Ralph "Skip" Boyce
Honorary President
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Ralph Boyce was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 25, 2004 and sworn in as the United States Ambassador to Thailand on December 15, 2004.
Before this assignment, Mr. Boyce served as Ambassador to Indonesia from October 2001 to October 2004. Prior to that, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs from August 1998 to July 2001. His area of responsibility included Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.
Mr. Boyce entered the Foreign Service in 1976 and was assigned to Tehran as Staff Assistant to the Ambassador in September 1977. In September 1979 he was posted as Commercial Attaché in Tunis. In September 1981, he was assigned to Islamabad as Financial Economist.
From July 1984 to August 1988, Mr. Boyce served in the State Department, first as Special Assistant and then as Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of State, responsible for the foreign affairs budget. In August 1988, he was assigned to Bangkok, Thailand, as Political Counselor, where he served until August 1992, when he was transferred to Singapore as Deputy Chief of Mission. From June 1993 until September 1994, Mr. Boyce was Charge d'Affaires, a.i., in Singapore during the absence of an Ambassador. In October 1994, he returned to Bangkok as Deputy Chief of Mission, where he served until August 1998.
Mr. Boyce was born February 1, 1952, in Washington, D.C. He obtained a B.A. from George Washington University in 1974 and an M.P.A. from Princeton University in 1976. He speaks Persian, French, and Thai.
Paul Acito
President
Paul Acito is Managing Director for 3M Thailand. Paul has responsibility for 3M manufacturing, marketing and business operations for 3M Thailand.
Paul holds a BS degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology, an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Other board experience includes: Indiana University MBA Global Experience Academy (Chair); The Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul, MN, and; the 3M Arts Advisory Council.
W. Charles Blocker
Vice President
W. Charles (Charlie) Blocker is Senior Vice President and Director of Corporate Finance for Gannon International, Ltd, based in St. Louis, MO. Charlie directs the financing and corporate development activities for Gannon's Realty, Technology and Pacific groups. He is also Managing Director of The Gannon Realty (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Gannon is engaged in several mixed-use projects in Bangkok's central business district. GRT is also active in commercial real estate and infrastructure within greater Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He has been on the AMCHAM board since June 2004.
Prior to joining Gannon, Charlie served as Chairman and CEO of Asian Trade Alliance, Inc. (ATA Group) which merged with Gannon International, Ltd. in January, 1999. From June 1984 through June 1997, he was with The Wachovia Corporation, a financial services company, as a Senior Banker and Vice President leading Wachovia's corporate finance and banking efforts in Virginia.
Charlie earned his Bachelor degree in Economics from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia in 1984, and a Masters of Business Administration from The Kenan-Flagler Business School at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1992. He has also studied at the London School of Economics and is a Trustee of The Kenan Institute Asia. He is married to Shannon with a daughter, Catherine and son, Mark.
Christopher E. Knight
Vice President
Counsel to Pacific Marketing & Entertainment Group (PMEG). Prior to joining PMEG, Christopher was with PricewaterhouseCoopers and manager for Andersen Legal, head of its Technology and Intellectual Property practice in Thailand.
A native of Los Angeles, Christopher has worked in the California banking industry where his responsibilities included internal auditing. After obtaining his Juris Doctorate, he worked with law firms in Hong Kong and Thailand. His practice focuses on Corporate, International Trade and Intellectual Property matters with an industry emphasis in Entertainment & Media, Technology and Financial Services.
Christopher has been active on the Tax & Legislation Committee for AMCHAM Thailand since 2001, and has also served on the Board of Directors for the Singapore-Thai Chamber of Commerce. He belongs to several professional organizations including the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers, the Computer Law Association; the International Trademark Association; and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy.
Christopher has been based in Bangkok for over seven years. His family’s history in Thailand began in 1947 when his uncle worked as director and chief pilot for one of the Kingdom’s first commercial international airlines, Trans Asiatic Airlines (Siam) Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Manila based Trans-Asiatic Airlines Inc.
Thomas White
Vice President
Thomas White is the Executive Vice President & General Manager of AIA Thailand. Previous to working at AIA, Mr. White held numerous positions including: President & CEO, Prudential Plc, AIU Southeast Asian Region Vice President and AIU Southeast Asian Region Manager, Territorial Manager for the state of Indiana, Allstate and Marketing and Sales positions at AllState.
Tom holds a Bachelor of Arts from Northeastern University.
Daniel E. Lyons
Treasurer
Daniel E. Lyons is Chairman and Managing director of Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited and ExxonMobil Limited.
With a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Vassar College and a master’s degree in Business Administration in Finance from the University of Chicago, Dan has worked in a variety of assignments in ExxonMobil for more than 15 years. During 1995 – 2000, he worked for Esso Thailand in several assignments in Finance, Economics and Planning. Most recently, before being appointed to his current post in Bangkok, he was the Finance Team Manager at ExxonMobil Development Company, based in London. Prior to joining ExxonMobil, Dan spent several years in the US Army stationed in Germany.
