M.L. Laksasubha Kridakon is the owner and director of her own business, Laksasubha, a boutique beachfront resort in the centre of Hua Hin. Khun Lak designed the concept of the resort based on years of experience living in South America, Europe and Australia. She joined the AustCham Board in 2009 and has been Vice President for the last four years.

Seeing great worth in nurturing today’s younger generation to become tomorrow’s leaders, M.L. Laksasubha has invested much time to create and grow the Thai-Australia Association (TAA) and AustCham joint program; ‘AustralianAlumni’. The group has created its own website which has seen over 850 people sign up to already. Khun Lak is determined to strengthen this program and further collaborate with likeminded organisations to increase awareness and promote the value of Australian business and academia.

Khun Lak is also an entrepreneur and has been owner of various business including Krystalina crystal company and the first steps international preschool in Bangkok. She also represents AustCham in the Professional Women’s Group (PWG). Khun Lak has spent much of her life in Australia including studying there. She has two children – one who has graduated from University of Melbourne and another has graduated from RMIT University.

2020 AustCham sub-committees: M.L. Laksasubha is serving on the Hospitality & Tourism, Small Business & Entrepreneur, Women in Leadership, Membership and Alumni sub-committees.

Andrew  is currently the CEO and a Director of a large and fast growing Franchisee of the KFC Brand in Thailand, Restaurants Development Company Limited (“RD”).  RD established operations in 2016 to become only the second Franchisee for KFC in Thailand in over 30 years.  The business is headquartered in Bangkok and employs over 4,000 staff across Thailand.  RD is a significant investor into Thailand and is committed to growing fast and creating more employment and development opportunities for its team.   In 2019 RD was one of the fastest growing food retailers in Thailand, opening 34 new KFC restaurants across the Kingdom.

Andrew has over 20 years of experience in blue chip professional services, FMCG and Retail organizations leading Finance, Operations and Business Development teams across Australia, the UK and Thailand.

Andrew graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney with a Bachelor of Business degree with Distinction.  While working at the professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Andrew continued his studies to became a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.  After 7 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers Andrew went on to undertake a wide range of roles covering Finance, Operations Management and Business Development in Australia, the United Kingdom and Thailand.  Andrew relocated to Thailand with Yum Restaurants, the US Listed Global Brand Owner and Franchisor for KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands.  Andrew’s most recent role with Yum Restaurants prior to joining his current organization was Vice President of Finance and Supply Chain for KFC Thailand.

Andrew is passionate about contributing to the significant growth opportunity for leading consumer brands in Thailand and the employment, training and development for Thai people available as a result.

Andrew has lived in Thailand since 2011 with his wife and 3 children

Sally O’Hara is the Chief Executive Officer at Krungthai-AXA Life Insurance PCL. A versatile life insurance CEO with over 25 years of experience in Asian growth markets, Sally is a strategic operator with experience leading business transformation and organisational change. 

Sally first came to Thailand in the mid-1980s as an AFS exchange student.  Having had such a positive experience, she pursued an insurance career in Australia that offered mobility options in South-East Asia. Her move to Thailand came in 1997 when she joined the Bangkok office of Colonial Mutual Group (Ayudhya CMG).  This was followed by over a dozen years at Ayudhya Allianz C.P., where she held C-Level positions in Marketing, Operations and Distribution.

Sally next joined Chubb Life Assurance PCL as its Country President; a position that she held for 5.5 years, before moving to Krungthai-AXA Life Insurance PCL as CEO approximately 18 months ago.

Sally holds a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA from The University of Melbourne, Australia. She has lived in Bangkok for the past 23 years and likes to spend her weekends with her two sons.

Saj Iqbal is Country Manager for Linfox Thailand and manages all of Linfox’s logistics business in the Kingdom.

Saj first arrived in Thailand with Mars in 2000 and has 30 years of logistics experience. Saj joined Linfox in 2006 and was responsible for large implementations and growth projects in China, India, Indonesia and Thailand. In 2013, Saj became Country Manager for Linfox Malaysia and in 2016, Saj took on a dual role and added Country Manager for Linfox Indonesia to his responsibility. At the beginning of 2018, Saj was appointed as Regional Account Director for Linfox with specific responsibility for the Unilever Business in Asia Pacific. Saj’s commercial expertise supported continuous improvement savings and incorporated innovation platforms with significant benefit to the customer in Thailand and across Asia. He was appointed Thailand Country Manager in 2019.

Linfox has been operating its logistics business in Thailand and Southeast Asia for over 20 years and serves customers in the FMCG, retail and industrial markets. As Platinum sponsor and through its previous board and committee members, Linfox has been a strong supporter of the chamber and is keen to work side by side to improve the chamber’s relations and service offerings to its members.

Frank has been in the Automotive and Manufacturing sector for the past 40 years covering Manufacturing operations, Quality, Customs, IT, HR and most prominently in the Finance sector.

Frank arrived in Thailand 2005 with General Motors – Chevrolet as the Director of ASEAN Manufacturing finance and was involved in operational activities across Thailand, India, China & Indonesia, after 10 years in Thailand found his way to MFG Asia Pacific operations leading a Tier 1 Automotive operations working with organizations such as Honda & Ford as General Manager.

Since then, move on as General manager of ANCA Sheet Metal Solutions until present and has been actively developing business growth and market diversification.

Frank has also been actively involved in leading the MFG (Manufacturing Focus Group) on the Eastern Seaboard over the past 10 years.

