Banking on young shoulders
In an industr y of career climbers and where profit is king, GH Bank’s Chatchai Sirilai has gone against the grain.
Chatchai Sirilai is the ultimate GH Bank lifer — an anomaly in an industry where people frequently jump ship in order to advance their careers. Two decades with the bank has allowed him to learn the financial institution inside out. Mr Chatchai first came on board at the state- backed housing lender after earning a master’s degree that he was able to pursue thanks to a scholarship from the bank. He was appointed as president of GH Bank last year at the relatively young age of 45. That is no small feat considering the bank is one of the country’s largest mortgage lenders, with outstanding loans reaching nearly 1 trillion baht.
Despite GH Bank’s large mortgage portfolio, Mr Chatchai says the bank under his tutelage will be a financial institution serving as a bulwark for 10 million low- and middle-income earners who still have no secure residency. Q: How did you start working at GH Bank?
After I earned a master’s degree abroad, which was sponsored by the bank, I immediately began working at GH Bank. I have grown from the operational level, having never skipped a rung on the career ladder. I started my banking career in 1996 and have spent about two decades climbing to a top position. Some have said that it was too early for me to get where I am today, but they haven’t considered that I never took any shortcuts on my career path. I am quite lucky that I’ve been able to move from one stage of my career to the next as rapidly as I have. In my opinion, it is destiny that I’m working at GH Bank. My father passed away when I was young, placing a great burden on my mother, who was a civil servant earning just over 10,000 baht at that time. She was left alone to support her two children. When I was studying
As I am a lifer, I knew better than anyone what had to be done. CHATCHAI SIRILAI GH BANK PRESIDENT
at university, I had wanted to study abroad, but it was impossible because my family simply couldn’t afford it.
Shortly after I graduated with a bachelor’s degree, I changed my mind and thought that it would be worthwhile for me to pursue a master’s degree at a university in Bangkok.
Given that my home at the time was in Samrong, Samut Prakan, I fretted a lot over Bangkok’s notorious traffic jams. I then applied for a job at Panasonic, which was located just two bus stops from my home, so that I’d be able to save enough money to pursue a master’s degree at Chulalongkorn University.
Luckily, I one day got a letter from GH Bank inviting me to apply for its first-year overseas scholarship programme. The bank selected three of the seven applicants to study finance, economics and computer statistics, although the person who had been picked to study computer statistics turned down the offer because they wanted to study finance. It was a turning point for me, as I’d actually come in fourth place. But in the end I obtained the scholarship to study computer statistics.
My time studying abroad was no bed of roses, as my initial examination marks left much to be desired. But my mom encouraged me to continue studying for one semester, saying I could always come home later if things didn’t pan out. And as the first semester came and went, I ended up passing my exams.
I spent most of my life at that time studying in the laboratory. I woke up at 6am to go to the lab and left around 2am almost every day. After I graduated with a master’s degree, I returned to Thailand and visited GH Bank. I’d have to say it was a bit wanting, as only a handful of high-ranking executives acknowledged the scholarship scheme, while the president who had initiated the project had passed away. Q: What did you feel on the very first day when you assumed the role as GH Bank’s president? I couldn’t belief that I was president. During the first few days after taking over the post, I asked my secretary what was the idea behind being a president, and she replied: “Which president?” Q: How large was the pressure you faced as a young,top executive managing a large organisation like GH Bank? I acted somewhat indifferently, as I thought I had already reached the zenith of my career and didn’t think I’d ever move to work at another place. I thought I simply had to do my best and manage to meet my key performance indicators. As I am a lifer, I knew better than anyone what had to be done.
When it comes to pressure, I get stressed sometimes, but I’m quite familiar with that feeling. When it happens, I will stay home to do the sorts of things I did when I was young, like getting the house in order, pruning trees and watching fish. That tends to alleviate the pressure. But I am not, by nature, a stressed-out person, except when it comes to serious issues. Before, I felt some tension when my work was not finished, but about five years ago I managed to change my attitude in that regard, letting things go when I knew I’d already done the best I could.
After I took over the top job as a 40-something, it came with a lot of expectations. It’s normal that people would wonder whether I was having any management problems with older staff, although such issues can be addressed through communication.
It depends on how we talk. If it’s about work, then it should be about work, and nothing else. It’s also important that older employees don’t use language in meetings denoting they are my senior. But outside of meetings, then yes, you are certainly more senior than me. If these two spheres are not clearly separated, the organisation will turn into a mess.
Q: Whatisyourmanagementstyle?
Don’t lose time on paperwork and don’t waste time thinking about things you know will be rejected in practice. We should think and then act immediately. Don’t put everything down like you’re still in school, make adjustments, meeting again and again but not going anywhere. I’m not an impatient person, I just want to get to the point and not dance around the real matter at hand.
