RAPID ASIA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director of Research
- Managing Partner
Andy worked as Director with NFO & TNS Global before setting up BMRS Asia in Bangkok with other local research professionals in 2004. He started work in the research industry in England in 1993, with a strong focus on customer satisfaction and service research. Prior to this, he worked in both the retail and hospitality sector, managing locations across the UK. Resident in Thailand since 1997 with an in-depth knowledge of Thai and other Asian cultures, Andy combines strong research, project management and intuitive skills with a working knowledge of most types of research methodologies.
Andy was a founding member of the TMRS (Thailand Marketing Research Society) and is an active member of ESOMAR (the world organization for marketing research professionals).
Anupong is a practicing Certified Public Accounting in Thailand with over 20 years experience and has been the auditor of Rapid Asia since its inception in 2010. After working for the well know accounting firm Arthur Andersen for 13 years, he decided to set up his own accounting firm (AMA), now with over 10 full time staff to provide full consulting service for many local and foreign companies. In this capacity he has been a fellow of the working group of Institute of Federation of Accounting Professions, authorized by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand. For a number of years, up to 2011, he was a member and secretary of the Quality Assurance Sub-committee of Federation of Accounting Professions as well as the Audit Committee of Thanasiri Group Public Company Limited (up to present). He holds a Master from the Master of Financial Management University, Diploma In Auditing as well as an Accounting Major Degree from Thammasat University.
Anyarat is our Field Manager who manages a team of highly qualified enumerators. They provide high quality fieldwork to the high standards set by Rapid Asia. With more than two decades of field management experiences, she has a wealth of experience when it comes to fieldwork. Her team has carried out several complex and challenging projects for Rapid Asia including interviews with migrant workers, interviews requiring interpreters, vulnerable populations and working in rural areas across Thailand. Before teaming up with Rapid Asia, she has worked with MNC and boutique market research & consulting agencies such as ACORN Marketing & Research Consultant, the Advantage Group International, and Vitamins Consulting & Research. Her team provides a wide range of data collection strategies and services such as street intercept, telephone interviews, CAPI, in-home ethnography, FGDs, IDIs, and mystery shopping. Her experience is in both qualitative and quantitative fieldwork and has built expertise in finding hard to reach target groups. Anyarat ensures that all studies are hassle-free and a complete success while following industry best practice standards and compliance guidelines under ESOMAR. The goal is to always have on-time data with quality. Anyarat holds a Bachelor of Art in Humanities, majoring in Mass Communication from Ramkhamhaeng University in 2002 and since then she had managed fieldwork operation for other PhD students focusing on various social as well as business researches.
Bopha has a Diploma's degree in Banking and finance from Royal University of Law and Economic. She has an extensive background in administration and account. With Bopha's strong passion for the quality administrative and accounting work, she has obtained Tax Declaration certificate. Starting her career as an administrator with BMRS Asia Cambodia, she is responsible for all administrative and accountant in the company.
As a dedicated professional with a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration, specializing in Public Policy and Economics, Chomsiri brings a unique blend of expertise to the table. Chomsiri's academic background has equipped her with a comprehensive understanding of policy formulation and economic principles, allowing her to approach challenges with a well-rounded perspective. Chomsiri's passion for making a tangible impact in the realm of Agriculture and Natural Resources Management led her to pursue an internship with a prominent NGO organization, where she later served as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. This experience provided her with invaluable insights into the intricacies of agricultural systems and natural resource management practices, further fueling her desire to contribute meaningfully to this field. Driven by a desire for continuous learning and a deep-rooted commitment to sustainable development, Chomsiri embarked on a journey to expand her knowledge and skills by pursuing a Master's degree in Agriculture Science and Natural Resources Management in Tropic and Subtropics at Bonn University. Combining academic rigor with practical experience, Chomsiri is poised to leverage her diverse skill set and interdisciplinary background to deliver innovative solutions and drive positive change in the consultancy realm. With a steadfast dedication to excellence and a passion for creating impactful strategies, Chomsiri is excited about the opportunity to collaborate with clients and stakeholders to address pressing issues in Agriculture and Natural Resources Management.
Christoffer has worked as a consultant in numerous development projects since 2008. His main focus has been in finding financially sustainable solutions to development projects, and transforming the traditional charity model into one of social enterprise and job creation.
Christoffer has done this through conducting workshops and trainings for local development organizations in the SE Asian region on topics such as financial management, market value chains, and rural business development as part of the Wetlands Alliance Programme (WAP). WAP is a programme, sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), in partnership with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).
Christoffer holds a Master's degree in Business Administration resulting from studies at Asian Institute of Technology and Tsinghua University, and a Bachelor's degree in Computer and Mathematical Sciences resulting from studies at the University of Western Australia and University of California San Diego.
