Sauce Skills Co., Ltd., in collaboration with UOB Bank Thailand through UOB FinLab, its innovation incubator driving digital and sustainable business transformation, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU). The partnership aims to support the Legacy Leaders: NextGen Transformation Academy program, designed to develop new-generation leaders and establish sustainable growth foundations for family businesses, emphasizing the preservation of family relationships to ensure stable business succession.
This collaboration arises amid significant challenges faced by Thai family businesses during transitional periods. According to the STEP Global Family Business Survey, over 70% of Thai family businesses lack a systematic succession plan, while UOB's study shows nearly 40% of high-net-worth individuals have yet to begin wealth transfer planning.
These findings highlight the critical need for leadership readiness, family relationship management, and succession planning among Thai entrepreneurs today. To address this, Sauce Skills, experts in learning program development and leadership growth,
has teamed with UOB FinLab, which supports entrepreneurs and family businesses in sustainable growth through knowledge, business networks, financial solutions, and innovation. By combining their strengths, they aim to enhance readiness among new-generation successors, providing opportunities to learn from real experiences and expert perspectives across various fields such as
exclusive insights into finance, business management, sustainable growth, wealth transfer planning, and economic trends from UOB Thailand's experts and executives.
They also facilitate networking among business successors, owners, and industry experts, enabling experience sharing, perspectives exchange, and cross-generational business management approaches. This collaboration is expected to expand through UOB Thailand and UOB FinLab’s partner networks to support business transformation, innovation, and long-term family business growth.
The MOU signing took place at UOB Plaza Bangkok, witnessed by Manoch Pruthisathaporn, Managing Director of Sauce Skills Co., Ltd., and Piyaporn Ratprasatporn, Assistant President and Head of Branch and Digital Services Network at UOB Thailand.
Manoch stated that Legacy Leaders is designed to solve real challenges faced by family business successors both at home and in their companies. The partnership with UOB Thailand elevates the learning experience by bringing knowledge from a regional financial institution with longstanding close ties to family businesses.
Balang Wongthawatchai, Senior Director and Head of Digital Engagement & Ecosystem Partnership at UOB Thailand, said family businesses play a vital role in Thailand’s economy. Succession involves more than transferring assets or roles; it requires preparing new leaders to sustainably grow the business.
UOB is pleased to collaborate with Sauce Skills to support the Legacy Leaders program, which will enhance essential knowledge, networks, and business perspectives for successors during this era of change, enabling them to securely continue and expand family businesses long term.
Beyond the MOU signing, the event featured a special panel titled "Sustaining Family Relationships for Stable Business Succession," led by Thummasak Jitmaporn, a business successor coach and Vice Chairman of the Thailand Management Association (TMA).
Additionally, a special mentoring session titled "How to Keep Family Businesses Running Smoothly" was held for 10 selected participants, sharing concepts and best practices for effective and sustainable intergenerational business transfer.
Legacy Leaders: NextGen Transformation Academy is an intensive 10-week course designed purely for successors, covering both soft and business skills. Topics include family conflict management, upgrading family-run businesses to professional management, succession planning, and business scaling through real-case learning with over 30 leading family businesses and more than 10 experts.
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Kháfé Amazon in Bangladesh Kraipit Premmanee, Chief Lifestyle Business Officer of PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Company Limited (OR), along with executives, partnered with Bashundhara Group executives to officially launch Café Amazon in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The opening ceremony was honored by Thitiporn Jirasawat, Ambassador to Dhaka. This marks a significant step for OR to expand Café Amazon internationally and tap into the large consumer market of South Asia.
The Café Amazon branch in Bangladesh was developed to express the brand’s identity under the Lifestyle Oasis concept—a relaxing space that rejuvenates and provides a moment of calm from daily life’s hustle. It blends Café Amazon’s signature green with natural materials such as wood and brick, alongside white, cream, gray, and brown tones to create a warm, airy, and contemporary atmosphere.
The Café Amazon menu was adapted to suit Bangladeshi consumers’ tastes while introducing Thai identity through special items like Brown Sugar Peanut Frappe, combining the nutty aroma with brown sugar, and Mango Sticky Rice Frappe, inspired by the internationally known Thai dessert, using mango—a popular fruit in Bangladesh—symbolizing cultural and taste connections through coffee experiences.
Additionally, Café Amazon offers The Performance Series, a group of beverages developed for health-conscious consumers and fitness enthusiasts, including Choco Banana Build, Oat Matcha Boost, and Hazelnut Coffee Burst. These are sold exclusively at locations within fitness centers to align with the lifestyle and needs of target customers in each area.
The entry into Bangladesh’s market is a result of collaboration between OR and Bashundhara Group, a leading Bangladeshi business conglomerate. Combining Café Amazon’s brand strength and OR’s coffee business expertise with Bashundhara’s market knowledge and business network aims to tailor and grow Café Amazon sustainably in Bangladesh—a high-potential market in South Asia—while creating international expansion opportunities.
For 2026, OR plans to open 8 Café Amazon branches in Bangladesh at locations including Bashundhara Head Office, Bashundhara City Shopping Complex, Gold’s Gym, Golf Driving Range, Sports City, Trampoline Park, and JCX. These sites cover potential areas catering to diverse lifestyles to expand consumer reach and establish a growth base for Café Amazon in Bangladesh.
Gold Trading Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has teamed up with Hua Seng Heng MTS Gold (Mae Thong Suk) and YLG to launch the SCB Gold Marketplace, a new investment platform enabling gold trading via SCB EASY for the first time. This platform brings together three of the country’s largest gold shops, delivering a world-class investment experience by allowing gold trading in USD through SCB e-FCD accounts* with access to global benchmark gold prices in both 96.5% and 99.99% purity, and immediate trading across all three shops.
With no fees and a minimum investment of 0.05 baht gold or 0.05 ounces, investors can choose to withdraw physical gold at partner shops or have it delivered home. This extends SCB EASY into a comprehensive USD investment platform, enabling digital investors to professionally manage portfolios via SCB e-FCD accounts. It integrates global investment opportunities including foreign exchange management, international funds, and gold trading services, helping diversify risk amid market fluctuations and build long-term wealth foundations.