is a successful serial entrepreneur, who after years of experience in property investment and services industries embarked on an innovative strategy in 2008 forming X2 Resorts(CrossTo) Resorts Group. A personal endeavour aimed at satisfying the needs of design-focused travellers looking for something different to the traditional tropical resort designs that, while well executed, proliferate the Asian region. X2 Resorts have since gone on to win many international awards. In 2011, Anthony added another string to his entrepreneurial bow by establishing Bespoke Hospitality Management Asia (BHMAsia), a regional Asian Pacific management, development and consulting group specialising in all aspects of the hospitality business, which, like X2, has also proved a big success. www.BHMAsia.com, www.x2resorts.com | InVision Hospitality Kevin Beauvais, CEO KEVIN arrived in Thailand in 1997 and spent 25 years with Marriott International before deciding to venture on its own. Now, as CEO of InVision Hospitality, the hotel management company he founded 10 years ago, American hotelier and entrepreneur Kevin Beauvais runs two successful hotel brands offering over 1,000 rooms in 12 properties operating in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. InVision’s two hotel brands comprise of GLOW – a spirited mid-tier chain which he says competes with the likes of Holiday Inn Express and Marriott Courtyard – and MAI HOUSE – a more cultural five-star experience with the first property open on Patong Hill in Phuket soon to be joined by Ho Chi Minh City this year and Hoi An Beach in 2019, capturing the diverse market of leisure and business travellers in Southeast Asia. www.invisionhospitality.com Smiling Albino Daniel B. Fraser, Adventurer-in-Chief SMILING Albino is a luxury adventure and tour company in Thailand founded by Daniel Fraser, an entrepreneur and television host from shows like Long Krung (Thai PBS) and Farang Song Thai (Ch 5). Daniel’s Tourism Authority of Thailand video went viral and won a film award in Germany, and helped Daniel win MThai media’s “Most Talked about media personality” in 2014. Smiling Albino is a team of travel enthusiasts in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Nepal. Adventures are built from continuous travel, innovation and refinement. “We host billionaires, celebrities and discerning travellers seeking an authentic, original experience,” says Daniel. “Through community-based tourism and industry-leading ethical touring standards, Smiling Albino connects socially-conscious travellers with the real life of the peoples of SE Asia. We don’t just connect dots, we create them.” www.smilingalbino.com |
Gateway Equipment Limited Roy Barrett, Co-founder EITH years ago, Roy Barrett and his two eldest children, Lisa and Philip, formed Gateway Equipment Limited. Today the company is the major supplier of equipment to golf courses in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, employing over 60 staff with the head office in Bangkok, a branch in Nakorn Ratchasima and a subsidiary in Vietnam. The company provides quality equipments such as irrigation systems, turf maintenance equipment and golf cars to nearly 300 golf courses in Thailand alone. www.gatewayequipment.co.th | WearYouWant.com Martin Toft Sørensen, Managing Director/Partner ONE of the leading marketplaces for Fashion & Beauty in Bangkok, WearYouWant works with physical fashion and beauty retailers and distributors around Bangkok, bringing the people of Thailand more than 200 different brands, from international designers to local clothes stores. WearYouWant connects offline fashion boutiques and distributors with customers online providing an integrated product and service transaction. Their B2B2C model offers a significant comparative advantage in the company’s ability to face the competition within the fashion vertical in Thailand. www.WearYouWant.com |
BIKE ZONE Kongpan Pramoj Na Ayudhya, CEO BIKE Zone was established in 2008 by 3 three passionate cyclists and lifelong friends: Kongpan Pramoj Na Ayudhya (Tri), Fausto Izquiel and Rosendo Hernandez. They brought together over 10 years of experience in Triathlon and Adventure Racing, and founded one of Thailand’s leading bicycle and bike accessories importer and distributor specializing in high-performance road and triathlon bikes and gear. Before following his passion for triathlon and biking, Tri’s role was crucial in building up the startup ecosystem at the renowned Sasin School of Management with his founding of the Bangkok Business Challenge in 2002 and the Sasin Entrepreneurship Center in 2014, the former now being the largest global postgrad startup competition in Asia. www.bikezone.co.th | X-treme Sports Gear Eddie Evans, Founder BEFORE coming to Thailand, Canadian-born Eddie Evans made his mark as an international rugby player from which he made his living. When Eddie set up X-treme Sports Gear company in 2002, he didn’t envision how extremely successful the enterprise would be 16 years later. The company offices, factory and Eddie’s residence are all under one roof in an eight-storey building near Rama IX Road in Din Daeng district of Bangkok and is having a very successful run with X-treme Sports Gear supplying a wide variety of sports clothing and accessories. www.x-tremerugbywear.com |
