Ravee Chairungsinand

Ravee’s compassionate heart reveals itself in his Pranburi farm venture in a number of ways. The plot of nearly 32 rai which Ravee purchased in 2010 has been developed into a model of sustainability as taught by King Rama IX, although this was not Ravee’s initial intention.  It was the birth of his children which spurred Ravee to look to the future and to imagine the possibilities the land had to provide for the needs of the local community.  Visitors to the farm, often in large groups, have an opportunity to learn skills they can take away with them, as well as admiring the deer and the peacocks and bagging up the freshly harvested produce that can be taken from the market stall without payment. Ravee has built community around the farm, as neighbours now often take what they need but add excess items or produce of their own, creating a neighbourhood exchange. In addition, Ravee and the farm have become a “go-to centre” for learning about solar cell technology.  A number of community groups and businesses refer those interested in learning to the farm, and Ravee gives freely of his time and expertise without a second thought.  He has been known to drive from Bangkok and back in the one day, just to sort out someone’s issues. Local farmers have been delighted to learn from Ravee that an investment of as little as 7,000 baht will get them a solar powered water pump system, with minimal ongoing cost.  Volunteering and educating are integral parts of this multi-talented and multi-faceted man.

Although he was born just a few hours’ drive away in Bangkok, Ravee didn’t visit Hua Hin until after he had graduated from school, some 30 years ago. The youngest of three children, with an elder brother and sister, Ravee had a happy childhood.  His father worked as a government employee with the Electoral Commission while his mother worked as the head maid in a hotel, while investing in the stock market as a side interest, modelling to her children that women could be independent and savvy with money. Ravee still finds his happy memories in the family home today, as he did as a boy, making sukiyaki and steamed buns at home and watching television as a family. Today, however, some wine drinking and Netflix would be involved as well.

At school, Ravee often sat at the back of the classroom, and didn’t pay much attention to the lesson. It was studying at home, and with the help of a tutor, that saw him achieve the grades and test scores required for entry to Kasetsart University, where he studied Business Administration. This set Ravee up well for the entrepreneurial business style he now practices. His first job after university was in the music industry where he had responsibility for promoting artists and organising events. When this job ended, Ravee moved into promotions with a shopping mall, but this also didn’t satisfy him for too long either. 

Ravee deliberately placed himself outside his comfort zone, and moved to the USA to seek his fortune.  He worked in diverse jobs in restaurants in the evenings and studied during the day time: construction, computing, event planning – almost anything to quench his thirst for knowledge. Working seven days a week, over a period of 5 years of living frugally, Ravee was able to send enough money back to Thailand to have amassed a portfolio of eight properties by the time he returned. Buying and auctioning, constantly building equity, is how Ravee managed to set himself up for the business ventures he undertakes today.

Throughout his life, Ravee’s mantra has been “Just do it”, which is his exhortation to himself to keep living in the present moment. He still has many diverse projects on the go at one time, so it is fortunate that he is able to multitask.  Ravee even carries more than one mobile phone with him at all times.

Twelve years ago, with an infant son, Ravee moved his family of three from the bustle of Bangkok to Hua Hin because of its good weather and small-town feel, while still providing all the necessary services and facilities. Furthermore, Ravee instinctively knew that Hua Hin had plenty of business opportunities to discover and exploit. A year or so later, the family grew to four with the birth of Ravee and Natt’s second son.

While he has business interests in many provinces of Thailand and so is frequently travelling, Ravee is now investing a great deal of time into the home-schooling of his sons.  Gao, the younger of the pair, is an athletic, sporty type who loves most physical pursuits and shows particular talent for distance running, having taken 2nd place in the under 19-years age group of the 10-kilometre race of the Road to Give 2023 event. Poi, Ravee’s elder son, showed talent in snowboarding some 5 years ago, at the age of 8, so much so that Ravee took him for an intensive 2 months’ training in Japan, wondering if he could become a Thai champion in the sport.  A champion snowboarder, a Thai? The movie “Cool Runnings” sprang to mind.  It appears this ambition has now been outgrown, but Ravee is mentoring Poi in numerous other areas of interest.

Ravee leases out dormitory rooms, 27 in fact, some single, some double, to university students in Bangkok.  The dormitory manager has a busy job, reading electricity meters, issuing invoices, answering calls about minor faults and repairs, and making arrangements for them to be carried out, or sometimes carrying out the simpler ones himself.  Little do these young tenants know that the manager is Poi, just 13 years old, who handles all these responsibilities himself. Ravee is there as a safety-net, but Poi is encouraged to problem-solve himself if at all possible.  Ravee also proudly recounted his pride when Poi earnt his first pay packet of 200 baht at the age of just 10 years old by completing an online graphic design task.  Unable to use the phone without giving away his age, the whole transaction was completed online, but payment had to be made into his dad’s bank account as Poi was too young to be able to open one of his own. Poi is now engaged in a joint venture with his mum, a jewellery design business called Vera9gems. It seems the business gene is strong in Poi as well.  A few years from now he may well become the first teenage interviewee for the Humans of Hua Hin series.

Besides all the projects mentioned above, Ravee ran a Japanese restaurant in Bangkok for a few years prior to its demise at the hands of Covid-19.  Ravee looks back on times 3 years ago, before we were all impacted by the pandemic, as possibly the best times of his life. Japan is dear to Ravee’s heart; he loves its cleanliness and the unwavering honesty he experienced from its people. Ravee was able to recover a wallet inadvertently left in a restaurant, untouched, still full of cash.

Ravee’s latest passion is property development.  Although he is not averse to making a profit, and certainly abhors seeing anyone of his staff of 20 wasting materials, Ravee is also motivated by his social conscience.  His development, Como Hill, which saw the display unit ready at the end of 2023, is a development of 38 single storey townhouse units off Soi 94, less than 4 kilometres from the town centre.  The target market for these 2-bedroom/1- bathroom homes of 90 square metres plus car space, with an asking price of 1.7 million baht, is the local Thai community, which has been priced out of the condominium market in recent times by foreign purchasers. It is one further example of Ravee perceiving a business opportunity which will benefit the community as well as himself.

Happiness and a good life for all around him, his employees, co-workers, friends and family, is Ravee’s greatest hope for the future.  He will be relaxing with friends over a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or two, in Bangkok for a few days each month, since friends have been known to refer to him as “the sommelier”. Indeed, the ten-year plan may well see Ravee open his own winery. Ravee is going to continue his pursuit of knowledge and innovation, admiring the fact that Elon Musk remains undeterred by his many nay-sayers, who didn’t believe he could keep landing and reusing booster engines to get payloads into Earth orbit much more economically. And Ravee will keep his mind open to future possibilities, understanding that the world will continue to keep changing in ways we currently can’t predict. He is equipping his sons to face and embrace their future, whatever it may hold, and looks forward to many more challenges and many more years at the heart of his family.