Sukanya Janchoo
General Manager of Dusit Thani Bangkok
曼谷都喜天丽酒店总经理
The Dusit Thani success story all started from a young Thai lady who was sent to America by her family to broaden her horizon. Thanpuying Chanut Piyaoui was particularly interested in the American hotel culture where service, cleanliness, comfort and friendly attitude were so efficient, and the only difference was that she wanted to create this hotel culture back home in Thailand. Her dream came true when Thanpuying Chanut built Princess, Bangkok’s first modern hotel with a swimming pool. Soon after, her quest to build a truly Thai hotel that rivaled the American standards completed when Dusit Thani Bangkok was founded.
Dusit Thani Bangkok once reigned supreme when it opened its door in 1970 proudly claiming itself as the first international five-star Thai hotel that stood the tallest in the Bangkok skyline. It was and still is today as the perfect place to be for exclusive red carpet gala evenings and beautiful weddings accommodating the highly respected Royal families, international dignitaries, super stars and the rich and famous.
Not only Dusit Thani was built by a Thai lady, today the General Manager for this magnificent hotel is also a lady and she is the first female General Manager of the flagship hotel of Dusit International. Mrs. Sukanya Janchoo has been in the hospitality industry since she graduated from Chulalongkhon University in 1978. A highly respected veteran in Thailand hospitality industry, Sukanya started her career as a chamber maid in London for four years before switching to accounts but her heart and soul have always remained in Thailand. She returned to Thailand in 1980 as an assistant cost controller and turned to marketing after seven years. She candidly explained that she was very good in cost control but she finds sales and marketing a much more challenging job when she was asked why she made the switch.
“If you want to do it, then do your best; if you don’t want, then stop.”
A female executive in a male-dominant industry did not really intimidate this petite lady as she claimed that she was not stressed at all with working in such an environment. ‘Perhaps the men were more stressed working with me?’ she jokingly said. Furthermore she was of the opinion that being female sometimes had its advantages as potential clients ‘pitied’ them and were more willing to spare some time to listen. ‘Feminism’ was then playing a large part in the hotel industry although it was a man’s world. Before criticising any job that one may come across, Sukanya said it is important that we must fully understand the job nature as all jobs, big or small, are important and eventually contribute to the success of an organisation. ‘If you want to do it, then do your best; if you don’t want, then stop,’ she said. Such attitude is important and she felt blessed as she had the opportunity to take on several jobs before becoming a leader. Sukanya was very humble and did not take the credit for her achievements but graciously acknowledged that it was all about having a ‘nice’ group of people to work with and team work. As for her success and accomplishments, this Iron Lady holds the principle of focusing and succeeding in every project. She is all about accomplishing a project and moving on to conquer another and another. A visionary lady who does not achieve only one merit but rather going for merits after merits.
“The millennials is a generation who like to complain but if you are ready to face the challenges in the hotel industry, you must also have the passion and heart to work to achieve success.”
Sukanya feels that it is important to contribute back to the society especially by grooming the new generation. When asked about the millennial, she said, ‘The millennials is a generation who like to complain but if you are ready to face the challenges in the hotel industry, you must also have the passion and heart to work to achieve success’. She strongly believes that Asians today can be as great General Manager as the Europeans, not to mention they understand the culture better and can further enhance the guests’ needs and expectations.
A mother of two, this lady loves to watch movies or go to concerts as a form of relaxation when she is not too caught up with taking care of her six dogs, a cat and a bird. Her final statement when asked what was her plan after Dusit Thani Bangkok stops for renovation for the next few years, her reply was that Dusit Thani Bangkok will never stop but merely entering a new chapter. It will appear very soon to recapture its prime and as for her, she will continue her quest in this industry to face new challenges and come out a winner.
