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Published on August 10, 2007

"I was surprised when I was named managing director," says the LPN Development Group's Opas Sripayak. And far from being an expression of false modesty, it is the truth; Opas was pleasantly surprised.

He had many reasons for feeling so. He was not a major shareholder, nor was his father on the board of the leading property-development firm. He simply considered himself an employee who managed to reach the top of the ladder.

Opas, 45, began his professional career in 1984 as an architect after graduating with a bachelor's degree in architecture from Silpakorn University. He joined LPN Development in 1995.

"My first position at LPN was vice manager for research and development, covering location surveys and studying which kinds of products, such as town houses, condominiums or office buildings, matched both the location and customer demand," he says.

However, two years after joining LPN, the 1997 financial crisis struck, and like many others, LPN faced a debt burden. Its staff of 250 had to be cut to only 100, and Opas was one of those chosen to stay.

"I felt good about it at first, but then I learned how hard it was going to be. I had to do the work of others who had been laid off," Opas recalls.

From research and development, Opas was shifted to the front office and had to cope with construction, sales, legal processes, transferring condominium projects to customers and after-sales service.

He says in the years from 1997-2002, LPN had only two condominium projects: Sipraya River View and PST City Home. His job was selling both projects and delivering units to customers on time. The company's management team, led by founder and major shareholder Tikhamporn Plengsrisuk, worked hard to ensure the recovery of the company's business.

"At that time, I was only a staff member, but I learned from the management team how to manage a business in such a way as to recover from a crisis and how to maintain customers' trust. That is the key for business survival after such a crisis," he says.

During the years of the crisis, most property firms were unable to build houses for timely delivery to customers. Some left work unfinished, and many home-buyers lost both their money and their hope for new homes.

LPN's management team strove to construct two condominium projects and delivered them to customers on time. As a result, customers believed in the company's projects and trusted LPN after the crisis.

It took LPN six years to restructure its debts and return to developing new property projects. In the process, it learned to change its business focus from a variety of property projects, including town houses, condominiums and office buildings, to focus solely on condominiums.

"When we succeeded in transferring our two condominium projects to our customers, our customers also had the quality to apply for mortgage loans from the banks during hard times. The commercial banks were strict about approving loans and interest rates were up to nearly 20 per cent in the years from 1997 to 2000. That meant that when we researched our customers, to find out who they were and to build new condominium projects to meet with their demands, our projects were guaranteed success in the market," he says.

LPN's management team saw strong demand for condominiums to cater for the middle-income market. From 2002-05, LPN recovered strongly. It generated revenues of Bt1.94 billion in 2003 and Bt3.5 billion in 2005 for net profits of Bt464 million and Bt588 million, respectively.

When the business had recovered, Tikhamporn, then managing director, and the rest of LPN's management team, felt they should be concerned more with business policy. They needed a new managing director to care for day-to-day operations.

Opas thought the new managing director would be a professional manager from outside the company.

However, after trying unsuccessfully for a year to select a new managing director, Tikhamporn told Opas the LPN board had selected him to be the new managing director, effective January 2006.

"I was surprised, because I never thought I'd be in the top management, even after working 10 years for the company," he says.

Opas accepted the post in the face of more hard times. Strong competition had arisen in the condominium market, because home-buyers' demands and lifestyles were changing. They were moving away from detached housing, town houses and double houses and flocking to the city, to live in condominiums.

"In the years from 2002-05, we were one of the few property firms focusing on condominium projects with prices lower than Bt2 million a unit. But by 2006, a number of property developers were parading to launch condominium projects offering the same prices," he says.

With challenging trends in the market, Opas has proven his capacity as managing director by researching and developing the kinds of products that meet customer demand while still being different from LPN's competitors. These days, LPN opts for condominiums with prices of less than Bt1 million a unit.

Before commencing its Bt1-million-a-unit condominiums, LPN painstakingly researches the identity of its customers and the type of product they seek.

When it launched its first Lumpini View on Ramkhamhaeng Road last year, the project received such a positive response that it sold out within a week. As a result, LPN applied the same concept to projects at several other locations, including Ram-Indra-Laksi, Phaholyothin, Pinklao and Ramkhamhaeng Soi 26.

"Our customers are people who must pay monthly rent of Bt3,000 to Bt5,000 for an apartment in Bangkok. We believe most Thais want to own their own home rather than rent, and if they have an opportunity to buy a residence, they'll do so. We launched Lumpini View for this market last year. It matched our customers' demands," he says.

With its initial success in creating a new product for the home market, LPN's revenues jumped from Bt3.5 billion with a net profit of Bt588.38 million in 2005 to Bt5.02 billion and a net profit of Bt765.23 million last year. It expects to generate revenues of Bt6.3 billion this year.

"This is not the result of my personal work. It is the result of work by my board of directors, management team and staff, because LPN's culture is not a one-man show. We work together, and that is the key to our business success," Opas says.

His position at the top has taken Opas far higher up the business ladder than he ever dreamed possible. Importantly, it has also provided an example.

"My success is proving that although I was only an employee - I was not a major shareholder, nor was I the son of a board member - I can still become a top manager if I work hard and show my ability to manage the business. My case is an example for others on the staff, that they, too, can to climb to the top of the company if they try to do the best in their jobs," he says.

"Our goal now is to be the best property firm in the market by offering the best residences for our customers under a 'Pleasant Community' concept. That is LPN's promise to its customers in all of its condominium projects, now and in the future."

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation