The next generation

The next generation

The oldest child of the CK kingpin attempts to fold in CK Power with a public offering and several Lao dams.

Being an heiress of the Ch. Karnchang Plc (CK) fortune, Thailand's second-largest construction firm, brought Supamas Trivisvavet into the spotlight. As the oldest child of the second generation of the family to work in the business, the 39-year-old executive learned from her parents.

Ms Supamas overseeing some of the hydropower projects she manages in Laos. CKP expects to expand to 1,600MWby 2020.

The daughter of Plew Trivisvavet, chief executive and chairman of the board of CK, believes teamwork and mutual respect for colleagues is a must.

"Colleagues with extensive experience must be respected for CK to operate smoothly," said Ms Supamas when asked how she would treat senior co-workers.

"I will prove my ability," she said, adding that she has been learning from her parents for years.

She got a master's degree in public policy from Duke University and another in philosophy in public administration from the University of Southern California.

Ms Supamas first joined CK in 2006 as executive vice-president for the president's office, running property and construction businesses. Prior to that, she worked as assistant researcher at the World Bank and lecturer at the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida).

Her two brothers joined CK a few years later. In 2011, Ms Supamas was assigned managing director of CK Power Plc (CKP) when the power subsidiary was first set up.

Her parents have built up CK's fortune for more than 30 years.

"I decided to work full time at CK in 2010 as my children were old enough," recalled Ms Supamas.

"My dad is now 69 and he worked very hard in the early days of the company. That's why I decided to take this job."

The mother of four says taking care of her children is not a big problem with help from her husband.

"My dad didn't teach me about making public appearances, but I always noticed what my father did," she said.

Her first job at CKP is overseeing the development of the Nam Ngum 2 hydroelectric power plant in Laos, which started operation in 2011. She is also to look after the controversial Xayaburi hydroelectric project, currently being developed and slated for operation in 2019.

Her brother Thanawat, 35, is managing director of the Xayaburi plant, and Natthawut, 33, is an engineer at CK.

The next goal for Ms Supamas is to list CKP on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The company was approved for a public offering two weeks ago by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand.

CKP has a capacity of 268 megawatts, and is expected to expand to nearly 1,600 MW by 2020 with another six power plants under development in Thailand and Laos using both fossil fuels and renewable energies.

Ms Supamas said Thailand's electricity demand grows at 4% a year on average. Around 50,000 MW of capacity for the country will be built by 2030 in addition to 31,000 MW at present.

As Thais remain reluctant to accept new power plants in their communities, the country has to buy a significant amount of power from Laos and Myanmar.

Laos has the potential for 13,789 MW of hydropower. Of the total, 2,549 MW from 11 plants are in operation, while 4,893 MW from another 11 projects are under construction. The Laotian government is opening bids for 5,200 MW of power plants.

Myanmar also has high potential for developing hydropower plants, with several dozen projects with a potential capacity of 46,000 MW being planned, said the Asian Development Bank.

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