Retiring chief sees stellar future for Thailand Post

Thailand Post is in the process of selecting a new president. At present, its senior executive vice president for finance and accounting Smorn Terdthampiboon is the only applicant for the top job. 

Anusara, who will retire this August 30, compared the growth stage of Thailand Post to the three levels of a satellite launch. 

The state enterprise was originally the postal unit of the Communications Authority of Thailand, now CAT Telecom. When CAT was corporatised in 2003, the postal unit was split off. Anusara said this split-off stage was like the first stage of a satellite launch when the rocket-powered vehicle lifted the satellite off the ground and into the sky.

At that time, Dhirapong Suddhinond held the position of Thailand Post’s first president. 

In the second stage, which was in the tenure of Anusara’s predecessor, Ormsin Chivapruk, Thailand Post was likened to a satellite travelling farther into space.

“My time was the third launch stage, during which I’ve further propelled Thailand Post and its 22,000 employees to its destined orbital slot,” Anusara said. 

She said the new president would be the one to maximise Thailand Post to generate greater public benefits and help it survive the intense competition. Anusara said with pride that Thailand Post's competitive edge lay in its competent human resources, who know all the nooks and crannies of Thailand and have long-term good relations with their customers.

Anusara has worked with Thailand Post since right after the split-off from CAT. She had worked with CAT for 16 years before moving to become the first female president of Thailand Post in 2011. Before the present position, she was Thailand Post’s senior executive vice president.

Anusara has capitalised on her public relations and marketing savvy to boost Thailand Post's brand recognition. 

She has also steered it to explore new business opportunities. Lately Thailand Post has partnered with budget airline AirAsia to provide EMS Super Speed, which can send express mail to destinations within 24 hours. The service is being piloted in nine provinces in Thailand.

Thailand Post and its counterparts in Asean will also launch a “one-price service” in each country to compete with international couriers. It has signed agreements with these Asean countries but needs to wait for the meeting of Asean Post in December for more details and an action plan.

This year Thailand Post fore-casts Bt2 billion in profit on Bt20 billion in revenue. 

It earned Bt1.2 billion in revenue of Bt10.6 billion in the first half. This was slightly above the target of Bt1-billion profit and Bt10.1-billion revenue, thanks to a surge in e-commerce, which drove logistics revenue to Bt4.56 billion, or 43.1 per cent of total revenue. Regular postal services brought in revenue of Bt4.83 billion, or 46.2 per cent of the total.