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Published on September 17, 2007

Speaking on television, he extended condolences to the victims and their families and promised to take care of them. It was quite rare for Udom to come out in public. For throughout most of his business life, he has preferred to shun publicity.

Following the Thai government's implementation of an "open sky" policy, Udom began to set up his Orient Thai Airlines, a budget airline that sought to carve out a niche market.

Orient Thai Airlines relies on Bangkok as a hub, operating charter and scheduled services in Southeast Asia. Its main base is Don Mueang International Airport.

Udom is known to be close to military people both in Thailand and Cambodia, which helped his airline to develop. He also has a regional outlook.

Yet his involvement in the airline industry had a rocky start. The airline was formerly known as Cambodian International Airlines. Udom had close ties with Cambodian authorities. With business problems, Orient Thai ceased scheduled operations on January 9, 1998. But it continued to operate charter services on behalf of Kampuchea Airlines, and scheduled operations have since been restarted. It is now wholly owned by private Thai shareholders and had 820 employees, as of March.

Orient Thai also has a 49-per-cent stake in Kampuchea Airlines.

Three years ago, Udom came up with the idea of a budget airline based in Bangkok. He eventually set up the wholly owned One-Two-Go Airlines, as low-price carriers were much in vogue.

As of this month, the One-Two-Go fleet consists of three Boeing 747-100s, one Boeing 747-200, three Boeing 747-300s, six McDonnell-Douglas MD-82s and one McDonnell-Douglas MD-83.

Udom went into the airline business because he foresaw bright opportunities in commercial aviation.

One-Two-Go was the first local low-cost airline and

started flights from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in 2003.

The airline operated as a "no frills" carrier ahead of Thai AirAsia. However, it has not been as successful as Thai AirAsia.

Orient Thai was caught in a difficult situation under the Thaksin government. After complaining for years about lack of access at Thai airports for his budget carriers by governments that wanted to protect Thai Airways' business, Udom suddenly faced a "cashed up rival" that also got amazing access - AirAsia.

But Udom managed to do well via charter flights and established business contacts with other international airlines. Orient Thai Airlines was Asia's first international charter operator. Along with its subsidiary Kampuchea Air-lines, it provided services to other airlines including Finnair, Lufthansa, LTU and Merpati.

Udom's niche market was business with the United Nations. Orient Thai Airlines transported refugees around the world for the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM), including returning people to Kosovo from Australia and helping Timorese return to East Timor in 1999 after it won independence from Indonesia.

Orient Thai became a designated UN carrier, transporting troops for peacekeeping operations worldwide.

Orient Thai aircraft also fly Muslim Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for various clients, including Air India and the Saudi royal family. At the peak of its charter work, Orient Thai Airlines' subsidiary operated eight Boeing 747s and seven McDonnell-Douglas MD-80s aircraft.

Recently, One-Two-Go was set up as a separate entity to Orient Thai - so the latter may escape any serious repercussions yesterday's crash. As of May, Orient Thai operated scheduled flights to China, Hong Kong and South Korea.

The One-Two-Go plane that crashed at Phuket yesterday in heavy rain after flying from Bangkok on a budget flight was believed to be a McDonnell-Douglas MD-80.

One-Two-Go operates from both airports in Bangkok, Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi, to major centres in the North and South. It is too early to say how Udom might want to restructure One-To-Go after the Phuket tragedy. To restore its name, the airline will need to disclose all facts behind the crash and assure further safety measures.