Made it in Thailand

Simon Woodroffe had 200 grand tied up in his house, no restaurant experience, and a suggestion from a Japanese friend he'd never heard before: open a conveyor belt sushi bar. He put everything on the line, opened YO! Sushi in Soho in January 1997.The first week nobody came. But that didn't stop him.RECORDED ATYOTEL Bangkok Sukhumvit, YOTEL's first hotel in Thailand (opened October 2026). Big thanks to Mike and the team for hosting us.https://www.yotel.com/en/hotels/yotel-bangkok-sukhumvitWe discussed how he financed a million-pound restaurant with half the money, why Sony, Honda and All Nippon Airways were on the front door before any of them had backed him, and where he draws the line between a good story and a lie. Why he thinks the founder is the best marketer the business will ever have, and why the agency's "East meets West" pitch didn't ring true. What happened when his operations director told him everyone would walk out unless he let go. Then Simon turned the question on me, and we compared notes on how Thailand changes the way you lead.ABOUT THE GUESTSimon Woodroffe OBE is the founder of YO! Sushi, YOTEL and the YO! Company. He left school at 16, spent 30 years in rock and roll and television (stage design for Rod Stewart, The Moody Blues and Live Aid, then concert TV rights), and opened YO! Sushi in 1997 at 45. He sold his controlling stake while keeping a royalty, launched YOTEL in 2007, and was one of the original investors on BBC's Dragons' Den. He lives in Thailand.YO! Man (his memoir): https://www.amazon.co.uk/YO-MAN-Robots-Reinventing-British/dp/1918191301https://www.amazon.com/YO-MAN-Robots-Reinventing-British/dp/B0H5YGBRYK/The Book of YO! (free, interactive): https://yo.co.ukSimon on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yosimonwoodroffeABOUT THE HOSTHosted by Scott Pressimone. Scott helps teams through change, from the inside. He has lived and worked in Bangkok since 2012 and is the founder of Fractiond.More about Scott: https://scottpressimone.com/about/CHAPTERS00:00 Intro01:26 YOTEL Bangkok Sukhumvit01:51 Reinventing Yourself More Than Once03:40 Roadie to Rock Show Designer06:02 Don't Listen to Your Teachers08:10 Get Out From Behind the Deck10:18 Learning the Business Side13:58 Launching YO! Sushi: Nobody Came16:10 The Best Marketer Is You20:13 Betting Everything at 4521:53 Sony, Honda and the Front Door24:48 Bringing In the Professionals25:32 Where's the Line on Faking It?28:35 What Is Fractiond?29:36 What Simon Can't Do32:09 How Thailand Changes How You Lead35:37 Letting Go of Your Baby37:36 From YO! Sushi to YOTEL39:18 Planning the Exit40:29 The YO! Name and YO! Man44:30 Rapid Fire49:17 What's Next for SimonSTAYING IN BANGKOK?If you're working out of South Sukhumvit or heading to an event at BITEC, YOTEL Bangkok Sukhumvit is worth a look. It's inside Cloud 11, with a skywalk straight to BTS Punnawithi, so you're on the Sukhumvit Line in a few minutes. Rooms are small and smart, check-in takes under a minute, and there's a rooftop bar on level 23 for the end of the day. If you're a Hilton Honors member, it counts.https://www.yotel.com/en/hotels/yotel-bangkok-sukhumvit#SimonWoodroffe #YOSushi #YOTEL #DragonsDen #Entrepreneurship #Reinvention #BusinessInThailand #FractionalLeadership

Nardrerdee "GoonG" Arj-harnwongse started her career as one of the first 30 employees at Lotus Supercenter. A few years later, the 1997 crisis hit, and she was in the room telling hundreds of new management trainees, face to face, that their jobs were gone.That set the pattern for a 30-year career inside Lotus, Tesco Lotus, Nokia, Unilever, dtac and Asset World Corporation (AWC). Acquisitions, a three-year decline, digital disruption, COVID. Every new role was supposed to be easier. None of them were.We discussed how to lead teams in Thailand through change, and what actually holds a team together when the business is under pressure. Why Tesco told Lotus staff it bought the company because they were good, and changed almost nothing in year one. How an anonymous internal app at dtac, with a 48-hour response rule for the CEO and every C-level leader, showed her how her people actually felt. Why Nokia refused to call itself a family. And the question foreign leaders ask most: can Thai teams take direct feedback? If you're leading a team in Thailand through a tough stretch, this one is worth your time.ABOUT THE GUESTNardrerdee "GoonG" Arj-harnwongse is a people and transformation leader