Tailor on Ten Ben and Alex Cole, Founders BRITISH-Canadian expats Alex and Ben Cole had spent most of their lives in Asia before founding Tailor On Ten together with German ex-management consultant Nike Rasmus. After sourcing some of the world’s finest fabrics and perfecting the construction with their in-house production team, their business took off instantly. Within a few months, the business had outgrown its humble shop location on Sukhumvit Soi 10 and moved to Soi 8, thus providing the talking point that is its puzzling name. Today, Tailor On Ten enjoys a reputation for offering top-quality tailoring and high levels of service, with clients all over the world. www.tailoronten.com | 2C2P Aung Kyaw Moe, Founder and CEO IN 2003, Burmese founder and CEO Aung Kyaw Moe came to Thailand and ventured out into the world of startups, becoming an entrepreneur at the age of 26. His mission was to provide efficient payment solutions tailored to the local needs of not only Asian but international businesses operating in the Asia Pacific. Since then, his company 2C2P has become the leading SEA payment service provider for major banking institutions as well as many large merchants in the region. Based in Singapore, 2C2P has a staff of just over 85 people spread across offices in Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia. www.2c2p.com |
NEON Infotech SEA Co. Ltd Harsh V. Sethi, CEO and Founder NEON Infotech SEA Co. Ltd provides engineering software solutions and specialized design and analysis services for continuous process industries like oil and gas and power and energy. The company was launched in 1997, during the economic downturn (Tom Yum Koong Crisis), and for five years did not have any breakthrough. Today, however, almost all the major companies in Thailand and Southeast Asia use Neon Infotech’s services, making the company a huge success story. www.neoninfotech.com | Andovar Conor Bracken, CEO ORIGINALLY from Dublin, Ireland, Conor first came to Thailand in 1993, fell in love with the country and became fluent in Thai. Like many newcomers, his first job was as an English teacher but when Internet and email came to Thailand he saw the opportunity to create a translation company using websites and email to connect clients and translators around the world while leveraging the lower costs of living here. In 2006, he struck out on his own and with the backing of the Thai Board of Investment founded Andovar, a full service translation and localization provider which handles not only all types of text translations, but also audio recording (with on-site recording studios), subtitling, desktop publishing and Flash engineering in all languages. Growing steadily since then, the company now has additional offices in Medellin (Colombia), Singapore, and Miami. Conor is also a founding director of the Irish-Thai Chamber of Commerce. |
HotelQuickly Christian Mischler, Co-Founder HOTELQUICKLY is one of the largest and most popular last-minute hotel booking apps in the Asia Pacific. The app features more than 2,000 hotels in 12 countries and is fully localized to six languages including Thai, Vietnamese, Bahasa, traditional and simplified Chinese, and English. The app is available for free for iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry 10 devices. HotelQuickly App Co. Ltd is a BOI certified company registered in Thailand. The entire IT development is being done out of Thailand and serves the region. The head office, including four out of five co-founders, is based in Bangkok (Silom). www.hotelquickly.com | Siam Costumes Darryl, Sebastian, and Alex Kent-Morris, Owners FOR over 30 years Siam Costumes has been manufacturing costumes in Thailand for all areas of the entertainment industry, including over 35 Hollywood motion pictures and more than 25 TV series and productions. The company has worked for many Academy Award-winning costume designers and its reputation in the industry is very highly regarded. What’s more, Siam Costumes has supplied most of the world’s premier opera houses and worked on many productions for Broadway and the West End, including four productions for Andrew Lloyd Webber. Siam Costumes is run by Darryl Kent-Morris, together with his sons, Sebastian and Alex. www.siamcostumes.com |
