L ittee The details in success
Scan Inter managing director Littee Kitpipit reveals his pathway into the energy business.
Kitpipit, who heads the SET-listed Scan Inter Plc, a natural gas trader and operator of compressed natural gas (CNG) stations, attributes his success in running the family business to his father.
“I learned a lot from my father. From him I got my fundamental values, the key and foundation to doing business. They have been proved to work,” says Mr Littee, the managing director of Scan Inter. These values — hard work, attention to detail — were drummed into him when he was a child, and have remained with him until today.
Scan Inter was founded by Mr Littee’s father Thanyachart in 1988, as a contractor in manufacturing CNG kits and providing CNG logistical services. CNG kits, commonly known as conversion kits, comprise an engine that runs vehicles on gas, a censorship system and a gas cylinder.
The business was successful, and grew from a small company to a medium-sized business.
Twenty years ago, Scan Inter diversified into oil and gas pipeline and depot operations, which was followed by retailing CNG.
Scan Inter operates fully-integrated CNG services and equipment production in Thailand and also plans to expand into overseas markets to tap into rising CNG demand, particularly in Asean countries, says Mr Littee.
The company expects to be awarded the PTT Plc contract to construct 260 CNG gas stations out of the total 501 stations the country’s leading oil and gas conglomerate plans to develop.
“Before we deliver any projects to clients, we make sure every detail is done perfectly and in good order. We do not leave a single piece of garbage, or anything out of place when we deliver the projects,” he says.
Mr Littee recalls, when he was in high school, observing how meticulous his father was with his projects. His father would always make sure to check and recheck the progress of projects, and visit the job sites
to make sure that everything was finished without a flaw, down to the last screw.
In November last year, Mr Littee, 33, officially succeeded his father, taking over the family business with his sights set on creating higher value and ensuring the survival of the business for the next generation.
During 2004-13, when global oil price surged and encouraged Thai motorists to switch from diesel and petrol to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and CNG, Mr Littee said he saw strong potential in becoming the first manufacturer of CNG kits in the Asean market.
However, it was not an easy goal to achieve, especially given the fact that during that time the government allowed PTT to be a sole CNG seller.
This obstacle did not prove to be overwhelming for Mr Littee, and Scan Inter was the only Thai firm awarded the PTT contract to be CNG refilling stations over 2010-12, just before CNG and LPG became very popular in the transport sector as oil prices continued to rise.
“By that time my father saw positive indicators to diversify into LPG to gain more revenue and profit,” says Mr Littee, who has proceeded to diversify Scan Inter into an LPG equipment trader.
He says another crucial skill his father instilled in him during childhood was the importance of good education, particularly in mastering the English language, in order to enable him to stand up to arguments during business negotiations or in his personal life.
“He employed all the means at his disposal to make sure I could not only speak and write in English fluently but that I would also be capable of discussing, negotiating and even arguing well in the language,” he said.
However, Littee as a young boy found that he preferred mathematics.
“Mathematics helped me think and work systematically, with a focus on rationality,” he said.
Regardless of his preferences or feelings, Mr Littee was sent to Woodstock High School in Ontario, Canada. He carried out further studies in the US, gaining bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees.
As Mr Littee was completing his studies in the US, policymakers were using energy products for political machinations, enacting huge subsidies on fuels, including LPG and CNG.
The price distortions went too far, and some political advocates leapt on the opportunity to attack policymakers, encouraging their social media followers to revolt against Thaksin Shinawatra, the then prime minister.
From 2011 to early 2014, CNG was one of the major fuels that Pheu Thai Party, the administration led by Mr Thaksin’s sister Yingluck, advocated as an alternative fuel in their transport strategy, despite the huge financial burden of subsidy on the PTT, the exclusive.
Every year, the costs incurred by the subsidy grew, particularly when global oil prices rose to over US$100 a barrel. While CNG was warmly welcomed by consumers, PTT’s subsidy ballooned to reach more than 100 billion baht in the decade until 2015, when the current government started to open the CNG market.
Mr Littee’s Facebook posts focused on the structure of oil and gas retail prices, aimed at correcting misunderstandings on the safe use of CNG and LPG, given the frequency of related accidents at the time.
During Scan Inter’s listing onto the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 2015, his writing on Facebook turned into a public relation tool.
At the end of June this year, his posts circulated again on Facebook, this time on the topic of backup tariffs for power bills, as renewable power becomes a growing part of the power-generation system. The topic was raised by state utility agencies conducting feasibility study of backup tariff.
“Cleaner energy comes with higher costs, as well as better value, but it is up to the agencies to decide who should pay the higher bills,” he wrote.
Mr Littee returned home to Thailand and started working in an administrative department at Scan Inter in 2012, where he found that a lot of jobs in the department were time-consuming and led to higher costs.
“I realised that I was born to be an engineer and that I regularly applied an engineer-like approach to my tasks, especially when solving problems,” he says.
When he took an executive job in Scan Inter, he made many changes in the company targeted at creating more efficiency by stripping away unnecessary costs and make use of all of the company’s facilities and employees.
However, that also resulted in upsetting some old-timers at Scan Inter who had worked with Mr Littee’s father since the company started.
Mr Littee says there was a period of adjustment when a new system was set up, one that would prove to be effective in cutting costs and a reduced workload for employees while delivering continued success for Scan Inter. It gradually created better understanding and less friction in the workplace.
He says Scan Inter plans to expand business into Indonesia over the next few years. The company has learned from experience to be cautious when considering possible overseas expansions, with tie-ups with local partners being its main strategy, he says.
Recently, Scan Inter has joined Japanese trading giant Sojitz Corporation to invest in a comprehensive gas-related business, with the expectation of tapping into rising demand in Asean.
The joint venture is aimed at further expanding in Indonesia and Vietnam, where demand for gas is rising.
“We see strong potential for success in Indonesia, where the government plans to make CNG to another mainstream fuel in the transport sector,” he says.
Mathematics helped me think and work systematically, with a focus on rationality. LITTEE KITPIPIT
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF SCAN INTER