President and Founding Members

Jayne MacDougall

Jayne MacDougall has more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry in Thailand.
Her most recent role was as Senior Consultant on the GIZ (German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH) pilot project in Asia (CAP-SEA) “The Collaborative Actions for Single-Use Plastic Prevention in Southeast Asia”
Prior to that, Jayne was Risk Management Consultant at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort with Marriott group and earlier with Starwood Hotels and Resorts for nearly 20 years.

Brett Wilson

DIRECTOR
A highly experienced senior hotel executive with over 30 years’ experience in Asia Pacific region Brett is a founding board member of the Phuket Hotel Association and part of the marketing group for the first two years of the groups existence. Currently the General Manager of the Pullman Phuket Naithon Beach for the past 10 years with a passion for the island and community we live with an active focus on fundraising activities for the under privilege and children of the Phuket area.

Daniel Meury

DIRECTOR
Daniel Meury, the General Manager at Andara Resort & Villas. Swiss-born Daniel is a seasoned hotelier with 25+ years of experience in luxury hospitality management spanning six Asian countries. After stints in Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia, and China, Daniel has now been in Phuket for ten years with Andara Resort & Villas and proudly calls the dynamic Phuket region his home. Together with his Team, they are also managing the development of the new Aquella Resort in neighbouring Phang Nga province.

Bill Barnett

FOUNDING ADVISOR
Founder of the Phuket Hotels Association, Bill Barnett brings over 30 years’ experience in the Asian hospitality. Bill held senior executive roles in hotel operations, development and asset management. He is considered to be a leading global authority on hotel residences and has sat at almost every seat around the hospitality and real estate table. Bill promotes industry insight through regular conference presentations at key events and contributes to numerous industry publications.

Sumi Soorian

SENIOR ADVISOR
Sumi Soorian, who joined the management team of Phuket Hotels Association since its foundation in 2016 as Development Director, has now transitioned to be Senior Advisor. A marketing and communications professional who specializes in project management and business development. Sumi graduated in the USA and has worked in various countries, including Australia, China and Thailand.

Boon Yongsakul

ADVISOR
Boon Yongsakul is the Managing Director of Boat Development Company, the dynamic local entity building some of Phuket’s innovative commercial projects that had lift the island’s business infrastructure to new heights. Boon received much of his education in New Zealand. He graduated from the University of Canterbury at Christchurch with a degree in civil engineering and then returned to Bangkok where he enrolled at the prestigious Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration and obtained an MBA in Finance and Marketing.

Saharat Jivavisitnont

ADVISOR
Sears Jivavisitnont’s hospitality career started off in Hong Kong with Marriott International. Presently, as Jee Teng Hospitality Group’s Executive Director, Sears is spearheading the group’s portfolio that comprises 600 operating keys under newly opened Four Points by Sheraton Phuket Patong Beach Resort, while another 1’000 keys are to be inaugurated into the portfolio in the near future. Sears is strongly committed to the development of the Island by bringing new ideas and knowledge as he also furthers
his studies in Executive Masters of Management in Hospitality at Cornell University.

Eric Ricaurte

ADVISOR
Eric founded Greenview in 2008, the leading consulting and data firm for sustainability within hospitality and tourism. Greenview's clients include most of the largest hotel companies as well as hotel owners and developers, event organizers, cruise lines, NGOs, DMOs, OTAs and industry organizations including the WTTC, UNWTO, and AHLA. With 25 years of hands-on experience in both sustainability and industry,Eric is a frequent speaker, convener, and researcher on sustainability and ESG, having launched several initiatives

David Johnson

ADVISOR
David set out from his native UK on an uncharted course across the globe with armed with an arts degree, journalism qualifications and little in the way of a plan. He arrived in Asia a few months later and the rest, as they say, is history.

He went on to build what began life as a two-man operation 12 years ago into one of the region’s leading specialists in communications for the hospitality sector. Previously he spent 15 years in Asia’s media industry as a writer, editor and publisher with leading press organisations in positions in Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.

Sukhchaensingh Sethi (Sam)

ADVISOR
Sam Sethi, founding member of the Phuket Real Estate Association (PREA) and President of Phuket-based developer The Onella is currently the Board Member of Phuket Chamber of Commerce and Board of PKCD "Phuket City Development".