Andrew Wood has had a long career in hospitality, currently serving as general manager of the Chao Phya Hotel in Bangkok and president of SKAL International Bangkok. He advises that those interested in a hospitality career should enjoy serving customers. While it requires hard work, the industry offers diverse career paths and opportunities to gain experience overseas. Thailand remains an affordable tourism destination due to its friendly people, good food, facilities and natural attractions, though the sector currently faces challenges from the economic downturn.

1. Andrew Wood: The Height of Hospitality
Steve Thompson catches up with Andrew Wood, who not only serves as general manager of
the Chao Phya Hotel on Rathcadapisek Road, but also contributes greatly to the well-being of
Thai tourism and hospitality as president of SKAL International, Bangkok.
Originally published in 2009 by ThaiAsiaToday.com
Steve Thompson (ST): Firstly, I'd like to ask you, what advice would you give to someone
considering a career in the tourism and hospitality sector?
Andrew Wood (AW): My advice to anyone entering the hospitality industry, whether that's
the accommodation sector or the travel sector, is that it is largely about serving customers,
so, if you like people, you can really find a fantastic career in this industry.
I’ve been involved since I was 13 and I’ve had a fantastic life in travel and tourism.
It has all been in the hotel business – every day of my (working) life has been in hotels. I’m
very happy – I think I have a reasonably good lifestyle. I enjoy coming to work every day, and
it’s been interesting to see the highs and lows of Thailand over the past 18 years.
Advice? Yes, embrace it – come in with your eyes open. It’s hard work, you have to ‘earn your
stripes’ – you work from the bottom up, there’s no silver spoon.
ST: Can you share any personal insights with our readers?
AW: I always remember the first day at university (in Edinburgh, Scotland) – we were all
enrolled in a degree course on hotel and catering management – and the lecturer said, “after
you finish [your four-year degree program], what job will you want and expect to have and
what salary?”
Some of my fellow students who had never experienced the industry would say 'I want to be a

2. general manager earning 50,000 pounds [2.5 million baht]!'.
I'd been involved since I was 13, as my family had friends in the hotel business in the Lake
District and I used to go and help during my school holidays. Anyway, it came to my turn and I
said, “I'd like to be a junior manager in a five-star hotel in London.”
That was my answer and I think my advice is if you come into this industry, you've got to be
prepared to work and if you like people, that's great, but if you don't like people, and you're
not service minded, then maybe this industry's not for you. You have to like people, you have
to like providing service. And if you find that in any way uncomfortable, then maybe you
should look at other specialized areas.
ST: Could you explain a bit more about those options?
AW: Well, the good thing about a hotel is that it's almost like a 'laboratory of life'. A hotel has
engineers, it has chefs, sales and marketing, public relations, EDP (Electronic Data
Processing), IT, management, human resources, security, and gardens – so a hotel is almost
like a ‘mini world’. So even if someone enters into the industry in food and beverage, which is
very service oriented, there are other specialist areas you can move into.
Travel and tourism is here to stay, it's an industry that will never go away. It changes in the
way that fashions change. From large hotels to small boutique hotels, three star to five star, to
resorts to upcountry properties, from DIY team-building kind of holidays to fully pampered first
class service all the way. From hotels, to resorts to jungles, so there's a lot in it and I
thoroughly enjoy working in it.
ST: Is Thailand a good place to train in this field or for someone in hotels, tourism and
hospitality to develop their careers?
AW: I think in terms of training, it's probably better to do it in your home country, since you
have a lot to deal with. And if you deal with moving home, leaving your parents and living in a
foreign country, as well as trying to learn a skill, and study – it's hard. Unless you can maybe

