Mr Sakolviphak is stepping down as treasurer of SKAL Bangkok and as a member of the SKAL National Committee for Thailand after many years of devoted service.

Malai Sakolviphak

SKAL International Bangkok is hosting a dinner, to mark Mr Sakolviphak’s retirement, at the Dusit Thani Hotel, Bangkok, Saturday 30 October.

Malai Sakolviphak’s aviation career began with Pan American World Airways in July 1949. He later became the carrier’s director for Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. When Pan Am sold its pacific routes he joined another US carrier – United Airlines – in 1986 as its Bangkok-based general manager.

Mr Malai then joined the Pacific Leisure Group Head Office in Bangkok as senior executive director. He served with PLG from 1993 to 2009.

“His service to the travel and tourism community in the region has been immense,” said SKAL International Bangkok president Bob Lee. “Malai has served as president of the Airlines Club of Thailand; executive director of the Association of Thai Travel Agents; chairman of the PATA Thailand Chapter, and president of the World Airlines Club Association.

The group will meet twice a month to facilitate networking between executives in managerial positions. It is not limited to travel, but the majority of its members moved over from the Skal Club that became inactive, earlier this month.

Details are sketchy, but it is understood the board directors of the Skal Club of Samui resigned to form their own club under the leadership of the former Skal president, Horst Hornung.

In what could be described as an overly optimistic declaration, the breakaway group suggested the local Skal Club was defunct, rather than in disarray.

It would have been more accurate to say the club was in a state of inertia without a president, or board, and with very few members out of the 120 who registered last year, when it was tagged the largest club in Thailand.

Thailand’s Skal national committee president, Brian Sinclair-Thompson, acknowledged the rift, but said steps were being taken to reactivate the club. There are six local clubs under Skal Thailand, but none are legally registered under the country’s association laws.

An extra-ordinary annual general meeting will be held, 22 January, at Baan Taling Naam Resort, on Samui Island, in a bid to resolve the issue and elect a new committee.

Mr Sinclair-Thompson confirmed invitations had been sent out and the immediate task was to assess how many people would show up at the meeting out of the 120 registered members, last year.

He explained the unusual turn of events stating “Horst Hornung had completed his term of office as president of Skal Samui and thus an AGM was due to be held to elect a new executive committee, appoint office bearers and chart the future direction of the club.”

Baan Taling Naam Resort’s general manager, Nigel Tovey, a member of 2009 executive committee, is now the sole nominee for the post of president.

As for Mr Hornung’s apparent decision to sideline the Samui Skal, Mr Sinclair-Thompson said: “We understand the gazetting of this intent was his sole action. It has since been established and confirmed by Skal Secretary General, Jim Power, that the only body able to suspend a club is Skal World Executive Committee.”

Mr Hornung had the last word on tactics: “Our intended mission was more than accomplished….Anyway it is all water under the bridge now and we hope to have C&B clubs emerge in other locations.”

He was addressing the joint Skal and Pacific Asia Travel Association year-end lunch, yesterday at the Dusit Thani Hotel, that attracted over 100 leading travel and hotel executives, including the recently appointed Tourism Authority of Thailand governor, Suraphon Svetasreni.

Andrew Wood

Mr Wood reminded travel executives that exactly a year ago the industry faced its “darkest hour with the closure of Suvarnabhumi airport on 25 November, 2008, by political demonstrators.”

“At this meeting, last year, we asked for special protection in the future, for all airports as special economical sensitive zones that should be  free of demonstrations.”

He noted that “common sense had prevailed and the government had partially succeeded in reaching that goal.”

In contrast, to the popularly-held view that Thailand’s troubles are over economically, the Skal president placed recovery some nine months further down track, possibly in the fourth quarter of 2010 when the traditional high season kicks in.

He warned executives not to be complacent by relying on the return of high occupancies with high rates, full tour buses and high yield air passengers.

2009 was described as a year of managing business better, trimming the work force and being more focused on quality and customer care.

“We have come out of the crisis with a more skilled and a better trained workforce, that no longer takes for granted bonuses and service charges given by owners and directors of our businesses.”

But recovery would not be plain sailing, as Mr Wood outlined worries that the country’s development in infrastructure and technology was “being outpaced by neighbours due to the distraction of political uncertainty and political disturbances.”

Calling for a positive response, the travel press and travel industry should focus on “positive things that have made the industry, in the past, a world leader.”

Meanwhile, leaders in the travel industry should not shy from taking positions of influence, but they needed to act with honesty and responsibility to ensure development of tourism is conducted in a transparent way.