with three decades inside some of Thailand's largest companies. She was employee #30 at Lotus Supercenter and helped staff through the Tesco acquisition, then held HR leadership roles at Nokia and Unilever, where she led people strategy across multiple countries during a turnaround. She served as Chief People Officer at dtac for nearly eight years, and most recently as Chief People Officer at Asset World Corporation. She now sits on a board and advises business owners on leadership and change.ABOUT THE HOSTHosted by Scott Pressimone. Scott helps teams through change, from the inside. He has lived and worked in Bangkok since 2012 and is the founder of Fractiond.More about Scott: https://scottpressimone.com/about/CHAPTERS00:00 Meet Khun GoonG02:25 1997 Thailand Crisis at Lotus03:58 Handling Layoffs Humanely06:18 Tesco Acquisition Shift08:25 Culture Change Training10:55 Restructuring as a Career12:11 Unilever Turnaround Story15:59 Raising Engagement Fast19:07 What is Fractiond?20:08 Changes That Stick20:59 Anonymous Feedback Platform25:37 COVID Feedback Pulse26:14 Trust Through Transparency28:26 Implementing Agile32:25 Leading Change Resistance34:19 Nokia Employability Mindset36:50 Rolling Out AI Change41:43 Great Leaders Traits44:09 Feedback in Thai Culture48:22 Board Life and New Chapter51:08 Final Tips#LeadingThroughChange #WorkingInThailand #ThaiBusiness #ChangeManagement #LeadershipInThailand #BusinessInAsia #FractionalLeadership

Vic left Israel with his family after October 7th and is now three years into life on Koh Samui. He rebuilt from scratch with no local network and grew a SaaS to $90,000 a month, until his payment processor shut the whole category down and most of that revenue was gone in a day.We got into how he built it and what he took away from it. The parts of a business you don't control can end it, even when the product works and people are paying. Prove demand before you build. Know who your real customer actually is. And when anyone can build with AI, the audience is the hard part, which is why Vic now brings the people who own that trust in as partners instead of paying affiliates. He also talks about hitting $90K a month and feeling empty, and why he was already looking for the exit before the business got pulled out from under him.If you're building in Thailand or thinking about the move, this one's worth your time.ABOUT THE GUESTVic Levitin is an entrepreneur with two decades of building across e-commerce, SaaS, biotech, and AI. He founded CrazyLister, a design platform for eBay sellers that raised venture funding and passed $2M in ARR, and later led Diptera AI, a mosquito-control company now backed by the Gates Foundation. After moving from Israel to Koh Samui, he built an AI image platform for online creators to $90,000 a month. He now builds SaaS companies in partnership with domain experts across several industries.https://www.linkedin.com/in/viclevitin/https://www.viclevitin.com/https://dazy.ai/ABOUT THE HOSTHosted by Scott Pressimone. Scott helps teams through change, from the inside. He has lived and worked in Bangkok since 2012 and is the founder of Fractiond.More about Scott: https://scottpressimone.com/about/CHAPTERS00:00 Meet Vic02:33 Escape and Relocate03:30 First Year Struggles04:19 Why Koh Samui06:49 Visas and Legal Setup08:20 US LLC Playbook10:16 CrazyLister Origin Story13:31 Mosquito Tech Mission17:28 Rebuilding in Thailand18:58 Solar Business Reality Check24:46 AI Influencer SaaS Launch29:39 Validation Before Building33:11 Partnering for Distribution36:57 From 30K to 90K MRR38:31 Payments Rug Pull42:08 High Leverage Founder Work46:55 Meaning Beyond Money50:57 Closing#BuildingInThailand #SaaSFounder #ExpatEntrepreneur #WorkingInThailand #ThailandEntrepreneur #FractionalLeadership #BusinessInAsia

Event Details & Registrationhttps://www.scottpressimone.com/freedom-bkk/Steven McGinnes lives in Phuket, works from a sailboat, and has built the kind of life that looks effortless on LinkedIn. He's also one of the most honest people I've spoken with about what it actually costs to get there.That gap between the 4pm on the water and the 4am worrying about whether the invoice lands is exactly what this conversation is about. Steven spent his career in the creative agency world before going out on his own. He's watched enough people make the same avoidable mistakes to know which ones to flag early.We covered a lot of ground, but it kept returning to the same core tension: freedom and