Conor Bracken - Presidents
Chief Executive Officer, Andovar (Thailand) Co., Ltd

    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 – Vice President
Director, Thai Consumer Distribution Co., Ltd.

    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 – Vice President
Managing Director, ICDL Thailand Company Limited

    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.

Eoin O’Kelly - Director
Founder, The Blarney Stone Bangkok

    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.

Iwan Lloyd - Director
Head of Asia, East Eight (Thailand) Ltd.

    Iwan Lloyd has responsibility for developing current and new international school projects. His responsibilities also include investor relations. Iwan has worked in the education sector for several years and throughout his tenure, has gained a thorough understanding of the education business.

    Before moving to Thailand, Iwan worked within the education sector in Abu Dhabi. His role included a senior leadership role within Brighton College, a reputable British International School based in Abu Dhabi. His experience within the education sector has enabled him to understand the needs and nuances of the international education market and how best to develop and lead critical educational initiatives from a global perspective.

John A. Campbell - Director
Project Manager, Foster Wheeler (Thailand) Limited

    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!

Matthew Silvester - Director
Director, Meinhardt (Thailand) Ltd.

    Matthew is currently a director at Meinhardt Thailand Ltd., where he jointly manages the MEP Department. Originally from Ireland, he has lived in Thailand since 2010. He is a mechanical engineer with over 20 years of experience in the construction industry as a design consultant, working on a wide range of projects, including Commercial, Hospitality, Retail, Residential, and industrial projects; throughout SE Asia, including Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar; and in the UK, and Ireland.

    He is a chartered engineer and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers. He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), holds multiple qualifications in digital transformation, including Data Centres and Smart buildings, and has a keen professional interest in sustainability and renewable energy.

    He has been involved in the Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce for the past 10 years and is an active member of the expatriate business community in Bangkok.

Joseph Kiernan - Director
Managing Director, Frontdesk Hospitality (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

    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.

Victor Allen - Director
Co-Founder, Tinman Thailand Co., Ltd.

    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 Winter - Director
General Manager, Aviation Technical Consultants (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

    Gareth is a seasoned aviation professional with a career spanning over three decades. Born on June 9th, 1969, he started in the aviation industry by joining British Airways in 1988. 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 major airlines, including KLM, Air New Zealand, Lufthansa, and Kuwait Airways. These positions provided him with diverse perspectives and insights into different aviation practices, further honing his expertise.

    In 2008, Gareth made a significant move to Bangkok, Thailand, marking an exciting new chapter in his professional and personal life, with opportunities within the aviation sector, which he embraced wholeheartedly.

    Beyond his professional endeavors, Gareth is blessed with a loving family. He is married, and together they have a wonderful ten-year-old son.

    Since 2020, Gareth has held the position of General Manager at 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. Leading a dedicated team, he strives to foster innovation and excellence in every aspect of their work. Working extensively out of Suvarnabhumi, Don Muang, and U-Tapoa airports with a variety of local Thai airlines and leasing companies, to provide physical asset technical inspections along with Technical Records Reviews. The most recent projects being with a Landing Gear Leasing company based out of Udom Suk, providing Technical & Commercial Support Services.

Keith McGovern - Director
Director – Head of Project Management, CBRE (Thailand) Limited.

    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 - Director
Associate Director, KPMG Phoomchai Business Advisory Ltd.

    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.