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Published on January 16, 2008

Pongchai Amatanont began in a small way, by selling parts for electronic equipment. But with determination and a Thai research-and-development (R&D) team, he has driven his telecom and electronics-equipment manufacturer - Forth Corp - to the top of a fiercely competitive industry.

Late last year, Forth took the limelight by winning a contract to install 170,000 broadband-Internet network ports around the country for TOT in a deal worth Bt860 million.

"It's our biggest deal. We'll realise the revenue this year," says Pongchai, 44, the company's founder and managing director.

Pongchai made big money after graduating with an engineering degree from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Lat Krabang, by developing and selling Thai-language computer programmes.

With plenty of self-confidence, he told his parents he intended to start his own business, but the rest of his family were office workers and did not support the idea.

"I proceeded as planned, because I saw huge opportunities in electronic-component sales. I was confident I could make money, because of the huge market opportunities, as well as my business experience and knowledge," he recalls.

In 1988, Pongchai found a building in Bangkok's Baan Mor area - famous for its cheap electronics market - where he wanted to locate his office. However, the owner of the building refused to rent it to him. He promptly offered the building owner a partnership in his business, and the deal was done.

The two partners set up a company called Electronics Source, on capital of Bt1 million, to distribute imported electronic components. Pongchai contributed Bt750,000 towards the registered capital, from money he had saved after leaving university.

"The company had one employee, and that was me," Pongchai says. "On the first day of business, I made sales revenue of Bt30 for a net profit of Bt5."

At first, Pongchai was worried about low sales, but he never gave up, and he continued to believe he was on the right track. After six months, his sales began to climb gradually, despite tough competition. He says his secret was using his engineering knowledge to build up his customer base.

"I could give them good advice, such as how to use the devices or connect them with other devices. That was my competitive edge," he says.

One year after establishing Electronics Source, Pongchai set up Genius Communications Systems, which was later renamed Forth. Electronics Source, which records annual revenue of about Bt600 million, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Forth. Pongchai owns 49 per cent of Forth, while his partner in Electronics Source also holds a stake.

"Forth is a good name. It suggests a sense of moving forward," he says.

At first, Forth was set up to produce private automatic branch-telephone exchanges. Because it was a Thai company competing with foreign brands, it had to work hard to build up recognition of its locally assembled products. It started by doing business with small firms and slowly gained ground. Three years ago, it began producing switching centres, and built up its reputation by offering affordable products to remote villages. Now, recognising Forth's expertise in the area, TOT has turned to the company to outsource the installation of switching centres in rural villages.

Pongchai has not wasted his time on enjoying the luxuries of success, but rather moved quickly to expand Forth's business opportunities by manufacturing both digital loop carriers - equipment for telephone-number expansion - and broadband-network equipment. TOT is its main customer for both products.

In 2005 and 2006, Forth supplied 200,000 broadband-network equipment ports to TOT, a precursor to last year's big deal.

"In the next stage, we'll expand our business opportunities by attracting contracts from CAT Telecom and private telecom operators. We're fully confident our product quality and brand recognition are second to none," Pongchai says.

Forth has also diversified its business by setting up Genius Traffic Systems to manufacture light-emitting diode (LED) traffic-light systems. Its main customer is the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

"It began when I noticed that traffic lights in Thailand used only a single bulb. If it failed, the whole light went off, which was dangerous for drivers. I found out Bangkok was changing 5,000 traffic-light bulbs a month. So two years ago, I assigned my R&D team to produce LED traffic lights that were also suitable for a rainy country like Thailand," he says.

Again, because it was a Thai company, Genius's brainchild took time to gain recognition. Initially, the BMA got the company to install its products in remote parts of Bangkok.

However, after securing the market, the company focused on researching and developing area traffic-control systems, traffic-control displays and signal controllers. These are now being used in many provinces.

Currently, Forth has 1,000 employees and 100 researchers, all of them Thai, and it expects to record revenue of Bt4 billion from last year's operations. Of this, 80 per cent has come from the local market and the rest from export markets like the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

"R&D is the key to our success," Pongchai says. "Most of my researchers are bachelor-of-engineering graduates. I recruit only the cream of the crop, and they want to work with me, because foreign companies have no need for local researchers. Their R&D is done abroad."

Looking to the future, Pongchai says fibre-to-the-home technology will soon be the hottest trend in Thailand, and he has assigned his R&D team to focus on it.

Forth has also produced what Pongchai claims is the first locally made Voice over Internet Protocol fixed-line telephone, which will hit the market soon.

Despite his high-ranking position, Pongchai still enjoys hard work, from contacting customers to selling products himself. Forth employees are used to seeing him talking to customers and introducing the company's products in the front office.

His life also became busier when Forth was listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 2005. When asked why he listed Forth, he says with a laugh: "Don't ask me! I still don't understand it, even now. One thing I do know is that my life became busier after Forth's listing."

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation