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Published on July 31, 2007

Natasak Rodjanapiches is an executive in Thailand's information technology (IT) industry and, as such, he is one of a growing number of Thais who have built a career around computers. However, he is one of just a few who can say he has made a great success of his business.

Natasak is managing director for the Asean region in the Asia Pacific Division of US software and programming giant Oracle Corporation. He is the first Thai to fill the role, and has worked for Oracle for nine years.

Prior to entering the IT industry in Thailand, he worked for Bell Canada in 1987, after graduating in computer science from McGill University and gathering a master's degree in management information systems from the University of Waterloo, both of them Canadian schools.

Returning to Thailand, he worked first for Price Waterhouse. Then he became Tandem Computer International's regional director for operations in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, before joining Oracle in 1997.

In those days, deciding which company to join was not an easy matter. He decided to go with Oracle because of the company's support for open standards.

"I believed in an open standard platform in the IT business," he says. "I was also lucky to have gained experience in various business fields. I was able to apply that experience at Oracle and have learned that stakeholders, partners, team work and good staff are very important for business success."

Natasak is responsible for leading country management teams in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. As well, he oversees Oracle's South Asia Growth Economies (SAGE) region, covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Back at home, he is also a governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand.

In the Asean countries alone, Natasak's territory has a population of about 500 million, and he sees high potential and a huge market, even when the various countries have different cultures and languages.

He says business development in the region requires great respect for the different cultures and the different ways of doing business. Moreover, the adoption of technology needs great care so that it supports these cultural differences.

"We must listen with our hearts, to learn of people's ideas, and what they are thinking and feeling. There may be things they don't want to discuss, so it is necessary to listen with our hearts," Natasak says.

The important thing, he says, is to lessen the distances between countries so they can tune in and link ideas on how to run businesses smoothly and achieve the same goals.

He believes Vietnam has the highest potential of all markets in his region, although he also has an eye on Pakistan. This is because Pakistan's government plans to modernise the country, whereas Vietnam is opening up to international investment. "It would benefit Oracle's business to grasp these markets," he says.

Within Thailand, as Oracle's managing director, Natasak oversees long-term business development and customer care as well as government and community relations. One successful aspect of his work in Thailand is Oracle's social contribution programme, including the think.com project and Oracle's Education Initiatives. He plans to expand these activities to every country in the region.

"These projects will offer more chances for children in each country to learn, to access the Internet and to improve their IT skills," he says. "With IT facilities provided, we hope that children will be able to develop new things, learn more and get in touch with new digital behaviour, while improving their creativity as well as their imagination."

Partnerships are crucial to Natasak's strategic plans for his region. He says he will create partnerships and work more with local companies to develop products. At the same time he will help them to expand best-practice operations that have already succeeded in one country, to other countries.

"I am confident that with strong partnerships and support from Oracle, we can help them bring their products to market, not only in their own countries but in other countries as well," he says.

As well as being a tireless working man, Natasak is also a family man. He has two sons, and on long weekends Natasak and his family go abroad or up country, looking for outdoor activities such as riding bicycles or jogging. Every weekend, they will watch a movie and go bowling.

"I think that one's working life is very important," he says, "but I like to achieve a balance between work and my family, since both are very important for my life."

Jirapan Boonnoon

The Nation