Absolute Hotel Services Group (AHS) Jonathan Wigley, Founder UK-born Jonathan Wigley went from a junior hotelier to a major player in the highly competitive international hotel industry. In 2008 Jonathon founded Absolute Hotel Services Group (AHS), which has already become one of the fastest growing hospitality management/branding companies in Asia. Through its brands, such as U Hotels & Resorts and Eastin Grand Hotels, AHS controls more than 7,500 keys in almost 70 hotels worldwide. www.absolutehotelservices.com | Web Courses Bangkok Carl Heaton, Managing Director LIKE a lot of expats in Thailand, Carl started out teaching English and IT. But it was while working as a project manager for a small web design company that his entrepreneurial spirit came to the fore. Frustrated by the lack of web design skills among local businesses in Bangkok, Carl combined his knowledge of IT and his teaching experience to set up Web Courses Bangkok (WCB). Driven by Carl’s high standards and attention to detail, WCB grew rapidly from a humble beginning with just one staff to become a leader in the field of IT training, offering courses in web design, graphic design and online marketing. WCB’s clients include everyone from homegrown startups to Coca-Cola and the United Nations. www.webcoursesbangkok.com |
Maeping Mango Riverside Resort David Armstrong, Founder AFTER eight years and lots of hurdles, former Bangkok Post Managing Director David Armstrong and wife, Nichapa opened Maeping Mango Riverside Resort in Kamphaeng Phet. The resort, which was architecturally inspired by the blending of Thai and European styles characteristic of the reigns of Kings Rama V and Rama VI, is the materialisation of a dream. www.maepingmangoriverside.com | Elizabeth Romhild Artist ELIZABETH Romhild, a Bangkok-based Danish-Armenian painter, sculptor and designer, has lived and worked in Bangkok since 1988. Born in Denmark to an Armenian-Iranian father and Danish mother, she spent her childhood in Iran and as an adult, hopped through Saudi Arabia, America and Indonesia before settling in Thailand nearly three decades ago. From a successful career in painting and sculpturing, she has now embarked on showing her style on fine porcelain through Elizabeth Romhild Design. Along with her gallery in Denmark, Elizabeth’s work can be found in Bangkok at her ‘home’ gallery, La Lanta Fine Art. www.elizabethromhild.com |
Les Walsh Entrepreneur LES Walsh is an entrepreneurial executive from Canada who has made Asia his ome for more than three decades and with his wife, Kulthilda, has raised two sons in Thailand. Although Les has enjoyed success in a diverse array of industries including trade and investment, retirement communities, product development, event management, marketing and music, he’s probably best known for organising some of this country’s leading golf tournaments. | Trepax Innovation Company (TIC) Paul Greenhalgh, Co-founder COMING to Thailand in his mid-20s by way of Dubai, Paul Greenhalgh says that adjusting his personal philosophy and attitudes allowed him to adapt to a country that at first overwhelmed him. Paul and his Thai partners at Trepax Innovation Company (TIC) in Samut Prakan – which he describes as a specialist contracting company that works on the principle of selling solutions – have watched the enterprise grow from a struggling local operation to a global player. www.trepax.co.th |
Sally Eubbani Entrepreneur ARRIVING in 1966, Sally dedicated her early years in Thailand to family life, bringing up three children. After the birth of her third child, the ambitious entrepreneur chose to venture out and see the possibilities of employment for young expatriate women. In the 1990s, she and her husband Salim decided to open their own trading and property company and Darvick Enterprises, an extension of the family business from Hong Kong, and Ban Siam Impex, came into existance. Looking to further extend her activities, Sally later branched out on her own, this time into buying condominum units. As the business grew, it became multi-faceted encompassing sales, brokerage, decor and rentals. Among her clients are big businesses, embassies, as well as private owners. | The Beaumont Partnership Tim Beaumont, Founder and Managing Director TIM Beaumont has run the award-winning architectural, interior, and landscape firm The Beaumont Partnership for almost a quarter of a century with remarkable success. Born in Norfolk, England, the naturalised Thai is also the founder of the Beaumont Partnership Foundation and the Beaumont Ruam Pattana School, a thoroughly modern, architect-inspired project whose primary aim is to provide free quality education to underprivileged children in the Northeast of Thailand. www.thebeaumontpartnership.com |
