Editorial | Niramarn Laisathit: Sustainability: Think Globally, Act Locally

Let me begin by wishing you a very Happy Thai New Year, Suksan Wan Songkran! And I hope the water festival will be a refreshing reprieve from the heat we have been enduring during this summer season.

On 1 March 2024, Elite+ celebrated our 10th anniversary with a gala dinner. In line with our commitment to promoting sustainability, our keynote speaker, Ms Niramarn Laisathit, a Bangkok Bank director and senior vice president, spoke about “Sustainability: Think Globally, Act Locally”. The issue’s cover story is an adaptation from her speech.

We also feel quite fortunate to be able to introduce and review the new autobiography, The Life’s Destiny, by Dr Sumet Tantivejkul, who served at the Office of Royal Development Projects and continues as the secretary-general of the Chaipattana (Victory in Development) Foundation, and has completed over 4,700 Royal development projects during his career.

In our Sustainable Development column, we discuss the projects the Meliá International Hotels in Thailand and neighbouring countries have been implementing to help preserve and improve their surrounding environments.

Next, Elite+ was very fortunate to interview Ms Adibah Omar, the CEO of Kota Buku, a company which was initiated to help the Malaysian Ministry of education to promote reading and publishing, as she attended the Bangkok International Book Fair 2024 and Bangkok Rights Fair 2024 recently held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. During our conversation, we were able to learn what Kota Buku is doing to promote Rights trading in Malaysia and throughout the region as she and her organisation prepare for the 2nd Asian Rights Fair and Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair 2024.

We are also pleased to introduce HE Pedro Zwahlen, Switzerland’s ambassador to Thailand who talks about the close bilateral relations between his country and Thailand that span over 90 years, and Madame Orkhon Ikamamsuren, the spouse of Mongolia’s ambassador to Thailand, who shares her insight in education for children of special needs.

For travel and adventure, we begin with an authentic Vietnamese meal at Baan Dusit Thani’s Thien Duong set in a paradisal enclave in the heart of Bangkok. We take you further afield to Si Satchanalai in northern Thailand and then Ottawa, Canada’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, Rideau Canal, before ending this is issue with a photo essay presenting “The Legends Of Rügen”, a German island in the Baltic Sea.

In this issue, we also have a special featured short story by the acclaimed Thai national artist, Seksan Prasertkul, “From Rock to Dirt”, in which he personifies elements of the earth and their relationship. I do hope you enjoy this issue as much as I have putting it together.

Arthorn Techatada
Executive Editor