3 Thai Businesswomen Have Been Recognized Top Women Entrepreneurs Of The World

[Jai Dee]

Three Thai Businesswomen have been recognized Top Women Entrepreneurs of the World

Three women entrepreneurs from Thailand will be among the 15 women entrepreneurs from Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa and North America, who are being recognized as Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World (LWEW) by the organization of the same name.

Patara Sila-on (ภัทรา ศิลาอ่อน), Khunying Sasima Srivikorn (คุณหญิงศศิมา ศรีวิกรณ์) and Supaluck Umpujh (ศุภลักษณ์ อัมพุช) are on the list of business owners from Thailand, Spain, Japan, Greece, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Australia, Korea, the United States, Romania and China, who have received the honour for this year.

Patara Sila-On is currently chairman of S&P Syndicate Public Co.,Ltd., Thailand's largest restaurant chain with over 230 restaurants while Khunying Sasima Srivikorn is the chairwoman of Golden Land Property Development Public Company Ltd. Ms. Supaluck Umpujh is vice chairman of the Mall Group Co.,Ltd.

LWEW is a U.S. based non-profit organization that raises the visibility of successful entrepreneurial women and increases public awareness of women entrepreneurs' contributions to the global economy.

LWEW chairperson Cheryl Womack said the outstanding contributions to the business community by this year's deserving inductees have enriched and enlivened the lives of millions of people. They will be presented with the awards by Princess Ubol Ratana (อุบลรัตน์). This will be the first time the induction ceremony will be held in Asia, which is significant because of the key role emerging Asian countries are playing in the global economy.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 01 March 2006

[OldAsiaHand]

I always thought that the definition of an entrepreneur was someone who envisioned a concept, founded a business, and developed his (or her) own company into one of significance.

Now I gather, in Thailand at least, the definition has been expanded to include women who were put in charge of companies by their daddies.

Absolutely pathetic.

Edited March 1, 2006 by OldAsiaHand

[opothai]

oahand

very true

by definition an entrepreneur has vision and flare and a strong will with endless drive.

maybe they can be be catagorised as top management with a little help from thier friends

the problem with this award is that it is coming from the usa, does the usa have a different understanding of the word entrepreneur

[chownah]

I think that by including these Thai women they have created the justification for a tax deductible business trip to Thailand for the ceremony! Maybe the women who founded Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World are the real entrepeneurs here.

[Rinrada]

Nice photo of Khun Supaluck on the day she opened her new wee shop on Suk Road.....Seen the other guy somewhere but just cant place him...

http://www.fp1.com/sept98/features/bangkok...ullshow/10.html

[opothai]

I think that by including these Thai women they have created the justification for a tax deductible business trip to Thailand for the ceremony! Maybe the women who founded Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World are the real entrepeneurs here.

lateral thinking my friend

as with a lot of charities the main benifactors are the people that run them

can i start up a non profit making charity and travel the world on my expence account

[Heng]

I always thought that the definition of an entrepreneur was someone who envisioned a concept, founded a business, and developed his (or her) own company into one of significance.

Now I gather, in Thailand at least, the definition has been expanded to include women who were put in charge of companies by their daddies.

Absolutely pathetic.

In a nation where there are hundreds of thousands of families who fit that description (and in fact often handed down by their grand-daddies and great grand-daddies), they've still set themselves apart and I'd say they still deserve the credit. It's a different ballgame from countries where a good majority of each generation manages to sell out or squander all that was built or acquired within one lifetime before anything gets handed over to the next generation (which IMO is absolutely pathethic, but to each his/her own).

[OldAsiaHand]

In a nation where there are hundreds of thousands of families who fit that description (and in fact often handed down by their grand-daddies and great grand-daddies), they've still set themselves apart and I'd say they still deserve the credit. It's a different ballgame from countries where a good majority of each generation manages to sell out or squander all that was built or acquired within one lifetime before anything gets handed over to the next generation (which IMO is absolutely pathethic, but to each his/her own).

Although your comments are fairly incoherent, I gather you are saying that western countries, not Thailand, are 'those countries where a good majority of each generation manages to sell out or squander all that was built within one lifetime before anything gets handed over to the next generation.'

Rubbish. Thailand has as many idiot children as any culture, probably more since the level of education here (and the respect for it) is so abysmal.

My point, of course, was that by no stretch of the term could any of these women be described as 'entrepreneurs.' And you respond by starting yet another of those tired old Thailand-is-better-than-the-west routines. Good Lord.

[steveromagnino]

Oldasiahand

As you well know, Thailand is a land of legacies and hand me downs with a poorly functioning capital market and large numbers of family businesses stretching back more than 1 generation. There is also a desire not to sell out or give up control for various reasons.

And I agree, usually, being an entrepreneur applies to someone who establishes a new entity to offer a new or existing product or service into a new or existing market.

