Outsourcing firms continue to serve customers despite being in protest site
Few businesses can claim to be directly benefiting from the current political turmoil, but given that General Outsourcing (GO) headquarters sit in the heart of the area housing the massive red shirt anti-government protest, the firm's executives are surprisingly upbeat.
Sauwaros Boonbanchachoke, chief executive officer of GO, said the company expects its client base to double to 100,000 by the end of this year.
"Through the ISO certification that we achieved last year, and our response to the current situation [the red shirts' occupation of the Rajprasong shopping district], we have proven ourselves in the eyes of our customers," she said.
Sauwaros said GO, which provides payroll and human-resource administrative outsourcing services to more than 150 companies employing upwards of 55,000 staff, had continued to serve customers smoothly, despite its proximity to the protest area. Located in SG Tower on Rajdamri Road, GO's head office is only 500 metres from the protest zone proper.
The company, she said, had "activated" a back-up site on Sukhumvit Soi 103, which is ready to house the firm's headquarters operations immediately, should the need arise.
Suranarong Wongsankakorn, GO's chief marketing officer, said the chaos created by the political crisis had actually made it easier for the firm to convince prospective customers of the need for high-quality outsourcing services.
In the past, "We tried citing 9/11 [the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US], as well as the disruptions caused by the yellow shirts [who seized Suvarnabhummi Airport in 2008], but these arguments weren't totally persuasive [to customers]. Now, however, they're quite clear [on the benefits of having a reliable backup service]," Suranarong said.
Sauwaros said consumers received affirmation of the high quality of GO's outsourcing services last year, when it became the first Thai company to obtain the ISO 27001 Information Security Management Standard (ISMS). The ISMS system involves protection of confidentiality, access control and backup and readiness of information retrieval.
The red-shirt protesters began their massive rally on March 14, soon after the court ordered seizure of Bt1.4 billion in assets from ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra's family. They moved the protest to the Rajprasong shopping area on April 3 after deadly clashes with the military at the previous site on Rajdamnoen Avenue.
Sauwaros said payroll and HR outsourcing were still relatively new services in Thailand, but added that she had become familiar with the concepts at her previous employer, Arthur Andersen, a former "Big 5" accounting firm.
Suranarong said that when GO was set up five years ago, it had few local customers, but Thai firms had since come to account for half of its clientele. GO was co-founded by Narongchai Akrasanee, a former commerce minister, and Chinaves Sarasas, a leading businessman, who is the major shareholder.
Sauwaros said GO did not fear foreign competitors because, thanks to her 20 years of experience in the field, she was confident she could stay abreast of Thailand's rules and regulations concerning taxation, employee welfare and related areas, which differ from those of other countries and are constantly being updated.
GO's clients range from tiny firms with three employees to large corporations employing tens of thousands of staff. Among its major clients are Government Savings Bank, Kimberly-Clark, DHL, major commercial banks and a top global IT company. The firm has enjoyed annual growth exceeding 20 per cent since it was established in 2005, she said.