Unique and Rewarding Experience

Three amazing weeks in "Amazing Thailand"!  Such a unique and rewarding experience!  And such a unique country!

Thailand

I have travelled to Thailand many times.  However, I did not have the opportunity to work in this country before.  The ESC assignment brought me much closer to Thailand and its people - their challenges, their hopes... their lives.

A country with a great civilization, culture, and people!  People that are warm, gentle and welcoming.  Their hospitality and friendliness made us feel at home.

Our Assignment

The government of Thailand was announced its commitment to strengthen the country's economy.  Initiatives such as seaport expansion, higher quality roads, and city infrastructure development are key for the country's overall economic improvement.

To think that we were able to participate at an assignment focusing on areas of top priority for the country's economic growth is truly astonishing!

The City of Pattaya is expected to contribute significantly to the country's economic growth by attracting new business and becoming a world-class tourist destination.  Of equal importance is the Laem Chabang Port, for which the central government has important expansion plans.

As Krishnan mentioned, "our work was well received and appreciated by all."  And that was an excellent reward for a truly hard work that started early in the morning and ended... early in the morning!

Our Team

I am thinking of everything we accomplished within just two weeks and realize that it was our team that made the "mission impossible" feel like a "walk in the park"...

On Thursday, October 25, five people met face-to-face for the very first time - different experiences and backgrounds, variety of skills, different styles...  And somehow by early that following week a very cohesive team emerged - with a clear plan, well understood goals, and strong focus.  It takes time to build cohesive teams - ours it seems was built overnight!

... and kept on increasing - increasing in size and increasing in strength of character, skills, and determination.

Our local team in Thailand was outstanding!  They bonded with the five of us right away and became a part of our team - not just an extended team.  There is no doubt - absolutely no doubt - that we could have never delivered such successful results without them.  They stood by us, supported us, encouraged us...

Jean Sum from ABV was priceless!  She kept us well organized.  She certainly provided us with great recommendations for social activities - not to mention what great fun it was to have her with us in all of them!  A true value for our team!

Sincere Thanks!

To our team in Thailand - for their support, commitment and hospitality!  It was such a privilege to meet and work with you.  We all look forward to continuing our partnership and ensuring we drive our recommendations to actual implementation!

To Jean and ABV - for making us always be on time!  Certainly for your understanding, flexibility and great attitude!

To Michael, Krishnan, Denise, Mauricio - I could not have asked or hoped for a better team!  I am truly and deeply grateful for the time we spent together in Thailand - for our work, our collaboration and - above all - our friendship!  We have build extraordinary memories during these three weeks and I sincerely look forward to building many more!

And from all of us -  THANK YOU IBM for such a Unique and Rewarding Experience!!!

Reflection of IBM ESC work in Thailand

Having just returned home few minutes back, I am reflecting on this great work that our team has delivered to the City of Pattaya and the Port of Laem Chabang to become a Smarter City and a Smarter Port.  This work culminated about 12 working days of activities not including the evenings and weekends that the team worked flexibly between various locations including a separate room in our hotel dedicated as an Office room.  The IBM team is very touched by the outstanding support  and dedication of the local IBM team and the teams that we had worked with at both Pattaya City and Laem Chabang Port.  Our big thanks to Governor of Chonburi K.Komsan, Mayor of Pattaya K.Ittipon, Laem Chabang Port Managing Director K. Sutthinan and IBM Country GM K. Parnsiree for their support to our work.

This was my second assignment in Thailand after a long stint in 2007-2008 and Thailand has yet again impressed me with their hospitality truly deserving to be called "The Land of Smiles".   

