Celebrity Life

The UK Alumni Awards is a highly prestigious annual occasion that recognises and honours the outstanding achievements of Thai alumni who received their higher education in the UK. Here are the inspirational stories of this year’s 12 finalists, detailing the reasons why they are so proud of the time they spent studying in the UK and how these experiences paved a way for their success.

1.  Apinara Srikarnchana
Finalist – Entrepreneurial

Apinara Srikarnchana is one of the co-founders of U Drink I Drive, Thailand’s very first professional drivers’ service that brings intoxicated would-be drivers home safely after a night out. This app has definitely tackled the nation’s number one problem of accidents and death rates caused by drunk driving. Apinara’s work has gained her much trust from the start-up community in Thailand and has earned her the reputation of founding a service that also aims to save lives and helps make society a safer place.

Apinara studied at LSE university and believes it provided her with qualities and skills crucial to confronting Thailand’s drunk driving behavior, giving her the awareness and ambition needed to raise such concerns in her own nation and Thai society at large. Her U Drink I Drive initiative also aims to help save the nation millions of baht annually that would otherwise be used to compensate the families of victims.

2. Pahrada Sapprasert
Finalist – Entrepreneurial

Pahrada Sapprasert is a director of 500 TukTuks, a Thailand-dedicated venture capital fund from 500 Startups which is the most active seed investor in the world, based in Silicon Valley. 500 Startups has already made around 1,800 investments worldwide. Investors in 500 TukTuks included many CEOs of Thailand’s top listed companies and high-net-worth individuals who were interested in the tech industry. From that day, 500 TukTuks has made about 46 investments in tech startups operating in Thailand. As an investor, she and her team must give clients solid business advice, provide comments on their products and strategies, help them secure partnerships, and help them raise the follow-on fundings.

Pahrada is also one of only a few female venture capitalists in Thailand which automatically made her the face of “Women in Tech” in Thailand, alongside other female entrepreneurs she admires. The venture capital concept never really existed in Thailand in the past so she owes much to her being able to study it in the UK. She learned about venture capital and growth finance at Imperial College London Business School during her MSc in Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Management.

She cannot emphasis enough how much a single year studying in the UK – especially at Imperial College London ­­– can change someone’s life. The studying environment and its intense curriculum pushed her to learn, perform, feel better and ultimately to great successes.

3. Dr Pimkhwan Bunjitpimol
Finalist - Entrepreneurial

As vice president of Navamin 9, Dr Pimkhwan Bunjitpimol works creatively to find innovative, goal-driven solutions to transform her organisation. She co-founded Vital Glow: Skin and Aesthetic Center and collaborates with leading professionals to bring in groundbreaking skincare technologies. According to Dr Pimkhwan, Imperial College London fostered in her a commitment to being a lifelong learner and instilled a longing to expand cultural competence within her organisation. This has helped eliminate barriers in healthcare service delivery at a hospital which caters to 50 percent international patients. She is destined to be the anchor for changes in the healthcare industry, bringing Thailand to the forefront of medical tourism at a global level.

4. Dr Uracha Ruktanonchai
Finalist – Professional Achievement

Dr Uracha Ruktanonchai is the principal researcher at National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC). Her work is centred on conducting research and development in Nanotechnology, and transferring the knowledge and know-how of these technologies to industrial and service sectors in order to increase Thailand’s competitiveness.

Uracha gained tremendous life experiences during her studies in the UK. During her time there, she recognised that the UK was a multicultural country, which encouraged her to learn how to adapt herself to living with others, co-existing and gaining self-confidence.

Uracha was promoted to deputy executive director of NANOTEC, overseeing its research and development. This position allows her to interact with young researchers and help them continue in their research career, promoting science and technology (S&T) for the benefits of the country. Currently, she has used S&T as a linkage to collaborate at international levels.

5. Professor Agachai Sumalee
Finalist – Social Impact

Professor Agachai Sumalee has had a successful career as a world-class academic in the field of transportation systems, spending time in UK, Hong Kong and Thailand. He successfully transferred his learnings to improve Thailand’s transportation system, which included the reform of the bus regulation system in Bangkok, the National GPS system for road safety, the All Thai Taxi system and has furthermore served on several government committees. Recently he led the implementation of Taxi OK system to improve the quality of taxi services in Bangkok.

Professor Agachai spent almost seven years in total in the UK, which provided him with tremendous experiences academically, socially and culturally. His education in the UK provided him with world-class scientific knowledge, a chance to interact with leading minds and the opportunity to experience a diverse culture. The UK PhD system provided a unique challenge to develop critical thinking abilities and innovative approaches to tackle research and other problems. He has been building on this training to successfully tackle several complex issues in transport planning and development in Thailand, where often it is the case that the solution must come from “out of the box” thinking, with an acute understanding of the sensitivity and complexity behind such issues. 

He has played a leading role in shaping transport planning and policies in Thailand from the standpoint of a world-leading academic. He is both academically and politically influential and currently advises the government on key transport-related issues to improve road safety problems, public transport services and technology deployment in Thailand.

6. Dr Jarunee Wonglimpiyarat
Finalist – Professional Achievement

Dr Jarunee Wonglimpiyarat is a pioneer in setting up various venture capital funds to support the process of technology transfer and commercialization. She had worked as an advisory board member to the deputy prime minister in establishing the research and development (R&D) centre to support technology transfer in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.