Currently also leading the ESB (Eastern Seaboard Business) monthly business dinner event.

Frank has been actively supporting the manufacturing community and in 2018 had opportunity to lecture in Nepal to Colleges in Katmandu on manufacturing principals.

Over the past 3 years has held the position of Director at AustCham and has been active in the Manufacturing and Customs areas of the Chambers Activities.   

Apiradee Bunyalekha has 14 years of professional experience in marketing, marketing communications, media, customer experience management, and education specialist. Apiradee has a passion for constant learning and real experience. She is the Founder and Managing Director of Asiania International Consulting, a business that focuses on providing education schemes, short-term experience programmes, internships, and work placements for young people across Asia and Australia. The company also offers a consultation services for SMEs and non-profit organisations on branding and marketing communications through a workshop approach.

2019 AustCham sub-committees: Khun Apiradee is serving on the Education and Alumni sub-committees.

Khun Chaiwat is a counsel in Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial group. A seasoned attorney with over 15 years of post-qualification experience, he advises domestic and multinational companies on a wide range of legal matters related to doing business in Thailand. He graduated with an LL.B. from Thammasat University in 2002, and an LL.M. in International Business Law from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, in 2006; and is a member of the Lawyers Council of Thailand and the Thai Bar Association. He has been a member of AustCham for the past 11 years and is a regular participant in various AustCham functions, including AGMs, Sundowners, and the most recent golf tournament in November. He is interested in joining the Board because believes AustCham is one of the most active foreign chambers in Thailand and has a large number of reputable members that consistently contribute to and support the development of the Thai legal framework. His professional experience and understanding of local laws will be of great benefit to the Board and to AustCham as a whole, and will use knowledge to keep members aware of the latest business and legal developments.

Company: DSG established in 2014, is a leading Asian and African International payments company, making thousands of payments for our personal and corporate customers every day into Asia and Africa. A fast growing FINTECH company, developing all our own software, with 20+ employees based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

2019 – selected by Bank of Thailand as one of Thailand’s Top 8 FINTECH companies.

Experience: 30+ years of international banking experience in large global banks in London, Sydney  and Singapore focused on Financial Markets and Technology and now 6 years of FINTECH startup experience in Thailand and Asia.

Austcham Chamber Experience: Headed Austcham Technology Subcommittee for 3 years. Ran various Technology events.

I am interested in nominating for a Austcham Director position and can contribute the following:

Based in Chiang mai, I can help Austcham establish a strong presence in Thailand second largest city and Northern Thailand.

Deep Technical and Startup experience to the chamber and help build on the Technical subcommittee initiatives we ran over the last few years. 

Simon Wetherell is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of SW Consulting (Asia) Co Ltd (trading as Australian Visas Thailand), a professional services firm that provides migration assistance on all matters related to Australian/Thai migration and has been a resident of Thailand since 2012, firstly in Phuket and now Bangkok and Pattaya.

Simon is an Australian Legal Practitioner and was admitted to practice in New South Wales in 1999, as well the Australian Federal and High Courts. He has subsequently been admitted in England & Wales in 2002 and the Cayman Islands in 2008. He is a current Registered Migration Agent (MARA #1464995). Simon has an LLB (Hons) and MBA majoring in New Venture Finance. Simon first worked at Clayton Utz in Sydney, one of Australia’s top tier law firms, before working for Clifford Chance, London, a magic circle firm and one of the world’s finest. After being seconded to Deutsche Bank Simon moved there full time and remained for 6 years, based in London and then later transferred to the Cayman Islands. In his role in the Cayman Islands, Simon was a Director of companies with assets in excess of US$35 Billion.

Simon’s clients and experience have included some of the best and most respected firms in the world, including Marriott Group, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Telecom Italia and many more. Simon has lived in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas so he fully understands what it is like to be an expat and work with foreign nationals and governments.

With his background Simon hopes to bring his different valuable knowledge and experience and be a strong contributor to the Austcham board.

2020 AustChamsub-committees: Simon is serving on the Small Business & Entrepreneurs sub-committee.

As a partner at Grant Thornton’s tax and legal practice, I advised businesses ranging from multinational corporations to start-ups on doing business in Thailand.  Prior to Grant Thornton, I ran a boutique firm specializing in customs law and was a customs and trade consultant at PwC.  I received a Juris Doctor from The George Washington University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University. 

I presently serve on AustCham’s Customs Sub-Committee and as the Foreign Chambers Alliance’s representative to the Thai government’s Regulatory Guillotine Committee. I previously served on the Foreign Economics Policy Reform Committee before the Thai Legislative Assembly, and the Federation of Thai Industries’ customs and trade committee.  I co-written and presented economic and trade position papers before the ASEAN CLMV Senior Economics Officers Summit.

AustCham’s strength as a chamber is defined by how well it addresses and advocates for its members’ needs, and the linkages it forms with local and foreign business communities.  As a board member, I will strive to contribute my technical expertise in tax and customs, and leverage on past private-public sector experiences to advocate for our members across diverse platforms.

Michael is an International Trade and Investment leader with deep commercial and government acumen. He has extensive experience working with investors from North Asia, ASEAN, Europe, India and North America and a diverse range of Australian exporters.

His previous assignments include leading Austrade’s Infrastructure and Energy teams, as Trade Commissioner in Jakarta and as a Diplomat in Kuala Lumpur, as well as in the NSW Premier’s Office.