Large corporations reach out to local communities in the battle against the 2011 Thai floods, Jinda Wedel finds
The latter half of 2011 saw Thais join forces to fight against flooding of historic proportions. The death toll of over 500 and damages estimated to be worth over two hundred billion baht shook the country to the core, prompting the private sector to step up its charity efforts to complement the government’s work. Numerous charity drives, fundraisers and volunteers from the corporate world are still working to help flood victims inside and outside Bangkok. At the same time, many large companies have used the floods as a way to further strengthen local community ties.
“We don’t call it a crisis, we consider it an opportunity,” says Thanakorn Kuptajit, acting CR director for Diageo Moet Hennessy. Diageo joined hands with Habitat for Humanity to fight the effects of the flood on two fronts: emergency response and long-term recovery from the floods. Their first step was to create Watermark, a programme to distribute water, boats and other crucially needed supplies to deluged Ayutthaya. 400 employees and customers worked together to prepare 3,000 emergency bags to distribute in flood-affected areas. The other part of Watermark focuses on the long-term picture, with Diageo assisting local governments’ vocational training programs to help those fleeing floods return to their homes. “I’m proud of what we do,” says Thanakorn. “Pride in what we do is one of the values Diageo imprints into every employee, on every level, and in every country.” The company also supported its own employees, providing temporary accommodation and clean water as well as essential equipment needed to return homes to habitable living conditions.
Some businesses are finding that enlightened self-interest can be beneficial to the company as well as the community. “Here, we trust that if the community is doing well, the business will do well, too,” says Prae Sunantaraks, the general manager of corporate social responsibility at Central Retail, a division of Central Group. When the flooding reached its worst, top executives called for an emergency meeting and granted 100 million baht in donations to aid flood victim. At the time, many of the stores had to be closed, including Central stores in Rangsit, Lardprao, Ramindra and Pinklao, along with Robinson at Rangsit, Ayutthaya, Ramindra and Rattanathibet. 3,500 of the company’s 20,000 employees were affected by the floods, suffering damage to their homes and cars. Nonetheless, executives felt that more could be done by the division, which led to the creation of the Lunch Box programme. The Lunch Box Centre was set up at CentralWorld, in the heart of Bangkok and over 1,600 volunteers cooked, packed and cleaned lunchboxes and delivered water supplies to flooded areas, with help from the Royal Thai Army. “I have learned that this major flooding may have paralysed the country and created unprecedented hardship, but it did not stop us from working together and helping each other,” Prae says.
Another mega-retail company, The Mall, also took the flooding crisis to heart. Besides donating millions of baht to relief organisations, The Mall Group organised One Heart, a project created in conjunction with the military. One Heart provides flood victims with temporary shelter, boats, life vests, tens of thousands of packs of food, and emergency supplies. Its most visible project has been the Emporium One Heart Volunteer Kitchen, aiming to “encourage aid both in the form of supplies and man hours, from Thais and expats in Sukhumvit”. The project saw Bangkok’s upper crust, including foreign ambassadors and celebrities, volunteering to prepare 2,000 meals a day for victims in Bangkok, more specifically, in Talingchan, Saimai, Don Muang as well as in Patumthani. Sponsors ranged from embassies and business alliances to major corporations such as Singha, Oishi and Bangkok Airways. Internal assistance was also on offer: beds, laundry facilities, consumables and childcare as well as psychiatric help were open for employees and their families to use, at no cost. Approximately 600 employees took advantage of The Mall’s help.
Standard Chartered took a similar approach, emphasising the provision of much-needed aid to its employees. This includes one-off cash support, flood relief loans with no interest, special house-cleaning packages and flexible working hours and special leave. Having operated in Thailand for over a century, Standard Chartered Bank considers itself as part of the Thai community. “We stand beside the country and its people in good and bad times,” says Napas Paorohitya, head of corporate affairs. “We are proud of our 118 year history in Thailand and our active assistance to our people and the community. This is the way we live out our brand’s promise, which is Here For Good.” Its staff and management also worked side by side in collaboration with the Liverpool Thailand fan club and the army to prepare hundreds of survival packs, to be distributed to difficult-to-reach areas such as Don Muang, showing that genuine commitment to the community comes not just in the form of cash, but time. Companies are providing assistance not only in cash but in creativity and personal effort, establishing themselves as true members of the Thai community. As far as these large companies are concerned, the days are numbered when the only form of community support was handing over a giant cheque in front of the cameras.
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