Life in the digital fast lane

A former entrepreneur turned spokesperson for Thailand’s Information and Communication Technology ministry, and vice president of the public Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa), Chatchai Khunpitiluck is proud to be playing a leading role in driving Thailand’s ICT industry, specially software and innovations, to its well-earned spot on the world map.
His entrepreneurial spirit was born in Silicon Valley towards the end of the ‘90s at the height of the dotcom boom. A Master’s student and PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, Chatchai was quick to jump on the startup bandwagon and launched Siampage.com, an innovative service that allowed people to send messages to pager devices through a website rather than being forced to use a call centre.
After returning home in 2000, Chatchai entered into a joint venture with the Malaysian Catcha Group to start Catcha Dot Com, a Thai search engine plus portal site service. Catcha Dot Com quickly made its mark, drawing a large number of investors and in just five months Chatchai was looking at listing his company as an IPO on the Singapore stock market. Fate dictated otherwise. With the dot com wave slowing to no more than a trickle and the crash of the Nasdaq market, Catcha Dot Com’s valuation decreased to the point where an IPO no longer looked attractive.
Soon after, Catcha Dot Com was acquired by MWEB, former owner of Sanook.com and Chatchai joined the civil service, taking a post as a computer scientist at the newly established ICT Ministry and soon after was assigned by the first ICT Minister, Surapong Suebwonglee to serve as the ministry spokesperson.
He was just 30 and while in normal circumstances he might have been considered too young for such a high-ranking job, his qualifications and initiatives stood for themselves. An honours student who earned two bachelor’s degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering and in Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University before furthering his students at Stanford University and the founder of a successful website, he was to Surapong’s mind the perfect candidate. 
Chatchai enjoyed his new responsibilities and says he learned a lot from the three years, 2004 to 2006, he served in the post.
“It was a great opportunity. I was really young for such a major responsibility. As spokesperson I was invited to all the big meetings between the ministry and high-profile representatives of the ICT industry both from Thailand and overseas,” he says.
“I was also quick to realise that there is a world of difference between being managing director of my own company and a ministry spokesperson. In the latter role I can never offer my own opinion, only the facts and information.”
Since then, Chatchai has been the ministry’s spokesperson on several occasions. Whenever an incumbent minister brought along his own spokesperson. Chatchai  simply went back to being a computer scientist, working his way up to becoming director of the Ministry’s Electronic Service Development and Promotion Division, a leading management position.
He has also kept a watchful eye on the tech business over the years. When the first iPhone came on to the market, he spent his free time developing a mobile [game] application to sell on the app store and received a good response, both in terms of number of downloads and revenue from sales.
Chatchai’s talents as a computer scientist were again recognised by the ministry four years ago, when he applied for and was accepted as vice president of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Public Organisation) – or Sipa.
His first project was one dear to his heart – supporting tech startups. He chose to do this through the Angel in the City scheme.
“The government and the private sector got the ball rolling by setting up or partnering up acceleration programs. Sipa partnered with Dtac, Samsung and Hubba invited Dave McClure and fellow geeks to Bangkok. Angels in the City and the Tycoon Chic programmes carried on for three years but were later dropped as the momentum was enough for private sector to carry the idea on. There is little point in duplication,” he says.
Grooming tech startups is only a small part of Sipa’s work. Other tasks include promoting enterprise software, digital content and open source to serve the government’s digital economy strategy to drive Thailand toward through technology and innovation.
“As a public agency, Sipa must use the government’s strength and its resources to support the industry through several different programmes,” he says.
“I understand the needs of the tech business and industry so my mission is to bridge the gaps in communication and understanding between the industry and the government.
“I am proud to be doing a job that will have an impact on the country. It’s an impact that can be created both through the government’s policy and the private sector’s technology and innovation developments. Right now I am enjoying driving that impact through the government’s policy, but I still think of myself as an entrepreneur,” Chatchai says, adding that he is happy with his two hats, one as vice president of Sipa and the other as spokesperson of the ICT ministry.