Daniel Lindgren, founder of Rapid Asia, has extensive experience in social research, international business consulting and project management. He is a true International consultant having lived, worked and studied on four continents including Asia, Europe, North America, and Australia. During his career he has held a number of senior positions with leading global consulting firms, working with economic consulting, finance, business consulting, monitoring & evaluation, political polling, and social research. Since beginning of 2010, Rapid Asia has carried out multi country and large-scale national studies across Asia and beyond, working with a number of high-profile UN and other development agencies. Between 2002 and 2009, Daniel was Regional Director for TNS (now KANTAR). Starting in Indonesia, where he oversaw numerous large key accounts as well as being the Country Head of the Polling & Social Sector, serving a number of international aid and donor organizations. In 2007 he relocated to Bangkok to establish a regional hub for Social Research. During this time Daniel cultivated an extensive network of sub-contractors and clients, and carried out several large multi country projects for a variety of regional development agencies. Daniel is an occasional speaker and has written several articles for various publications and journals.
Job Titles:
- Senior Gender and Human Rights Adviser
Dewi has extensive experience with gender and human rights issues, having worked with various NGOs and other human rights organizations since in 1992. Special areas of interest have included community development, human rights, oral history, and gender issues including women and children development. Projects she has been involved with have ranged from grass root level such as setting up a women's cooperative for handicrafts in rural villages in Java to having Co-founded a women's resource centre Mitra Wacana in Yogyakarta. More recently she has worked regionally to build capacities of NGOs and human rights defenders in the East Asia regions with special focus on supporting and strengthening the effectiveness of human rights regional mechanisms. Her commitment is to implement the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of work. Dewi holds a Master of Human Rights and Democratization from Sydney University, having been accepted into their scholarship program in 2011. She also holds a BA Honours in History and Politics from Wollongong University, Australia, and a Diploma Certificate on Administration Development from the Faculty of Economics at Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia. Dewi is based in Bangkok and has been an international consultant with Rapid Asia since 2010.
Job Titles:
- Policy Analyst
- Senior Consultant
Emily is an experienced policy analyst and monitoring and evaluation professional with a strong background in gender-based violence policy, social development and community engagement.
Emily has held senior policy roles in the Australian public sector, leading gender-based violence policy development and program implementation. Most recently, Emily led policy reform to improve access to crisis housing for women escaping domestic violence. Demonstrating her interest in community-driven outcomes, Emily has significant experience engaging with First Nations communities in Australia to design and deliver effective social policy.
Emily holds a Masters of Evaluation from The University of Melbourne and has led monitoring and evaluation projects in gender-based violence prevention and Aboriginal self-determination. She has prepared several key reports for government, including a 10-year policy framework, and M&E plan, to support First Nations community-led initiatives to prevent gender-based violence.
Having graduated Master in Business Administration, Long now has more than nine years of experience in social and marketing research. He used to work for many research firms such as Feedback, CMRD, MSD, and RealTime data solutions. Also, he used to work as a senior research officer at BBC Media Action. Starting his experience working as a B2B interviewer, he then progressed to be a Supervisor before moving on to be in charge of Quality Control and other matters relating to fieldwork management. His keen eye for detail and numbers makes him a perfect choice to ensure that data collection quality is maintained throughout all of our projects. In terms of qualitative research, Long also lends his hand to conducting IDI's, Home Visits and FGD's for various topics such as usage & attitude, branding, lifestyle, concept tests, shopping habits and human trafficking. He also turns his hand in SPSS and CAPI scripting for more than five years. He can control data, clean, review and produced output for data analysis and reporting.
Jacob Bogart is a lawyer trained in human rights law, international law, transitional justice, and international organizations. He has extensive experience conducting human rights research, legal analysis, and report writing. Jacob has worked for a variety of human rights organizations, including Fortify Rights, where he was a legal fellow and consultant. While at Fortify Rights, he researched and wrote the report "Our Demands are for All Students: Violations of Students' Rights in Mandalay, Myanmar," in addition to editing and contributing research to a number of publications. Jacob has also worked for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch's United Nations Advocacy Division, a legal clinic in Lagos, Nigeria, and the Open Society Justice Initiative. While attending Columbia Law School, Jacob contributed to a war crimes investigation in the Central African Republic, conducted research for a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, founded a human rights initiative for first-year law students, and led a spring break pro bono caravan to Bosnia to volunteer with a legal aid clinic. Prior to law school, Jacob worked for the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand as a Luce Scholar.
A strong communicator and empathetic researcher, Jacob graduated from Columbia Law School in 2018 where he received a Commendation in Human Rights, and was named a Public Interest Fellow, a James Kent Scholar, a Phi Kappa Phi Yeakel Endowed Fellow, and a Global Public Interest Fellow. Jacob graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in International Studies and French from The Ohio State University in 2014.
