By Pichaya Changsorn
The Nation
Published on November 13, 2009
Founder's sons mark the beginning of a new chapter in leading music firm
It may be coincidental, but in Thai fah mai means "new era". That is the name of the eldest son of GMM Grammy's founder and major shareholder, Paiboon Damrongchaitham, and Fahmai is setting his sights on opening a new chapter for Thailand's largest music company.
Although Paiboon, 60, says he has no plans to retire anytime soon, many Grammy staff speak of a mood of change at the 27-year-old company. Much of it has to do with the founder's two eldest sons. Fahmai has worked for a year at Grammy and his younger brother, Rafah, joined only a month ago.
In an interview with The Nation, Fahmai, 23, said he now saw his father almost every day at work and was taking part in the company's strategic meetings every Monday, at which Paiboon and the firm's top management discussed immediate and longer-term issues facing the company.
As well as learning the broader aspects of the company's operations, he has taken on a "micro role" by talking to the company's artist managers about their responsibilities. Each artist manager handles a full cycle of responsibility, from recruiting artists to promoting their performances.
Outside of work, the Damrongchaitham family has a long-standing tradition of going out together for a meal at a restaurant every Saturday.
"Now Father adds to that. Every Sunday, we have to eat together once more, at our home," Fahmai said.
As well as his two sons, who are both communications graduates from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Paiboon has two daughters: Ingfah, who is in her first year of liberal-arts studies at Japan's Waseda University; and Fahchai, who is attending an international school in Bangkok.
Fahmai said he chose to begin working as a marketing officer for the firm's music business, which is headed by chief operating officer Krit Thomas, because music was the "upstream" part of the company's operations, and it generated content for Grammy's various other businesses. His brother Rafah is now under the close supervision of Suwat Damrongchaitham, Paiboon's nephew, who is in charge of the digital business, physical distribution and music compilations.
Fahmai said he had not found it difficult to blend in with the company's people and fit in to its work environment, because Grammy had no hierarchical work layers. Plus most staff had been with the firm for a long time, and he already knew many of them well.
"I was running around and playing at Grammy when I was a kid. I was folding cassette-tape covers when I was still at elementary school. I have always been keen to be around here. I have been breathing entertainment in my daily life," said Fahmai, whose hobby until recently was playing drums with his band.
Taking a young and fresh look at the company, Fahmai said he would personally like Grammy to embrace many more music genres, because various new media channels had sprung up, making it feasible for the firm to offer a greater choice to music lovers. This would also make it easier for the firm to expand into foreign markets.
He said that before going to study in the US, like most other Thai teenagers he knew and liked only the "mainstream" music genres, such as rock, pop and jazz. But after being exposed to a more diverse musical culture in the US, he became very fond of electronic music, although he still clung to his enthusiasm for mainstream styles.
Anticipating the growth of electronic music in Thailand, Fahmai has successfully convinced Grammy to test the ground with his "Mashroom" project. The first show will feature a deejay from Northern Europe: Marcus Schossow. It will be held next Friday at Maya, a new club in Sukhumvit Soi 55 (Soi Thonglor) in Bangkok.
And what if the first project fails? Fahmai was blunt: "So you don't make it fail."
He said his father often offered him advice on both life and work. There is one tip from Paiboon that Fahmai has adopted as a work principle. That is it requires four elements to accomplish something: determination, planning and thinking out a strategy, diligence and persistence.
"The fourth one is the most difficult for me. For example, my father has exercised each evening for about 20 years," he said.
Furthermore, Paiboon has always taught his children to be observant.
"When we're driving by a billboard, Father will ask what we see, and if we were to do it by ourselves, how could we do it better? It's mind training," Fahmai said.
At present, Fahmai is scouting around for new artists for Grammy that he would like to groom and promote by himself. He is also learning to play the piano.
pichaya@nationgroup.com
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/30116621/'New-Era'-dawns-at-GMM-Grammy
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