Tough times good for security firms

SERVICES

Recent warnings by police to banks, gold shops, convenience stores and scrap-metal dealers about the danger of robberies during the New Year holidays reflect how hard the country's economy has become.

But even in the toughest times, there is always room for certain businesses to blossom. And private security service definitely ranks high among them.

''As the sluggish economy is increasingly taking a toll on most businesses and leading to more unemployment, we see a desperate need for private security services,'' said Vallop Kingchansilp, the president and CEO of Guts Group, which employs more than 15,000 security professionals, highly trained staff, security officers and fire-emergency specialists.

With fully paid registered capital of 150 million baht and turnover of more that one billion baht per year, the group provides services both for 2,600 clients in both the public and private sectors.

The company's customers include international organisations, leading private companies, government agencies and state enterprises such as the United Nations, Unesco, the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.

Apart from residential and office protection, Guts Group also offers VIP protection for valuables at events, exhibitions and trade fairs, as well as security training and equipment.

Demand for private security services picked up notably after the bombings in Bangkok on Dec 31, 2006 and is also high in the three restive southernmost provinces.

According to Mr Vallop, also the president of the Asian Professional Security Association, the private security services industry remains on course to grow by more than 10-15% in 2009.

The overall value of the industry, including security software, is estimated at about 30 billion baht.

Mr Vallop said that despite overwhelming demand, the security-service business remains highly competitive due to a large number of operators.

Currently, there are 2,000 to 3,000 operators, most of which are small providers with around 100 to 200 employees.The industry now employs about 400,000 workers at monthly wages ranging from 9,000 to 10,000 baht, up from 4,000 to 5,000 baht seven years ago.

''The industry is unlikely to decline even in the longer term,'' said Mr Vallop. ''But the industry's existing challenge is the quality of the security guards themselves.''

However, he acknowledges that Thai people still consider being a security guard an ''inferior'' profession. In addition, there is high turnover as many guards work part-time on low wages.

Most Thais with primary schooling prefer to work for factories, small and medium-sized enterprises and other businesses. As well, many of the existing employees view their current jobs as a stop-gap while waiting for something better to come along.

The labour shortage has prompted certain small operators to employ low-wage foreign migrants, a practice some describe as dangerous to security.

The government should therefore accelerate the drafting of a private security service act to regulate the quality of operators, their personnel, and employment contracts to meet international standards, he added.