Supapan Pichaironarongsongkram
CEO of Chao Phraya Express Boat

About Supapan 
This EMBA Sasin graduate is the CEO of Chaophraya Express Boat. Founded by her mother Khunying Supatra Singholaka in 1971, the company continues to work to provide a high standard of river transportation. Business has grown exponentially throughout the years, although she says government policies pay little attention to the local marine industry. For her, becoming a successful businesswoman and leader entails constant hard work, perseverance, consistency, honesty, the ability to stick to one’s words, passion and a good set of values that one is able to instill in the employees.

Having attended school in Switzerland, Supapan’s dream job as a child was to become an interpreter for international conferences and seminars. Looking ahead she says, “I foresee futuristically designed boats with better safety facilities, enhanced comfort, more convenience and environmentally friendly.” Work aside, Supapan enjoys playing the piano and supporting a variety of charities although she admits that as president of the company and the Profession Women Association of Thailand and the Thai Boat Association, she is kept busy. Currently the company is working on replacing wooden boats with a fleet of high speed and more modern ones.

Dr Nalinee Paiboon
President and managing director of Giffarine Skyline Unity
About Dr Nalinee
President and managing director of Thailand’s leading manufacturer and exporter of beauty and health supplement products, Giffarine Skyline Unity, Dr Nalinee Paiboon founded the company in 1996. The medicine graduate from Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University was left with 100 million baht after her divorce. She decided to combine her financial assets with her knowledge to build a direct-marketing company that enables Thais to work on their own. “In retrospect, investing all my savings into Giffarine was the best decision I have ever made,” she says. “The company becoming successful has also led to an income source for hundred of thousands of people.”

Since then Giffarine, with product lines running over 2,000 items spanning cosmetics and food supplements, has grown exponentially and expanded overseas. In 2017, the company accomplished full adaptation of the digital world, with revenue exceeding 68,000 million baht and a global revenue of 5,650 million baht. The key to success, she says, is a deep understanding of the minds and souls of those you are working with. One of her biggest inspirations in life is His Majesty the late King Bhumibol and the way in which he dedicated his life to helping the less fortunate. With that in mind, Nalinee is involved in numerous charities such as an orphanage support fund for college scholarships. A lover of animals, she is also a keen supporter of the Thai Elephant Conservation Center. Her mantra: “Happiness will not come from money, but rather, it comes from how you use money as opportunities for the less fortunate people to become successful and happy.”

Khunying Natthika Angubolkul
CEO of Eastern Sugar Group

About Chadatip

One of Thailand’s top retail development entrepreneurs, Chadatip Chutrakul leads the management and operations of Siam Piwat,  the developer of the group of innovative luxury malls in central Bangkok including Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery. She is also the visionary behind IconSiam, the US$1.7 billion  landmark on the Chao Phraya River set to be completed in late 2018. Under her leadership, the company has grown rapidly, establishing 35 subsidiaries ranging from retail developments to department stores, specialty retailing, facility management, multi-purpose venue management, high-end restaurant ventures and marketing agency. A graduate of Chulalongkorn University with a degree in banking and finance, Chadatip worked abroad before returning to Thailand and joined Siam Piwat in 1986. She was appointed as managing director of the company in 1996, and CEO of the group in 2005.

Daughter of General Chalermchai Charuvastra, the founder of the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Siam Piwat, Chadatip is married to Apichart Chutrakul, founder and chief executive officer of Sansiri Public Company Limited and has one daughter, Chayapa Chutrakul. In 2017, Siam Discovery, one of Siam Piwat’s properties, was awarded the Store Design of the Year 2017, the World Retail award by the World Retail Congress and the Gold Award for Marketing Positioning & Brand Awareness from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) as the project with the best marketing, positioning and brand awareness in Asia Pacific.

Nualphan Lamsam
President and CEO of Muang Thai Insurance

 About Nualphan
Daughter of Photipong and Yupa, Nualphan graduated with a degree in marketing from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University before going on to pursue a master’s degree in educational management at Boston University. One of Thailand’s leading ladies in both the business and sports sector, Nualphan was among the early importers of designer labels and still owns Hermes distributor Saint Honore (Bangkok). The CEO of Muang Thai Insurance also plays a leading role in the country’s sports sector and is the chairwoman of Port football club as well as the manager of Thailand’s women’s national football team. The wife of the Correction Department’s director-general Pol Col Dr Naras Savetanan is also a partner of Meister Technik, importer of Audi cars. She also holds the position of honorary consul for the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Lithuania. 

Yuwadee Chirathivat
Executive Director of Central Retail

 About Yuwadee

Influential businesswoman Yuwadee Chirathivat has dedicated almost four decades to the success of the Central Department Store Group under the family business of the Central Group. One of the eight children of Samrit Chirathivat, she is the mother of Chodok, Barom and Voralaksanai Bhicharnchitr. Now holding the position of executive director of Central Retail, she is known, however, as the driving force behind the international expansion of Central Department Store and the success behind the group’s global recognition, Yuwadee was on Forbes’ list of Asia’s 50 Most Influential Businesswomen two years in a row. The group’s latest international success is the opening of the flagship store, La Rinascente,  in 2017 situated right in the heart of Rome. Having celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2017, Central Department Store was first founded in 1947 and became the first department store to have branches throughout Thailand.

Looking at the future, Yuwadee reflects on the changing landscape of the retail business and the importance of omni-channel retail. “With the industry shifting towards digital channels rapidly, it is important to keep innovating and embrace these new developments, leading the way to ensure that we can continue with our long-term sustainable growth model. We aim to extend our current retail platforms with pioneering use of new technology to offer a seamless shopping experience for our customers, with a synergy of the physical bricks and mortar retail and the creative opportunities of the digital channels for a new generation. At the end of the day, our customers’ shopping experience, regardless of the platform, is the most important thing for us.”

Chadatip Chutrakul
CEO of Siam Piwat Group

About Chadatip

One of Thailand’s top retail development entrepreneurs, Chadatip Chutrakul leads the management and operations of Siam Piwat,  the developer of the group of innovative luxury malls in central Bangkok including Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery. She is also the visionary behind IconSiam, the US$1.7 billion  landmark on the Chao Phraya River set to be completed in late 2018. Under her leadership, the company has grown rapidly, establishing 35 subsidiaries ranging from retail developments to department stores, specialty retailing, facility management, multi-purpose venue management, high-end restaurant ventures and marketing agency. A graduate of Chulalongkorn University with a degree in banking and finance, Chadatip worked abroad before returning to Thailand and joined Siam Piwat in 1986. She was appointed as managing director of the company in 1996, and CEO of the group in 2005.

Daughter of General Chalermchai Charuvastra, the founder of the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Siam Piwat, Chadatip is married to Apichart Chutrakul, founder and chief executive officer of Sansiri Public Company Limited and has one daughter, Chayapa Chutrakul. In 2017, Siam Discovery, one of Siam Piwat’s properties, was awarded the Store Design of the Year 2017, the World Retail award by the World Retail Congress and the Gold Award for Marketing Positioning & Brand Awareness from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) as the project with the best marketing, positioning and brand awareness in Asia Pacific.

Kamala Sukosol
CEO of Kamol Sukosol and The Sukosol Hotels Group

About Kamala

A mother of four and grandmother of eight, Kamala is the CEO of Kamol Sukosol. Founded in 1939, the renowned holding company opened its first hotel 45 years ago when her father bought land in Pattaya and tasked her with building a hotel on it. Since then, it has grown to become one of the most high-profile hotel groups in the country, with its newest development, The Siam, ranking top on TripAdvisor for the majority of last year and turning into an icon in Bangkok’s luxury hotel scene. Well-informed, decisive and open-minded, she believes the secret to her success as an entrepreneur and female leader is her inner entertainer. CEO by day and a passionate singer in her spare time, her charity concerts and ability to entertain have helped her build invaluable relationships throughout the years of her career, and she firmly believes in maintaining honest trusting relationships with both her teams and business partners. Although she moves in high society and the diplomatic circle, she continues to remember the importance of being humble, and strongly believes that life is too short and that it is important to know your priorities in order to achieve a good work-life balance. Looking ahead, she likes where her company stands now and has high hopes for the future, wishing to focus on quality rather than solely on expansion.

Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul
Chief CSR and director of GS Steel

About Khunying Patama
The chief CSR and director of G Steel, Thailand’s leading steel manufacturer which distributes locally and internationally, Khunying Patama is a keen supporter of sports and music who currently holds the position of president of the Badminton Association of Thailand and chairman of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra of Mahidol University. A philanthropist at hearth, she dedicates much of her time in charitable endeavours. Understanding the importance of education Khuyung Patama overseas G Steel CRS projects, many of which seek to contribute to country’s sustainable education development. As the first Thai woman to be elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee.

Source: Thailandtatler.com

Having a woman on the board of an organization often impacts positively on the growth and successes of the organization. Gender diversity goes a long way in stirring development in the society, it also serves as a milestone in bridging gender inequality.

Many countries and economies are gradually adopting gender diversity and appointing women into strategic position on their board. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Limited (HKEX), which owns and operates of the stock exchange joined this practice when Laura Cha was appointed as the chairman of the company as the first woman to hold such top role since the inception of the organization.

Cha was born in Shanghai, China in the year 1949, she was two years old when her parents decided to leave China for British Hong Kong.

Cha is an alumnus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. She also has a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law and was a member of a Chinese American political and cultural organization, known as the Committee of 100.

She is not new to the boardroom and an expert when it comes to the financial market. Her huge portfolio in the business industry is well spoken of in Asia’s business scene.

Cha has consistently represented the women society in Asia excellently, besides business, she is also one of Asia’s female philanthropists who has assisted less-privilege. She has also been recognized for her philanthropic contributions.

Cha started her career in Law and practiced with Pillsbury Madison and Sutro, one of the powerful law firms in San Francisco, California. She left California for Hong Kong around 1994, where she continued her law career at the Coudert Brothers.

Throughout the 1990’s, she worked with Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and was finally made a Deputy chairman in 1998. She moved to Beijing in 1991 to take up the role of vice-chairwoman at China Securities Regulatory Commission, where she served from 2001 to 2004.

Cha was appointed to the vice chairwoman position by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and she became the first person outside mainland China to join the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China at the vice-ministerial rank.

Two years later, she was named a director of HKEX for six years.

She has also served as Hong Kong’s delegate to the 11th National People’s Congress. Cha received the awards of Gold and Silver Bauhinia Stars from the Hong Kong Government for public service.

She also served as the Chairman of the University Grants Committee in Hong Kong and was a member of the Advisory Board of the Millstein Center of Corporate Governance and Performance at Yale University.

She has been in the Unilever boardroom since 2013 as a Non-Executive Director and also non-executive deputy chairwoman of HSBC.

In April 2018, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) named Laura Cha the new chairman and first woman to head the stock exchange operator since the company’s 18-year history.

She succeeded her predecessor Chow Chung Kong, who stepped down after six years in the role.

However, beyond business and career, Cha has a happy family; she is married to Victor Cha Mou Zing a business tycoon in Hong Kong and the couple has two children.

Israel has a large number of business women who are on top of the game when it comes to doing business. Many of this women have made a name for themselves in the Israeli community and one of which is Ofra Yasmin Strauss, daughter of Michael Strauss.

Yasmin is the chairperson of the board of directors of Strauss Group, Israel’s largest Food and Beverage Company founded by her grandparents.

The group operates in five core areas which are Strauss Israel, Strauss Coffee, Sabra-Obela Fresh Dips and Spreads, Max Brenner and Strauss Water.

Yasmin was born in Nahariya in Israel into a family of business enthusiast. She started learning the family business from her childhood days and was keen on learning its systems.

She would listen to her father as he takes business calls or holds conversations about the company when she was around.

She often engaged the night delivery route, during which she used to help in carrying 20-kg containers of dairy products.

Strauss studied law in the Tel Aviv University Law School and graduated in the year 1987, but she never practiced law.

She returned to Israel to work in the family’s company where she was trained to take over her father as the chairperson of the company.

