Two decades of lessons from 'Nakorn Toh' and the story of building an organization with 'people' at the heart of its success.

She told us about her pride in her team, even though many only have a high school diploma, or some even have no formal education. They were given the opportunity to prove themselves and successfully rose to become team leaders. Like the accounting student who started as an intern and is now a top accountant at the company, respected even by accounting firms for her skills. Or the young woman from Myanmar, whose story inspires many with her determination to change her own destiny. From her dedication to learning Thai, even buying a keyboard to connect to her phone to practice typing and communicate fluently, she unexpectedly became a key figure in the creative and decoration teams, managing national-level events, including celebrity weddings, and has also become the main breadwinner for her family.

“We see the efforts of these people who want to break free from their past circumstances and have a better life. Many have become valuable assets to the team, and as their leaders, we feel even more obligated to work hard to help them achieve their goals. They may not be with us until retirement, but at least while they work at Nakhon Toh, we will continue to support them. We want them to know that we always see their efforts, and that those who strive for good things deserve good results in return.”

Today, this large organization houses at least 40-50 families. The secret to retaining employees for the long term starts with a genuine appreciation for our employees from within.

"We must always consider what can make a person happy or improve their quality of life. The fundamental principle is that we must ensure they have enough to eat and use, and then we must help them feel a sense of self-worth."

"Some say that all employees are lucky to be here, but from our perspective, we are the ones who are lucky to have them in our company. To make employees love the organization, the most important thing is that we ourselves must also be an organization that they find lovable."

Besides people, who are considered the heart of the business world, another key factor for success is a good, high-quality, and unique product, especially in the event management business where trends are constantly changing.

"A standout product will prevent us from getting involved in a price war. If everyone has the same tables and chairs, we have to add value by finding something different, which forces us to constantly look for new things."

Pla gave an example that in the past, events often used white tents. Nakorn Toh was one of the first to switch to using beautiful fabric frames made from wood. Or, regarding long wooden tables and curved tables, she is confident that Nakorn Table was one of the first to produce them in Thailand.

"We saw that other countries had this kind of setup and wanted to have it too. Now, every event needs these stylish curved tables. We're happy to be a trendsetter and set a new standard in event organization. For example, the glass house was created to solve the pain point of outdoor events in our country, where global warming is causing the rainy season to be longer than usual."

The head of the company revealed that the nature of her work requires her to constantly come up with new ideas.

“This is part of our product development process, where we have to look ahead of others. Catch me if you can (laughs). We are both initiators and disruptors in ourselves. Every year, we have periods for research and reviewing what worked and what didn't work in the past year. If a product doesn't meet the needs, isn't aesthetically pleasing, or is too difficult to use, we remove it and create a new one. So, if the goal is to improve, we don't have an ego that says, 'Since we've already made it, we have to use it and sell it.' For us, if it doesn't work, we keep adjusting it to make it better.”

“We want to show people that Thailand's event management standards are advanced and on par with international levels. Thailand is particularly known for its ingrained service industry, reasonable event costs, and numerous tourist attractions. Therefore, we are well-positioned to become a hub for events and attract people from around the world to Thailand.”

When talking about work over the past year, Ple simply compared it to a 'war'.

"It was a really exhausting year. We had much more difficult and larger-scale structural projects than before. Our team was constantly on the move," she explained, a look of relief on her face as she felt they had gotten through it.

"Even though it's tiring, being tired is still better than not being tired and having no work. Especially for company employees, the model is that the more you work, the more you get. Besides their salary, they get overtime pay. The more projects they take on, the more they earn. Especially on project-based work like glass houses, they get even more pay because it's more strenuous work and we sell them for a higher price. Everyone is motivated to go out and work."

She always tries to communicate to her team that, "Customers intentionally use our products because we are different from others." Part of it is the team's responsibility to develop unique products, but beyond that, excellent service is what drives customer referrals and repeat business.

“We open our doors to customers, but if the service is substandard, they might only use our services once. Therefore, we must ensure that every employee understands and is proud that they represent the city of Nakhon Toh. They must do their best in terms of service. When they deliver good service, people become repeat customers, the company generates revenue, and when the company generates revenue, they receive salaries and bonuses. It's a continuous cycle of positive change. This is the logic of cause and effect: if they perform well, good things will return to them.”

At a certain time each year, the team takes time to reflect and consider what can be changed to make the team's work easier, smoother, and less tiring.

"Right now, everyone's talking about AI, so we need to understand it too. For example, using AI to calculate transportation routes to reduce costs without reducing our team, and applying it to wage calculation systems to ensure fairness and appropriateness. This helps improve management efficiency and allows us to work faster, freeing up time for other things."

She believes that finishing work on time and then using the remaining time for rest, life, and self-improvement is the right thing to do.

"Ultimately, when employees have time to watch movies or TV series, it improves their quality of life, and they'll be happier at work the next day. We don't create a value system where being a good employee means constantly working. These things are about results. So, after work, go out and enjoy yourself, have fun with friends, do what you want to do." (smiles)

The journey of Nakhon Table over 20 years, from its difficult first steps of proving itself, from one or two tables to thousands, to becoming a leader in the industry by constantly innovating, forcing others to follow.

Looking ahead to the next decade in Nakhon To, Pei emphasized that she remains focused on long-term growth. "We will move forward steadily, but in that steadiness, we must be willing to take risks in order to grow."

She explained that this year, Nakorn To will be clearly separating its businesses. While maintaining its core business, she's choosing to proceed cautiously by expanding its existing rental equipment to cover more items, such as various types of decorations. This is because Nakorn To's current focus is on weddings and elegant corporate events.

Emerging businesses seeking exponential growth are those employing new types of jobs that form a new S-curve, achieving 100% annual growth rates, and are therefore deemed worthwhile risks.

“From a business perspective, we need to have investment limits and an acceptable maximum loss limit. We have a budget, and once that limit is reached, we have to stop. This business isn't just for my family; there are 40-50 other families who depend on us for their livelihoods. Therefore, stability is something we must prioritize. Over the years, we've proven this by overcoming numerous crises, and this stability is only growing stronger to ensure that every member of this large family can support themselves and their families for a very long time.”