FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

From drama student to successful entrepreneur

From drama student to successful entrepreneur

Young company to hold country's first electronic-music water festival

Teppawan Kaninworapan found his ‘inner entrepreneur’ when he was still a university student two years ago, and decided to form his own event-organising business, Zaap Enterprise.
The 23-year-old is now chief executive officer of the successful young company, which will hold the country’s first electronic-music water festival later this month. 
“I studied drama at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, where I gained much valuable experience in back-stage work. I learned how to create a theme and concept in making drama, before telling the story to the audience,” he said. “I have a good capital of knowledge, as I also did a lot of activities during my time as a university student,” he added.
Teppawan said that the first event organised by Zaap Enterprise was the “Zaap Charity Concert”, held at the Thammasat Convention Hall in Tarprachan in 2012 to raise funds for flood victims. 
He was a third-year student at the time he organised the event. 
 “Being a young entrepreneur, I also know how to access a group of teenagers, especially Gen Y people, who do not watch television, but consume digital content via mobile phones. I’m also a gambler, and am prepared to take a risk if there is a strong possibility of winning,” he said. 
Teppawan sees himself as nationalistic, in the sense that he wants to create big and interesting events himself rather than importing or imitating something from abroad. 
“I dream of seeing an international music festival in Thailand that can attract music lovers from around the world, and that will create a great deal of income for the Kingdom,” he said. 
He gave the example of Belgium’s “Tomorrowland”, the world’s largest electronic music festival, which attracts hundreds of thousands of people every year.
With 20 young-blood employees, Zaap Enterprise achieved Bt17 million in revenue last year, which he expects will surge to about Bt100 million this year, and to as much as Bt200 million in 2015. The company will host Thailand’s first electronic-music water festival, “Waterzonic”, on November 22 at Rajamangala National Stadium. 
The line-up includes world-famous deejays such as Dimitri Vegas, Showtek, Nervo, Sick Individuals and Like Mike. 
Like Mike is the No-2 DJ in the world for electronic dance music, and this will be his first trip to Asia. 
Highlights of “Waterzonic” include a 40-metre water screen, which will be installed on the main stage to give a dramatic visual effect, along with a huge dancing water fountain.
Teppawan said the company aimed to turn “Waterzonic” into a world phenomenon among electronic dance music festivals by putting “a mist of famed Thai tradition into it”, in much the same way as the Songkran water-splashing festival now attracts travellers from all over the world.
He added that Thailand had a good opportunity to host such international music festivals, thanks to its many advantages, including being a good host with friendly people and its ‘land of smile’ reputation, a tremendous number of tourist attractions, and a lower cost of living than many other countries.  The number of major events related to electronic dance music has increased this year, with “Sensation”, “Together Festival”, “808 Festival”, “Arcadia” and “Road to Ultra” being organised by different players. 
 
 
 
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