Sutham Phanthusak, commissioner of the
National Scout Organization of Thailand, shows King Carl VI Gustav of
Sweden our front page when we featured him visiting their Majesties the
King and Queen of Thailand to say thank you for help for the tsunami
victims. The man in the background is the chairman of the World Scout
Foundation, Dr. Eberhard Von Koerber. The pic was taken at a Scout camp
outside Rome April 22, 2005.
Dr. Iain Corness
Sutham Phanthusak is one of Pattaya’s success
stories. His ownership of the Woodlands Resort and Woodlands Suites is
well known, as is his taking the Tiffany’s Show to the worldwide
prominence it has today. He is today a man with influence and position.
His Majesty King Carl XVI
Gustaf of Sweden presents a token of friendship to Sutham Phanthusak in
2009.
However, he was not born with a silver spoon in his
mouth, in fact he came from very humble beginnings. He was born in
Trang, in Southern Thailand. His father was a simple rubber farmer,
toiling in the plantations while his mother stayed at home to look after
Sutham and his five sisters.
Sutham would get up early in the morning and walk around his village
selling the bean sprouts that his mother had grown for 25 satang. When
he was at school he would sell toffees that his mother had made as well.
“Mother taught me how to save money, and I would take my own lunchbox to
school, rather than buy lunch there.”
He left school when he was 16 years old, and initially hoped to join the
military, but his grades were not sufficient as he had not worked hard
enough with the books, and selling toffees was not in the curriculum.
His family could not support him financially, and so he moved to Bangkok
and entered the hotel business as an assistant night auditor; there were
no lower positions!
So there he was in Bangkok, 16 years old and no rubber plantations or
family close by. He stayed in the hotel in Bangkok, sending money home
to help pay for the education of his younger sisters, as is the way for
dutiful children in Thailand. However, he was swayed by an offer to come
and work in a hotel in Pattaya as a cashier, because it offered free
board and lodgings.
From there, he moved to the Royal Cliff Beach Resort to be the assistant
manager of administration and personnel. He was by then 22 years old.
After another three years he was snapped up by the Holiday Inn chain to
be the personnel director at their Pattaya property, in charge of 300
staff. He was only 25 years old, and it became obvious that this was a
man with a rare talent and vision.
By this stage he was married to Orawan (and they are still happily
married today) and they decided they should start a little business.
Sutham noticed there were no commercial banks in Pattaya, and tourists
could only exchange money in their hotels, at less than favourable
rates. This resulted in dissatisfaction in the tourists and Sutham’s
vision could see a niche. By doing what Sutham described as, “carrying
out business in a manner fair to all concerned,” they opened a currency
exchange, with Orawan working there, while Sutham worked in the hotel.
There was no fanfare of trumpets or lavish grand opening ceremonies.
They had saved up 100,000 baht and borrowed another 100,000 baht, and
Sutham left the hotel to throw his energies into their own business. “We
were the first to be licensed by the Bank of Thailand,” said Sutham with
some pride. “My life was just starting.”
The currency exchange was successful beyond their wildest dreams and
Sutham began to look around as to what else he could do. He began a real
estate business, and was approached by a small company called Tiffany’s
Show. They had a tiny theatre with 10 actors in South Pattaya, but it
was going nowhere. “Transvestites had no career at that time. I asked
myself, what are we doing for them? I felt some kind of social
responsibility, so through my real estate company we built a theatre for
them.” He was asked to become involved in the business and he built up
Tiffany’s Show from 10 actors to its current level of over 100 actors
and a similar number of staff members. “It is now the largest theatre in
SE Asia, and the best!” said Sutham with a smile.
Sutham Phanthusak then needed another project, and his experience was in
hotel management. This next project was to have his own hotel, and a
small Woodlands Resort was built. Again, through astute management, this
grew until it became obvious that it would have to be redeveloped, which
was carried out a few years ago, and with the addition of the Woodlands
Suites, has become a very fine example of a family resort in Pattaya.
On his own family front, he and Orawan have seen their three daughters
grow up, being educated in Thailand and then sent overseas for further
tertiary education. All have responsible jobs, and with their middle
daughter Alisa now taking over the management of the family businesses,
this left Sutham saying, “Now I am free!” But that ‘freedom’ left him
free to look after the needs of others.
He then began to research the requirements for child development. “I
looked at the Scouting movement and found it was very useful to develop
our young children in terms of discipline and ethics - a basic need in
youth development, especially in developing countries.” To that end he
swung behind the World Scouting Organization many years ago, with his
efforts even being rewarded by the King of Thailand, and then by the
King of Sweden. He wears his Scout uniform with deserved pride. He is
now chairman of the Advisory Board of the National Scout Council of
Thailand.
Historically, those needs of others have not been just Pattaya, but
Thailand as well. Whilst the Scouting movement took up much time of his
time, he has never shirked from public duty either. He was appointed by
the Ministry of the Interior as a city councillor, serving 12 years. He
was also retained by a former Thai PM as an advisor, as well as being
asked to be a member of the Education Development Foundation. He joined
the Rotary International movement, there serving two terms as the local
president and another as district governor. But all of these positions
were carried out in Sutham Phanthusak’s modest manner.
The latest position to which he has been appointed, is to the Senate in
Thailand, to be one of the 150 Senators who are involved in the ‘checks
and balances’ of the political scene in this country.
I asked him to think back to the early stage of his career after leaving
the South, and did he ever imagine that one day he would be a Senator?
“I never expected to be in this position as a senator. This is the high
point of my life’s achievements. Nobody knows where life will lead us
and what goes on in life. But once we have achieved this we have to
complete the task or we have to do our best, which means I have to do
the best for my country.”
He went on to describe the function of the Senate and its Senators. “The
law process starts from the lower house. The upper house analyzes and
comments on the proposals and also checks on the legitimacy of the laws
under consideration. We are there to ensure checks and balances. The
senate does not propose any laws as such.”
His own vision for Thailand is all-encompassing. “To be a senator is
definitely not an easy job. To be a senator is to be a servant of the
country. We have to see what the problems of the country are, problems
of the people. How we can solve their problems and how we can make their
lives better. So this is a bigger and tougher job for me than ever
before. But it is a project that I look forward to, giving my all for
the benefit of the country.
“Once you are appointed as senator and I have accepted to do my duty for
my country, there is no turning back. There is so much to do. Our
country needs to come back on the path of reconciliation and peace
amongst all peoples. I would like to see that happen during my term.
Thailand is a great country and we must move forward socially and
economically for the benefit of all concerned. I will do all in my power
to help make the dreams of all Thai people real.”
So that is our new Senator, Senator Sutham Phanthusak. A very successful
self-made businessmen in Pattaya, a man who could use ‘modesty’ as his
middle name. It is not often that you will meet a man honoured by King
Bhumibol Adulyadej, but Sutham Phanthusak is one. He is one of Pattaya’s
quiet achievers.
We at the Pattaya Mail congratulate our new Senator, and we are quite
sure that he will steer this new project through to its successful
completion.
Jan Olav Aamlid (left), Dr
Iain Corness (2nd left), Pratheep Malhotra (2nd right) and Suwanthep
Malhotra (right) congratulate our new senator, Senator Sutham
Phanthusak.
Stephane Bringer (left),
general manager joined the Phanthusak family (l-r) Sutham, Alisa, Lalida
and Varassaya in a toast to officially launch the Woodland Suites in
2009.
