GROUP 4: An Interview to Mr. Taveesaek Bhuttavong,
Vice-President of the Blue Elephant
on Restaurant Business
Interviewer: What has led you to start the Blue Elephant?
Mr. Taveesaek Bhuttavong: I’d like to tell you the story how the group started. Initially we started with the three Thai partners and one European who is our chairman today.
Interviewer:I’d like to know the idea of the Blue Elephant,
why do you select the Thai food,
why not Japanese or Chinese, why Thai food?
Mr. Taveesaek Bhuttavong: We all agreed that Thai food was the best choice because we could offer a variety of the food and the tastes that could attract different groups of people – I mean international customers.
Interviewer: So your target groups are foreigners and Thais?
Mr. Taveesaek Bhuttavong: Yes. That’s why we started in Brussels, Belgium in 1980 with the small restaurant. It was only forty capacities. One year later, we expanded to 120 to 130 capacities. It was widely accepted.
Interviewer: What is the key to your successful development?