Company History
Sabina started as a family business in 1971, under the name Jintana Lingerie Limited
Partnership. Founded by Jintana and Adul Thanalongkorn, the company’s initial focus was
the Thai retail market where it sold lingerie under the Sabina brand. The company set up its
first factory in 1977 in Bangkok with a few machines and 20 employees. Sabina Fareast
Company was created that year to export lingerie outside Thailand.
Viroj Thanalongkorn, the son of Jintana and Adul, extended the family’s partnership
business by founding J&D Apparel in 1985. Sabina Fareast became a wholly owned
subsidiary of J&D Apparel. Bunchai had joined Sabina fresh out of college, having just
earned his bachelor’s degree in International Business from the University of Toledo in the
US. But the company was a small family business back then with limited growth ambitions
and Bunchai decided to leave to work for a leading Thai company, Thai Union Frozen Foods
(TUF). The experience taught him a lot about how to merchandize and how to sell to world
markets and he brought those skills to Sabina when he rejoined the company in 1995. By
1996, J&D Apparel had a turnover of THB 200 million (about $8 million). It employed 800
people and had grown to a production capacity of 200,000 pieces a month. It distributed its
products through the traditional trade and department stores. J&D Apparel company was
renamed Sabina Public Company Limited (Sabina) in 2007 and listed on the Thai stock
exchange. Bunchai became the first managing director of this publicly listed company. Even
though he was not a member of the Thanalongkorn family, Bunchai enjoyed the trust of the
founding family which retained a 75% shareholding in Sabina.