FINE AND GOOD, THE CO-FOUNDER

As we kept going with the presentation, it is now time to show ourself : the co-founder of SiamRise Travel. We hope you get a better understanding of our vision and how sustainability and responsible tourism is the core of the company.   

Who are you and where do you come from ?

Fine : I’m from Nan province, the northern part of Thailand. My hometown is a small town behind the mountains. We speak Lanna language and Thai. These small towns with ancient stories of Thai, Laos and Myanmar, with a lot of historical temples, had now become tourist attractions for Thais. Also the cultures and way of life are the charm that tourists are looking for. I graduated high school in Nan and then Kasetsart university, SriRacha campus, majoring in hotel and tourism management.

Good : My name is Thanawut Supangkaratana, everyone calls me Good. I am 38 years old. Not too old and not too young at all. I am originally from Bangkok. I like bubble tea as well.

What was your previous job ?

Fine :  I had the chance to work in several industries, but end up with tourism as I graduated. My job experience is about tourism product development, pricing, contracting and database management. For over 7 years, I worked in tourism product position with top 3 international DMCs (ExoTravel, Trails of IndoChina and Abercrombie&Kent). Then, I decided to start my own business with Good and created SiamRise Travel. At the beginning I positioned myself as product manager. 

Good : I work at the HQ hostel for many years as a hostel manager. At HQ, I had to take care of a whole hostel operation, sales and marketing included. I always arranged the local experiences to bring our guests around like a local. 

What is your current job ?  

Fine : From product manager,  I’m now general manager of SiamRise Travel. On daily basis, I run and drive our operation management.

Good : I am the managing director of SiamRise Travel, I have to plan and develop our business along the sustainability way. We love to see how our small team can change the way of travel together with our valued guests. On another side, I work for the government agency call OSEP, the office of social enterprise promotion as the social enterprise officer, professional level. I have to create and manage projects to support, develop and promote social enterprises in Thailand. The goal is to help them be more tough in the business competitiveness while creating social and environmental positive impact.

Tell us more about SiamRise Travel. Would you say, it is a responsible company ?

Fine : It was founded in 2014. It started as a tour operator company and now, it has upgraded as a Destination Management Company specialized in Responsible and Sustainable Tourism. We have planned to strenghten our specialisation in responsible and sustainable tourism. Our vision is that all our activities need to be considered with responsibility and sustainability for 3Ps as profit, people and planet. Thailand is well known as beautiful places, cultures and food, but now many places are deteriorated. Not only the places, but also some people are excluded from Thai economy. We think that sustainability is a real solution to do something better, with the help of companies, local people and travele, working together. 

Good : Yes, of course ! Since I found SiamRise on 2014, I was thinking of a sustainable way to travel. The idea came up when I was working at the hostel. I always asked our hostel guests : "What’s your travel plan in Thailand?". Everyone answered the main destination which is Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket or other famous beach destinations. I reflected on the question and ask myself "Why don’t they travel to the rest of the country ?" Since Thailand has 77 provinces, I thought it would be great for their travel experience to touch the authenticity of Thailand rather than just hopping on destination. In my opinion, traveling off the beaten track can distribute travelers to the minor destination and help to boost up the local economy as well.  

A good memory with the company ? 

Good : I had a chance to join World Travel Market in London in 2018. At the professional travel trade fair, I earned the huge experiences to meet the people in the tourism industry globally. Especially after the fair, there was a hidden event for responsible tourism specialist networking. I joined them and got a chance to introduce SiamRise Travel in front of people who has the same heart and same purposeful. It was my memorable stage to present us to the world.  

Describe one of your working day ?

Fine : I’m monitoring all booking and pricing requests from all channels. Contacting to suppliers and partners to get the prices and to keep well connections. Maintaining and developing our products.

What is SiamRise travel according to you ? 

Good : There are a few points. First, as a founder, I would like to create a business that can benefit to other people together with profitable business model as well. Second, I found that community-based tours or responsible tours is a kind of tourism that can create positive impact to local communities. The last one is that travelers can experiment the authentic local experiences with our community hosts. 

What do you think of sustainability ?

Good : I strongly believe in the sufficiency economy philosophy which have three components are reasonableness, moderation, and prudence. Two essentials underlying conditions are knowledge and morality. With this philosophy, we can apply to our daily lifestyle and the way we are doing sustainable business with 3 main goals to 3P (Profit, People and Planet). 

Did you receive training on anything ? 

Good : In last one year, I have done 2 training :

• Nurturing Social Enterprises by Asian Productivity Organization ;
• Introduction to Evaluation and Measurement by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab Southeast Asia (J-PAL SEA) and Equitable Education Fund (EEF). 

What is your plan for the future ? 

Fine :  We would like to :

• Strenghten our brand image as "Destination Management Company specialized in Responsible and Sustainable Tourism" ;
• Generating positive impacts and show what we have done for social and environmental aspect;Connecting more partners in several parts;
• Developing and refreshing our products to be more in correlation with responsible tourism & sustainable tourism ;
• Hiring & Building the great team.

Good : I would like to see how I can contribute more to SiamRise Travel. For now, I am just the strategic planner for the team and try to support everything for them. My main goal is to drive our company to achieve our mission. As well, I would love to improve some of my skills. I plan to get into data analytics and social impact assessment. It will help me and the company to add more value to our work.  To finish, travel is a part of my life. So, I would love to do it again with my family, after the Covid-19 get controlled.