Y&R hires Dr. Ketchayong Skowratananont as chief executive officer for Y&R Thailand

Y&R has appointed Dr. Ketchayong Skowratananont (Dr. Lek), as chief executive officer for Y&R Thailand. He takes over agency leadership from Sanjay Bhasin, who left the company last year.

Skowratananont (pictured left) brings with him more than 20 years’ experience in business development, marketing, sales and customer relationship management, most recently as chief commercial officer of Thai Smile Airways, the subsidiary of Thai Airways, a role which he held for two years.

A loyal client of Y&R for more than a decade, Skowratananont worked closely with the agency during his 15 years at DTAC, Thailand’s second largest mobile phone provider, most recently as chief executive officer for the company’s subsidiary, Paysbuy, Thailand’s first online payment platform. Prior to this, he was head of DTAC’s prepaid business unit Happy Brand, where he was responsible for growing the company’s market share from 29per cent to 34per cent and increasing the company’s prepaid subscribers from 10 million to 22 million in 5 years.

Skowratananont is the first CEO for Y&R Thailand to come from a non-agency background, and will report to Chris Foster, Regional President, Y&R Asia.

Foster, said, “Having Dr. Lek onboard is a big win for us. Not only is he a dynamic leader with big ideas, but he also brings with him a plethora of valuable experience; is well respected and connected, and has a deep understanding of the market. Dr. Lek also understands our business; how we operate and the challenges we face.

“We set out to find a less traditional agency head who would bring real value to our clients and feel that we have found our answer in Dr. Lek,” added Foster.