Biz Buzz

It would be easy to mistake Somruedee Chaimongkol, the first female chief executive of Banpu, whose background is in finance and accounting and has been with the same company since she graduated from Bangkok University 32 years ago, as a conservative woman. But few realise that she likes adventurous activities and has loved riding on big motorcycles long before it became fashionable here.

Several years ago, Somruedee bought a big motorcycle for her brother as a gift. She usually has little time to feed her passion for big bikes, but Somruedee took the opportunity to personally deliver the motorcycle to her brother’s home in Chachoengsao.

Coincidently, Isara Vongkusolkit, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade of Thailand, who is also a senior member of the family that owns Mitr Phol Sugar Group, Erawan Group and Banpu, is also an enthusiast of big motorcycles, especially Harley-Davidson.

Skype a ‘game changer’ for cousin

Jean-Francois Cousin, a Bangkok-based executive coach, is flying more and more these days to service his clients around the world, including his latest client at a multinational organisation in Washington, DC. But thanks to advancements in communication technology, Cousin now uses Skype and other online chat applications to conduct one-on-one coaching with his clients, including those in Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea.

Skype has helped Cousin save a lot of time and give him the opportunity to finish his first pocketbook, “Game Changers at the Circus.” Cousin also said that according to a study, face-to-face coaching is the least effective means of coaching. Skype is 50 per cent more effective and simple voice calls are 100 per cent more effective.

But he still has to fly around the world occasionally.

Jirat writes from russia with love

Jirat Sirichalermpong, general manager of INSEE SuperBlock, recently released his first pocketbook. But it came as a surprise even to him that the first one was a travel guide to Russia, not about the business or parenting topics he regularly writes in his blogs, Facebook page and newspaper columns.