While announcing Dusit Thani's plans to go overseas, Chanin Donavanik, CEO and managing director, recalled a crucial meeting with his mother, the company's founder, Thanpuying Chanut Piyaoui.

They discussed how Dusit Group, a 55-year-old hotel business, would move forward amid increasing competition, with many strong players in local and international markets.

Then, three options were raised.

The first was just going ahead with existing properties and new investments slowly, one property at a time.

The second choice was to call the game over by allowing some international chain or chains to take over its operations. But Chanut totally disagreed with this and wanted to see the hotel owned and run by Thais.

The last was to turn the group into a software company. This would not need much investment, as the company would transform itself from an investment-oriented firm to a hotel management company that could take its business out of the country.

"We chose the last alternative," Chanin said.

"Now the most challenging thing in my life is building a software company, which focuses on marketing, management systems and branding, instead of previous roles. To turn it into a management company, its work culture has to be changed, " he said.

Dusit is Thailand's oldest locally owned hotel operator and has expanded overseas and invested in many local properties, but it still lags behind international chains such as Hilton, Conrad and InterContinental.

And with the corporate strategy change, the group is ready to spread its wings overseas again, not as an investor, but as a hotel management company that will go out to manage overseas properties with plans to invest in some.

The group is planning to go to China, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and the Maldives.

This mission is challenging. Yet, this is not the toughest time for Chanin.

Born in Bangkok, Chanin completed his high school education in Essex, England and proceeded to Boston University in the United States for his MBA.

Upon returning home in 1979, Chanin chose to pursue an academic career as a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University in the faculty of commerce and accounting. But he still devoted time to the family business.

The global recession of the late 1070's hit the economy badly, particularly the hotel industry. To survive, Dusit Thani needed to recharge itself. And at the time, Chanin was asked to take full control of the company.

Initially he was reluctant to abandon his academic life. However, as the youngest son of Chanut, one of the pioneers and most influential figures in the local hotel industry, he took on the responsibility.

His first major decision was to reposition the group's flagship property, the Dusit Thani, to compete with the new international hotels springing up in Bangkok. Its 700 standard rooms were converted into 530 deluxe rooms and suites. Called "Landmark Rooms", the deluxe rooms and suites became the trademark of all Dusit Hotels & Resorts properties.

Designed specifically for upscale business and leisure travellers, the landmark rooms were renowned as the largest, luxurious and most well equipped rooms in Asia. In 2005, the landmark rooms were reconfigured to become the Dusit Grand Rooms.

Following this successful beginning, Chanin began to explore expansion opportunities beyond Bangkok. In 1985 a hotel opened in Chiang Mai followed closely by spectacular beach resorts in Pattaya and Phuket.

A second hotel was built in the North in Chiang Rai. Next came the prestigious Dusit Resort & Polo Club in the Cha-am area, since renamed Dusit Resort Hua Hin. In 1992 the company acquired its first overseas property - The Melrose in Dallas, Texas.

Two more resorts were developed in Krabi and Jomtien and overseas expansion continued with further launches in Indonesia's Balikpapan and Jakarta, and in Manila.

The company had evolved from a small local hotel group to an international chain. However, Chanin knew that to be a truly global group the company needed to have a presence in Europe, and he masterminded the purchase of the prestigious Kempinski Hotels & Resorts group with its headquarters in Germany.

The synergy of the two brands was potentially enormous. Chanin set about expanding the alliance with innovative marketing and distribution initiatives under one management structure. In the three years of the association Kempinski and Dusit went from being cumbersome, somewhat localised hotel groups into innovative, profitable global players as the many international awards and accolades received by both groups can attest.

Yet, in early 1998, and as a result of the economic crisis in Thailand, Chanin and his fellow board members reluctantly sold the company's stake in Kempinski Hotels & Resorts. Following the sale, Chanin intensified his involvement with Dusit Hotels & Resorts, concentrating on improving its performance, while exploring other expansion opportunities.

And here comes another challenge that he must overcome if Dusit is to exist and prosper as an international hotel chain.

For success, this time the group needs to be faster and better. From a man in the ivory tower, now he listens more to employees. "I am exactly the same as my mother, who is not a compromising person," he said.

Now, employees are welcomed to share their opinions on how to improve their jobs as well as other career choices. Promotion and more authority for local employees are considered.

And Chanin calls these an "employee packaging" strategy, a vital part of the group's move to increase its competitiveness against international operators.

He hopes that the strategy will work well. Dusit Group aims to double the number of rooms under its management from 5,000 to 10,000 and increase the number of hotel properties from 18 to 36 in three to five years.

This is obviously a challenge to Chanin, who said that personally he is a thinker and a disorganised man. Importantly, he has to adjust to hear more from others before making a move. The stakes are high as Dusit Thani Plc embraces three main brands - Dusit Hotels & Resorts, D2 hotels + resorts and Royal Princess Hotels & Resorts. He has also served as the president of the Thai Hotels Association for four straight terms. 

His job is demanding, he admitted. He likes to play golf, but there is no time anymore. With time constraints, he entertains himself by talking with businessmen and reading history books. And on rare occasions, he has time for chess - the game that helps him practice the strategy of moving at least five to six steps ahead.

And as if this career requires a lot of energy, he has no plan to push any of his three children into the hotel business.

"They have the right to pursue whatever careers they like," he said.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation