Thailand’s 50 Richest
SARAWUT PORNPATANARUK
66 | FORBES ASIA MAY 2018
ADAM DEAN FOR FORBES
Fair Game
List newcomer Sarawut Pornpatanaruk tapped into Thailand’s
skin-whitening craze to build a $1 billion company.
BY NAAZNEEN KARMALI
T
hailand’s tourism boom drew a record 35 million-
plus foreign visitors in 2017, more than one fourth
from China. he free-spending Chinese contrib-
uted an estimated $16 billion to the hai economy.
Cashing in on this surge is hai beauty brand
Namu Life SnailWhite, whose range of products such as facial
creams, sunscreen lotions and bodywash gels—in its signature
all-white packaging—is hard to miss at the duty-free outlets at
Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Despite its of-putting name, which is drawn from one of
its main ingredients, snail slime, SnailWhite is a big hit with
Chinese tourists. hai women, too, are eagerly slapping Snail-
White cream onto their faces because, apart from yucky snail
mucus, which is collagen-packed and said to have wondrous
antiaging properties, it also contains skin-lightening agent
alpha arbutin, a bearberry extract.
he quest for whiter skin, a controversial topic in the
Western world, shows no signs of abating in hailand or, in-
deed, across large swaths of Asia. Whitening creams account
for half of the $320 million hai market for facial creams,
according to research irm Nielsen.
“SnailWhite can totally rejuvenate your skin,” boasts
Sarawut Pornpatanaruk, founder and CEO of Do Day Dream,
the company behind SnailWhite. Looking younger than his 41
years, Sarawut, who regularly uses his own products and insists
company executives do so as well, could easily pass as a model for
his own brand. CFO Piyawat “Pete” Ratchapolsitte, says his boss
doesn’t look a day older than when he irst met him ive years ago.
One of four newcomers to the hai 50 Richest, Sarawut
is ranked at No. 45 with $675 million. He gained his spot
ater taking his eight-year-old company public last Decem-
ber, raising $130 million. Shares of Do Day Dream, of which
Sarawut owns more than two thirds with his family, are up
82% since the IPO. With a market capitalization of close to
$1 billion, the company is valued like a hot tech startup, at an
eye-popping 18 times its annual sales of $54 million. “Dur-
ing the IPO road show we were oten asked whether the price
was too high as we had priced the shares at a premium—54
times trailing earnings. But the company has done far better
than we could have ever expected,” says Pichet Sithi-Amnuai,
president at Bualuang Securities, the IPO’s lead underwriter.
Analysts say investors are bullish as they expect Do Day
Dream (or Triple D, as it’s sometimes called, for its stock ticker
symbol, DDD) to continue delivering hypergrowth. Since 2014,
sales have been on a tear, growing 56% on an annual compound
basis. Sorrabhol Virameteekul, strategist and head of digital
research at Bangkok’s Maybank Kim Eng, expects that trend
to continue over the next three years, driven largely by rising
exports to China. (His securities irm supported the IPO.)
he skin-care market in China is estimated at $30 billion,
according to Kim Eng’s Sorrabhol. Ater a two-year pursuit,
Do Day Dream, which had been selling in China through
limited online channels, recently secured regulatory approval
from China’s Food & Drug Administration. he company can
now tap a wider market through local distributors.
Sarawut says that he is focused on SnailWhite’s regional
expansion. “We see a huge opportunity outside—in China, of
course, but also in countries such as Indonesia and the Phil-
ippines,” he notes. China already accounts for 30% of annual
revenue.
One of three siblings, Sarawut hails from a family that
owns a car-paint manufacturer. Ater completing business
studies (including a doctorate) at local universities, he joined
the family trade, working as a factory manager before joining
top management. But Sarawut, who enjoys reading Marvel
comics, yearned to break away: “I had a diferent dream.”
