Anne Montgomery meets the man behind South East Asia’s largest motor show – Khun Jaturont Komolmis

In his Bangkok office Khun Jaturont is surrounded by memorabilia of events, trophies, matchbox cars, religious icons and business calendars, and each is regarded with equal importance. As the Senior Vice-President of Thailand’s premier automative publisher and event organiser, Grand Prix International Co Ltd, horsepower from behind the wheel is his game and daily occupation. A sur­prisingly quiet and modest man, spending time chatting with Khun Jaturont reveals one unexpected surprise after another.

Cars and trucks is one industry that is still very much a man’s world…and many men aspire from an early age of playing with toy  cars  to working with cars and tires. It can be  an  endless conversation amongst people across the globe, but few actually pursue it. Just over twenty years ago  Khun  Jaturont was pursuing his dream of studying in America and it was there that he saw the first car he wanted to own.

“My  weekends  as  a  university  student were  spent  driving  a Volkswagen  pizza delivery  van  around  the  Hollywood neighbourhood. I knew every address of our customers, and  then one day a new address came in but with no name. I was curious  about  this  new  customer,  so took  the  order  to  the  house  and  when the  door  opened  I  said  “Oh my God!” and the man said, “No, I am not God, but do you know who I really am?’ ‘You are Tom Cruise, I saw you in the movies last week!”’

That particular pizza delivery was made the week after Top Gun had been released and Tom Cruise had become one of Khun Jaturont’s idols, so when Tom invited Khun Jaturont to sit with him on his doorstep that day and chat while Tom enjoyed his pizza, the foreign student from the University of Cali­fornia was probably the happiest man in Hollywood at that time.

From then on, when Tom Cruise ordered a pizza, he also requested his pre­ferred delivery boy, Khun Jaturont, and they would talk about the two places in Thailand that Tom was familiar with – Chiang Mai and Phuket. In the driveway of that Hollywood mansion was Tom’s car – no doubt one of many – but it was a silver Mercedes SLR sports car that caught Khun Jaturont’s eye…and one day he wanted one too, just like his Top Gun hero.

Over twenty years later, he has 14 cars in his Bangkok garage. When I asked him how he decides on a daily basis which one he would like to drive, in between sipping on his carrot juice he explains, “It depends on the occasion, if I am going  to a party, around  town with clients,  upcountry  or of-road” and adds with a gleam in his eye, “but the Mercedes SLR is still my favourite.”

Born and raised in Chiang Mai, Khun Jaturont still regards that part of the country his home due  to a  love of  the mountains, climate and culture, as well as claiming  it  has  the  best  roads  on  and  of  the tarmac. Khun Jaturont is the only person in Thailand certifed by the German associated TUV to test-drive of-road vehicles. “Every  year  I  have  to  travel  to Germany to renew this  license and keep up to date with technology. It isn’t just a one time exam and a qualification for life, the car industry is constantly evolving and it is important to ensure safety comes first with every development of technology,” he explains.

As the organiser of Southeast Asia’s biggest motor show the behind-the­scenes activity keep him busy all year round. Khun Jaturont takes a con­scientious and mindful approach to his role as an ambassador of the car industry in Thailand, and part of that role involves lobbying with authorities and government bodies to ensure safety standards are complied with, that trading in Thailand is made ever-friendlier for the manufacturers and importers and he tells me of his long battle with local minds to make people aware of ‘green driving’.

“Five years ago I started to hold seminars for 500+ people about environmentally friendly topics related to the car industry, and to get people to turn up I had to offer gift incentives. Today, people are willingly attending these events, wanting to learn more and it is finally a battle that I am beginning to make some headway with. Lobbying to make changes doesn’t always make you popular, but this is one topic I am proud to say has started to receive acceptance and for the motor show this year in March I have succeeded in getting all car­makers to provide daily seminars relating to ‘Green Driving’.

Twenty years ago when Khun Jaturont joined the Bangkok motor show team, he was the driving force behind raising the bar of the Bangkok show to become recognised and ap­proved by OICA – the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, which was founded in Paris in 1919. It is known as the “Organisation Internationale des Con­structeurs d’Automobiles” (OICA) and its membership comprises of 42 national trade as­sociations around the world.

This year, the Bangkok International Motor Show is one of only two international motor shows permitted to sell concept cars during the event, and adding “Green Life on Wheels” to this year’s theme marks another landmark which Khun Jaturont hopes will be a memo­rable one and the start of yet more great things to come.