Marriott marks International Women’s Day with Bangkok gender equality event

The event was organised by the Women’s Ambassador Network, part of the Marriott Thailand Business Council, which strives to strengthen women’s rights through its Women in Leadership programme.

An hour-long session gathered some of Thailand’s top hotel and real estate professionals for a networking reception and panel discussion on the topic of “Breaking the Bias” – the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day.

Hosted by Bangkok’s The Athenee Hotel, the event was led by Tina Liu, general manager of W Bangkok and the first female chairperson of the Marriott Thailand Business Council, along with Pamela Ong, hotel manager of Courtyard by Marriott Phuket Town, and Variya Lulitanond, Marriott International’s area director of Marketing for Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. The three executives are also key members of the Women’s Ambassador Network.

They were joined by Wallapa Traisorat, Asset World Corp CEO and president, Ploi Aranyakanond, assistant vice president of Hotel Asset Management at The Erawan Group, Monchanok Adhyanasakul, assistant director of Property Perfect, Board of Directors Royal Orchid Hotel Thailand and consultant for Grande Asset Hotels and Property, and Kevin Hall, managing director of Questus Hospitality.

The panel of experts, whose companies own or represent 20 Marriott-branded hotels in Thailand, took part in a one-hour roundtable debate on the critical issues impacting female empowerment and gender parity in the hospitality industry, moderated by Phenzasinn Limthananuntha, senior manager for the Learning & Development Delivery Team, Asia Pacific (excluding China), Marriott International.

The audience comprised a wide range of Marriott associates from all levels of the company, including general managers, Women in Leadership champions, mentors and mentees, along with a group of trainees. Associates who were unable to attend in person watched the discussion virtually.

“Marriott International has always strived to promote equal rights in the workplace, which is reflected by the fact that we have so many strong female leaders within our company,” said Liu.

“We are proud of this track record, but we understand that more work needs to be done. That’s why marking International Women’s Day remains so important. By hosting this event, we hope to highlight the biggest issues impacting women in travel and hospitality and identify the steps that need to be taken to achieve complete equality,” she added.

Marriott International is fully committed to diversity and inclusion, the hotel said in a press statement, adding that it is regularly recognised as one of the world’s most progressive employers and has featured on the “Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For” list every year since it was first published in 1998.

Marked annually on March 8, International Women’s Day was created to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, while also marking a call-to-action for accelerating gender parity.

For more information, visit www.internationalwomensday.com.