Joseph Kiernan - President
Director, M&A APAC, MEWS Managing Director, Frontdesk Hospitality (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

    Joe Kiernan is the President of the Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce (ITCC), bringing extensive leadership experience from his global career in technology and hospitality.

    Prior to relocating to Bangkok in 2019, Joe spent 17 years in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, where he ran a successful technology consulting firm and later founded Frontdesk Anywhere, a pioneering cloud-based property management system for independent hotels. Under his leadership, Frontdesk Anywhere expanded with offices in San Francisco, Orlando, Belgrade, Singapore, and Bangkok, serving customers in over 34 countries. The company was acquired by Mews, a global leader in hospitality technology.

    Today, Joe works with Mews Ventures, the mergers and acquisitions arm of Mews, where he focuses on growing the company's presence across the Asia-Pacific region.

     Joe’s commitment to fostering Irish business and cultural connections abroad includes his tenure as a founding board member and past president of the Irish Network Bay Area (INBA), established in 2008 with support from the Irish Government. INBA has been instrumental in building a vibrant, inclusive Irish-led professional business community in San Francisco and the broader Bay Area.

     Additionally, Joe was a founding executive board member of Irish Network USA (IN-USA), the national umbrella organization uniting 21 city-based Irish Networks across the U.S. IN-USA’s mission is to bolster business opportunities and economic development between the U.S. and Ireland, promote Irish arts, culture, and sports, and serve as a vital resource for Irish immigrants and their communities.

     As President of ITCC, Joe is dedicated to strengthening the Chamber’s role as a hub for business collaboration and cultural exchange between Ireland and Thailand, while expanding opportunities for members to connect, grow, and thrive in the Asia-Pacific region.

Paul Scales – Vice President
Director, Thai Consumer Distribution Co., Ltd.

    Paul Scales is a Chartered Surveyor and Vice President of The Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce. He is a graduate in Real Estate of DIT and has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts from Trinity College Dublin. He is a former director and currently an advisor to the Board of Trade of Thailand. Paul is an active board member of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand and a former board member of the British Chamber of Commerce in Thailand.

    Paul has been living and working in Thailand since 1989. He has founded numerous companies in Thailand, including Jones Lang Wootton (now JLL) where he was an international board Director, Real Estate Access Thailand Ltd and Thai Consumer Distribution Co Ltd, where he is currently a director and shareholder.

Dr Hugh O’Connell – Vice President
Managing Director, ICDL Thailand Company Limited

    Dr. Hugh O’Connell is managing director of ICDL Thailand. He has been resident in Thailand for over 25 years and has a background in education and training. Hugh works closely with the Thai Government to promote digital literacy in Thailand and align digital skills with the Thailand 4.0 initiative. As a result, in late 2016 ICDL programmes were the first digital literacy qualifications to be mapped to the Thai Qualifications framework, and are now being implemented within both the public and private sector. In addition to working with ICDL, Hugh teaches at a number of universities at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. He is currently vice president of the Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce and actively works to promote mutually beneficial links between Ireland and Thailand.

Conor Bracken - President
Chief Executive Officer, Andovar (Thailand) Co., Ltd

    Conor Bracken is the founder and CEO of Andovar Pte Ltd, a global IT services company with offices on 4 continents. He is recognized within the industry as a pioneer in the separation of production centers and client-facing services.

    He is also the founder and CEO of LeadSniper, a lead generation service based in Singapore, Thailand and India.

    Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Conor has been resident in Thailand for 31 years and speaks and reads Thai. He is a founding director of the Irish-Thai Chamber of Commerce and has also previously served on the board of the St. Patrick’s Society of Thailand for three years.

John A. Campbell - Director
Project Manager, Foster Wheeler (Thailand) Limited

    Originally from Derry, John holds a BEng in Chemical Engineering from Loughborough University of Technology and a MBA from Manchester Business School. He has spent over 20 years in Thailand with the engineering and construction company, Foster Wheeler (Thailand) Limited, a Wood group company, working in the oil, gas and chemicals sector on local and international projects. He is a Fellow of the UK Institute of Chemical Engineers.

    John has been involved in the Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce for over 10 years. He is President and Founder of the Bangkok-based Thai GAA club (2007) and was the chairman of the organising committees for 2009, 2017 and 2018 Asian Gaelic Games, and the 2012, 2015 and 2016 South Asian Games.

    Through his role in the Energy sector John is excited by the opportunities and challenges presented by energy transition, decarbonisation and the road to net-zero.

    While appearances on the football field are limited these days, John’s spare time is usually spent with his kids and sometimes on the golf course!

Eoin O’Kelly - Director
Founder, The Blarney Stone Bangkok

    Prior to moving to Bangkok full time in 2010, Eoin had spent ten years in the USA in Hotel management for the Omni Hotel group in Cincinnati, working in the food and beverage side, taking care of their One Michelin Star restaurant ‘Orchids’, and overseeing the running of their extensive banquet department. While in the USA Eoin also took time to open a line of Irish Pubs and restaurants in the mid-west, promoting everything Irish throughout the calendar year.