By this definition, none of these ladies would qualify; perhaps they would have been better to describe them as intrapreneurs or savvy leaders or something - you cannot belittle the efforts of K Supaluk in turning the Mall Group around; your implication is she did not earn her role - based on her output creating Emporium and Paragon I would say that is a bit harsh. however, who knows how this organisation classified things; maybe Americans or American women have their own definition for entrepeneur. Let me know if you find it

[sbk]

Well, I'm an American woman and I don't have a different definition of "entrepreneur".

My sister is an entrepreneur, she started her own business, with her own ideas and hard work and in 5 years has turned it into a growing business with 11 employees.

These women are not "entrepreneurs" in any sense of the word. They would be better changing the name of the award to "Skills in Leadership" or something similar.

[Heng]

In a nation where there are hundreds of thousands of families who fit that description (and in fact often handed down by their grand-daddies and great grand-daddies), they've still set themselves apart and I'd say they still deserve the credit. It's a different ballgame from countries where a good majority of each generation manages to sell out or squander all that was built or acquired within one lifetime before anything gets handed over to the next generation (which IMO is absolutely pathethic, but to each his/her own).

Although your comments are fairly incoherent, I gather you are saying that western countries, not Thailand, are 'those countries where a good majority of each generation manages to sell out or squander all that was built within one lifetime before anything gets handed over to the next generation.'

Rubbish. Thailand has as many idiot children as any culture, probably more since the level of education here (and the respect for it) is so abysmal.

My point, of course, was that by no stretch of the term could any of these women be described as 'entrepreneurs.' And you respond by starting yet another of those tired old Thailand-is-better-than-the-west routines. Good Lord.

Nah, I didn't wasn't comparing idiot populations, I was talking about legacies in terms of business and financial assets. In the entrepreneurial class (here as in most Asian societies), you'll find fewer people who can legitimately start from zero because they inevitably inherit the end sum results of the previous generation. And yes, as SteveM said, there is less desire to go public with the family firm at the point where most western individuals/families would do so. That typically means that later on down the line there's more likelihood that the business will still be a family business, whereas in the west, we often see family names on businesses where there are no longer any individuals of that family connected to the business, whether employed by or equity wise (and I'm not saying that there are NO family businesses in the west either of course). And again, that's not saying either system is better. Hallelujah!

Edited March 2, 2006 by Heng

[Heng]

By this definition, none of these ladies would qualify; perhaps they would have been better to describe them as intrapreneurs or savvy leaders or something - you cannot belittle the efforts of K Supaluk in turning the Mall Group around; your implication is she did not earn her role - based on her output creating Emporium and Paragon I would say that is a bit harsh. however, who knows how this organisation classified things; maybe Americans or American women have their own definition for entrepeneur. Let me know if you find it

Yeah, she didn't start a new business venture in name, but she certainly took a business and turned it into something new.

Basically the only thing that keeps her from being an entrepreneur is not changing the name of the company then? Or perhaps the issue is that she used existing family funds to fund their expansion? For myself, the only difference between family capital and venture capital (from strangers) or bank loans is the interest rate. I don't think going for the lower interest rates should keep one from being recognized as an entrepreneur either. Why not take it a step further and saying that anyone who didn't pay for their own education can't be an entrepreneur either?

[~G~]

By this definition, none of these ladies would qualify; perhaps they would have been better to describe them as intrapreneurs or savvy leaders or something - you cannot belittle the efforts of K Supaluk in turning the Mall Group around; your implication is she did not earn her role - based on her output creating Emporium and Paragon I would say that is a bit harsh. however, who knows how this organisation classified things; maybe Americans or American women have their own definition for entrepeneur. Let me know if you find it

Yeah, she didn't start a new business venture in name, but she certainly took a business and turned it into something new.

Basically the only thing that keeps her from being an entrepreneur is not changing the name of the company then? Or perhaps the issue is that she used existing family funds to fund their expansion? For myself, the only difference between family capital and venture capital (from strangers) or bank loans is the interest rate. I don't think going for the lower interest rates should keep one from being recognized as an entrepreneur either. Why not take it a step further and saying that anyone who didn't pay for their own education can't be an entrepreneur either?

Entrepreneur is usually used for those who start a business from zero, regardless of the source of funds. Similar to your fish export venture . And to make a good story, the entrepreneur should not have too much money of his own to start with.

Anyway, I think the discussion here focuses on the semantics of "Entrepreneur" rather than on the essense. Is Donald Trump an entrepreneur? No, if you consider the fact that he expanded an existing, profitable business his father built. Is he extremely successful and remarkable as a business man? No doubt.

[chuchok]

I would call Richard Branson an Entrepeneur.....He certainly started both Virgin records and Airlines from nothing, but he did have lots of "powder and shot" to start with = daddy was rich! Does this count?

Edited March 3, 2006 by chuchok