Venture showcases Phuket culture

“We want to show the history and culture of Phuket and make people see how distinctive it is from the other provinces in southern Thailand,” the group’s president Santi Suwannakarn said. “Phuket has a long history that has brought about differences in culture, architecture, food, dress and lifestyle.”
Particularly popular with visitors to the museum are the jewellery and traditional dress associated with the Baba-Yaya community, whose members are descendants of Chinese immigrants.
 “With the museum we are able to match our display of history and culture with the jewellery and dress items that we sell. The opening of the museum is part of our drive to see the business grow by double digits each year.”
Santi represents the third generation to manage the family business that was established by his grandfather more than 80 years ago. 
“My family started out by making traditional gold jewellery and then we expanded on the line to produce both the traditional gold jewellery and fashion jewellery. After this, we expanded out investment to make Phuket’s traditional dress, Baba-Yaya, for women. 
“We also developed the Garden Phuket Luxury Mall and a coffee shop-restaurant. The latest expansion in the business was the launch of the Peranakan Museum.
 “Most of our business expansion is based on long experience over more than 80 years with the generations relating to and understanding Phuket’s culture and lifestyle. This is the key to our success in driving the family business forward with sustainable growth over the long term.”
He said group decided to make the investment for the Peranakan Museum as a showcase of Phuket culture when the island’s tourism boom presented the opportunity to broaden its customer base from Thais to include foreign visitors. Phuket draws more than 10 million foreigners every year. “When the foreign tourists visit the museum, they will learn about the province’s culture and that will inspire them to buy cultural products,” he said.
The group expects sales from foreign tourists to reach 25 per cent of an estimated total sales value of nearly Bt200 million by 2021. For this goal, the company targets business growth at an average of 10 per cent a year, Santi said. At the end of last year, the group recorded sales about Bt100 million.
To help achieve the yearly double-digit sales growth, Santi, 58, said his daughter and son had begun work at the company. They would also look to create new business ideas and find ways to expand the business with the integration of online channels, he said.
 “We began moving into the online side last year and now these sales generate up to 5 per cent of our total revenue. This is a new channel to distribute our products in a new area and thus drive our business over the long term,” he said.