SUPPORTING THE TEAM
The half of a husband-wife duo, Jeerapat Yamsri’s business is all about spirit — and furry creatures
Jeerapat Yamsri had just returned from Singapore for a family vacation over the New Year holidays with her family, her phone full of photographs of mascots from Universal Studios — close-ups of their feet, Shrek’s butt, a Minion’s goggles, a few pictures of her three children with the gang from Sesame Street.
Following the New Year festivities, Mascotthai, the company she and her husband started, must deliver more than 100 mascot orders this month alone because of Children’s Day — the orders date back to October. The company was recently named Thailand’s Best Online Retailer by the Department of Industrial Promotion.
In 1994, fresh out of vocational school with nothing to do and no work experience, Jeerapat saw a future in her husband’s work. He was an artist, employed creating mascot outfits for another company. She began flipping through the yellow pages, calling up companies and setting up appointments. She brought photos of various mascot costumes with her and left behind her name card. It took six months for her to find their first client, but she was committed.
“Back then, people thought of only amusement parks when you talk about mascots. No one was doing it then,” she says.
The company started with the couple as its sole employees. Jeerapat, 41, now works with four other women in the office and over 40 other employees, all trained by her husband. The company serves many large corporate clients and individuals. Mascotthai is responsible for the Barbigon of BarBQ Plaza and the various characters, from Ben10 to the Powerpuff Girls, at the Cartoon Network Amazone in Pattaya. It rents out 200 costumes to the Dhammakaya Temple twice a year for children’s meditation events. The costumes range from generic animals to water filters to condoms. “They are all weird,” says Jeerapat. Mascotthai has received orders to make or rent out costumes to be worn as a surprise for marriage proposals or even to beg for forgiveness. Once, a man wanted an Incredible Hulk costume for his girlfriend’s graduation ceremony.