3. take it in small bites. I always recommend that you go overseas for your first year
(of your working life, following graduation) unless you've already got some experience of a
country already.
ST: Can you mention any of the major institutions involved in training?
AW: Rangsit University, Mahidol University, and all the technical colleges are involved in
hospitality training. The industry needs thousands of graduates in hospitality, and there aren't
enough graduates coming out of further education to satisfy the demand for the growing
hospitality industry in Thailand. Now of course we're currently undergoing somewhat of a
recession or downturn, but, if you look at a five-year plan, something like 5-10,000 graduates
are coming out of colleges of further education or hotel schools. With the universities, it's
usually a four-year program culminating with a degree, whereas at the colleges it's usually a
two-year course, coming out with a diploma. There are also a number of private institutions
that are training hospitality students.
ST: And do you recruit from those institutions?
AW: Nobody is recruiting at the moment!
ST: But under normal circumstances?
AW: Well I think it's important to point out that the industry is undergoing a crisis, which is
possibly the worst I've seen during my time (working) in Thailand (18 years).
I've lived through coups, through SARS, a currency crisis, but since the closure of the airport
– it actually started before (September 2008) – when the PAD (People's Alliance for
Democracy) first took on the government, which led to the closure of the airport, and that,
coupled with the recession, and now we have to deal with swine flu, it is nasty for both
employees and employers.
Many companies are facing cutbacks, not only in costs, but in personnel, so recruitment is not

4. happening at the moment. It's very slow, so it's going to be a difficult graduation this year.
However, these things are always short-term and people often talk about things taking one
year or two years to turn around, but in Thailand tourism seems to rebound after about six
months. I'm certainly confident and expecting some improvements in terms of visitor arrivals.
So 'do I recruit' – well, the answer is 'yes, normally'.
ST: Could you give our readers an idea of what might help address the current situation
regarding winning back some credibility for the tourism sector?
AW: I think it's very important to point out that the key tourism organizations, including the
TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand), need to appoint heads since it's essential these bodies
have strong leadership.
ST: Is there any chance that Thailand may be losing ground in terms of price
competitiveness?
AW: The result of a recent poll, publicized on CNN, suggested that Thailand remains the best
value tourism destination in the world. If you look at hotel prices alone, that would be quite
apparent. I was in Europe (London and Paris) recently and you would pay 300-400 euros
(14,276-19,034 baht) for something you would pay only 100 euros for in Thailand (in three-
star accommodation). The prices of rooms in (Thailand’s) four-star accommodation sector
offer particularly incredible value. Even when compared with Hong Kong and Singapore,
Thailand offers extremely good value.
ST: And what drives this keeps people coming back and what has driven Thailand's tourism
sector over the fairly sustained period of strong growth?
AW: I think it's down to fundamentals. Thailand has been enormously successful and when
you ask most people about their experiences in Thailand it generally invokes smiles and
happy memories.

5. The fundamentals of Thailand's tourism are huge. The friendly, smiling people, the first class
food, the world class hospitality, the facilities, hotels on the river, that have been voted the
best in the world, hotels in town that constantly win awards for being the best in their
particular category, 'grade A' destinations – you can go from jungle walks, or to World
Heritage sites in the central plains, you can come to the metropolis and enjoy fantastic
shopping, fantastic experiences, the Grand Palace, nightlife, or head up to more tranquil
national parks, or to the beach and resorts. When you look at Phang-na or Krabi or these
kinds of places, they're just absolutely beautiful. So I think those fundamentals, and of course
the Thai people are always perhaps the biggest draw card – so accommodating and so
happy.
ST: Thank you very much indeed for sharing your time and opinions with us today.
AW: You're welcome.
For further information about the Chaophya Park Hotel, visit http://wwwchaophyapark.com.
For further information about SKAL Thailand and Young SKAL, visit
http://www.skalthailand.org.
Striking a balance
“I never feel comfortable if I'm not working, but you quickly realize that you need to develop
an organization that can run effectively 'with or without you'. I still feel it's important to
understand that. Some people understand it more than others, some people never leave the
hotel, others may play golf too much!”
Sport and leisure
“I play tennis, maybe only once a week these days, although in the past I would try to play
twice a week.”

6. “I enjoy investing in property and recently refurbished my apartment. That was a 14 month
project, which ended in December 2008.”
“I enjoy exploring new restaurants. I like to dine out, and see what other people are doing in
the food and beverage context.”
“I enjoy music and the theater.”
“I have a boat and am now 'Captain Andrew'. I've always enjoyed the sea – I've always
enjoyed sailing.”