I signed up for this accounting study mission to Thailand last semester and I'm glad I got in because this trip turns out to be an eye-opener but at the same time, somewhat relaxing.
Let me recount the day of our departure. It was such a close shave! I packed my luggage in the wee hours and because of my cough, I only slept at 3-ish or 4am. I set my alarm at 5am but I (probably) unknowingly switched if off and woke up at 5.30am when my Dad woke me up. We were supposed to gather at 6am. *AHHHHHH* Y'know I have always dreamt about rushing to the airport to catch a flight so I know the heart-throbbing feeling. Good thing I was well-prepared, just had to wash up and then my Dad, le F1 driver, flew me to the airport. Phew, got there a few minutes before 6am. Thank goodness.
Day 1 was a free n easy day. Since it's a Sunday, we went to the Chatuchak weekend market for the whole afternoon. Just when I thought the Chinatown trip I went on the 5th was humid. This Chatuchak proved me wrong. My face turned red because of the heat and sun. Anyway, I sticked with Bojie, Choonling and Clewyn.
The thing about going overseas for so long is that some people think you are there to enjoy, so they kind of expect you buy something back. I would love to just chill in the hotel during free n easy, go for a swim or gym. But nope, went out to shop instead.
Anyway, we had dinner before going to Asiatique for The Stage, Muay Thai performance. I wished I hadn't had any cough because I was trying to control my cough throughout the entire performance. Nevertheless, still a great one!
Day 2 was pretty chill. 7th Dec was announced a public holiday in lieu of King's birthday on the 5th so we did some historical and cultural visits (Royal Barges National Museum & Emerald Buddha Temple) in Bangkok. Shall let pictures do the talking...
Left: This 150 baht street side chicken rice... S$6 seriously? 925 chic rice tastes much better than this.
Right: Tropical fruits at this buffet lunch. Sat at the same table as the TAs and prof...that did not help with my already decreased appetite. :(
Anyway after lunch it was more of a free n easy again so we went to shop at pratunam market followed by platinum mall. Bojie, Choon Ling and I had the street side chic rice before we decided to walk back to our hotel. Holy Moly. I think we took an hour...? Despite all the fatigue-ness, I changed into my sportswear and went to the hotel gym. Had to wake up at 7am the next morning to prepare for our company visits so I gym for an hour, and ended the night with mangos.
Next morning we had company visits to DKSH (Thailand) and Bangkok Hospital from 9 a.m to 6 p.m so I had an early rest. The hours was pretty long, I swear I dozed off for a split second during the DKSH talk. Bangkok Hospital was great. The staffs were hospitable! We were greeted with a cup of water and some light snacks during the presentation. We ended our first day of company visits with a short tour around the hospital before heading to one of the restaurants for seafood dinner...:( So awkward to be eating with 'strangers', had to get something from 7-11 to fill my tummy.
Woke up at 5.45a.m and head to the gym to kick-start the long day. I was pleased after exercising, felt like I was ready for the battle ahead. We went to Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) for a serious "battle", they brought us to their conference room which was a tad intimidating. The students fired the senior management with questions and I could see that the Thai BOI staffs were slightly unhappy. I was really glad to leave BOI for a less intimidating environment/company - Thai Asia Pacific Brewery (APB). After our tour around the APB ground, they brought us to this area where we get to taste their beer.
hotel view @ 6a.m from level 25.
Next company we visited was Royal Agricultural Station Inthanon. It was up the mountain so the weather was close to perfect, scenery was gooood too. My prof told the driver to bring us to the magnificent Wachirathan Waterfall, the pictures I took doesn't do justice to the place.
Anyway we spent most of the day in the mini bus because Royal Agricultural Station Inthanon was a few hours away from our hotel. At night, the three of us walked around the neighbourhood to find a place to fill our stomach. We finally settled on this roti (?) thing. I cannot remember the exact name of this shop or this dish, but it was nice. Decided to forgo the MAYA shopping centre, and head back to have an early rest. The following day was the long awaited historical and cultural site visit in Chiang Mai. I love free n easy! We went to the Royal Rajapruek and oh, boy I LOVE IT. Choon Ling and I chose to explore the place by foot instead of by tram. We took the tram to the second stop -Orchid Pavilion. My favourite was the Royal Pavilion! Anyway it was such a great decision to explore the place by foot, we had cheap thrills dashing across grass patches and hoping we wouldn't get caught because it would take a much longer time to reach the pavilion if we walked the foot path. Anyway, we had a short group meeting at the hotel lobby to discuss about our project before Bojie, Choon Ling and I took the tuk tuk to the night market recommended by the tour guide.
