Ensuring the MahaSamutr Country Club’s trademark Crystal Blue Lagoon stays blue is just one of the responsibilities of the man in charge.
That person is the Head of Business Development and Director of Operations, Khun Veeranat Limprasutr or Khun Pé as his friends call him. If the somewhat sparkling blue clarity of the lagoon’s waters is any indication, he’s doing a fantastic job; just bring your sunglasses! We found Khun Pé looking somewhat perplexed as he strolled along the dockside which extends onto the lagoon waters to accommodate the various wind, man or electric-powered marine craft.
He recently discovered a very small crab which then escaped and disappeared. The very clean and pristine fresh (not salt or chlorineladen) waters will inevitably lead to the crab’s demise and there’s definitely no marine animals allowed in this lagoon. But the question about how this solitary creature arrived in the lagoon remains. Our best bet was that someone was playing a small though bad taste joke. Khun Pé has been an important PACE Development Corporation PLC executive for several years. His previous positions have included being the Vice President of Business Development of the company.
His resumé shows over 24 years’ experience in executive hospitality management including positions as the General Manager of Mercure Group properties.
He was responsible for the introduction of the introduction to the Amata Spring Country Club (Chonburi) of the Thailand Golf Championship in 2011. However Khun Pé is not a golfer, even with Banyan Golf Club being a favourite with MahaSamutr Members and just 5 kilometres up the road.
Apart from time constraints, he describes a deliberate decision to stay away from the game. This was based on a view that golf would become a distraction to his job focus which would lead to compromised performances both on the course and at the workplace. Perhaps that’s my problem! With construction, engineering and infrastructure experts take care of their roles on-site, Khun Pé has a focus on membership. Private club membership with an almost exclusive access to the many and varied activities is a familiar concept as Amata Spring is also an exclusive private club, albeit very different in nature to MahaSamutr. There are now over 200 memberships sold (that’s over 500 people) who are eagerly awaiting the project’s completion in 2018. That’s one of the challenges of his role. Membership benefits will remain intangible until then.
However there are plenty of signs of things to come apart from the lagoon and the villas already completed and open for inspection. The multi-storey building which will contain restaurants, bars, gym, kid’s club, spa, games room, cinema and accommodation suites is under construction. There will even be an Olympic sized indoor swimming pool which Khun Pé says will help members stay dry when it’s raining! The intangible will soon be very real. Despite the escaped renegade crab, Khun Pé is clearly enjoying being such an important part of MahaSamutr’s progress to completion. He’s well aware that the Country Club is already the talk of the town in Bangkok and wider afield amongst those who are “in the know”. By the way, it’s worth noting the spelling of the name Khun Pé; the French accent (é) lets you know the correct pronunciation which should sound like ‘Pay’. More information at www.mahasamutr.com
