Trading PLACES

With his background in marketing and communication, Adul has taken it upon himself to transform the image of the Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) by bringing people together with an open style of communication.
Back in his days at the temple school in Ayutthaya province he never dreamed he would one day become the director-general of the DFT, which comes under the Ministry of Commerce.
As a child, he devoured books about other countries and this habit, he says, gave him the desire to work abroad in the future. 
His quest to fulfil this dream of travel led him to initially apply for a job at the Department of International Trade Promotion (DIPT), then called the Department of Export Promotion, which offers positions abroad for its officers. 
His goal of working abroad was achieved soon after he joined the department, taking up his first international posting in the German city of Hamburg - just three and a half years after joining the department.
 After staying in the northern port city for two years, he moved to Rotterdam in the Netherlands in a posting that lasted four years. 
After arriving back in Thailand, he was unexpectedly moved to the DFT. With years of work in trade promotion under his belt, he solidified his credentials as a marketing man and deepened his skills in networking and communications. 
"When I came back I felt like a stranger. I walked into the DFT without knowing anyone", he recalls. 
“There are two types of people: those who come back from abroad who feel alienated and simply give up and those who focus on using their strengths in their new environment while trying to learn and adapt. I chose the latter path.”
He started to adapt to his new working environment. But three years into his return to the DTF office in Thailand he was then sent on a posting to Mumbai. That stint in India’s business capital lasted three and a half years and saw him gain prominence within the department.
“The order came for me to go to India without me being notified in advance. By that time, I did not have any desire to live in India. I went as a confused officer who felt like he was being punished,” Adul says. 
However, his views on India soon changed. He discovered how much business potential the country had and, with this, the imperative for Thailand to strengthen ties with the emerging economic giant.
Adul saw that Thai people disliked India and had misconceptions about the country. That’s where his marketing and communication skills came in handy. He set about contributing to an improved image of India among Thais and conveyed to them its vast potential.
“I wrote hundreds of articles about India and sent them to the Thai press during my time in Mumbai. I often gave interviews with Thai radio stations in order to let Thai people know about how exciting India is as a country,” Adul says. 
His outspoken personality, along with his relentless attempts to publicise India as a country filled with business potential, made him prominent within the DFT. When he came back to Thailand, he was promoted to the post of deputy director-general of the DFT. His elevation to the post of director-general came in March this year. 
Using his marketing man persona, Adul has changed the public perception of the DFT by improving the DFT's communications with the public. This includes making clear what the outlooks and goals of the DFT are. 
“Since my foundations are with the DIPT, my character is not typical of a DFT officer. While most people in the DFT often have the character of a regulator, my character is that of a marketing man,” he says. “Using my expertise in marketing and communications, I quickly implemented changes within the DFT.”
By publicly working on various projects, the DFT has become more recognisable than ever before under the guidance of Adul. For this reason, the public image of the DFT has changed over the past decade.
“The DFT has become a lot more outspoken because we believe that communication is very important,” Adul says. “We have to communicate with the public to let them know what we are doing and where we are heading. When people have a better understanding of what we do, they will not attack and criticise us.” 
In terms of personal achievement, “the shift in the public perception of the department is one of my biggest contributions to the DFT”, Adul says with pride.
One of Adul's most successful projects is the Young Entrepreneur Network Development Programme (YEN-D), an initiative that brings young business owners from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand (CLMVT) together in order for them to form meaningful relationships and develop healthy and long-term business relations. Four seasons in, the programme now has up to 1,200 entrepreneurs within its network, generating up to Bt3 billion in investment and trade value. 
“YEN-D has become the most popular programme for young entrepreneurs in Thailand. With my being its founder, all the young entrepreneurs in the YEN-D network call me daddy,” Adul says. “I feel excited when working on this programme because I get to work with young minds. Working with the new generation means you are working for the future of the country."
Until he retires in the next year and a half, he aims to work on improving the interpersonal networks and efficiency of the department. 
When he leaves the DFT, he wants the department to be able to continue growing strongly without him. 
He wants to be remembered as a director-general who is adaptable, down to earth, easy going, and accessible. “I want to be remembered as a hands-on director-general whom you can get to easily,” he says.
Adul stresses that a position of power is only granted so that individuals can use that power to advance the goals of the government according to the law. 
“Power is not granted so that people can exploit them to get special privileges and cause trouble for other people,” he says.