Job Titles:
- Economics Expert
- Freelance Data Analyst
- Senior Project Executive
Ilhan is an Economics expert who graduated from Bachelor, master's, and PhD programs in the field of Economics. He is qualified in data analysis with Stata, Eviews, QGIS, NodeXL , GAMS and Geoda software packages about Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Finance, Behavioral Economics, Renewable Energy and more economics relations. Currently, he is completing his second PhD at Thammasat University Economics Faculty. His dissertation is about "The Effect of Migration Inflows on Native Wages" which will be investigated with the CGE Model.
He also has an interest in investigating the effects of corruption on the economy and has written two articles, two theses and one book about the subject. He has also published several articles and academic research about various topics related to economics. His latest research is on the Structural Decomposition Analysis of the Turkish economy to examine the quality of the economic growth from 1997 to 2018 with IO Tables.
Ilhan works as a freelance data analyst and tutor in economics. He has carried out numerous lectures to graduate students and firms for more than 7 years and is well accomplished in subjects related to data analysis, modelling, interpreting, and concluding economic theories and assumptions. He is up-to-date with the most recent studies on global and structural issues and relationships and has become one of the best-known academic data analysts in Turkey.
Kittichai holds a Bachelor's in Political Science from Thammasat University, majoring in International Relations. Before joining Rapid Asia, Kittichai interned as an article assistant at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Southeast and East Asia Office. Here, Kittichai delved into the intricate dynamics of social and political development. This experience laid the foundation for his passion for positive, sustainable change. Transitioning into a Project Associate and Community Builder role at Social Enterprise Thailand Association, Kittichai actively contributed to projects making a real impact on communities. During his period, he showcased his dedication to social development and his ability to bridge the gap between political science and practical community building. As part of Rapid Asia, Kittichai's role as a Project Assistant contributed to various team tasks. His responsibilities include developing project tools, conducting desk reviews, designing and scripting surveys, carrying out medium and high-level key informant interviews, and monitoring sub-contractors for primary data collection. Additionally, he plays a crucial role in coordinating and monitoring administrative tasks within the company.
Mavirak graduated in Sociology from the Royal University of Phnom Penh. He now has more than nine years of experience in social and marketing research. Virak has more than six years of experience in research with two years of data processing with Kantar TNS Cambodia. During his research career, he has been involved in many data processing works and project supervisor for both commercial and social research clients. For social research, Virak has worked for UNICEF, World Bank, ADB, IFES, GIZ, DAI, Winrock, World Vision, PATH and DDD, to name a few. He has joined BMRS Asia Cambodia in 2018 as Senior Quality Controller and handle many projects, including automotive, agriculture sector and agriculture, bank, microfinance, SME, media, and youth. He is a crucial person for fieldwork quality assurance and assists the fieldwork team to achieve good quality data collection. Virak is also responsible for managing project tools, doing desk reviews, conducting medium and high-level key informant interviews, and coordinating and monitoring focus group discussion.
Based in Bangkok since 2006, Michael has worked throughout Southeast Asia. Most recently, he worked for several years with AusAID, as Senior Regional Program Manager for Health and HIV and later as the Regional AID Effectiveness Advisor focussed on strengthening Aid Effectiveness and promoting Results-Based Performance. He has engaged in program design, management and M&E on a broad range of development challenges including: HIV, Illicit Drug Use, Pandemics, Foot & Mouth Disease, Malaria, Trafficking in Persons, Child Sex Tourism, Aid for Trade; and Disaster Preparedness & Response.
He has Masters (Assessment & Evaluation), Post-Graduate Diploma (Management), Post-Graduate Certificate (Alcohol & Drugs Studies), Bachelor (Business), Diploma (Mental Health Nursing), and is working rapidly to have his PhD (Public Health) finished before the end of this year.
He is on the Australasian Evaluation Society's Committee for Learning and Professional Practice, and a member of the American Evaluation Association and the Thailand Evaluation Network
Raksana holds a Bachelor Degree in Political Science in Politics and International Relations, Thammasat University, majoring in International Relations and minoring in International Political Economy. During her studies, she also spent one semester at Aberystwyth University, Wales, United Kingdom as an exchange student. Prior to joining Rapid Asia, Raksana obtained her extensive work experience in social development from the government agency and NGO.
Raksana began building her passion for social development during undergraduate years by joining the AIESEC volunteer program in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She was also a member of the AIESEC Club in Thammasat and provided advice and information for students who wish to volunteer abroad. In addition, she has been committed to personal development by participating in various international conferences including Model United Nations conferences, ASEAN Foundation Model ASEAN Meeting, as well as Bangkok International Student Conference. Her main areas of interest include refugees, migration, forced labor and trafficking in persons.