accountability scale together. The more of one you want, the more of the other you're signing up for. What most people making the jump from corporate underestimate is not the hustle. It's the invisible infrastructure they never had to think about. The vendor setup. The payment terms. The cash flow gap. The fact that 65% of business failures come not from a lack of clients, but from the timing of when money arrives versus when it goes out.We also got into the T-shaped skill set. You don't need to become an expert in finance or new business development or legal setup. You need to be competent enough that none of them kill you. And you need to start building your network before you desperately need it, because the people who wait until they're hungry are already too late.ABOUT THE GUESTSteven McGinnes is a Bangkok and Phuket-based independent operator and keynote speaker with a background in creative agency leadership across Asia. After building a career running client teams and regional creative operations, he went out on his own and has been working from Thailand ever since, with clients across Asia, the US, and beyond. He's co-organizing our upcoming June 26th event on making the jump from corporate to independent.https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenmcginnes/ABOUT THE HOSTHosted by Scott Pressimone. Scott helps teams through change, from the inside. He has lived and worked in Bangkok since 2012 and is the founder of Fractiond.More about Scott: https://scottpressimone.com/about/CHAPTERS00:00 Introduction00:47 Meet Steven03:23 Event in Bangkok05:04 Three Reasons to Go Solo07:27 Identity and Disappearing Roles09:50 T Shaped Skills for Founders15:14 Sales Discomfort and Accountability19:57 Passion vs Paid Market26:05 Unknown Unknowns and Admin27:07 Vendor Setup Headaches27:32 Cash Flow Payment Delays28:35 Founder Mindset Shift30:24 Is It Worth It32:10 Freedom Versus Accountability33:57 Job Security Illusion37:24 Working From Thailand39:31 Doing It Above Board43:09 Hidden Costs Unknowns46:44 Build Network Early48:04 Choosing Clients Saying No49:39 Workshop Format Follow Up53:02 Final Takeaways Closing#CorporateToEntrepreneur #GoingFractional #BangkokBusiness #WorkingInThailand #IndependentOperator #ThailandEntrepreneur #FractionalLeadership #BusinessInAsia

The most common question in every family-focused Thailand expat group is "what's the best school?" and it's the wrong place to start. I sat down with Donnah Ciempka, who spent five years as Head of School at Ascot International Bangkok, to work through what parents actually need to be thinking about, partly because I'm raising my own children here and I wanted the honest version.We covered a lot of ground, but most of it kept coming back to the same thing: families committing to a 10 to 20 million baht education investment without running the numbers all the way through. School fees in Thailand increase two to six percent every year, employer-covered packages have largely left the picture, and what looks manageable at age four looks very different at age 14. We talked about bilingual education, why it requires a longer commitment than most families plan for, and why the timing window is narrower than people realize. Technology came up too, both as a parenting challenge and as something specific to Thailand, where what's accessible on social media operates under different conditions than what parents from Australia or the UK are used to. The point that stayed with me was simpler: kids who have never heard no or had to push through something hard are not being set up for what's ahead, and it falls on parents to hold that line. If you are raising children in Bangkok, or about to relocate here with a family, these questions come around eventually. Better to have them early.ABOUT THE GUESTDonnah Ciempka served five years as Head of School at Ascot International School, a leading K-12 IB World School in Bangkok. She has spent over 17 years as an IB consultant and visiting team leader across Asia Pacific, and completed three years as President of the Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce (AustCham Thailand). Few people working in Bangkok's education space have her combination of in-school leadership and regional consulting experience.https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnah-ciempka-4a4b31b3/ABOUT THE HOSTHosted by Scott Pressimone. Scott helps teams through change, from the inside. He has lived and worked in Bangkok since 2012 and is the founder of Fractiond.More about Scott: https://scottpressimone.com/about/CHAPTERS00:00 Introduction02:15 Leaving Ascot04:21 Expat Life With Kids08:38 Choosing Your School Path12:34 University Pathways Planning14:47 Real Cost of Education25:05 Bilingual Schools27:41 Culture and Community29:26 Language Proficiency Stakes31:11 Tech in Education35:57 Device Rules at Home38:18 Online Safety in Thailand40:45 Attention and Addiction44:08 Preparing for Change46:50 Thai Values to Learn48:19 Find Your Tribe49:54 Closing#InternationalSchoolsBangkok #BilingualEducation #ExpatsInThailand #RaisingKidsAbroad #BusinessInThailand