    Returning home to Limerick in 2000 to open ‘Nevilles Cross Inn’ pub and restaurant in Adare. In 2003 Eoin’s first venture to Thailand commenced, where he was involved in the development of the Tara Court Hotel and O’Gara’s bar & Grill in Pattaya. Once again promoting Irish music and food and beverage.

    In 2010 Eoin decided to move full time to Thailand, getting involved with the Irish community early with the St. Patrick’s Society and now has been on the committee for the last four years. Organising the yearly Emerald Ball for the St.Patrick’s day celebrations and working closely together with the Irish Embassy to support Irish acts coming to Thailand. Eoin also organised the Irish Christmas Concert in 2020 which highlighted great Irish and local acts all for charity, supported by the Embassy of Ireland and Culture Ireland.

    Over the years, Eoin has also managed Irish Pubs & Restaurants in Bangkok and in 2020 opened his own establishment ‘The Blarney Stone’ on Soi 4, where he hopes to spread the Irish charm, folklore and craic.

Victor Allen - Director
Co-Founder, Tinman Thailand Co., Ltd.

    Vic is a 33-year recruitment industry veteran of which 31 years have been spent in Asia working in Hong Kong, China and Thailand. He started his career as a teacher at Wellington College, a prestigious boys school in Wellington New Zealand, where he ended up as Head of the General Science Department. He left teaching in 1990 and joined a small recruitment company in New Zealand. Vic moved to Hong Kong in 1992 and has been living in Asia ever since. He established his first recruitment business in Thailand in 2002. That business is still running and focuses on recruitment within the manufacturing industries.

    Vic’s latest venture, where he is a founding Partner, is a Student Employability Platform called Tinman. Tinman utilizes internationally recognized interests, skills & personality assessments to accurately match students to opportunities in the workforce. Formal training in the use of psychometric testing helped Vic identify enormous potential in its application in recruitment. In 2019 he led an exploratory project validating psychological testing for mass recruitment in the gig economy. That experience and knowledge gained form the foundation of Tinman’s core ideas and approach.

Gareth Winter - Director
General Manager, Aviation Technical Consultants (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

    Gareth is a highly experienced aviation professional with a career spanning nearly four decades. He started in the aviation industry in 1988 joining British Airways. This opportunity allowed Gareth to gain experience and develop an understanding of the industry.

    Throughout his career, Gareth has had the privilege of working with several other major airlines, including Air New Zealand, KLM, Kuwait Airways and Lufthansa. These positions provided him with diverse perspectives and insights into different aviation practices, further honing his expertise.

    Currently holding Part-66 Aircraft Maintenance Licenses for Airbus and Boeing Aircraft, with multiple National Aviation Authorities: UK -CAA, Irish Aviation Authority, NZ-CAA and also the Department of Civil Aviation - Kuwait.

    In 2008, Gareth made a significant move to the Kingdom of Thailand, marking an exciting new chapter in his professional and personal life, with new opportunities within the aviation sector, which were embraced wholeheartedly.

    Beyond his professional endeavors, Gareth is blessed with a loving family. He is married, and with his wife, together they have a wonderful son.

    Since 2020, Gareth has held the position of General Manager with Aviation Technical Consultants (Thailand) Co. Ltd., overseeing the company’s operations, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality aviation technical consulting services to all their clients. Working extensively out of Suvarnabhumi (BKK/VTBD), Don Muang (DMK/VTBD), and U-Tapoa (UTP/VTDU) airports with Leasing Companies and local airlines, to provide Technical Asset Inspections along with Technical Records Reviews, plus Technical & Commercial Support Services. The most recent long-term projects being with AERGO (UKEF) and Avolon.

Keith McGovern - Director
Director – Head of Project Management, CBRE (Thailand) Limited.

    Keith is a Dublin-born Irishman with an educational background in Mechanical Engineering and Quantity Surveying. He started his career working for a semi-state energy company and left Irish shores in 2011 to pursue work in Australia. After working on mining and gas projects in Australia for a number of years, he moved to the Kingdom of Thailand to work as a Quantity Surveyor and Construction Services Lead with AECOM Thailand. Subsequent to that, he joined CBRE Thailand as Director and Head of Project Management, where he is currently working and enjoying his life in the Kingdom.

    Keith is happily married to a Thai national and benefits from assimilating to the local culture and keeping a close group of Thai friends. In his free time from work, he enjoys socializing, networking, playing golf, and tennis. When not doing any of the aforementioned, his favorite pastime is traveling both in Thailand and overseas. In particular, they look forward to their regular trips back home to Ireland, 2-3 times a year, with his wife, who is an Irish Permanent Resident.

