Message From Chamber – February 2024

I trust many of you had a relaxing break over the December and January holiday season.  It was great to see so many members at our annual Sundowners at the Australian Embassy in December and again see so many of you at the Sundowners at Asiatique. 

At the December event at the Embassy, we had the pleasure of hearing directly from Mr. Nicholas Moore, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for South-East Asia.  I received fantastic feedback from all who attended.  It’s very positive to hear the way the Australian Government is recognizing and embracing the opportunities in the region.  This is good for Australia and good for Thailand.

As this is the first AustCham report for 2024 I thought I would reflect on the year that was and also provide you with some preview of what is to come.

2023 was an incredibly busy year for your Chamber.  We scheduled more events than ever and more than 25% increase on the events held last year.  In fact, we had on average an event every 5 days over 2023.

I also want to share with you two key growth areas for the Chamber.  Firstly, in case you are not aware, our SME committee has been incredible in setting up a series of very successful events.  We now have monthly, free coffee mornings with first class presenters, industry professionals and advisors.  The objective is to continue to build our SME community, leverage our connections, and provide high value events to our members for free.  These events have become very popular.

The other growth area for our Chamber has been our “Next Gen” events.  Our Next Gen community is for those young and young at heart.  The launch event was amazing with over 130 attendees.  I’ve been so pleased to see many of our Next Gen community coming to our Sundowners events and forming a strong and supportive community.

A highlight of the year has been our CSR Programs.  AustCham Thailand has a hugely impactful CSR Program that has made a meaningful difference to thousands of people’s lives through numerous initiatives including the COVID Care package and this year our Boxing Kangaroo CARE Package, which exceeded all expectations and raised over 1 million THB and supported 15 orphanages around Thailand and over 2,000 orphaned children.  In 2023 we raised in total 2.6 million THB.  As well as orphanages we have supported 12 charities in Thailand.   This is the highest number of charities supported on record.  Saj and the CSR team have done an excellent job at leveraging the power of our members, sponsors, and the generous donations to the benefit of our community.

As we look ahead in 2024, I’m excited about the upcoming AustCham Spirit of Australia Awards Gala on Saturday March 23.  AustCham had an awards night many years ago but this year the passion and determination of the Board will see it return!  This promises to be one of the premier events of the year.  Our judging panel of members are now assessing the great nominations and I look forward to seeing you at the awards night.  If you are interested in sponsoring an award either personally or through your organization, please do reach out to the AustCham office team.  There are just a few opportunities remaining.

We have incredible momentum as a Chamber as we go into 2024 with a long list of events coming up and planned.  The Board I’ve had the pleasure of working with has been an exceptional team.  Combined with the amazing office team – we have accomplished a lot for our members and sponsors and are set to deliver another great year in 2024.

A final word from me.  I have decided to step down from the Board after 4 years’ service to the Chamber.  My work, business changes, and travel commitments over 2024 are now such that I’m spending much more time outside of Thailand.  It isn’t possible to do justice to the time commitments required of a Board member.  I’ve loved my time on the Board, and I want to thank our members for giving me that opportunity.  I also want to thank the Board I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the last 12 months.  You have brought so much passion, hard work, and energy to everything you do.

I look forward to seeing the Chamber members and sponsors at events in the coming months.