What started as a conversation about Thailand's shifting tax environment with Bobby Casey turned into a full operational teardown of the most expensive structural mistakes location-independent entrepreneurs make. We cover the collapse of Hong Kong and Singapore as go-to nomad jurisdictions, why a Wyoming LLC is the correct default structure for non-US founders doing business in Thailand (and why most Americans set it up in a way that destroys their own privacy), the HoldCo structure that saves a $300K earner roughly $25,000 a year in self-employment tax, the bonafide residency test that most Americans living abroad have never heard of, and why California has a specific tax trap that follows you across borders even if you haven't set foot in the state in five years. If you are building a business while living or traveling in Southeast Asia, this is the conversation I wish existed when I first arrived in Bangkok in 2012.This video was NOT sponsored.About the Guest:Bobby Casey is the founder of Business Anywhere, an online platform serving location-independent entrepreneurs who need company registration, registered agent services, virtual mailboxes, banking solutions, bookkeeping, and tax consulting all in one place. He has built one of the most recognized compliance and tax optimization platforms in the digital nomad space, with a client base spanning dozens of countries and a content library of over 2,000 specialist articles. His practice focuses almost exclusively on the tax and structural realities of operating across multiple jurisdictions, and he has personally guided clients through some of the most complex cross-border compliance situations in the industry.https://businessanywhere.ioABOUT THE HOSTHosted by Scott Pressimone. Scott helps teams through change, from the inside. He has lived and worked in Bangkok since 2012 and is the founder of Fractiond.More about Scott: https://scottpressimone.com/about/Chapters:00:00 Introduction03:00 Thailand's Tax Crackdown06:14 Residency vs. Tax Residency08:06 Scott's Permanent Residency Story09:30 Stop Taking Advice From Facebook13:01 The Compliance Gray Scale14:44 Portugal, US LLCs and Tax Treaties17:03 Why Hong Kong and Singapore Are Dead22:05 The Seven-Figure Bank Account Trap24:02 Why a Wyoming LLC Wins26:19 When Simple Is Better27:48 The $300K American in Thailand31:49 The DIY LLC Privacy Mistake35:53 The HoldCo That Saves $25K a Year38:23 The German Nomad Simple Setup42:19 Why Paying Thai Tax Matters43:25 The California Tax Trap44:48 The Bona Fide Residency Test51:13 Final Mistakes and Oh Shit Moments57:37 How to Find Bobby Casey

High-level operators are burning out because they have lost the ability to switch off their nervous systems, and most of them do not even know it is happening. I wanted to understand the mechanics behind this, so I invited Stuart Wilson to break it down. Stuart left a high-stress financial career in Dubai, went through an ayahuasca reset in the Amazon, and eventually became Bangkok's leading certified breath work and cold exposure instructor.Our conversation goes far beyond wellness. We get into the real intersection of executive performance, lifestyle design, and entrepreneurship in Bangkok. Stuart walks through the neuroscience of chronic stress and why a holiday will not fix a default mode network that never shuts down. From there we move into the operational realities of building Breath Inspired from the ground up, including candid insights on navigating intellectual property theft in Thailand, why Stuart actively prefers hiring local Thai talent over foreign staff, and what it actually looks like to scale a cross-cultural business with a Thai co-founder.ABOUT THE GUESTStuart Wilson is the co-founder of Breath Inspired, an Advanced Wim Hof Method Instructor, and the only Oxygen Advantage Master Instructor