For instance, the bank’s officials who are brainstorming to create new projects should frequently discuss things with me. They should directly ask executives when they are uncertain and be certain they are on the right path to avoid wasting time. Q: What have been your most interesting working experiences? When I was in middle management, I worked out in detail every project for higher-ranking officers, grinding away until early in the morning. But then they would forgo deciding on whether to act on my proposals, making me question why they had let me waste so much time in the first place.
So upon reaching the top, I began providing an answer to all of my subordinates’ proposals within 24 hours of receiving them. I think if our subordinates are going to plug away every night, you are taking advantage of them if you don’t at least consider their ideas. Q: What is your view on GH Bank’s future? I think it must become larger. GH Bank’s role is to narrow social disparity. Without GH Bank, it would be difficult for those who don’t get an inheritance from their parents to own their own homes, as commercial banks aren’t interested in providing mortgages on houses priced from 300,000 to 1 million baht.
GH Bank is still essential for the country to provide security to low- and middle-income earners. But at the same time, it is necessary for the bank to indemnify itself and steer its way through tough economic times.
It was like a blessing from the government when Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak clearly stated that maximising profit is not GH Bank’s task. Loans for low- to middle-income earners make up 70% of the bank’s mortgage portfolio, with higher-income earners accounting for the rest. We need to lend to upper-income earners to competitively maintain market share and secure a strong position in the mortgage market. To be number one, a bank must have one-third of market share. We now control 29% of the mortgage market.
As it stands, a meagre 0.6% of the bank’s new mortgages extended for no more than one year turn sour.
Even though GH Bank is now strong enough to weather the economic storm, other challenges such as financial technology will be unavoidable over the next decade.
The banking business involves taking deposits and lending to borrowers. It cannot survive if people pour money into a fund that directly loans to borrowers. In my opinion, we must also separate IT into two parts — IT infrastructure and IT service. We must prioritise IT service to facilitate convenience for customers. Q: What is your guiding management principle? Top executives must use art in managing people and apply logical thinking when communicating. I have never forgotten the time when one of my professors abroad told me that other universities might teach you science, but here we teach you the art of science. And when it comes to solving advanced equations, one must apply art. Q: How do you measure your performance as president so far? I think my time has been successful. Rifts in the organisation have started to disappear, the bank’s staff are more keen on change, and several working processes have progressed rapidly.
I’ve tried to stress that nothing I’ve done was ever intended to hurt any one party. Everything I’ve done has been based on fair play and has been explained. I don’t take anything personally and I don’t have a hidden agenda. I had to spend three months making them understand this. It is part of the art of succeeding, as one cannot drive a car when the doors aren’t closed, the engine is falling apart and the tires are shredded. Q: How does housing loan demand look in the country? It’s high. Our country’s population is over 60 million. Roughly half of people of working age don’t have their own home. We must think what we can do to let these people secure a mortgage. Q: Could you please explain the bank’s financial literacy project to help people own their own home? We’ve found that many applicants for housing loans under the public-private collaborative scheme (Pracha Rat), entailing relaxed loan conditions for purchasing homes priced below 1.5 million baht, failed to secure them because they don’t have any idea how borrowing works, especially in regard to their personal banking history.
The project is not solely focused on training, but it allows the bank to keep records for potential borrowers and encourages them to have savings discipline by depositing 2,000 baht a month and have money regularly coming in and out of their accounts. As the project has only recently materialised, we will provide full support to further it this year.
For our staff, they need to change their mindsets because we have a smaller workforce than commercial banks and patience is required, as many borrowers do not have any financial knowledge.
To be fair, it’s not only difficult for those without any pre-existing knowledge to get their heads around borrowing: I remember how hard it was coming back from abroad and filling out loan applications. It was like trying to squeeze the entire world onto a onepage form. Q: What do you do in your spare time? I arrive at the office at 7am and return home around 9.30pm. I’m usually in bed by 10pm and I wake up at 6am. My hobby is going to the Klong Thom and Chatuchak markets to buy things that I want. Some new products are priced at 10,000 baht, but I can purchase the same things there for 6,000. I can spend the entire day roaming around a second-hand market. I once walked from 7pm to 4am at Klong Thom buying furniture and home decorative items.
Q: What is your life philosophy?
When I was young, my mother always taught me that we must accept that we all have limitations. If you have given your all and still cannot do something, then it simply cannot be done. That helps me avoid stress. Whenever you tell yourself that it must be done, that is the starting point of stress. I once told my mother that I had almost graduated with honours, but she replied that what is yours, it must be yours. When I grew up, I realised that what my mother taught me is the truth.
Q: How long do you plan to work?
I thought when I started working that I would retire when I turned 50. My tenure will end at 50 but I’ve never planned what I will do when my time is up. I think I will do something that is stress-free and doesn’t require me to manage large operations. I’ve seen people in my parent’s generation working hard their entire lives and only begin travelling when they are retired. But then they could not enjoy their travels due to health problems.
For me, I aim to travel and enjoy my life when my time at the bank concludes. Heath is the most crucial thing. I once woke up but could not get out of bed, so I thought about how much I would suffer if I ever became paralysed. This helped me remember that life is very much fragile.