Thailand’s Technological Groundbreaker
Technological Groundbreaker, Juthasree Kuvinichkul has managed to revolutionize the hierarchy of the Thai social structure. Unknowingly, she has started a new emergence of the working middle-class, through the introduction of Grab Taxi. A mobile technology business that allows anyone to have a second income through earning opportunities from single mom’s to managerial lay-offs all the way to retirees.
his new class structured society has progressed from growing urbanization, bureaucratization and social mobility that spans a polarized 180° spectrum. Perhaps once a Bank Manager, facing an economic downturn, was forced by a premature lay-off. Finding himself waiting for the next best offer, he decides to use his asset (the car) to earn money. Thai class divisions puts a public transport driver just barely above domestic help. Yet to meet a Grab driver whose grasp on the Thai economy from a banker’s point of view, is astonishingly accurate, not only makes the traffic bearable but stimulating and thought provoking for an interested passenger. Hence the emergence of the new middle class, erasing the stereo-typical third world mind-set into the beginnings of equality and modernistic culture.
Viewed from the other side, the emergence of Grab Taxi allows a stress free, unburdened finance, plus bothersome task of complying with transport enforcement issues. In a nutshell, it takes away the societal pressure and cultural values of status symbols (a fancy car) that denotes success in life; the ability to cut out stress related car-parking issues, petrol guzzling problems, bi-annual vehicle service plus insurance requirements that delivers the passenger safely to his destination brings about another development of equality in society.
This young Harvard graduate, Juthasree, also known as June, is a product of business leaders. The young entrepreneur, besides her developmental success, is a fast thinker, talker and doer. Keeping up with her requires full concentration, delivering the right comebacks, akin to a jogger keeping speed with a marathon runner. June is certainly not the rich kid sitting on her laurels but someone who is the product of today’s entrepreneurial start- ups measured by global standards. Her family business of Aluminum ensured her a springboard to jump into a higher business stratosphere that would normally take a longer period to succeed.
Continually looking for new enterprises, her next conquest is in Financial Technology. June has now technologically transformed the money changer business and started YouTrip. Revolutionizing currency exchange fees and service charges that are tied to credit cards when vacationing abroad is now Juthasree’s answer to budget conscious travelers. Launching in Bangkok in November 2019. YouTrip is a mobile financial platform offering multi-currency mobile wallet. YouTrip Mastercard supports payments in over 150 different currencies worldwide with no fees and at wholesale exchange rates. It basically replaces your trip to the money changer.
If you are a perpetrator of judging a person within 5 minutes of meeting; June’s soft spoken, lack of armor, a clean openness to the sharp edges of business transactions, you will have judged her incorrectly. For despite her good looks, charming personality lies beneath a sharp intellect that would leave her opponent still sipping his congratulatory champagne, while she defies the speed of light and grasps onto the next conquest.
What makes her happy? Without hesitation, she confidently says, “The chance to make others happy and leave behind a legacy for a higher purpose. Life is short and so to leave an impact that is truly contributing to a bigger cause.”
Special Thanks to Nai Lert Heritage Home
