The Iamsakulrat family has come a long way from its roots in the liquor business when it launched Mekong.

It has diversified into food, textiles, petrochemicals and investment consultation with a strong presence outside Thailand.

It was almost 50 years ago that it co-founded Sura Mahakhun Co Ltd, the distiller of Mekong, in Bangkok. The company was renamed Sura Maharaj when part of it was sold to whisky tycoon Charoen Siriwadhanabhakdi.

The company was a key player in the collaboration with small distillers to create a liquor monopoly during the military regime of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, who was bent on increasing excise revenue.

While the first generation of the family focused on establishing the business, the second, led by Kamol Iamsakulrat, has been responsible for expansion, diversification, trading and investment.

Kamol foresaw a booming business opportunity in the country's food sector. He co-founded Unicord Plc, a leading tuna-processor and exporter.

Today the family has a considerable market share with its listed company Food and Drinks Plc. The positive response from the Thai canned-food market led to further expansion in 1990 in the form of Lampang Food Products Co Ltd, canning fruit and vegetables for both the domestic and export markets.

Pises Iamsakulrat, managing director of Lampang Food Products, said it had started when the family took over a factory owned by a supplier in Lampang province.

"We expanded into the North because fruit and vegetables were plentiful there" he said.

Initially the factory focused on tomatoes, bamboo shoots and lychees but lost out to Chinese products and soon turned to sweet corn and semi-finished and ready-to-eat foods.

Pises, 42, has positioned food as the company's core business, but he has had to diversify as his father did and has done well by forming joint ventures in the petrochemical and textile industries.

"The family-run business has grown over the years. My grandfather made liquor in Thailand and imported goods from China. My father, an investor, expanded and diversified the existing business. Now it's up to me to ensure sustainable development by expanding and setting up manufacturing bases in other countries," Pises said.

The company now has plants in Laos canning bamboo shoots, palm nuts in syrup and mango slices in syrup, one in Burma canning sardines and one in Kunming, China, exporting aloe-vera products to Japan.

The company's sales revenue is on average US$20 million (Bt756 million) a year, of which exports account for $12 million.

Investing abroad has taught the company about trade and investment regulations and got the family a new business in consultation.

"In particular our experience investing in Laos will help other Thai investors," he said, noting that Charoen Pokphand Group might require assistance with its plan to grow maize there.

He said the family's overseas production bases were being managed as an offshore supply source for factories in Thailand.

"Bases in neighbouring countries create a win-win situation, keeping the Kingdom's competitive edge and at the same time giving your trading partners a bigger income and a better life," he said.

Achara Pongvutitham

The Nation