Somhatai "Nid" Panichewa is a sister of Vikrom and Viboon Kromadit, two high-ranking executives of Amata Corporation Plc, the industrial developer.
Mr Vikrom is the big brother of the Kromadit family, of Chinese Hakka origin. Mrs Somhatai, 53, is the ninth of 10 siblings.
Their parents had the Chinese last name Koo, but their father had an additional 21 children from different mothers.
Mrs Somhatai's family settled in Kanchanaburi province and owned an animal feed factory in Tha Ruea subdistrict, Tha Maka district on 1,000 rai of land.
"But we decided to quit our family business, and my eldest brother established Amata to operate and develop industrial estates in Thailand," she says.
Mrs Somhatai has been appointed by Mr Vikrom to take charge of Amata's operations in Vietnam. She is now chief executive of Amata VN Plc.
Amata Corporation has a 73% stake in Amata VN. Both companies are listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Getting her sea legs
After graduating as a business education major from Chulalongkorn University, Mrs Somhatai started her career at Seagate Technology Thailand in sales.
Two years later, she joined Bangpakong Industrial Park 2 Co as a marketing manager.
Mr Vikrom formed a joint venture with politician Suwat Liptaphanlop and Mall Group chairwoman Supaluck Umpujh to develop and operate Bang Pakong Industrial Park in March 1989. The venture's company name was changed to Amata Corporation in February 1998.
"I decided to join my eldest brother's company, then I was reshuffled to other businesses, AMT Marketing & Consultant Co in 1994 and Koll-Amata Co in 1996," Mrs Somhatai says.
From 1998 to 2007, Mrs Somhatai stepped aside from her siblings' business to become a full-time housewife and mother.
"I started a small business selling nutritious products such as macadamia nuts," she says. "It was fun to start as a snack trader, but I could only run the business for a couple of years, then I had to give up due to a supply shortage."
Widespread drought hit the plantation area for macadamia nuts in the northern region, where farmers could not grow trees.
"Then I found that I might not be good at selling processed snacks and farm products because they depended on crop periods and natural disasters, so it was too difficult to control the enterprise," Mrs Somhatai says.
It was then that she started to practise golf and fell in love with the game: "I was free when my kids went to school, and golfing could help me to kill time."
She had dreams of turning pro with her skills qualification at the US Golf Association, before realising that her heart wasn't in it.
"It was almost my turning point," she says. "If I chose to be a professional golfer, I would have to participate in two large matches per year because the association did not allow professional golfers to compete with non-professional golfers.
"Moreover, most golf tournaments were held in overseas countries, so I would have had to travel a lot."
Mrs Somhatai figured she would not enjoy the life of a professional golfer.
"Playing golf is just for my free time, and I will play it any time that I want," she says. "For me, golf can help with concentration. Each golfer can create a strategy for winning a game."
Mrs Somhatai says she can learn people's behaviour, make friends and forge relationships on the links.
"We can get to know each other through playing golf," she says.
By now, Mrs Somhatai has played for 20 years. She says some business negotiations can be concluded on the golf course.
"There are 14 golf clubs for the game, and golfers have to decide which club is suitable for different types of holes," Mrs Somhatai says. "This situation is similar to a method of strategic planning in the world of business."
New land, new position
Mrs Somhatai was back at Amata's empire again in 2008 as chief business officer.
She was appointed by Mr Vikrom to take charge of the first foreign company, Amata VN, in August 2012 when the group restructured.
"An objective of Amata VN is to perform as the holding company for Vietnam's industrial estates," Mrs Somhatai says. "My elder brother made a TV documentary of travel in Vietnam for exploring that country's business opportunities, and he brought me in to help with the new overseas operation."
Amata entered Vietnam in 1994 by forming Amata Vietnam Joint Stock Co.
At present, Amata VN is developing three industrial estates in Vietnam: Amata City Bien Hoa, Amata City Long Thanh and Amata City Halong.
Bien Hoa and Long Thanh are in the south of Vietnam, while Ha Long is in the northern region.
The company was the first foreign industrial developer in Vietnam.
"Now Amata VN is teaming up with Japanese and Singaporean companies to conduct a feasibility study for the fourth industrial location in Quang Tri province, in central Vietnam, on 700 rai," Mrs Somhatai says. "The Vietnam government is calling for overseas companies to expand and invest, especially in Quang Tri, the poorest province in the country. The government expects to bring new investment flow into the central region to create jobs."
According to Mrs Somhatai, the province can connect the northern and southern regions in Vietnam.
She underscores that Vietnam is the fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asia with annual GDP growth of 6-8%. The country is developing human resources, infrastructure, industrial operations and business regulations.
"Vietnam is an attractive country in terms of foreign direct investment, as government incentives include free leases for land with the investor's commitment to develop industry and the business sector," she says. "The country has a larger population than Thailand with increasing purchasing power."
In 2019, Amata VN expects to sell 120-125 rai to companies from Japan, Taiwan and China. This year's revenue is forecast to grow by 10% from 1.17 billion baht in 2018 from three business types: real estate sales, utility services and rental fees.
At present, the company has a permit to develop 20,000 rai in three industrial estates and has an additional 16,000 rai awaiting a licence.