The Wongworrakan family began with a small serviced apartment for university students in the Pinklao area but now runs the largest hotel in all of Nonthaburi - the Richmond - and has plans for expansion into five-star tourist resorts.

The Richmond Hotel - a stylish establishment with 445 guestrooms and 19 meeting and convention rooms - is not new to Bangkok's northern Rattanathibet Road. It has been open for a decade, and its main customers are officials working in government offices located in northern Bangkok, such as the Public Health, Commerce and Justice ministries and provincial water and electricity authorities.

The hotel recently refreshed its brand image with the opening of a new hotel building next to the old one, expanding its customer focus to the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions market.

Laksawan Wongworrakan, the second of the Wongworrakan family's three children and who is assistant managing director of the Richmond, explains some of the consequences.

"As soon as the Richmond's new building opened, the room rates there were 40 per cent higher on average than those in the old building," she says, adding that there were many complaints from the hotel's regular customers. However, they now ask to stay only in the new building. "So, we're thinking of renovating the old building."

The family's plans go a lot further than that. They have set aside about Bt2.6 billion to open five-star hotels and resorts in tourist destinations like Pattaya, Krabi, Koh Pha-ngan and Koh Chang over the next three years.

Before the launch of the Richmond's new operations, Laksawan was a key person in linking construction and interior design with business strategy.

She says she learned from her father how to select good locations for hotel and resort developments.

"I follow my father everywhere, and I've learned the way to choose potential land plots from him," she says. However, learning the potential of land plots is not as vital as picking up her father's business connections.

Laksawan, who is in her early 30s, dedicates most of her life to her work, especially to the Richmond. "I'm happy when I work," she says. "Even my hobby is my work."

She goes to the hotel every day, even on weekends and holidays, because she wants its day-to-day operations managed as efficiently as possible.

Holding a master's degree in financial economics from a university in Boston, Massachusetts, Laksawan often proposes business ideas to her family. Some are adopted; some are not.

Her skills in property trading began to show during her many years of study in Boston for her bachelor's and master's degrees. She bought a two-storey condominium unit with three bedrooms in Boston's inner-city area in 1992 and invited her friends to share the accommodations.

She recalls that she gained two things from the arrangement: first, her friends; and second, some rental payments to help pay for utilities.

Her big win came when she finished her studies in 2001 and sold the unit. She made a net profit of about US$60,000, which when converted to her home currency gave her a Bt3-million gain.

During her time in the US, the value of the baht plummeted from 25 to the US dollar to about 50.

"My father said it was good to finance my studies abroad, because there were no losses," Laksawan says with a laugh.

In the Wongworrakan family's larger business empire, Laksawan now applies her university studies to the field of hotel management. Her older sister is responsible for the group's accounting, while her younger brother - a hospitality-programme graduate - takes care of all hotel services.

Meanwhile, the group's flagship hotel, the Richmond, is planning to diversify its customers from civil servants to other market segments, hoping to attract 65 per cent of guests from corporations, particularly those holding seminars, 10-15 per cent from tour agents and the rest from tourism.

Amid the current economic slump, the Richmond enjoys an occupancy rate of 70-80 per cent. Half of the group's revenues, which are expected to total Bt220 million this year, should come from the hotel.

Laksawan is currently working with a team that is designing hotel and resort projects in Krabi and Pattaya. Her family has given these projects priority and wants to see construction begin as soon as possible.

However, while working towards her family's business expansion, she says success is still a ways off.

"Once everyone is happy, then success will come automatically," she says, adding that she wanted to see about 300 hotel staff with wider smiles and bigger laughs.

Sasithorn Ongdee

The Nation