Final Presentation, Press Conference and Farewell

Krishnan delivering the ESC team's work to the local Press and Media

Group Photo after the press conference : Krishnan, Anna, K.Sutthinan, Mauricio, K.Parnsiree, Michael, Denise, K.Ittipon, Dr. Pradhan representing Chonburi Governor K. Komsai

IBM ESC Team with K.Kittipong IBM  at Laem Chabang Port

Our work was well received and appreciated by all which called for a celebration and some very difficult farewell with the teams whom we had just started interacting over 10 days back.  But it is the hospitality, the respect and the dedicated attention to our work that made this departure harder.  As Denise had said it, "we all will go through a withdrawal for sometime before our real life catches up again".  Right from the day one, there was a lot of expectation built in to the outcome of our work for both Pattaya City and Laem Chabang port.  This is based on the messages delivered by our 3 key stakeholders - Governor of Chonburi, Mayor of Pattaya City and the MD of Laem Chabang Port.  We are just glad that we have exceeded in their expectations by their remarks, but more so given the impact this is going to have on the local society, economy and the greater benefits to Thailand as a country.

IBM Thailand team and ESC team group photo with Jean from ABV

 

 

 

Farewell dinner with IBM Thailand team

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thailand Culture

Spirit House at the HolidayInn Hotel Pattaya and a local Budhist temple

Having had my roots in India, I found Thai culture to have lot of similarities with Indian culture specifically on the religious and social aspects.  Most businesses and houses have a spirit house at the entrance of the property to entertain any spirits that may want to return to the house.  By having a nice spirit house where offerings are kept daily, there is a belief that the spirit will be comfortable in the spirit house and will not have to enter the actual house / business.  

Final Week in Chonburi and Bangkok

We were very busy preparing final presentation to deliver in our final week.  We did manage to visit the local floating market in Pattaya.  It is not nearly as big as the famous Bangkok Floating Market but our local team suggested this would be a good alternative since travel time to the Bangkok market is considerable.  It was especially constructed for tourists so it was a bit Disney-esque but we enjoyed nonetheless.  We tried Mexican food that evening at Tequila Reef owned by an American.  It was not the best but after experimenting with  Italian and Brazilian on other evenings, we’ve decided to stick with Thai cuisine for the remainder of the visit.

The schedule for delivering final presentations was hectic with multiple locations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday including a press conference at Pattaya City Hall.  All sponsors including the Chonburi Governor, Pattaya Mayor and Laem Chabang Port Director were impressed and remarked that we exceeded expectations and they will share with other key stakeholders.  After a dinner at a local seafood restaurant on the Bay of Bangkok hosted by Port Director, K. Sutthinan, we had a very sad good-bye to the Port team and ventured two hours to Bangkok for our final days.

The final weekend in massive and bustling Bangkok has been somewhat manic with sightseeing, eating (of course), seeing Thai boxing (Muay Thai),  shopping and saying good-bye  to the IBM Thailand team.

To all at the Province of Chonburi, City of Pattaya, Port of Laem Chabang and IBM Thailand, you touched our hearts  more than we ever imagined. We will never forget you and this experience.

Anna, Denise, Mauricio,  Krishnan and Michael

Some press links:

http://www.pattayamail.com/localnews/chonburi-selected-for-ibm-smarter-cities-challenge-2012-18142

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/technology/IBM-team-joins-smarter-city-project-30193251.html

http://www.pattayapeople.com/default.asp?Folder=16&IdArticle=33096 

Pattaya Floating Market Dancing Show

Press Conference at Pattaya Hall with Mayor

Gift exchange with LCP Director

Farewell Dinner hosted by LCP Director, K. Sutthinan

Atop Bangkok Lebua Tower (Hangover 2 setting)

Good bye evening with IBM Thailand Team

Bangkok Wat (Temple) Phra Kaew

Wat Po - Reclining  Buddha

Ferry across to Wat Arun

Weekend Market

Muay Thai at Lumpini Stadium,

Smarter Kids - Mechai Pattana School

On Sunday we had one of the best experiences of the Service Corps assignment.  We visited Mechai Pattana School to conduct a workshop on Innovation and Careers with the 10^th Grade students in residence there.  The school randomly selects about 30 students each year from rural farming villages in Thailand to provide them an outstanding education.  Please learn more and donate here:

http://www.mechaifoundation.org/school_donations.asp

Students welcome us with song.

