Sumalee Sansirikul, 52, was in a lucrative position at a construction crane company until early this year, when she came to the realisation that she was bored and stressed.
She had been with the company for nearly 30 years, sometimes working late nights to complete projects.
To escape the pressure and ennui, Ms Sumalee gave up her job in February, and a monthly salary of 150,000 baht along with it.
It was during this transitional period that an innovative business idea came to her, a complete departure from her former field, prompting her to launch her own skincare company.
Inspiration came from research done by Kasetsart University on Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata), once considered one of the world's worst tropical weeds due to its fast-growing nature (up to 20 millimetres in a day) and prolific seed dispersion. It spreads and invades natural environments, rapidly destroying local crops and native vegetation.
The university's research found that Siam weed has medicinal qualities. It has antifungal and antibacterial properties. The juice extracted from the leaves can be used to heal acne and minor skin inflammations.
The raw herbal powder is a main ingredient for making types of medication, including acne gel applied on the skin and edible herbal pill. THANARAK KHUNTON
During research, the juice was used to form a topical gel for acne treatment, and was successfully tested on humans.
Ms Sumalee saw the potential commercial value of the gel, and bought the patent for the research to found her own company, Herbal Republic Co. She paid 350,000 baht for the nine-year leasing fee of KU's patent, and signed a commercial contract to pay a commission fee of 6% of total sales of the product
"The quality of the acne gel made of Siam weed is different from other general acne gels. The Siam weed skin gel can help prevent lesions on the skin. Moreover, it is a completely organic product, free of synthetic chemicals," says Ms Sumalee.
Herbal Republic Co's acne gel is due to launch in December.
The gel also helps soothe inflamed acne and burns.
"The first Siam weed acne gel product is due to be officially launched in December," she says.
Ms Sumalee is in the process of designing the packaging and working on a marketing campaign prior to the launch of the products. She already has a production contract with a local gel producer.
She believes the acne gel market has ample room to grow. Currently, the annual market growth rate is at around 8%, from a couple hundred million baht in 2011 to more than 1 billion baht in 2013.
Having studied a survey on user satisfaction with acne gel products, she learned that there are more people dissatisfied than satisfied with the products now available in the market. This implies that there are great opportunities for her products, she says.
The acne gel she has formulated will be retailed at around 300 baht per 10ml tube, a price that she believes is affordable.
Although she is 52 years old, Ms Sumalee feels it is not too late to start her own business.
"My new venture will benefit from my age in terms of experience and access to funds," she notes.
Most of the funds for the startup came from her own savings of 2 million baht, and she has only one colleague in her company, her sister.
"Luckily, KU has its own business incubation unit, which will help foster the startup business and help direct the research towards commercialisation," she says.
Ms Sumalee's is one of 100,000 new startups that the government is trying to promote and support as key engines to help create new innovation with added value, to boost the Thai economy.
Chongrak Wachrinrat, the acting president of KU, said Herb Republic Co's formation is one of the university's attempts to commercialise laboratory research through real world application.
He says up to 90% of patents from new research in Thailand are normally kept exclusive to universities, with no plans to commercialise and create value from them.
Each year, KU conducts 40 research projects on food, agriculture, medicine and cosmetics based on local resources.
With the government's policy to support new innovative products, some 50% of research will end up being commercialised.
The Thai economy is expected to be driven by innovative technology-intensive products rather than by commodity-grade products, Mr Chongrak says.
