The other day, FBT’s deputy chairman and managing director Phaveena Chokephaibulkit and her son Monchai were in town to pledge their support to Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose Cojuangco Jr. They were accompanied by Sonia Trading’s Kay Sham and Anil Buxani, who represent FBT in the country, to confer with Cojuangco, POC secretary-general Steve Hontiveros and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) commissioner Richie Garcia at the Philsoc office in the Philippine International Convention Center off Roxas Boulevard.
The FBT package includes four boxing rings-two each for muay and boxing-70 to 100 pairs of boxing gloves, pads, punching bags, headgear, attire for liaison officials and 2,000 T-shirts for the dancers who are performing in the opening ceremony.
"If there is a way we can help the organizers by saving money, we will do it," said the 34-year-old Monchai, FBT’s deputy managing director. "We are quite impressed by Philsoc’s efficiency and I’m sure that will go through the organization of the Games."
Monchai said his father Kamol, now 74, started the company in 1952.
"My father migrated to Thailand from China when he was 15," related Monchai who is in charge of sales and marketing. "He never had formal education. He was homeless and lived in a temple until he was 21. To earn a living, he repaired shoes by the roadside in Bangkok. Once, a foreigner stopped by and asked if he could fix a broken soccer ball. At the time, the only footballs in the market were imported and very expensive. My father looked at it, studied it and fixed it. Later, he borrowed 1,000 baht (the equivalent of P1,360 at current value) from a friend to buy some leather and tools to start making footballs."
Monchai said his father repaired shoes by day and sewed up footballs by night.
Eventually, Monchai’s father decided to set up a small enterprise with two to three workers making balls by hand. That enterprise is now FBT which employs 2,700 people, operates a 100,000 square-meter factory 45 minutes by car from central Bangkok, produces sports equipment (over 200 products, including basketballs, soccer shoes and badminton rackets), has its own clothing line and grosses about $30 million a year.
FBT supplies distributors with products all over Thailand as a wholesaler and also owns six retail outlets.
As FBT chairman, Monchai’s father reports for work everyday, mainly checking on the quality of the work in the factory. Monchai’s mother, who took up dressmaking, started FBT’s clothing line and at 55, is active in the family business, too. The Chokephaibulkit children-all six of them-are involved in FBT. One takes care of finance and legal affairs, another is focused on purchasing and accounting and still another is on top of imports and exports.
"My father continues to push us for growth and over the past 15 years, our growth has been phenomenal," said Monchai. "We’re not just a Thai brand now. We’ve become a Southeast Asian brand because FBT products are sold in Malaysia and Singapore. We’ve also penetrated the Myanmar and Cambodia markets. We produce balls for other brands and they’re distributed all over the world. We hope to establish a presence in the Philippines soon and we leave it up to our partners, Sonia Trading, to decide which of our products to market."
FBT has supported Thai athletes in the Olympics, Asian Games and SEA Games the last 12years. When Thailand’s boxers captured gold medals in the last three Olympics, they were in FBT outfits.
"We’ve actually been sponsoring Thai athletes the last 30 years," said Monchai. "We sponsor 12 of Thailand’s 42 sports associations. But when it comes to Thai athletes competing internationally, we outfit all of them. Our clothing line is quite successful and that’s because of the quality of our material, our designs and our stitching."
Monchai said since his father never went to class and his mother only finished primary school, his parents provided their children with quality education. Monchai, for instance, was only eight when he was sent to an English boarding school. He finished high school in England then enrolled in Thailand’s Chulalungkorn University where he earned a Master’s degree in business. A sister went to medical school in the US and is back in Thailand as a doctor.
FBT is a success story that not only makes Thais proud but all Asians, too. Philsoc has found a solid partner in FBT.
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