The students welcomed us with songs and their rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine moved us all tremendously.  I wish I could share but Blogger is choking on the video upload.   They happily showed us their lush campus full of lime, papaya, coconut and banana trees.   It includes an integrated farm where they work to supplement operating expenses and their food supply.   They were very excited to share their plan to grow and sell limes in the off-season to command a higher price – amazing entrepreneurs! 

We split the class in two with Mauricio and Anna taking one half and Denise, Krishnan and I taking the other.  There were aspiring doctors, architects, engineers, and an international businesswoman in our group.  We talked about iPhones, iPads and cars that will drive themselves.  The kids were enthused and asked many questions about our career path and how schools in the U. S. compare to Mechai Pattana. The session ended with an exchange of gifts. The kids also presented us a beautiful pumpkin-shaped, hand-made thank you card for their classroom full of new flat-panel monitors from IBM.

Many thanks to the students, for your hospitality at Mechai Pattana School and to IBM Thailand's Corporate Social Responsibility Leader, Apapan.    This was really a special day for us.   

Viewing Mauricio's gift of Entrepreneur book.

Introductions

Smarter kids.

Learning more about Mechai Pattana.

Group discussion with IBM team.

Group shot during campus tour.

Future doctors, architects and engineers.

Learning about Greece from Anna.

Amazing Race - ESC Chonburi Port and City Teams Getting to the Finish

Lunch at the mall food court near IBM

This weekend is here and I haven’t posted any news from last weekend or the work week.   We had a lot of fun excursions last weekend including visits to a disco, beauty pageant, and a short boat trip to the nearby island of Koh Larn for some beach time.  The people are wonderful here, very warm and welcoming.  The beach was beautiful and you can certainly see why the world flocks to resorts in this part of the world.

Back to business on Sunday sifting through all the data we gathered in the first week.  Our project is to advise two organizations on strategy.  We worked this week between the office set up at our Holiday Inn and the local IBM branch office near the Port of Laem Chabang.  The local IBM team has been outstanding in their support to our work.  I especially appreciate Jackree because he laughs at my jokes.  We had a productive week which started with some storming but we’re ending up with a nice deliverable.  Ahead are some more weekend excursion fun and briefing our findings and conclusions to the City and Port. 

--- Michael

Koh Larn beach

Look what I found! Just wanted coffee?

Jackree (far left) enjoying some Michael's jokes at the office.

A full week of interviews... and solutioning yet ahead

The past week was intense with over 20 interviews with Port and City officials.  The welcome and response was incredible from each meeting.   The officials really want to change their environment to become a world class destination!   Across the team, we have focused on Public Safety and Traffic/Transportion in Pattaya City,  and Operatoinal Efficiency/Logistics and Environmental at the Leam Chabang Sea Port.  We see opportunities for their local teams to increase their effectiveness and leverage what they have started.  And we also see opportunities for technology to assist the growth of this community. Of key importance is the support of the Mayor and Governor, who met with us a second time and was so gracious with their time and hospitality to help make this project a great success for Chonburi and IBM. 

And of course we've explored the city as a tourist (field research as they say!).  The food, the beach, "walking street", local cultures (ah, those massages), etc.   We've invested our time and our hearts and learned this culture is amazing.  
 

We are looking forward to this coming week, where the team will evaluate our findings, research best practices, and come up with recommendations for the City and the Port.

Real World Chonburi Started on Monday

We had a full itinerary on Monday as the team started the project.  We first went to the Port of Laem Chabang where we met with the Managing Director and his leadership team which included over 30 people.  Following lunch, we traveled to Pattaya City Hall where we met the energetic Mayor of Pattaya.  We noticed the Press for the first time at this meeting taking photos and video of the meeting.  Our final meeting of the work day was the Smarter Cities Challenge – Chonburi Kickoff that was led by Kittipong of IBM Thailand, Chonburi Governor, Pattaya Mayor, the Port Managing Director and our team.   Also present were many of the Pattya City Department heads.  The media attended this session in great numbers and our team enjoyed celebrity status like we’ve never seen.  Our day ended with a Celebration Dinner at the Pattaya Hilton featuring more fabulous Thai cuisine and dancers from the local school.