Dan is a member of Petroleum Institute of Thailand Council of Trustees, a member of Thailand Business Council for Sustainable Development, and Treasurer and Board of Directors of Thailand-U.S. Educational Foundation.
Dan and his wife, Elaine, have 2 daughters.
James Yarbrough
Secretary
James G. Yarbrough is Director, International Business Development for Transpo International Ltd.
Jim, a 25-year veteran in the international moving, freight forwarding, and warehousing industries, returned to Bangkok in 1998 to become the Country Manager of Brink’s Thailand. Jim served in this capacity for seven years before returning to Transpo International, Brink’s joint venture partner.
Jim is a graduate of the University of Southern California and Master’s program at UCLA. After university Jim spent several years as an USAF B-52D pilot during the Vietnam conflict era.
Jim has lived and worked overseas since 1973. He managed and owned warehousing and forwarding companies in Panama, Thailand, Indonesia, and the U.S. In 1983 he moved to Asia, dividing his time between Bangkok and Jakarta.
Jim is an avid sportsman. His sports are basketball, racquetball, golf, and martial arts. His passion is coaching kids’ sports. Jim has three children.
Jim is active on the OSAC/Security Committee, Transportation Committee, and Community Projects Committee. He is currently the Chairman of the Executive Committee and Director of Operation Smile Thailand. This organization provides free surgeries to children with facial deformities. Jim has also been a Rotarian for 25 years while living in Panama, the U.S., and in Thailand.
Brenda S. Bence
Governor
Founder and Managing Director of BDA International Ltd. a Bangkok-based firm which specializes in helping business clients and individuals build successful, growth-oriented corporate and personal brands. BDA International’s clients are located throughout the world, but primarily across Asia, Europe, and the U.S.
Prior to starting up BDA International in 2002, Brenda held the position of Vice President International Marketing for Bristol-Myers Squibb's Consumer Division - Mead Johnson - where she oversaw the marketing and branding of all dozens of brands in 46 countries located throughout the world. Prior to that, Brenda held key marketing positions for Procter & Gamble on three different continents - in the U.S., in Eastern Europe, and in Asia - where she helped contribute to the growth of many of P&G's most well-known brands such as Tide, Ariel, Pantene, Vidal Sassoon, Head & Shoulders, and Rejoice.
In her 25-year career, Brenda has trained, consulted and lectured extensively throughout the world. She speaks regularly at corporations, conventions and conferences on a variety of marketing- and branding-related topics. She has authored a book on Personal Branding which will be launched in January 2008.
Brenda has been active in AMCHAM in a number of capacities, including founding Chair of AMCHAM's Marketing Committee which was started up in 2004. Brenda has held many leadership positions within numerous community and outreach organizations in Thailand.
Brenda received her MBA from Harvard Business School and has an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from her undergraduate alma mater, Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Kriengkrai Bhuvanij
Governor
Kriengkrai Bhuvanij serves as IBM Thailand's Government Programs Executive where he is responsible for government policy on standards, intellectual prroperty rights, innovation, market access, tax & legal, enterprise issues, human resources, and government relations.
Previous IBM, Kriengkrai held executive positions in the telecommunication field including sales and marketing, business development, technical solution, engineering, and business sector management.
Kriengkrai received a Master Degrees in Management from Sasin, a MBA from Chulalongkorn University, Computer Engineering from University of Southern California. He also holds bachelor degrees in Electronic Engineering (President Honor) from Northrop University, and Electrical Engineering from Kasetsart University.
Stephen W. Green
Governor
Stephen (Steve) Green is Chevron Corporation’s Managing Director and CEO, Asia South Business Unit. In addition to Thailand, the unit has operations in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam. Mr. Green has primary responsibility for all upstream energy operations in those areas, including overseeing new oil and gas project developments, oil and gas pipelines, gas marketing and corporate functions for Chevron’s Asia South region. Prior to the merger of Unocal Corporation and Chevron, he was Unocal’s Vice President, International Energy Operations, North ASEAN Region and CEO, Unocal Thailand, Ltd.
Steve holds a BS degree from the College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, which he received in 1980. He also completed the Stanford Executive Program, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University in 2003. He has previously served as a member of the Board of Directors, Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas, and also as a Board Member of the Asia Society, Texas Center. He has served on the AMCHAM Board of Governors since 2004 and President in 2005 and 2006. .
On a personal note, Mr. Green is married to Cathy, and they have two sons, Jeff and Tyler.
Pornlert Lattanan
Governor
President & National Executive, General Electric Thailand. Khun Pornlert joined GE in June 2002 as the General Manager in charge of the Business Development and was appointed to his current position in June 2003. Khun Pornlert served as vice-president on the AMCHAM Board of Governors from 2004-2006.