in Asia. After experiencing burnout in Dubai's financial sector, he relocated to Bangkok to build the region's premier science-backed breath work and cold exposure community alongside his wife and co-founder, Kam.https://www.breathinspired.com/ABOUT THE HOSTHosted by Scott Pressimone. Scott helps teams through change, from the inside. He has lived and worked in Bangkok since 2012 and is the founder of Fractiond.More about Scott: https://scottpressimone.com/about/CHAPTERS00:00 - The Ice Bath Illusion05:01 - Burnout in Dubai09:36 - The Wim Hof Discovery13:20 - Default Mode Network23:20 - Building Breath Inspired35:12 - Copycats and True Fans48:13 - IP Theft in Thailand59:39 - Running a Cross-Cultural Business1:13:55 - Visas and Company Setup1:23:04 - The Hiring Mistake Expats Make#ExecutiveBurnout #DoingBusinessInThailand #WimHofMethod #BangkokBusiness #FractionalDirector

As foreign founders and corporate operators, we often assume that our successful global playbooks will seamlessly translate to the Thai market. The reality is that scaling operations here requires a deep, structural localization of our systems, our products, and our leadership style.In this episode, I sit down with Khun Chokdee Wisansing, former Chief Operating Officer and Chief People Officer for major conglomerates like KFC, AWC, and Central Group. We discuss the mechanics of bridging generational gaps, adapting global systems, and building high-trust, lean teams in Thailand.Core executive takeaways:• The global to local playbook: Why international giants like KFC succeed in Thailand by rigidly maintaining their world-class systems while completely adapting their product to the local palate and consumer behavior.• The 3 S framework of scaling: How to architect your strategy, system, and structure so that no single employee is bigger than the organization.• The talent retention trap: A Chief People Officer perspective on why job hopping for incremental salary bumps destroys long term executive influence, and how to successfully integrate new tech skills with senior leadership wisdom.• Demystifying Thai time: How to establish a high performance culture of punctuality, accountability, and mutual respect without aggressively clashing with local operational norms.Timestamps:00:00 Introduction03:49 Climbing the Ladder05:34 Why Job Hopping Fails08:01 Long Game Networking09:51 Systems People Mindset10:59 Strategy System Structure14:00 Clear Roles No Gray Areas17:43 Winning in Thailand17:57 Localizing Global Brands22:33 Thai Time and Respect27:19 Bridging Generations32:17 Respect And Learning33:18 Mentorship Through Coaching34:33 Stability In Uncertainty36:11 Lean Team Strategy39:20 Small Business Confidence43:01 Delivering And Trust44:06 Why Candy Crush47:34 Lead By Example49:34 Degrees Versus Skills53:11 Control Your Future55:57 Reach Out For Help58:03 ConclusionABOUT THE HOSTHosted by Scott Pressimone. Scott helps teams through change, from the inside. He has lived and worked in Bangkok since 2012 and is the founder of Fractiond.More about Scott: https://scottpressimone.com/about/Guest contact details:Khun Chokdee WisansingWebsite: http://www.candycrushthailand.comLinkedIn: Search "Chokdee Wisansing"

As foreign founders and corporate operators, we often underestimate the administrative friction of entering and scaling a team in the Thai market. The reality is that a competitive salary is just the baseline. The true cost of talent is hidden in the compliance.In this episode of Made it in Thailand, I sit down with Benjamin Hart, Managing Director at Integrity Legal, to discuss the operational realities of corporate structuring, foreign talent acquisition, and long-term residency in Thailand. We move past the surface-level advice and look at the actual mechanics of building a sustainable, compliant business in Thailand.Core Executive Takeaways:• The Hidden Sunk Costs of Talent: Why work permits, mandatory Thai staff ratios, and early burnout drastically shrink our operational runway.• The US Treaty of Amity Advantage: How American founders can leverage this agreement to secure 100% corporate ownership and bypass standard BOI oversight.• The DTV & LTR Corporate Trap: Why these highly publicized new visas carry hidden long-term compliance and residency risks for our executive teams.