A renowned bishop once said: “Everywhere a greater joy is preceded by a greater suffering”.
President PMI Thailand Chapter
Our journey this year has been both challenging and rewarding. All strenuous efforts to prepare for our “One Day Event in Project Management” on May 11 have been realized after witnessing an influx of more than 85 participants into our Event Ballroom. What a great sense of accomplishment for all of us and what a great sense of self-fulfillment. This is the joy of volunteering – the joy of giving back to the community.
Our journey has not ended. We have a lot to endure and therefore ample more opportunities for self-fulfillment and much greater joy. We are planning a “One Day Training Event on Agile Project Management” on August 3 and another “One Day Workshop on Setting up a Project Management Office (PMO)” scheduled September 28. Both opportunities entitle Chapter members to PDUs or Contact Hours for either PMP Certification renewal or PMP (or PMI-ACP) Certification qualification. Again, such opportunities are also open to all other professionals interested in pursuing careers in Project Management or related. Our volunteer efforts together with your supportive participation both contribute towards minimizing cost of individual attendance at these or future events. Hence please make every effort possible to attend and support our initiatives.
What else is the PMI Thailand Chapter up to this year? As some of you may know, when the PMI Thailand Chapter was founded in 2001, it was registered as a Company incorporated as a “Corporation” under the laws of the Kingdom of Thailand. While the Chapter is and has always operated as a non-profit organization having no permanent or part-time staff, we find ourselves limited by certain constraints (legal and operational) applicable to standard for-profit corporations in Thailand. This imposes various types of challenges specifically financial and operational. It is therefore essential we register the Chapter as a non-profit Association because that only reflects the true nature of our operations. We have therefore revised our Bylaws to reflect those of a non-profit Association and we are currently preparing all documentation necessary for such application with the Thailand government. We hope such process should end within the 4th quarter of this year.
We have also recently introduced the Chapter Guest Pass Program. This program implies we’re able to sponsor a maximum of 20 professionals who are interested in registering as members in our Chapter for FREE. As a PMI Thailand Chapter member, you are entitled to more privileges specifically substantial discounts (on fees) at our organized training events and activities. Basically, it’s a win-win situation for all: our Chapter’s membership and contribution to the community improves and at the same time you receive ample opportunities for networking and training at a discount. Join us if you have not already done so.
If you are our frequent Website visitor, you would have noticed all pages are currently available in both English and Thai languages. We have been focused on such implementation for a few months now and we are very grateful to a few volunteer Thai project managers who have helped in the translation. Most of the main elements on our site have been translated but we still have lots of content, which will require more volunteers from our Thai membership community. We have therefore instituted two volunteer committees chartered by the PMI Thailand Chapter Board to handle two necessary areas: content translation and content editing/contribution. Both committees’ objectives are currently published on our site and if you think you can contribute by joining any of these committees, please feel free to contact us.
Finally, I’d like to thank all of you for believing in our mission and objectives and for participating in our organized events and activities. I’d also like to specifically thank our ‘translation’ and ‘content contribution’ volunteers for setting aside time to give back to the Project Management profession. We truly value your efforts and hard work and we look forward to a time when we all can celebrate our Chapter’s eventual success in Thailand.
PMI Thailand Chapter is a non-profit association set up in Thailand since 2001 to help promote the adoption and practice of standard project management methodologies across public and private organizations in Thailand.
Dr. Petros Rigas is President of PMI Thailand Chapter and co-founding partner for Project Victor Co., Ltd, a project management training and consulting services firm based in Thailand.
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