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The Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce is the recognized forum for people with an interest in the development of business ties between Ireland and Thailand
It is a non-profit organization funded entirely by membership fees together with revenue generated from its own activities. The Chamber is run by a President together with the Board of Directors, all elected by the ITCC members at an Annual General Meeting.
The ITCC’s objectives include promoting and developing trade links between Ireland and Thailand. The Chamber was founded in 2003 by Liam Ayudkij and Jerome Kelly and developed into a fully fledged Chamber registered under the Ministry of Commerce.
The Chamber works closely with the Irish Embassy in Bangkok which has responsibility for Thailand and Myanmar. The ITCC has also been an active member of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand (JFCCT) and the Board of Trade of Thailand (BoT). The ITCC is independent but is closely aligned to Irish Government bodies such as Enterprise Ireland and the Industrial Development Authority which have responsibility for encouraging Foreign Direct Investment into Thailand and Ireland.
OUR STORY |
BOARD MEMBERS |
Conor Bracken is the founder and CEO of Andovar Pte Ltd, a global IT services company with offices more...
Paul Scales is a Chartered Surveyor and Vice President of The Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce. more...
Dr. Hugh O’Connell is managing director of ICDL Thailand. He has been resident in Thailand more...
Prior to moving to Bangkok full time in 2010, Eoin had spent ten years in the USA in Hotel management more...
Originally from Derry, John holds a BEng in Chemical Engineering from Loughborough University of Technology more...
Prior to moving to Bangkok in 2019, Joe spent the past 17 years living in San Francisco more...
Ploi Phayakvichien is currently an Associate Director with KPMG in Thailand, a financial services company more...
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Conor Bracken is the founder and CEO of Andovar Pte Ltd, a global IT services company with offices
on 4 continents. He is recognized within the industry as a pioneer in the separation of production
centers and client-facing services.
He is also the founder and CEO of LeadSniper, a lead generation service based in Singapore, Thailand
and India.
Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Conor has been resident in Thailand for 31 years and speaks and
reads Thai. He is a founding director of the Irish-Thai Chamber of Commerce and has also previously
served on the board of the St. Patrick’s Society of Thailand for three years.
Paul Scales is a Chartered Surveyor and Vice President of The Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce. He is
a graduate in Real Estate of DIT and has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts from Trinity
College Dublin. He is a board director of the Thai Board of Trade. Paul is an active board member of
the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand and a former board member of the British
Chamber of Commerce in Thailand.
Paul has been living and working in Thailand since 1989. He has founded numerous companies in
Thailand including Jones Lang Wootton (now LaSalle), Real Estate Access Thailand Ltd and Thai
Consumer Distribution Co Ltd where he is currently a director and shareholder.
Dr. Hugh O’Connell is managing director of ICDL Thailand. He has been resident in Thailand for over 25 years and has a background in education and training. Hugh works closely with the Thai Government to promote digital literacy in Thailand and align digital skills with the Thailand 4.0 initiative. As a result, in late 2016 ICDL programmes were the first digital literacy qualifications to be mapped to the Thai Qualifications framework, and are now being implemented within both the public and private sector. In addition to working with ICDL, Hugh teaches at a number of universities at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. He is currently vice president of the Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce and actively works to promote mutually beneficial links between Ireland and Thailand.
Prior to moving to Bangkok full time in 2010, Eoin had spent ten years in the USA in Hotel
management for the Omni Hotel group in Cincinnati, working in the food and beverage side, taking
care of their One Michelin Star restaurant ‘Orchids’, and overseeing the running of their extensive
banquet department. While in the USA Eoin also took time to open a line of Irish Pubs and
restaurants in the mid-west, promoting everything Irish throughout the calendar year.
Returning home to Limerick in 2000 to open ‘Nevilles Cross Inn’ pub and restaurant in Adare. In
2003 Eoin’s first venture to Thailand commenced, where he was involved in the development of the
Tara Court Hotel and O’Gara’s bar & Grill in Pattaya. Once again promoting Irish music and food and
beverage.
In 2010 Eoin decided to move full time to Thailand, getting involved with the Irish community early
with the St. Patrick’s Society and now stands on the committee for the last four years. Organizing the
yearly Emerald Ball for the St.Patrick’s day celebrations and working closely together with the Irish
Embassy to support Irish acts coming to Thailand. Eoin also organized the Irish Christmas Concert in
2020 which highlighted great Irish and local acts all for charity, supported by the Embassy of Ireland
and Culture Ireland.
Over the years Eoin has also managed Irish Pubs & Restaurants in Bangkok and in 2020 opened his
own establishment ‘The Blarney Stone’ on soi 4 and soon to be open another sister restaurant on
Lang Suan road. Where he hopes to spread the Irish charm, folklore and craic.
Originally from Derry, John holds a BEng in Chemical Engineering from Loughborough University of
Technology and a MBA from Manchester Business School. He has spent over 20 years in Thailand
with the engineering and construction company, Foster Wheeler (Thailand) Limited, a Wood group
company, working in the oil, gas and chemicals sector on local and international projects. He is a
Fellow of the UK Institute of Chemical Engineers.
John has been involved in the Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce for over 10 years. He is President and
Founder of the Bangkok-based Thai GAA club (2007) and was the chairman of the organising
committees for 2009, 2017 and 2018 Asian Gaelic Games, and the 2012, 2015 and 2016 South Asian
Games.