“如果你想这样做，那就全力以赴；如果不愿意，那就停下来。”
都喜天丽（Dusit Thani）的成功故事开端源于一位年轻的泰国女士- Thanpuying Chanut Piyaoui，在她被家人送到美国后，对当地酒店文化产生浓厚兴趣，而美国酒店业讲求效率的服务、卫生，舒适和友好的态度让她开拓了视野，唯一的不同是她想要在泰国建立这种酒店文化。而她终于实现了梦想，在曼谷成立了第一家拥有游泳池的现代酒店-公主（Princess）。自此之后，她的目标是打造一家真正与美国酒店软硬体标准相媲美的泰国酒店，因此，曼谷都喜天丽（Dusit Thani Bangkok）也应运而生。
1970 年，曼谷都喜天丽自豪地宣称作为第一家鼎立曼谷天际线顶点的国际五星级酒店。今天，它仍然是举行隆重盛大红毯晚会和美丽婚礼的最佳场所，接待了尊贵无比的皇室家族、国际政要、超级明星和富商名人。
而不仅是都喜天丽是由泰国女性一手创立，今天这家豪华酒店的总经理也是一位女士，她是都喜国际旗舰酒店的第一位女性总经理- Sukanya Janchoo 。自1978 年毕业于朱拉隆赫大学 (Chulalongkhon University) 以来，她一心沉浸在酒店行业。作为一名备受崇敬的泰国酒店业资深老将，在 Sukanya 职业生涯中，转为会计之前，作为女服务员在伦敦工作 4 年，但心魂始终牵挂着故乡泰国。1980 年，她作为助理成本管理专员回到泰国，并在 7 年后转向市场营销。她坦率地说，本身在成本控制方面很得心应手，但为何要接受工作转变是因为她发现销售和营销是一项更具挑战性的任务。
至于在男性占主导地位的行业里，作为女性高管的存在并没有吓倒这位身材娇小的女士，她认为，在这样的环境下，她根本没有压力。“也许和我一起工作，男性们更有压力?”她调侃的说。此外，她还觉得作为女性，有时会更有优势，因为潜在客户多少会有“怜香惜玉”的心理，并且更愿意花些时间倾听。而“女权主义”也在酒店业中扮演了重要角色，尽管这是一个男人的世界。她说，我们在评价任何工作之前，必须充分理解工作的本质，因为所有的工作，无论大小，都显得如此关键，最终会为一个组织的成功做出贡献。“如果你想这样做，那就全力以赴；如果不愿意，那就停下来。”她觉得这样的态度很重要，自己感到很幸运，因为她有机会在成为一名领导者之前经历过不同的工作。Sukanya 非常谦虚，并没有为本身的成就而自傲，但她优雅地承认，这一切都是为了让一群优秀的人一起工作和密切配合。关于她的卓越和杰出，这位铁娘子在每一项计划中都有专注和成功的原则。她着重于完成一个计划后，再开始征服另一个目标。一名有远见的女性，不仅是创造一个优点，而且还要不断追求无数价值优势。
“千禧一代做事喜欢抱怨，但如果做好准备迎接酒店业的挑战，必须具备激情和勇气取得成功。”
她说，回馈和奉献社会是很重要的，尤其是对新一代的培养。至于她本人对千禧一代的看法：“千禧一代做事喜欢抱怨，但如果做好准备迎接酒店业的挑战，必须具备激情和勇气取得成功。”她坚信，今天亚洲人可以逾越欧洲人成为出色的总经理，除了对文化的理解更深刻，也是因为进一步提升满足客人的需求和期望。
至于作为两名孩子的母亲，这位女士闲暇时喜欢看电影或去听音乐会，也是当她可以摆脱照顾六只狗，一只猫和一只鸟的空档时刻。而在提到曼谷都喜天丽接下来的几年里翻新计划完成后，她将推动的新规划，她宣称曼谷都喜天丽永远不会停下脚步，只是迈入了新的篇章。在她的带领下，酒店将重新展现全盛时期的面貌，她会在这个领域中积极寻求新的冲刺，并争取最后胜利。
EZ MALAYSIA.NEWS 