Ploi Phayakvichien - Director
Associate Director, KPMG Phoomchai Business Advisory Ltd.

    Ploi Phayakvichien is currently an Associate Director with KPMG in Thailand, a financial services company providing audit, tax, legal and consulting services to both international and local clients within Thailand. Her role in Business Development for KPMG has her working with numerous tech companies, helping provide technical solutions to clients and allowing her to be highly networked within the many industries in Thailand. Moreover, she has over 10 years of experience in integrated marketing communication, Ploi brings with her in-depth experience in providing communication and branding solutions with business-oriented results. She has worked in a variety of sectors, including direct selling, retail, engineering and finance.

    Married to Ross Conlon, an Irishman and the CEO of Siemens Ltd. Thailand, she is well-networked within the Irish community in Thailand.

Danny McCafferty – Adviser

    The early part of my life was spent in Portmarnock, County Dublin. After the completion of five years at Terenure College Dublin 6, I decided to pursue a career in the hotel industry and applied for a place at The Shannon School of Hotel Administration. I was interviewed but rejected and then applied for a place at Westminster Kingsway College of Hospitality & Culinary Arts in London W1.I was accepted eighteen months later.

    During the waiting period in Dublin i first took a job as a door to door salesman which was an eyeopener & later was accepted at the five star Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin then a Trust House Forte Hotel (THF) in a trainee role as a Kitchen Clerk & part time Restaurant Cashier in The Saddle Room. I was next transferred to another THF International Hotel in Killarney as a Commis Chef for four months. At that period of time (THF) was one of the largest hotel companies in the world. Next stop was a stint at The Lansdowne Hotel on Merrion Road in a multi task role followed by a position as a trainee with the first IHC Intercontinental in Ireland the legendary Intercontinental Dublin where i spent time on the Front Desk, Night Audit & the F&B Cost Control Department. Thereafter I headed to London to complete the two year Diploma course in hotel administration at Westminster Kingsway.

    After the completion of the HND management course I joined the THF London Division for a one year period at the Grosvenor House Park Lane in the Rooms Division followed by a number of Middle Management positions at the Excelsior London Heathrow a 655 room hotel ( since demolished ) with 6 restaurants & extensive Conference & Banqueting facilities. I also spent one year with The 250 room Excelsior Manchester Airport returning to London to become Director of F&B & Deputy Manager of The five star Hyde Park hotel for one & a half years, now The Mandarin Oriental London. I always wanted to work in the Middle & Far East & took the position of Executive Assistant Manager at The Gulf Hotel in Bahrain for the middle east experience & the Sales & Marketing opportunities it presented. After 18 months I was approached & hired by the Mandarin Oriental Group HK to become the Resident Manager of the then top award winning Oriental Bangkok. After 20 months the Head Office of Mandarin Oriental requested me to take over the General Manager position of the 504 room Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta Indonesia where I managed for 5 years thereafter returning to Thailand as General Manager Dusit Thani Bangkok flagship of the Dusit Group where I stayed for 10 years.

    Next I joined as VP & GM of Audley Asia ( now The Dorchester Collection ) the hotel management division of the Brunei Investment Agency BIA owners of hotel properties in Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei , Bali and the famous Dorchester Hotel in London & other top hotels in Europe and the USA.. I was based in Singapore originally & the owner's representative for the two owned properties there, The Grand Hyatt & The Royal Plaza on Scotts. I also was the GM of the 400 room Nusa Dua Resort Hotel & Convention Centre, Bali. & assisted with the opening of The Empire Hotel & Convention Centre in Brunei for the APEC Conference presided over by then US President Clinton. I suggested the BIA change the name Audley to The Dorchester Group. They did but made it the Dorchester Collection. I was with the company for 10 years before returning to join Dusit once again based in Bangkok as a VP/GM for a further 4 years.

    Finally I joined Centara Hotels & Resorts as a Regional Director & GM of Centara Reserve Koh Samui & have completed my two year contract.already.

    I speak fair French, good Indonesian & poor Thai. Have over the years guest lectured in some of the top hospitality management colleges in Asia .including ABAC & Dusit Thani College Have attended 7 summer courses over two summers in class at Cornell University College of Hotel Administration Ithaca NY state

    Numerous management development courses provided by the companies I have worked for. In recent times i have done some consultancy work in The Maldives,Indonesia & Cambodia

Maria Clancy MSc. - Adviser

    As an executive coach & design thinking practitioner, Maria works with mid-career professionals across South East Asia and Europe. She delivers her programmes in her one:one private practice and within organisations.

    Through her coaching career, Maria has worked extensively across sectors including: technology, retail, international non-governmental organisations, design, consultancy and communications. Her clients span the spectrum from mid-level management to C-suite executives. Drawing on her extensive and far-reaching experience in front-runner sustainability and social change businesses and organisations, Maria has a particular focus on businesses that are building their ESG and Sustainability programmes.