BOW, OUR OPERATION MANAGER

Today, we are presenting you, one member of our small team. As a responsible travel agency in Thailand, we make it important to provide a healthy work environment to our team. 

Bow, it is your time to shine !

Who are you and where do you come from ? 

Hi… My full name is Saowakhon Khlaiwongphueng but you can call me Bow. My hometown is in Ratchaburi province. It’s far from Bangkok around one hour and a half by car. Also I can go to my hometown by train, it takes time around two hours. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Silpakorn University in Tourism Management. Now I’m 29 years old, still single, never married, and work as an operation manager at SiamRise Travel. 

What was your previous job ?

Two years ago, I was already working for SiamRise Travel but then I decided to quit the company because of the Covid-19 pandemic situation. So, I started to work as a General Afire at TT Insurance Broker (Thailand) Co., Ltd (Japanese insurance broker company) for almost two years.

My job task during this time was :

• Picking up the document from employees and send it to the insurance company by using the messenger service and Thai post service.
• Reserving the car/golf club for the president and employees.
• Operating the traveling of the employees such as booking the airplane ticket, booking a car, etc.
• Writing the news/company information/ announcement on the company website.
• Translate the company announcement from Thai to English.
• Handling the company events such as the staff party, new year party, etc.
• Picking up and answering the telephone as a call center and managing the schedule for the meeting room.
• Handling any expenses of the company such as rental car, cleaning service, drinking water, paper, messenger service, etc.
• Providing the new year’s gift and premium gift for the customers.  

After two wonderful years at TTIB, I decided to resign from the company. The covid-19 situation was getting better and I wanted to work with SiamRise Travel again. I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone again. 

What is your current job ? 

Nowadays, I work as an operation manager (my new position! haha) at SiamRise Travel. My responsibility is quite different from my previous company :

• Operating all booking such as receiving bookings, providing the tour guide, car, hotel, restaurant, booking the activities with the local community, etc.
• Be a tour guide.
• Responsible of the Free Bangkok Walks project.
• Creating new programs tour. 
• Attending any project with the tourism organization such as TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand), TRTA (Thai Responsible Tourism Association), DASTA (Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration ).
• Survey programs tour's routes.
• Any jobs as required.

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

First of all, I like working here. I appreciate that you can work from anywhere and at anytime. I am fond of the concept of responsibility for the environment, the community, the society, and anywhere we went. The concept of reusable, reducing, and recycling, is something that I truly appreciate. Also, the concept of using public transport to reduce carbon impact, is something that we included in our tours. I like the way to find sustainable solution to travel in Thailand. 

A good memory with the company ? 

Every time I visited a local community in Thailand, I was really impressed. I can talk to the friendly local people and try the local food (which is very yummy and unique) with some nice activities to do. I am allowed to travel in multiple and diverse local communities, which offers me to explore new places.

For example, I have visited Ban Na Ton Chan,  situated in Sukhothai province. I was able to experience staying in a homestay at Ban Na Ton Chan. I had a great time there, with all their delicious local food. The biking tour in the village surrounded by nice rice field view was a relaxing moment for me. To say it simply, I had a marvelous moment.  

What is SiamRise travel according to you ? 

I think SiamRise Travel have a very clear concept which is showing Thailand through responsible tourism. They try to show the Thai culture while involving the local community. At the same time, they take concrete action such as : 

• The usage of public transportation to reduce the carbon,
• Travel by walks instead of cars,
• Supporting the local shop to distribute an income to the local people,
• Reducing the usage of plastic,
• Making the local people proud of themselves.

These are small actions, but they do have an impact on local communitie and travelers !

What do you think of sustainability ?

In my opinion, sustainability is not only for the tour company. It should be sustainable for local communities, local people, and visitors as well. It means the community should be aware of their potential by keeping their customs, having an equal income distribution, etc. For the visitor, they should applies a responsible travel by respecting the community and traveling along with preserving environment, etc.   

What is something you improved since working at SiamRise Travel ? 

It’s my confidence and bravery ! I have more confidence to do the tour and to be the tour guide. I’m not afraid anymore to speak in a public place. For example, I can express myself in front of a whole community (still I’m a bit nervous sometimes, haha). 

Did you receive training on anything ?

I got training every single day by working with the local community, communicating with the customers, operating the tour, and being a tour guide, which is very challenging for me. I possess the guide license and I am very proud of it ! 

What is your plan for the future ? 

Nowadays, I just plan to continue to stay in the company. I want to upgrade my presentation skills, I’m not good at speaking in front of many people, and I’m not good at communicating. 

Also, I plan to travel around the world but it will depend on my money (haha). If I have enough money, I plan to do a trekking in Nepal. It will be my first place as I want to see the Himalayas just once in my life. Then, I will go to  India, I want to see the people’s lives and try real Indian food. To be honest, I want to visit many places and immerse myself in their culture ...and not only through YouTube videos. After that, I would like to go to Europe, starting from Spain, then, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, etc. To finish, I want to visit Cuba, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, South America, and Africa, before returning in Southeast Asia. Anyway, I will travel in Thailand and plan to visit all provinces which is 77 provinces !