As a part of Rapid Asia, Raksana is responsible for developing project tools, conducting desk reviews, designing and scripting surveys, carrying out medium and high-level key informant interviews, and monitoring sub-contractors for primary data collection. Alongside project work, she is also in charge of the office's administrative tasks.
Sawitri holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Stamford International University, with a focus on International Relations within the Faculty of Business and Technology. Prior to joining Rapid Asia, she gained valuable experience as an Event and Communications Intern at the Thai-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce. Notably, Sawitri was chosen as the delegate representing UNICEF from Niger at the Asia Youth International Model United Nations Offline Conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Apart from that, during the time she studied, she attended and was part of numerous events, especially the social development events, to extend her knowledge and connections, as well as, to go beyond her perspective by being the trainee of the student council. Sawitri was also a member of the Rotaract Club (Hua Hin) which is supported by the Rotary Club Royal Hua Hin to provide social development in terms of community service.
As part of Rapid Asia, Sawitri takes a role as Project Assistant to her team. She assists in several aspects, such as developing project tools, doing desk reviews, designing and scripting surveys, conducting medium and high-level key informant interviews, and coordinating and monitoring sub-contractors for primary data collection.
Phanno has an excellent understanding of the Khmer people from all walks of life, and his English skills enable him to provide deep insights to our clients. Phanno has a BA in Sociology and English Literature and a Master of Business Administration, and has been with BMRS since 2011 and speaks fluent English. In addition, he brings a wealth of experience with project management in Cambodia, having been involved with various projects on social development, both quantitative and qualitative, across all provinces in Cambodia. He started his career as a B2B interviewer before quickly moving to a Supervisory role. From there, his skills were further developed, and he has now become Country Director. Phanno has been instrumental in setting up the field procedures at BMRS Asia, making sure they adhere to international best practice standards and align with the ethical principles set by ESOMAR. This also includes quality control procedures for data collection and data management. As a testament to his work, BMRS Asia has gained a reputation for delivering consistent data quality. As a testament to this, BMRS Asia has worked with Rapid Asia since 2013 on various research projects in Cambodia. He also has deep knowledge about the Cambodian landscape and can provide insight into how, where and who, when it comes to data collection. He also has extensive experience in moderating focus groups and conducting IDI's covering a wide range of topics among various target groups.
Toru has extensive experience in project management roles that include project implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation in the human rights and development sectors. Toru has been in Thailand since 2009 and has worked with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as inter-governmental organization (IGO). His areas of interest include human security issues in Asia Pacific, including ethnic conflict and indigenous development and self-determination, as well as environmental security and sustainable development. Toru has also published a monograph as well as contributed several articles for various publications.
Toru has been involved with a project that supports destitute children and women from Burma and the local community in Thailand's Kanchanaburi province, where he developed and implemented social work and income generation projects. Later on, Toru worked regionally and supported capacity building for Asian NGOs in effective engagement with respective national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and their regional and international bodies. More recently, Toru coordinated the implementation of capacity building and human resource development projects focusing on regional cooperation and integration in the greater-Mekong subregion (GMS), with a special focus on economic cooperation and competitiveness. Toru managed regional projects funded by various development partners in cooperation and collaboration with public and private stakeholders at the provincial, national, regional, and international levels in GMS countries and beyond.
Toru holds a Master of Arts (M.A.) in International Relations and Security Studies from the University of Waikato (first class honors).
Job Titles:
- Senior Fieldwork Supervisor
Vandy holds a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of Economics and Law. He has joined BMRS Asia Cambodia since 2021 as a senior fieldwork supervisor. He also used to work for many research companies in Cambodia, including Kantar TNS, Indochina research, Realtime Data Solution and more. Vandy is responsible for managing project tools, doing desk reviews, conducting medium and high-level key informant interviews, and coordinating and monitoring focus group discussion. He has experiences in several data collection projects for both social development and private sector clients. He is one of the critical people reviewing data collection tools, supervising the fieldwork team, reviewing and editing, and ensuring the quality of data collection.
Job Titles:
- Senior Fieldwork Supervisor
Virak holds a bachelor degree in Management from CUS University. He works in BMRS Asia as a senior fieldwork supervisor. He used to work for many research companies in Cambodia, including Kantar TNS, Indochina research, CMRD and more. He is responsible for managing project tools, doing desk reviews, conducting medium and high-level key informant interviews, and coordinating and monitoring focus group discussion. In addition, he has experiences in several data collection projects for both social development and private sector clients. He is one of the key people reviewing data collection tools, supervising the fieldwork team, reviewing and editing, and ensuring the quality of data collection.