AWC is listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and is a subsidiary of the Thai Charoen Company (TCC) Group (the “Group”), one of the largest conglomerates in Thailand. The Sponsors of TCC, Khun Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi and his wife Khunying Wanna Sirivadhanabhakdi founded the Group in 1976, its core business at the time in beverages, and what is now Thai Beverage PCL. The Group has since expanded into real estate, retail, insurance and agriculture, and has a large asset base and diversified interests in Thailand, Singapore and the Mekong region.

Total Project Cost is estimated at US$282 million. IFC’s proposed investment to the Company consists of IFC A Loan of up to THB 4,500 million (equivalent of US$137 million), to be disbursed in THB.

 The refurbishments and new construction activities comprising the Project will be located in key tourism hubs throughout Thailand including Bangkok, Hua Hin, Koh Samui and Chiang Mai.

Job Creation: IFC expects the Project to create 1,500 direct jobs for the two new hotels as well as indirect jobs in the hotel’s supply chain and related linkages such as taxi companies and tour guides It is expected that about half of direct jobs related will be female employment.

Local suppliers of goods and services will benefit from demand for more and better quality products and services that allow for greater value added, in line with the Thailand’s objective to move toward a higher value tourism product. Close to 100% of AWC suppliers are domestic.

Employee training will be provided to hotel employees including essential skill and knowledge areas such as culinary, rooms operation and purchasing, as well as other discipline specific skills in finance, HR, IT, loss prevention, marketing and sales.  AWC and its hotel operators are also committed to developing managerial staff by upskilling its employees, and the mobility of these employees to progress in the services sector.

Sourcing: Thailand’s hotel supply chain is made up of many small and medium size enterprises (including small manufacturing companies and smallholder farmers linked to the hotel food and beverage and procurement value chain. AWC has worked with local suppliers to improve the quality to meet the standards of the renown global hotel operators such as Marriott, Le Meridien, Hilton and Sheraton

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability because a limited number of specific environmental and social impacts may result which can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to generally recognized performance standards, guidelines or design criteria.