“I am happy with his performance so far,” says Mr Songkran of his son, who is Managing Director of the company’s Sri Panwa resort, “but life is 18 holes, he’s only played five so far.”
As both father and son relax in the Baba Nest, the top floor of Sri Panwa’s Baba Pool Club overlooking the Andaman Sea, they look relaxed and at ease in one another’s company.
This picturesque setting is, in effect, where Mr Vorasit spends the majority of his working life. Not a bad office, all considered.
Sri Panwa has been operating for five years, and is a regular entrant on lists of the world’s finest beach resorts. With its stunning views and stylish decoration it is easy to see why.
“It was the right time and there was a right gap in the market,” says Mr Vorasit.
“It was a good location, good building, and good staff – it was just perfect timing.
“There were around 15 other projects being worked on in Phuket around that time, [so] if it had been eight months before or after, it wouldn’t have been the same.”
Sri Panwa marked the first time Mr Vorasit was fully given the reins for one of the family’s projects, the success of which he attributes to his youth, hunger and joie de vivre.
“This was our first project in Phuket and the most exciting one for me too. I was at that right age – only 23 – and had just finished studying abroad and wanted to come home."
Upon his arrival back in Thailand, it was Mr Vorasit’s original intention to be based in
Bangkok and travel back and forth to Phuket to oversee the construction and management of Sri Panwa.
However, like many before him who have visited the island intending to stay just a short time, residency sneaked up on him.
Mr Vorasit has now lived here for eight years, a period during which he has overseen
the development of Sri Panwa – though he’s never stopped looking for ways to improve it.
“You know, we never really officially opened, we’re constantly expanding,” he says.
Meanwhile, his father spends most of his time in the Bangkok headquarters, which is
perhaps a good thing: “I can’t be in the same office as him,” jokes Mr Vorasit.
Jesting aside, Mr Vorasit says he would not be the man he is now without his father, to whom he owes a great deal of debt for teaching him about the family trade of property,
resorts, land and design.
“It’s in my blood man... some get it, some don’t. I’ve learned everything from my father.
“I have been travelling with him to sites since I was two years old, so have learned almost everything – behind the scenes things, engaging with people... but he’s still the boss.”
Then there’s that smile again. But again he’s being deadly serious.
“I used to work at a tennis school,” begins Mr Songkran, “and I realised success is not
all genetic. The competitive element is very important.
“In Thailand there’s not the same level or expectation of competition like there is in America.”
Sitting with the father and son team however, it is quite clear that they are not in competition. They are team mates, allies, and more importantly family.
For the Issaras, it has been this way for generations. Although Mr Songkran’s father was in construction, oil and gas, and not property development, each successive generation has learned from the previous, even if they were unaware of it at the time.
“My father was in a very different type of business, with a vastly different background. But because of his hard work, he gave me a better chance and I went to study in America,” explains Mr Songkran.
“When I came back from the United States, I thought I’d learned it all, but I realised when I started working with him that I hadn’t. From him I learned the fighting spirit.”
It is the same spirit that has been passed on to Mr Vorasit, the family connection that
binds in spite of their differences.
“With decision making I am very slowand take my time, but he is impulsive,” says
Mr Songkran of his son. “We have a different style of doing business, sure – but the results are the same.