Lunch with the IBM Thailand team

Since Monday we've been very busy interviewing stakeholders at both the Port of Laem Chabang and Pattaya City discussing the Smarter City Challenge project.  Of course the enjoyment for the day is when we go out for lunch.  The servers in Thailand put all plates in the center of the table for everyone to share.  I commented at lunch the other day that I always seem to be the one eating the most.  One of the Port of Laem Chabang staff responded with "You like to eat, and you don't mind if you get big!"

Team kicks off with Governor, Mayor, Port Director and IBM Thailand

Anna wai-ing in. Wai=Thai Greeting

Pattaya City Kickoff with Mayor Itthiphol

LC Port Kickoff with Managing Director

Team Photo at Smarter Cities Challenge Chonburi Launch

Mauricio represents!

Student Dancers at IBM Smarter Cities Challenge Chonburi Launch

 

Top Chefs - Pattaya

The ABV team organized a Thai cooking class for us as a team building exercise on Saturday, 27 October.  We joined local Chef Sherri on a trip to the Pattaya market where we bought ingredients including marble eggplant (pak chee), kaffir lime  (bai magrood), palm coconut sugar (nam tan peep) and noodles.  We also saw some interesting items like pigs’ heads and live turtles.   

Chef Sherri shows how to pick the veggies.

 Preparing the food was a great time and thankfully Chef Sherri instructed and prevented any disasters.   The menu included Penang Curry with Chicken, Pad Thai, Spicy Noodle Salad (Yam Woon Sen) and Papaya and Sticky Rice (Khao Neaw Malakx).  We definitely had some ringers in the group.  Mauricio was a pro using the pulverizer to make a fantastic curry paste.  Anna, a self-proclaimed novice, made amazing dishes.  We were all very full after the event.  What else is new?

We met in the office set up for us at the hotel on Sunday evening to organize for the work week.  We’re all set for the great project kickoff with the local team on Monday!

 

 

Denise checking out the tofu at the market.

Sherri and attentive students.

 

Yam Woom Sen ready to eat!

 

 

Pigs head are often used as offerings.

ESC Chonburi Lands in Thailand!

The Team - Krishnan, Denise, Michael, Mauricio, Anna and Jean

Our team arrived in Bangkok at different times on Thursday, 25 October, 2012.  Distances traveled varied with some over 20 hours and we all needed some recovery time.  Our accommodations in Bangkok were the very comfortable Pullman Hotel.  Friday (Day 1) started with the team meeting in person for the first time at breakfast.  We have nice global representation with Krishnan (India), Anna (Greece), Mauricio (Brazil), Denise (Chicago) and me.  Australian Business Volunteers representatives (www.abv.org.au), who coordinate our project logistics, include Jean from Australia and David and Tang from Thailand.  After some sleep, we headed to the IBM Bangkok office where we spent the day with the local team to learn more about our project scope.  Not much time to do any sightseeing but we're enjoying the fabulous Thai cuisine.

Thai folk dance demonstration

On Saturday we traveled two hours to the project location in Pattaya, Chonburi.  The city is a very big and popular tourist destination in this region with a beautiful crescent beach and massive hotels.  More meetings on Saturday and of course some more eating.   Pad Thai with shrimp or tofu, vegetable curry and spring rolls were some of the choices.  

We also met our local team of translators who will assist us for the next three weeks. I made a Thai phrase cheat sheet but I'm struggling putting the sounds together.  I think I've got "thank you" down, pronounced cop-koon-kup.  Say that fast three times. 

 

David (far left) and Translator Team outside Bangkok cafe