Prior to her coming back to Israel, she worked in the marketing department of the Estée Lauder Companies Inc. an American cosmetics line in New York City, between 1987-1989, where she led a marketing campaign for the company in Japan.

On returning to Strauss, she was given various roles in the company to help her inculcate the nitty gritty of how the business works. As a business lover that she is, she was good at performing her roles making her a reliable heir to the position of the chairperson of Strauss group.

She started as the Group’s Marketing director of the ice cream division and was later moved to head the food division in the corporation.

Although Yasmin didn’t practice law, however, learning in law school instilled in her a mindset about life that helped her manage situations.

Being open-minded about things that happened around her, caused her to learn faster.

Yasmin was nominated director general of the Strauss salads company in 1993.This period was a strategic one for the company because there was a massive growth that was recorded at that time even under her father’s leadership.

During this time the Strauss company engaged in series of acquisitions including the acquisition of Elite in 1996.

Having acquired Elite, the company appointed Yasmin as CEO of Elite, but it didn’t end there.

In 2001, Michael Strauss announced his retirement and she was appointed the chairperson of the group.

Following her appointment, Yasmin has been on hard work to ensure that the company continues to fly as the leading food and beverage company in Israel.

Since her emergence as the chairperson the Group has continued to expand operating in over 20 countries in the world with about 14,000 employees.

One of the specific achievement was the merger of Elite into the Strauss group, which she has been managing as separate bodies before 2002-2004 when she began a gradual integration of the Elites into Strauss group.

Strauss has developed strategic partnerships with Danone, PepsiCo, Haier, São Miguel and Virgin, for the sale of dairy, coffee, water, dips, and spreads. The partnership with PepsiCo also created the US-based Sabra Dipping Company, since 2009 the largest hummus manufacturer worldwide.

Asides Strauss Group, Yasmin Chairs the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce since 2011.

She is also the President and Chairperson of the Jasmine organization, Jasmine, promoting Jewish and Arab Israeli women’s entrepreneurship. She serves as a member of the Boards (Governors and Executive) of the Jewish Agency for Israel.

She is a successful businesswoman who runs a successful company with global recognition. Yasmin has four children who are also successful in their field of specialization.

Teresita Sy-coson is a Filipina business woman, and Vice Chairperson of SM Investments Corporation (SMIC), one of the Philippines’ largest publicly traded holding companies.
Sy-coson’s father immigrated to the Philippines at the age of 12, from a rural village in Fujian Province, China after World War II. He opened a shoe shop called Shoemart (SM) in downtown Manilla, Philippines, the SM is known today as the starting point of SM Investments, one of the biggest conglomerates in South East Asia.
Coming from a humble background of business, Sy-coson ventured into her first business at the age of 8 and has been at it for five decades running. She received her undergraduate degree from Assumption College (Philippines), and sits on the board of several conglomerates.
As Vice Chairman of SM Investments Corporation (SMIC), leading one of the largest conglomerates in South East Asia, also recognized as Philippines largest publicly traded holding companies with interests in retail, banking, property and portfolio investments. Her success proves to other women; that attaining great heights do not just end as dreams or aspirations but can become a reality no matter how huge the challenges may seem.
Sy-coson’s ability to approach situations from different perspectives served as huge strength as she turned her attention to family’s retail and savings bank, Bande de Oro which at the time was 13th in the nation in terms of assets, applying strategies that she learned from years of hard work, she transformed the business, placing it on the top of the nations list. She holds important board and management positions in various subsidiaries and affiliates of BDO and the SM group, and is an integral figure as adviser to the board of SM prime holdings Inc. She is also a part of the three-member Philippine delegation to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business advisory Council (ABAC), an organization formed in 2003 by the ASEAN leaders to provide private sector feedback and guidance to boost ASEAN’S efforts toward economic integration.
She has been a recipient of various awards over the years in recognition of her leadership in the banking and retail sectors. These recognitions include: Asian corporate director of the year award from corporate Governance Asia, Best retail banker of the year awarded in 2012 by the Asian banker; listed in fortune magazine’s 50 most powerful women in the world from 2001 to 2010, named in Forbes Asia’s list of 50 power Business women, and recipient of the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) President’s award in 2014.