Communication is key | Bangkok Post: auto

INTERVIEW

Patipol Tadakorn realised at a young age that his academic forte was not going to be dictated by the popular practice of memorisation employed by most of his classroom peers across the nation.

Hence, the subject of chemistry found him. Or perhaps it was the other way around. Patipol, Corporate Communications Department manager for IRPC (Integrated Refinery Petrochemical Complex) said, "My university entrance exam score was good enough to matriculate in the Chemistry Department of Chulalongkorn University. Chemistry is a subject that cannot be mastered by memorisation _ you have to understand the subject matter in its entirety."

After studying chemistry for his undergraduate degree, he later earned a master's degree in Petrochemical in the Faculty of Science at Chulalongkorn University before joining the then TPI (Thai Petrochemical Industry) as a sales engineer, which is now called IRPC Plc; after the baht-flotation and financial crisis in 1997, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) took over TPI's management from company founder Prachai Leophairatana and renamed it IRPC.