Prior to GE, he held the top management position at the oldest local English newspaper, and a long career in the financial sector including eleven years assignment for a Thai Bank in England and Germany. His previous directorship includes a member of the Board of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the Association of Securities Company of Thailand, Sub-Committee for Financial Services of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Financial Management Group of the Thai Management Association (TMA).
He earned his BS in Engineering from Chulalongkorn University, MBA in Finance and Marketing from Columbia Business School, and an executive program (PMD) at Harvard Business School. He is currently a fellow member of the Thai Institute of Directors and an executive committee member of the Harvard Club of Thailand.
He is married to Khun Rinthan, a former Marketing & PR Director of Samitivej Hospital and now a Board member of Saeng Sawang Foundation. They have two sons.
Arunagiri Manikam
Governor
Arunagiri (Giri) Manikam is Malaysian. With more than 28 years of manufacturing experience, he has worked for multinationals including Monsanto, Union Carbide, Allied – Signals and Mattel. He has worked in Malaysia, Indonesia has been in Thailand for the last 7 years as Vice-President of Mattel Bangkok, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc., the largest toy manufacturer in the world.
Giri graduated from the University of Singapore with a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering. He earned his MBA at the Heriot – Watt University in Edinburgh.
He has Advanced Management Program training from the University of Michigan, University of California, LA and Thunderbird- the Garvin School of International Management in Phoenix.
MATTEL Bangkok is actively involved in getting grants from the MATTEL Foundation for AMCHAM’s Community Projects Committee programs.
Gary Newman
Governor
Gary Newman is currently Citigroup Country Officer for Citibank in Thailand and Managing Director and Head of Corporate and Investment Banking. Prior to this assignment he was Citigroup Country Officer for Citigroup New Zealand.
Gary previously served as Chairman of the AMCHAM Business Economics Cmte and was elected of the Board of Directors of Foreign Banks’ Association in November 2005.
Gary began his career at Citi in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1994 as Chief Dealer and Head of Balance Sheet Management. In 1996, he transferred to London with Global Transaction Services, initially as European and then Global Product Manager for the Liquidity Management product set.
In 2002, Gary moved to Australia as head of the Financial Institutions and Public Sector group for Australia and New Zealand and became Citigroup Country Office for New Zealand in August 2003.
Prior to joining Citi, Gary spent 13 years with the ANZ Bank, lastly as the Chief Dealer Domestic Markets, Wellington, New Zealand. He was raised in Dunedin and now lives in Bangkok with his wife and two children. Gary is a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and a Certified New Zealand Investment Professional.
Natasak Rodjanapiches
Governor
Natasak Rodjanapiches is Regional Managing Director for the ASEAN region, in Oracle Corporation’s Asia Pacific Division.
In this role, Natasak is responsible for leading the country management teams in the ASEAN countries of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia, as well as in the South Asia Growth Economies (SAGE) region – covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
In addition to this, Natasak continues to lead the operations of Oracle Thailand as Managing Director. In this role, he is responsible for managing the company’s operations and activities in Thailand, including long-term business development, customer care, as well as government and community relations.
Natasak joined Oracle Thailand as Managing Director in 1997.
Prior to Oracle, he was Regional Director for Tandem’s Thailand, Vietnam and Laos operations. He has also worked with Bell Canada and Price Waterhouse in various management and operation roles.
Natasak holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Computer Sciences from McGill University, Canada, and a Master of Science degree in Management Information Systems from the Universtiy of Waterloo, Canada.
David Washenfelder
Governor
David Washenfelder is a Partner in Baker & McKenzie's corporate and commercial law practice group, where he has practiced since joining Baker & McKenzie in the year 2000. David’s areas of specialty include Mergers & Acquisitions; Media & Entertainment, Corporate & Commercial, and Hotel & Resort related transactions. Prior to Baker & McKenzie, David practiced corporate, litigation and bankruptcy law in Houston, Texas.
David is admitted to the State Bar of Texas and the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts, Southern District of Texas. He is an active AMCHAM participant since moving to Bangkok in 2000.
Eric Wilson
Governor
Eric Wilson is General Manager – Thailand for United Airlines. He is the primary and official company representative and is responsible for all passenger sales and marketing activities in Thailand.
Before being appointed General Manager, he held the position of Regional Manager-International and Regulatory Affairs at United’s world headquarters in suburban Chicago. Wilson was responsible for monitoring civil aviation bilateral developments and regulatory matters affecting United’s operations in the Asia-Pacific region. He served as a communications link between the U.S. departments of State and Transportation and the airlines.
Eric joined United in 1993 as a Customer Service Representative at O’Hare International airport in Chicago. He has held a variety of positions in the company and has more than 10 years experience in passenger and cargo sales and business development. From 1998-2000, Mr. Wilson served as United’s Passenger and Cargo Sales Manager in Shanghai.
Eric earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, with a double-major in Chinese history and East Asian studies and a minor in Japanese. He is married with two children, Sera and Alan.