In order to promote creative ideas and cultural potential to drive the economy at both the national and international level, the Creative Economy Agency (CEA) established the Creative Excellence Awards (CE Awards) in 2023.
The award criteria was that creations must be a novel idea that can create and increase value, while also provide benefits and create a positive impact on the economy and society. The selection procedure involved Mandala AI, which extracts data from social listening using keywords. In the final stage, a panel with specialists in various fields discussed and voted, resulting in 28 winners.
Life spoke with two winners, Nattakan Denwanitchakorn and Settasit Settagaroon in the Creative Social Impact Awards category, which is an award for applying creative ideas to address or solve social issues.
Nattakan, the director of Wheel of Joy, won the CE Awards - Creative Social Impact Awards in the Creative for Elderly Award category for Joy Ride. Joy Ride is a pickup service for taking the elderly to hospital. The service takes care of elderly customers as if they were their own relatives. Nattakan describes Joy Ride like renting a companion and caretaker for the elderly.
Nattakan Denwanitchakorn accompanies elderly people to various activities.
Settasit won the CE Awards - Creative Social Impact Awards in the Creative Well-Being Award category for his application Khee, which pins toilet locations in Thailand.
Both Nattakan and Settasit were surprised their projects won.
"The award is encouraging. It made me believe that what I did was right. I will recognise my own self-worth and improve Joy Ride to be worthy of the award," said Nattakan.
"I am thrilled to receive the CE Award. I want to express my gratitude to CEA for recognising the potential of my app. The CE Awards motivates creators to develop more projects for the future," said Settasit.
Nattakan Denwanitchakorn, left, the founder of Joy Ride.
Joy Ride
Nattakan Denwanitchakorn
When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Thailand, Nattakan, a marketing executive, felt pressured to boost sales in a difficult situation. In 2021, she experienced a panic attack and vomited before attending a meeting. After crying non-stop on a Sunday, she decided to see a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with depression. As she wiped away her tears and walked to pick up her medication, Nattakan noticed that the hospital was full of elderly people.
"I saw an elderly lady with a limp pushing a wheelchair for her elderly husband. Seeing all the elderly people in the hospital inspired me to create Joy Ride. It was an idea to heal myself. I believed if I took care of the elderly and made them happy, I would be happy as well," she said.
As an alumna of Thammasat University, Nattakan posted her business idea on a TU Facebook group. She received a lot of support, which encouraged her to quit her job.
Joy Ride is a pickup service which aims to serve elderly people whose relatives are not available to take them to a hospital. The service fee costs 500 baht per hour and there is a promotion for every three hours (a customer gets one hour free). Nattakan came up with the details of the service from scratch, but everything was based on human touch.
"I had depression because I did not meet people during the pandemic. So Joy Ride focuses on services with a human touch. I used to work with a tour company and also a hotel. Those experiences taught me about customer service and how to provide proactive solutions," she said.
"Before picking up an elderly person, a Joy Ride employee must call the elder and introduce themselves. The staff needs to be informed about the elder's medication history and keep it confidential. Many elderly people experience loneliness because their friends have passed away and they often depend on their children to go out. Joy Ride emphasises the importance of listening to the elderly and showing empathy," Nattakan added.
Nattakan established the company, Wheel of Joy, with Joy Ride as one of its departments. Wheel of Joy also provides a service called Joy Go Round which accompanies elderly people on various activities such as visiting a temple, attending a wedding ceremony, travelling or simply providing companionship at home.
In addition to the CE Award, Joy Ride also won second runner-up in the product and service design category at the National Innovation Awards 2023. Joy Ride has grown from a one-woman operation to a team of 12 members. With her generous spirit, Nattakan does not mind sharing the general protocol of Joy Ride service.
Nattakan with a happy Joy Ride client.
"Fifty pages of the total 80-page Joy Ride handbook cover the required general protocol. I intend to provide knowledge to people free of charge by creating an online academy, which will be available through joyridethailand.com next year," she said.
"There are 14 million elderly people in Thailand. Some people may not want to work with Joy Ride directly. They can apply this knowledge to provide services in their communities. I am not afraid of competitors because I will keep improving Joy Ride. Joy Ride may seem easy to replicate, but it is not. Joy Ride is all about trust and that is not easy to establish," said Nattakan.
Settasit Settagaroon, left, creator of Khee. (Photo: Creative Economy Agency)
Khee
Settasit Settagaroon
Settasit and his friend found it difficult to locate a restroom when they needed one. While searching for one, his friend mentioned that it would be great if there was an app which pinned the location of toilets. Settasit took the comment seriously when he later found himself in need of a restroom. During a break from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Settasit, who studies at the Department of Transdisciplinary Science and Engineering, spent his holiday creating the phone app Khee.
Khee was launched in April 2023 and Settasit posted about the inspiration on his Facebook account. At the end of the post, he wrote: "If someone tells me where the nearest restroom is without me having to ask, it doesn't matter who they are, they are a hero."
The app quickly rose to top the Apple App Store and Google Play Store charts, with 50,000 downloads on App Store and 10,000 on Google Play. Due to high demand, some users found the app slow and among the 6,400 locations in Thailand, some locations were fake or not updated.
Settasit Settagaroon created App Khee to pin toilet locations. (Photo: Settasit Settagaroon)
"I was surprised with the feedback. I launched the app and went to sleep. When I woke up, a user called me via Messenger to inform me that the app was not working. The current version of the app is 11 which was optimised for faster performance. It allows users to be a 'guest' without requiring login. I also want to solve the issue of fake locations, but I have to wait for reports from users," Settasit explained.
Settasit encountered another issue when he was charged for using the Google Cloud database. The problem was later resolved when the app included advertisements. The 20-year-old developer initially created the app for fun and aimed to tell just his friend who had wondered about it. So when there were many issues following the launch of Khee, Settasit felt burdened and almost gave up.
"I wanted to quit and stop providing services. However, I did not give up because some users called me a hero, so I have to keep going as long as I can. In the future, I will create an app for people who like to spend time at home, so they can have fun without going out," said Settasit.
Khee shows toilet locations around Chatuchak. (Photo: Settasit Settagaroon)
Khee shows toilet locations around Chatuchak. (Photo: Settasit Settagaroon)
