The head of Grab Thailand, Tarin Thaniyavarn, has announced he is leaving the job to pursue his own dream after more than two years with the fast-growing on-demand phone app.
“After having led and given my life to transforming Grab Thailand for over two years, I have decided to pursue my own dream and to chart my own course, the next chapter in life,” Mr Tarin wrote on his Facebook Page.
There was no confirmation from the company of his resignation.
Mr Tarin expressed gratitude to people who have worked with him over the past two plus years.
He took over leadership role of Grab Thailand on April 1, 2018.
The company’s food delivery service, GrabFood, has grown remarkably since the coronavirus pandemic hit Thailand.
Grab said last month merchant applications tripled to over 2,000 daily and it planned to recruit more than 64,000 delivery-partners to meet increasing demand for food, groceries and package deliveries.
According to Kasikorn Research Center (K-Research), online food delivery through apps this year is projected to grow 17% from 33-35 billion baht in 2019, whipped up by the outbreak.
Grab last month reduced the commission collected from food merchants from 35% to 30% to accommodate rising demand for food deliveries amid the pandemic.
It followed criticism online of the steep commissions collected by food delivery apps, particularly during such a difficult time.
In early March, Grab added an additional 20 baht charge for orders under 70 baht. This remains unchanged.
Mr Tarin said last month that food ordering apps remain unprofitable despite a 30% commission collected from merchants, saying Apps still need to subsidise delivery costs for drivers to attract customers.
According to him, Grab makes a profit from its car-sharing service, but food delivery is the fast-growing mode.
In 2018, Grab reported a loss of more than 700 million baht, Mr Tarin said. The loss doubled last year as the company expanded the GrabFood business.
Before taking the top job at Grab Thailand, Mr Tarin was executive vice president for group strategy and government relations at e-marketplace giant Lazada.
Prior to Lazada, he was a project leader at the Boston Consulting Group.