Through his role in the Energy sector John is excited by the opportunities and challenges presented
by energy transition, decarbonisation and the road to net-zero.
While appearances on the football field are limited these days, John’s spare time is usually spent
with his kids and sometimes on the golf course!
Prior to moving to Bangkok in 2019, Joe spent the past 17 years living in San Francisco/Silicon Valley
where he ran a technology consulting firm before founding Frontdesk Anywhere, an early pioneer
and recognized leader in cloud based property management systems for independent hotels.
Frontdesk Anywhere has offices in San Francisco, Belgrade, Singapore and Bangkok serving
customers in 34+ countries.
Joe was a founding board member and past president of The Irish Network Bay Area. Established in
2008 with support from the Irish Government INBA has built and nurtured an inclusive, Irish-led
professional business community within San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.
Joe was also a founding executive board member of Irish Network USA. IN-USA is the national
umbrella organization integrating the Irish Networks (21 chapters) that exist in various cities across
the United States. It allows members of the networks to connect with their peers and to develop
relationships that will foster success in their business, economic, cultural and sports ventures. The
mission of IN-USA is to bolster business opportunities and economic development between the
United States and Ireland; to support and encourage Irish Arts and Culture through film, literature,
theater, dance and language; to encourage and promote the mission and expansion of Irish sports,
throughout the United States; to support the efforts of local Irish organizations and associations; to
serve as a conduit between newly arrived Irish immigrants and their communities in Member cities
and states.
Vic is a 33-year recruitment industry veteran of which 31 years have been spent in Asia working in Hong Kong, China and Thailand. He started his career as a teacher at Wellington College, a prestigious boys school in Wellington New Zealand, where he ended up as Head of the General Science Department. He left teaching in 1990 and joined a small recruitment company in New Zealand. Vic moved to Hong Kong in 1992 and has been living in Asia ever since. He established his first recruitment business in Thailand in 2002. That business is still running and focuses on recruitment within the manufacturing industries.
Vic’s latest venture, where he is a founding Partner, is a Student Employability Platform called Tinman. Tinman utilizes internationally recognized interests, skills & personality assessments to accurately match students to opportunities in the workforce. Formal training in the use of psychometric testing helped Vic identify enormous potential in its application in recruitment. In 2019 he led an exploratory project validating psychological testing for mass recruitment in the gig economy. That experience and knowledge gained form the foundation of Tinman’s core ideas and approach.
Gareth is a highly experienced aviation professional with a career spanning nearly four decades. He started in the aviation industry in 1988 joining British Airways. This opportunity allowed Gareth to gain experience and develop an understanding of the industry.
Throughout his career, Gareth has had the privilege of working with several other major airlines, including Air New Zealand, KLM, Kuwait Airways and Lufthansa. These positions provided him with diverse perspectives and insights into different aviation practices, further honing his expertise.
Currently holding Part-66 Aircraft Maintenance Licenses for Airbus and Boeing Aircraft, with multiple National Aviation Authorities: UK -CAA, Irish Aviation Authority, NZ-CAA and also the Department of Civil Aviation - Kuwait.
In 2008, Gareth made a significant move to the Kingdom of Thailand, marking an exciting new chapter in his professional and personal life, with new opportunities within the aviation sector, which were embraced wholeheartedly.
Beyond his professional endeavors, Gareth is blessed with a loving family. He is married, and with his wife, together they have a wonderful son.
Since 2020, Gareth has held the position of General Manager with Aviation Technical Consultants (Thailand) Co. Ltd., overseeing the company’s operations, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality aviation technical consulting services to all their clients. Working extensively out of Suvarnabhumi (BKK/VTBD), Don Muang (DMK/VTBD), and U-Tapoa (UTP/VTDU) airports with Leasing Companies and local airlines, to provide Technical Asset Inspections along with Technical Records Reviews, plus Technical & Commercial Support Services. The most recent long-term projects being with AERGO (UKEF) and Avolon.
Keith is a Dublin-born Irishman with an educational background in Mechanical Engineering and Quantity Surveying. He started his career working for a semi-state energy company and left Irish shores in 2011 to pursue work in Australia. After working on mining and gas projects in Australia for a number of years, he moved to the Kingdom of Thailand to work as a Quantity Surveyor and Construction Services Lead with AECOM Thailand. Subsequent to that, he joined CBRE Thailand as Director and Head of Project Management, where he is currently working and enjoying his life in the Kingdom.
Keith is happily married to a Thai national and benefits from assimilating to the local culture and keeping a close group of Thai friends. In his free time from work, he enjoys socializing, networking, playing golf, and tennis. When not doing any of the aforementioned, his favorite pastime is traveling both in Thailand and overseas. In particular, they look forward to their regular trips back home to Ireland, 2-3 times a year, with his wife, who is an Irish Permanent Resident.
Ploi Phayakvichien is currently an Associate Director with KPMG in Thailand, a financial services company providing audit, tax, legal and consulting services to both international and local clients within Thailand. Her role in Business Development for KPMG has her working with numerous tech companies, helping provide technical solutions to clients and allowing her to be highly networked within the many industries in Thailand. Moreover, she has over 10 years of experience in integrated marketing communication, Ploi brings with her in-depth experience in providing communication and branding solutions with business-oriented results. She has worked in a variety of sectors, including direct selling, retail, engineering and finance.
Married to Ross Conlon, an Irishman and the CEO of Siemens Ltd. Thailand, she is well-networked within the Irish community in Thailand.