Thaicom awarded Corporate Social Responsibility Award at Via Satellite Excellence Awards
Washington DC, United States, and Nonthaburi, Thailand, March 23, 2015 – Thaicom, one of Asia’s leading satellite operators, has been presented with the Corporate Social Responsibility Award at this year’s Via Satellite Excellence Awards.
Awarded during SATELLITE 2015, the honor recognizes Thaicom’s commitment to sustainable development that benefits both business and society as a whole. This includes a number of projects it has spearheaded across the Asia-Pacific region, positively affecting the communities involved.
One such initiative is the “Thai Kids, Thaicom” project. Thaicom was the first operator to provide distance learning via satellite in Thailand, creating opportunities for underprivileged children and people in remote parts of Thailand.
Today, Thaicom’s "Thai Kids, Thaicom" project plays an important part in the education of about 600,000 school children by donating and installing satellite dishes and receivers to 3,000 schools across the country.
Suphajee Suthumpun, Thaicom’s CEO, said: “Thaicom has been recognized for one of our most important core values; our responsibility to serve and improve the communities around us. Receiving recognition from a prestigious title like Via Satellite is a great endorsement of everyone’s hard work and dedication to such excellent causes.”
The award also recognized Thaicom’s ability to respond to crises. Thaicom provided assistance after numerous disasters, such as the devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami in 2011 and both the China and Christchurch earthquakes among others. When Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in November 2013, Thaicom provided satellite communications and instigated a support network among various business partners. It sent experts to install communications equipment for use by victims and officials in the affected areas. THAICOM 4 (IPSTAR), a high throughput satellite, provided critical services such as Internet and telephone communications in the disaster zones. Thaicom continues to commit to being there for any future disasters in its service area.
Via Satellite’s annual Excellence Awards ceremony salutes the innovative companies, technologies, campaigns and people who’ve helped shape the success of the global satellite industry. The Corporate Social Responsibility Award in particular recognizes the company with a proven record in developing and managing the most powerful, impactful social or environmental responsibility program.
Winners of the 2015 Excellence Awards were selected by the Excellence Awards committee, made up of editors and other members of the Satellite Executive of the Year Committee.
