Gen.T Summit 2026 live: the latest news, insights and highlights from Bangkok

Now driving grassroots change from Denmark, Popal uses sport and education through Girl Power to bolster marginalised women and refugees, reframing adversity into resilience. She emphasised that true influence relies on clarity of purpose and collective responsibility, noting that everyone represents a vital piece in societal progress.

“We are all part of a puzzle. If one piece is missing, the puzzle is not complete,” said Popal. “We have a responsibility towards our planet, towards our people, towards the environment we are in, and we have to take responsibility. We have to do our bit and our part. We should not wait for others to change what we want to see.”

In the second session of the day, we moved to the screening room of the Gen.T House to discover how Thai entertainment has skyrocketed to global popularity.

Kai Nottapon Boonprakob, director of Mad Unicorn and The Evil Lawyer, among Thailand’s most-watched Netflix series, shared the stage with Nicholas Simon, founder of Indochina Productions, Southeast Asia’s only production company servicing Hollywood films. The conversation was moderated by Milken Institute’s Curtis Chin.

Both Boonprakob and Simon revealed that they come from middle-class backgrounds and did not have financial backing while pursuing filmmaking. The main stepping stone both took was television commercial work in order to gain further connections and experience. “It’s got a great turnaround, it can be lucrative and it opened up the world,” says Simon.

The conversation addressed the impact of technology and AI on filmmaking, with tasks such as translating having shortened drastically and months of work done in a moment with AI. However, important tasks such as directing or writing scripts are still largely done by humans. How to manage workflows efficiently while balancing authenticity of filming and directing is the next challenge for filmmakers. 

“I want to find the fine line between integrity and creation,” insists Boonprakob. “It’s about how to secure that communication between filmmakers, storytellers and the audience. AI doesn’t quite look you in the eye just yet and we still need to have storytellers behind the screen. We still want to feel storytellers and don’t want to see creations that are purely just from computers.”

Parting with advice on how to keep going, Boonprakob jokes that copying is not necessarily a bad thing, as he got his start by copying the career and education of his brother, who is also a filmmaker. For him, learning from legendary film figures is a means to analyse, process and test out how scenes were shot—a feat easily done today with smartphones. 

Simon agreed that experience is the wealth to build on. “Take your time to develop a really solid base. After years of working and really building experience, when success comes, you can manage it and you don’t lose your voice.”  

Two-time Guinness World Record-breaking endurance athlete Natalie Dau challenged leaders to reconsider their perceived limits during “How to Tell a Real Limit from a False One”, moderated by Rachel Duffell, regional content director of Tatler Leadership.

Drawing on her three iterations of Project 1000, Dau shared how her understanding of success evolved from proving her own capabilities to helping communities and exploring what the human body and mind could achieve.

Dau’s first Project 1000 attempt—running 1,000km from Thailand to Singapore in 2024—nearly ended on day one, when she managed 81 kilometres of an 86-kilometre target before her hip gave way. Initially embarrassed, she reconsidered how she viewed setbacks. “I stopped choosing to fear failure and started using it as fuel,” she recalled.

Dau explained that distinguishing discomfort from genuine danger requires knowing oneself and preparing for adversity. She trains without music or podcasts, using her runs to practise managing her thoughts. “The voices are never telling you that you can’t do this,” she said. “So it’s believing that you can still do that and keep moving forward, which is the key.”

She cautioned leaders against letting ego get in the way of teamwork. “True leadership is being seen, it’s not being obeyed,” she said, emphasising that every team member’s contribution matters, regardless of their position.

Dau also encouraged leaders to embrace vulnerability instead of presenting only polished successes, noting that sharing struggles helps others feel less alone. When asked what leaders should consider before quitting, she urged them to assess whether they were operating within their comfort zones or testing their capabilities.

“Are you willing to find out what that new limit is?” she asked, challenging the audience to look beyond familiar boundaries while recognising that progress requires preparation, perspective and the support of others.

The Tatler Gen.T Summit 2026 has opened at NEX Hall, Siam Paragon in Bangkok, gathering leaders, partners and community members for the second edition of the summit in Thailand. In their welcome remarks, Pop Natthuwut, editor-in-chief of Tatler Thailand, and Valerie Lim, digital editor of Tatler Leadership, launched the event with a bilingual opening in English and Thai celebrating a landmark tenth anniversary for Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow platform. Over the past decade, the platform has grown into a dynamic network of up-and-coming entrepreneurs, artists and executives shaping Asia’s future—now representing more than 3,500 honourees across 10 markets and 20 categories.

The stage was then handed over to Chong Seow Wei, regional senior editor of Tatler Leadership, who shared preliminary remarks on this year’s core theme, ‘The Defining Generation’. Framing the guiding promise of the summit, Chong highlighted the programme’s focus on actionable frameworks—reflecting on what is irreplaceable about writing and editing when “everyone can use AI now”. Her remarks connected to the theme of the summit: how to lead and make better decisions in uncharted territory, and how Tatler is equipping leaders with practical methods to guide their organisations and communities.

The Tatler Gen.T Summit 2026 is presented in partnership with Tourism Authority of Thailand, Siam Paragon, Jai by OneSiam, AP Property, CP Foods, Elephants Inc, Nespresso, Robert Mondavi and True.

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