Thailand Tourism Forum 2025
14th Annual Edition
Join us for the 2025 Thailand Tourism Forum! Celebrating 14 years as Thailand’s largest and most influential hospitality event, this year’s theme, "Seizing Potential," offers a fast-paced, candid look at the future of Thailand’s hospitality sector. Explore emerging trends, disruptive innovations, and key strategies shaping the industry.
Organized by C9 Hotelworks, this forum provides fresh insights and actionable strategies for industry professionals. The program will dive into critical topics, including social media’s role in driving travel demand, decoding Thailand’s hotel investment landscape, managing lifestyle versus traditional brands, alternative accommodations and exploring the travel preferences of the young generation. This is your opportunity to gain a timely start-of-the-year report card on Thai tourism and shape the future of the industry.
AMCHAM Thailand, Phuket Hotels Association, VitalLife, Lighthouse
2025 Event Schedule and Program
(Moderator) Sumi Soorian, Restaurant & Bar Consultant, Mrs B Bar & Table
Episode 1 Time to Evolve
Phillip Pond, Founder @Atelier Pond
Episode 2 F&B in the Digital World
Piyada "Pam" Punnakitikasem, Entrepreneur & Owner of Food Instagram page “ppgallery” (over 470K followers)
Episode 3 The Rise and Fall – Food Outlets
Shane Jameson, Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing @ Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok
Episode 4 Creativity, Originality and Honesty. The Keys to Successful Communication Strategies
Nigel Oakins, Co-Founder and Executive Chair @ Serendipity Media Ltd & NJ Media Ltd, and MediaMagination Ltd (TimeOut & Koktail Thailand Magazines)
Junaid “Jay” Shaikh, Chief Operating Officer, The Thaiger
Episode 5 Restaurants, Outlets, Dining – Eat, Drink, Love
Phanuphon “Black” Bulsuwan, Chef and Co-Owner of Blackitch Artisan Kitchen
Samantha Proyrungtong, Founder & Director of Extrovert Consulting, Bangkok Foodies
Episode 6 Concepts – Picture Perfect
Romain Dupuy, Strategist, Head of Branding @ Threaded Creatives & Founder and Creative Director @ The Syllusionist
Episode 7 High Spirits
Asawin “Ant” Rojmethatawee, Co-founder, TEP Cultural Bar, Bangkok, Asia 50 Best Discovery
Introduction
Bill Barnett, Managing Director, C9 Hotelworks
Hotel Market Insights
Jesper Palmqvist, Regional Vice President Asia Pacific, STR
Managing Lifestyle vs. Traditional Brands
Siradej Donavanik, Vice President Development, Dusit Hotels & Resorts
(Moderator) David Johnson, CEO, Delivering Asia
Social Media Power: Inducing Travel Demand
Paul Keen, Director of Project Management, QUO
The Hot List – Top Luxury Travel Trends in Thailand
Patrick Finn, Vice President – Development, IHG Hotels & Resorts
(Moderator) Wimintra J. Raj, Founder, Hotelintel.co
Decoding Thailand’s Hotel Landscape
Orn Yomchinda, Senior Vice President, Investment Sales – Asia, JLL
Rathawat Kuvijitrsuwan,Senior Vice President, Advisory & Asset Management – Asia, JLL
Redefined Wellness Tourism in Thailand
Dr. Wanviput Sanphasitvong, Physician, VitalLife Scientific Wellness Center & Bumrungrad International Hospital and Business Development Director, VitalLife
(Moderator) Charles Blocker, Chief Executive Officer, IC Partners Ltd
The New Explorers: Young Generation Travel Trends
Viona Zhang, Deputy Managing Director, C9 Hotelworks
Nichanun Boonprasert, Student, Dusit Thani College
Beyond Ordinary: Dope Accommodation Alternatives
Koko Tang, Founder, Colorful Earth
Beverly Chen, Co-Founder, Cloud Collective
Willem Niemeijer, CEO, YAANA Ventures
(Moderator) Matt Gebbie, Director, Pacific Asia, Horwath HTL
Green Minute: Sustainability in Tourism
Eric Ricaurte, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Greenview
Bjorn Courage, President, Phuket Hotels Association