A highest quality education and the practical experiences learnt from her time in the UK equipped her with knowledge and skills to work effectively for her country. Dr Wonglimpiyarat intends to expand her policy research carried out in the United Nations Millennium Project to promote Science and Technology (S&T) innovation systems for developing countries.

7. Weerasak Muangpaisan
Finalist – Professional Achievement 

Weerasak Muangpaisan runs his teaching, clinical services and research in the biomedical and community field at the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, other universities and international organisations. He is in the executive committee of the professional associations of Thailand. He has organised numerous conferences for medical/healthcare professionals as well as the public. He has produced many forms of public media and is an editor of several books aiming to increase awareness and knowledge about health issues in older people, including dementia, which has served audiences in the hundreds of thousands, one of which received an award from his university. 

With knowledge and experience from Oxford and Cambridge both in Geriatric Medicine and epidemiology, Weerasak has conducted research into the health problems of older people, especially suffering from dementia. He is now involved in 60 research projects in medicine and public health, winning three national awards in research for medicine. Weerasak helps the Ministry of Public Health in health policies and guidelines in health-related issues of the country. He also collaborates in international training and research to improve healthcare for older people.

8. Arch Wongchindawest
Finalist – Entrepreneurial

Named in Forbes' “30 under 30” list, Arch Wongchindawest is a driving force behind Thailand's burgeoning social enterprise sector. He is the Founder and CEO of Socialgiver.com, Thailand’s leading social enterprise that helps over 180 leading brands give back in a more effective and sustainable way.

Being educated in the UK offered a more critical, holistic view of society and the state of the world as well as our role in society. Through Socialgiver, thousands of conscious consumers have contributed to improving more than 25,000 lives since 2015, supporting 32 projects in Thailand, Nepal, Philippines, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. Next year, Socialgiver is planning to expand internationally.

9. Dr Kannika Leelapanyalert
Finalist – Social Impact

Dr Kannika Leelapanyalert currently teaches a PhD Program at the College of Management at Mahidol University. She also helps the underprivileged in the poor areas of Thailand, teaching them skills so that they can have a better life. Most notably, she contributes to the Thai community in rural areas in the northeastern part of Thailand. She helps 300 Bann Mai Santi villagers, who live in one one of the poorest villages of Sung Noen, Nakhon Ratchasima to understand King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s sufficiency economy project. She has received 800,000 Baht in research funding from the Thailand Sustainable Development Foundation in 2015. Her project has had a beneficial impact on farmers and the underprivileged society at large and her research was published in the Sufficiency for Sustainability book.

Studying in the UK helped Dr Kannika gain academic knowledge of a high quality and experience working in an international environment with different cultures. Dr Kannika developed her confidence and leadership skills throughout her studies and work in UK. It helped her increase her social engagement and furthermore helped her develop strong professional and social networks. Studying in the UK was unique because it allowed her to be independent, open-minded and flexible within a multicultural society. Her UK education also allowed her to improve her analytical and critical thinking skills.

10. Dr Ake Pattaratanakun
Finalist – Professional Achievement

Dr Ake Pattaratanakun is one of the most reputable sustainable brand experts. His consulting experience has brought him to work with the Ministry of Finance, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Krungthai Bank, SCG, and AirAsia. The main part of his consultation is to implant the mindset of social responsibility in brands. His academic work has appeared in several of the world’s top-tier journals and his book, Marketing Genius, is one of the best-selling books of all time in Thailand (Chulalongkorn Press, 2018). Studying at Cambridge brought him to the conclusion that social sustainability, not just business success, is central to brands. Ake has also played a vital role in sustainable branding for the region.

11. Marut Soontrong
Finalist – Social Impact

Marut Soontrong is a young policy analyst and the project manager for the SOFT Prison Project, a development of pre-release centres and programmes for inmates. Through his efforts and profession in policy management, SOFT Prison Project has been progressive in its development for providing the readiness of inmates to return back to society through participatory-based programmes and wellness-quality centres throughout the country.

Marut discovered that The University of Nottingham provided him with the diversity of theories and practices related to policy management to apply in this project, especially the concept of partnership. This academic independence, based on research-based knowledge seeking is a key characteristic, providing him not only the ability to think critically, but also the confidence to communicate his thoughts to the public.

The impact of Marut’s policy successes has seen the launch of a new rehabilitation programme for inmates that involves a collaboration across sectors of governments, local business and local authorities who, together, pioneer the power of social capital to engage community-based justice, ensuring that no one gets left behind.

12. Kanatip Soonthornrak
Finalist – Professional Achievement

Kanatip Soonthornrak is the founder of ANGKRIZ, one of the most renowned English tutorial schools in Thailand. He also hosts an English talk show where he interviews big-name celebrities in English. With over 140 episodes and over 30 million total views, his show has changed the attitudes of millions towards English.

Being in London and studying with talented international students urged him to thrive. Studying in the UK reminded him how small he was. Now, he has over 670,000 followers on Instagram and one million followers on Facebook and Twitter combined. So far, one of his biggest impacts on Thai society is working with OMO, a leading detergent brand from Unilever Thailand, as its first openly gay brand ambassador. Last year, OMO and Kanatip launched OMO Bright Future Academy. They produced one million DVDs that were distributed throughout Thailand and changed lives.

Please be aware that popular votes will be open until March 14. If you would like to vote for any of these finalists, click here.

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