Susan Field Entrepreneur SUSAN Field is one of the few female expats who actually live up to the term ‘Old Asia Hand’. For three decades, this Brit used her base in Hong Kong to work around the region as a travel writer and owner of a public relations company. One of her latest ventures was The Palms Retreat, a ‘bijou’ resort on the island of Samui in southern Thailand. She has now moved on to being one of the directors at Lavaliere Samui, a tasteful design-led villa development by Impact Samui, a company specialized in designing and developing attractive properties with great investment and living potential. | Class Act Media Simon Samaan, Founder CLASS Act Media started in 2009 publishing a small monthly magazine. In early 2011 it started publishing ‘The Phuket News,’ a weekly English newspaper, and has since grown to include ‘Live 89.5,’ Phuket’s most listened to English radio station; ‘Novosti Phueketa,’ Thailand’s only weekly Russian newspaper; ‘The Phuket News TV,’ weekly English TV; ‘Phuket Ticket Master,’ Phuket’s only online ticketing solutions for events; as well as a host of other publications and services including ‘The Phuket Colouring book’ and ‘The Phuket FC match guide’. www.thephuketnews.com |
Capital Television Raine Grady, Co-founder NOW in its 24th year of operations, Capital Television has produced several thousand expat focused and English language television programs for broadcast in Thailand, across Asia and throughout the world. From humble beginnings, its TV shows have been seen by millions of viewers via platforms such as STAR World, CNBC, FOX, MCOT & TRUE Visions. The Bangkok-based production team have been airing their Expat focused TV shows in Thailand for more than 19 years, with a small but dedicated team of reporters, producers and production staff. Today, Capital TV undertakes all regional video production for Australia’s biggest e-commerce group, Aussie-Commerce, and its Luxury Escapes video magazine, and has a partnership with the Bangkok Post. www.capitaltv.co.th | Vivaldi Seasons Joseph Henry, Founder NOW in its 15th year, led by CEO, Joseph Henry, a long-time Canadian expat, Vivaldi has transformed itself into a digitally integrated PR agency in Thailand. Vivaldi's award-winning communications team blends human interactions and digital engagement seamlessly to produce results for leading international brands in the market. The frm, which continues to be a strong provider of strategic consulting, media publicity and events, has integrated into its campaigns for clients host digital services which include SEO, digital marketing and more. www.vivaldipr.com |
ECHO - GRAND OPERA THAILAND Stefan Paul Sanchez, Artistic Director and Founder IN 1992, London’s Royal Academy of Music alumn Stefan Paul Sanchez founded The European Chamber Opera a dynamic company that prides itself on its diversity of repertoire, quality of performance and commitment to innovation. For the last 25 years, ECHO has toured throughout the UK, Europe, Asia, UAE, The Gulf and the USA and has given many young singers, directors, and orchestral musicians a professional platform at the most crucial stages of their development as international artists. Sanchez decided to bring his many years of experience in the entertainment industry to Thailand in 2012 and founded The Grand Opera Thailand, introducing to Bangkok and the rest of SEA a variety of sell-out performances that bring to life legendary stories such as Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. www.grandoperathailand.com | Checkinn99 Chris Catto-Smith, Co-owner BANGKOK’S oldest operating nightclub, steakhouse and bar originally opened in 1960. Four years ago – just hours before its scheduled demolition – it was saved by current owner and entrepreneur Chris Catto-Smith and his wife Mook, who, with no prior experience running bars and restaurants, took on unknown spiralling losses to successfully turn the business around. Steeped in history and with a colourful past, Checkinn99 now hosts one of Bangkok’s most progressive live music programs (60 hours a week of live entertainment including cabaret, jazz and theatre entertainment) and has a unique profit share arrangement with staff and its resident band, Music of the Heart. www.checkinn99.com |
Karma Sound Studios Chris Craker, Founder AWARD-WINNING musician and producer Cris Craker has operated at the very forefront of the music industry for over 30 years. Chris has worked with many of the world’s finest artists on the music and film industry. Most recently, he produced the soundtrack for the Oscar-nominated ‘Interstellar’. After climbing to the top of the British music industry, he picked the sleepy fishing village of Bang Saray to build his world-class music studio. www.karmasoundstudios.com | 9FilmFest Brian Bennett, Founder BUDDING filmmakers looking to be recognized in Thailand’s public sector have the perfect platform with Brian Bennett’s 9FilmFest – a hybrid film fest and film contest that started in 2014. Thanks to its easy to enter guidelines (all types of cameras can be used from cell phones to DSLRs), interesting themes, and fabulous prizes, the 9FilmFest has proved an important player in supporting creativity in Thailand. www.9filmfest.com |
BOUNCEinc Thailand Mark Jobling, Managing Director MARK Jobling enjoyed great financial success with investments in the power generation industry, but it wasn’t until he became involved with BOUNCEinc and found a new home for the innovative trampolining recreational enterprise in Thailand that his dreams finally came together. The first BOUNCE in Thailand and the largest in Asia opened at The Street on Ratchadaphisek in December 2015, while the second one is located on the 4th floor of the EmQuartier. www.bounceinc.co.th | Risk Protection (Thailand) Graham Murrell, Founder and CEO DOING business and making Thailand a safer place is British entrepreneur Graham Murrell. His company, Risk Protection (Thailand), was formed in early 1997 as a joint venture with Security Systems (F.E.) Ltd which was established in 1973 in Hong Kong. Risk Protection is now a leading provider of well-trained security guards and sophisticated security equipment for a wide range of clients that go from embassies to jewellery stores. www.risk-pro.com |
Shrimp Asia Patrick Gauvain, Founder and Managing Director HE’S been called a hedonist, eccentric and at least in his younger days, a playboy, but since his arrival in Thailand in 1968, artist and photographer Patrick Gauvain can also rightly claim to be one of this country’s most durable and successful entrepreneurs. Called Shrimp because of his diminutive size, it was his skill behind the lens that led to the amazingly popular Shrimp Calendar featuring a bevvy of scantily-clad Thai beauties. Today he runs Thailand’s longest established branding, design and communications firm, focusing on brand engineering. www.shrimp-asia.com | Luzi A Matzig Entrepreneur SWISS-born Luzi Matzig came to Thailand in 1971 while barely out of his teens to take a job as office manager in a Bangkok travel agency. He became a Thai citizen in 1993, and today, he is one of the country’s most successful businessmen, with interests in a wide variety of companies. As chairman of the Asian Trails Group, he’s also recognised as one of this country’s most experienced and influential travel professionals. His company is a Thailand-based destination management service that provides client-focused expertise for travellers to Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand. The group has 33 offices, including one in Australia, and the 69-year-old expat entrepreneur employs more than 700 people full-time, nearly a third of them in Thailand. Mr Matzig also has private investments in five hotels operating in three countries, a cruise boat on the River Kwai, and a retirement home in Chiang Mai. Among his achievements is becoming a licensed pilot, which allowed him to build a private airline that provides mainly international medical emergency transfers. |
BKK Kids Karmen Chandontrikij, Founder BKK Kids is a leading online resource for English speaking parents living in or visiting Bangkok. The business connects parents with events, activities, classes, schools, healthcare providers and services to entertain and enrich the lives of children. Parents can search over 500 listings including everything from sports programs and learning specialists to weekend outings. The website’s blog is updated weekly with posts on topics of interest to the community, and advice and guidance on raising bi-lingual, bi-cultural and third culture children in this dynamic city. www.bkkkids.com | Paul Spurrier Screenwriter and Film Director BRITON Paul Spurrier was the first foreign filmmaker to direct a full-length Thai-language feature movie, the 2005 supernatural P. He appeared in more than thirty different roles, with credits including Anna Karenina and The Lost Boys for the BBC, and settled in Thailand over 10 years ago. Release in 2016, The Forest was praised internationally and won awards overseas. Paul’s most recent work, Eullenia, is a dark psychological tale about the power that can result from wealth and was the successful opener of this year’s Bangkok Asean Film Festival. |