Next morning we departed for BKK and thankfully it's another rest day! Choon Ling and I took the cab with others to Union Mall which was about 25 minutes away from our Aloft Bangkok hotel. We walked for close to 2 hours before we cabbed back to gather at the lobby for our dinner cruise on Chao Phraya Princess. Such romantic dinner cruise but probably with the wrong group of friends, didn't had appetite to enjoy the meals...but it was slightly more enjoyable during the later part because the songstress in red tried to pull people up to dance. She went by countries so she came and pull this handsome guy from our group. Desmond didn't want to dance, the lady ended up planting a kiss on his cheek LOL. When she wanted to kiss the second time, Desmond shunned her. She later tried to persuade our prof to dance hahahaha. You see my prof is the quiet type that prefers to stay in the room with his book. So you can imagine how shy he was. After some time of persuading, he relented and went out. You could see the difference between Singaporeans and foreigners. The latter seemed more open and bold.
We returned to the hotel after the dinner. Choon Ling and I copied down the questions that we wanted to ask the KPMG representatives before resting for the night. Next day was indeed a battlefield :/ We had 3 company visits that day. First stop: Bangkok Bank. Second stop: KPMG. Last stop: Banyan Tree Bangkok. Bangkok Bank was exceptionally hospitable, after our QnA, they catered buffet for us. *Claps* Actually this was an opportunity for us to network more with the representatives of the bank and the senior executive VP of the bank, Mr. Chansak Fuangfu.
I was so nervous at KPMG because my group was in charge of this company. Timothea volunteered to be the emcee so we were spared, phew. Apparently my leader was slightly disappointed because all other companies that we went had their CEO, or at least higher management personnel down to answer our questions. KPMG had their senior auditor, Mr. Sanu and the tax manager, Ms Angel Lee. Anyhow, it ended well!
Our last company visit of the trip was rather relaxing. Mr. Ho Kwon Ping, founder of Banyan Tree, came and gave us a really life teaching talk. He said he didn't prepare anything but wow he is such an inspirational speaker! After the QnA session, they brought us for a short tour, showing us their different suites and the Vertigo rooftop bar where we get welcome drinks and snacks. Again, my face turned red despite only drinking a glass of white wine.
During the bus ride back to our hotel, I took out my laptop to work on my slides. Good thing I managed to finish my part right before we reached the hotel. We had a group meeting at 11.30pm. Good thing it was a quick 30minutes meeting because I was yawning the whole time. At 12mn, I went up my room and dozed off immediately. We had to wake up early in the morning to present our findings to our prof. The whole 10 presentations took more than 2 hours because the first few groups overshot their timings like mad. YAY and that kind of concluded our ASM trip!!! Except we have to submit our 5k words report and write a post trip reflection on our wikiblog within 10 days after the trip - on the 25th December.
Ending it with my post-trip reflection that I managed to crap out within a short period of time because I only did it in the evening of X'mas and I had to rush to meet my clique to get the ingredients for our steamboat session.
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Although somewhat relaxing, this asm trip turned out to be an eye-opener. It allowed me to have a glimpse on how businesses in Thailand operate. It was certainly a pleasure to meet professionals of different industry and the opportunity to have an interactive QnA session with them which provided us with greater insights of the company, industry and Thailand. Each and every company that we went amazes me in different ways.
I am impressed by the companies resilient to work towards their goals
despite being in a country with frequent political unrest. However, from the
company visits, we learnt that the unrest have minor effects on the businesses
and they are quick at adapting to such situations.
I am impressed at DKSH
persistence to adhere to the legal compliances without taking any shortcuts –
by bribing the relevant authority, and still managed to do well in Thailand. It
reminds me of the idiom, “When there is will, there is a way”.
I am impressed by
Bangkok Hospital hospitality and the things they do to attract and retain local
and foreign customers. Bangkok Hospital has at least 20 interpreters and
medical coordinators to communicate with their customers to make them feel at home.
They are strategic in terms of tapping into where their main source of income
comes from. The hospital understands that big bulk of their customers come from
Japan, China, Arabic, and neighbouring countries so they have different medical
services areas (i.e. Japan Medical Services, Arabic Medical Service, and etc)
allocated for their foreign customers to enhance their experience. In addition,
Bangkok Hospital cares for their staffs and have a medical service organisation
for them to enjoy certain benefits and allow them to bond.
Also, I am impressed
by how committed APB is in achieving their goal of getting the highest level
award by maintaining zero injury on their grounds.
Furthermore, I am impressed
at how employee-oriented some of the companies are. Banyan Tree Hotel is very
employee-focused as they understand that if they help what matters the most to
their employee then the employees will be dedicated to serve the customers
wholeheartedly. Their concept of having a childcare for employee’s children is
also available in Singapore, such as Nanyang Polytechnic.
And the list goes
on.
Aside from the company visits, I am most grateful for the friendships forged
during the trip. I am especially thankful to have shared a room with someone of
similar temperament which makes me feel at ease throughout this trip.
All I can
say is this asm trip left a mark on me and I can never look at Thailand in the
same way ever again.
-So all I can say is this asm trip left a mark on me and I can never look at Thailand in the same way ever again...
Labels: Holiday, School Trip, Travel Affairs, Winter Break