• The Thinking Backwards Framework: How to structure your local entities today to effortlessly survive the regulatory audits and PR applications of tomorrow.ABOUT THE HOSTHosted by Scott Pressimone. Scott helps teams through change, from the inside. He has lived and worked in Bangkok since 2012 and is the founder of Fractiond.More about Scott: https://scottpressimone.com/about/Timestamps:00:00 Introduction03:20 PR & Citizenship08:03 DTV & LTR Visa Risks15:58 Working From vs. In Thailand34:16 Currency Flows & Strategy44:52 US Treaty of Amity49:13 BOI vs. US Treaty of Amity51:19 Market Outlook55:09 The Suez Canal Shift59:43 Market Entry Advice01:02:49 Hidden Sunk Costs01:07:27 ConclusionGuest Contact Details:Benjamin Hart, Integrity [email protected]: +66 2-266-3698 USA Toll Free 1-877-231-7533http://www.integrity-legal.com/www.youtube.com/@UCO6aDpt9xRwgueZvwIsBpWg

Most business owners underestimate the operational complexity of scaling a digital brand. This interview with Thai entrepreneur Wasinee "New" Phonsri, founder of Thai Lessons by New, breaks down exactly how she grew her following to 150K and built an education platform with multiple revenue streams. She transitioned from a solo creator to a highly leveraged, lean business.Key Business Takeaways:• Scaling a Creator-Led Brand: Despite managing 150K followers across YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok, New remains the sole content creator. She breaks down her Eisenhower Matrix time-blocking system, content batching strategy, and how she leverages AI and a lean team (a business partner and PR support) to increase output without bloating payroll.• The Partnership Inflection Point: After operating entirely alone for two years, New realized she was the bottleneck. Hear the decision framework she used to evaluate bringing on a business partner, and how this team expansion filled specific operational gaps (cold ads, evergreen funnels, payment infrastructure) so she could focus purely on product and content.• Revenue Architecture & Passive Income Design: How New structured her business across four distinct revenue streams to create predictable monthly recurring revenue while maintaining ultimate operational flexibility.• Decoding Thai Talent (The Education System): As a Thai native who spent 12 years in Australia, New provides critical context for foreign executives managing Thai teams. She explains how local education impacts workplace communication, decision-making autonomy, and why Western-style management often requires cultural adjustments.• Market Positioning & Customer Segmentation: New's customer base skews heavily toward early-retired executives and former CEOs. Learn how she uses their feedback to iterate on scalable course offerings.Why This Matters for Foreign Executives in Thailand:If you are building or managing a team in Thailand, understanding cultural differences is critical. New's unique background (Thai academic foundation + over a decade in Western work cultures) gives her the perfect vantage point to explain how Thai professionals learn, adapt, and work. Furthermore, her transition from a solo hustle to a structured, lean operation is a masterclass for any founder looking to prioritize systems and leverage over raw headcount.Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction01:55 - YouTube vs Facebook02:25 - The Secret PhD04:40 - Why YouTube & Passive Income06:11 - Overcoming Camera Fear09:00 - Using Comments to Improve10:11 - Thai Education System14:56 - Learning Independence Early18:36 - Advice for Learning Thai21:41 - AI in Language Learning24:06 - Staying Adaptable with AI25:20 - Building a Scalable Business26:06 - Designing for Freedom28:00 - Why Keep 1-on-1 Lessons29:59 - Launching Patreon31:29 - Free Content Mission32:28 - Finding a Business Partner & Expanding the Team33:56 - Thinking Like a Company37:05 - Value-First Business41:59 - Time Management & Balance46:11 - Where to Find NewAbout the Guest:New holds a PhD in Chemistry and spent a decade in academic research before pivoting to digital education. She now runs Thai Lessons by New, an education business with nearly 150,000 followers. Her lean, creator-led business model combines free decentralized educational content with premium offerings, generating revenue through Patreon, self-paced courses, and 1-on-1 tutoring.ABOUT THE HOSTHosted by Scott Pressimone. Scott helps teams through change, from the inside. He has lived and worked in Bangkok since 2012 and is the founder of Fractiond.More about Scott: https://scottpressimone.com/about/#ThailandBusiness #CreatorEconomy #SEAsia #StartupThailand #BusinessScaling #MadeItInThailand