Wildlife Friends Foundation Edwin Wiek, Founder WFFT was founded in 2001 by Edwin Wiek with the help of the local people from Petchaburi province, including the Abbot of Wat Khao Look Chang who loaned a large piece of land to the foundation to house rescued animals. The NGO is a nationwide effort involved in rescuing domesticated/captive wild animals. With the help of full-time staff, mostly from the local village, and a team of international volunteers, Edwin heads the project made possible by joining passionate people on a mission to rescue and rehabilitate animals as far as is feasible, allowing them to live the rest of their lives in a safe environment and as close to nature as possible. www.wfft.org | LawtonAsia Jerome Kelly, CEO WHEN Jerome Kelly formed LawtonAsia some 20 years ago, it was a tiny independent newcomer in a market totally dominated by large internationals. Today, the company is one of the leading independent insurance brokers in Thailand specializing in employee benefits. In the early years, Jerome focused on what he knew best: the expatriate insurance market. By understanding the needs of expats he was able to work with insurers to put together products that catered specifically to their needs. As the company grew, he used the same formula to branch out into the employee benefits market. Now, LawtonAsia employs 35 multi-lingual staff, covering the full spectrum of specialized skills, and has carved out a niche for itself and become an innovative leader in its chosen field. www.lawtonasia.com |
Big Mango Productions Mike Bridge, Principal MIKE Bridge shows it’s never too late to go for your dream job. At 68 years old, he has embarked on a new Producer career in the show business. Mike’s late father Peter was a successful impresario in the 60’s and his brother Andrew was a lighting designer for Phantom of the Opera and won several Tony Awards. Together with a fellow semi-retiree, Mike started Big Mango Productions, a UK/Thailand based concert promoter. Their first production, London’s West End Men in concert with the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, will debut in 2019 and bring together stars from Les Misérables, Wicked, Miss Saigon and Phantom of the Opera all singing with 45 top musicians for one night in Bangkok. | P.Tendercool Pieter Compernol and Stephanie Grusenmeyer, Founders and Design Directors PIETER and Stephanie arrived in Thailand 14 years ago, and what was supposed to be a one-year sabbatical took a very different turn. They established P.Tendercool, a Bangkok based, Belgian run design studio specialized in bespoke handmade furniture for interior designers, hospitality and private clients. Established in 2010, the company uses antique or reclaimed wood to create tables of all shapes and sizes, leather chairs & stools and recently developed their first collection of sofas and daybeds. Their gallery sits in a heritage building in the middle of the Creative District in Bangkok, Warehouse30, next to the Thai Cultural Design Centre, a must visit for all things creative. www.ptendercool.com |
Happy Radio Steve Johnston, Programme Director HAPPY radio is the only FM radio station in Chiang Mai broadcasting in English, and produces live local Breakfast and Drive shows as well as a syndicated Asia Pop 40. Reporting local news, traffic and travel, sports and BBC World News exclusively, Happy Radio keeps those living in the Northern city up to date and entertained. After 36 years, the station’s original owner has recently passed the rights to broadcast to Steve Johnston, an expat with over 25 years of experience in the broadcasting industry that has worked all over the world from the Falkland Islands to Iraq. www.happyradiochiangmai.com | The Barbecue Store Brad McElroy, Founder BRAD McElroy’s The Barbecue store has been importing, distributing and retailing barbecue grills and accessories for 20 years. The exclusive agents for top-end brands such as Weber, Barbeques Galore, Kamado Joe and Outback, they have stores and outlets in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Samui and deliver Thailand-wide. Their Sukhumvit 39 location has recently opened Thailand’s first Weber Grill Training Centre. www.bbqthai.com |
LATE NOMINEES
Jens Oreel Company: Octotrip Category: Travel and Hospitality Gulu Lalvani Company: Royal Phuket Marina Category: Others Irina Afonina Company: Cresittel Category: Tech and IT Blake and Judee Sibbitt Company: BKK BestLife Real Estate Category: Property Susan Usher Company: Lady Pie Category: F&B: Food Jon Nutt Company: Kingdom Co. (Full Metal Dojo) Category: Entertainment David Jacobson Company: Smalls Category: F&B: Drinks | Shannon Frandsen Company: Wanderlust Category: Media & PR Aiden Killian Company: “Magner’s Comedy Festival” Category: Entertainment Mark Abbott Company: Thai Top Fitness Category: Health & Fitness Paul Poole Company: Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co., Ltd. Category: Consultancy Bao-Quoc Nguyen Trung Company: Weeboon Category: Media and PR Alfiah Strohal Company: Kiidu Category: Others Jostein Aksnes Company: Find Your Space/ Property Flow Category: Property |
Thank you for submitting your nominations for the 3rd Expat Entrepreneur Awards and
Thailand International Business Awards 2018 (TIBA).
Thailand International Business Awards 2018 (TIBA).