
The American Hardwood Council Export (AHEC) has announced the line-up of speakers for their South East Asia Convention in Bangkok, Thailand.
The line-up includes chairmen, business executives, a designer and industry specialists to update visitors on US hardwood market trends, US and Thailand timber industries’ relationship, and sustainability.
For instance, AHEC has invited Jiro Jirawat Tangkijngamwong, chairman of Thai Furniture Association to talk about the outlook of the Thai furniture industry and opportunities to use American hardwood in the industry. Tangkijngamwong has been in the industry for more than 20 years, and his own manufacturing company of timber doors, flooring and furniture, Deesawat, has won various awards.
Nong Chotipatoomwan, a Bangkok-based designer, is also invited to share her experience with designing furniture with sustainable US hardwood. Her product work was part of the Wallpaper* exhibition ‘Discovered’ at the London Design Museum in 2021 in collaboration with AHEC and went on to exhibit at the Triennale in Milan in 2022.
The rest of the speakers hail from the US. David Whitten, chairman of AHEC, will share insights on American hardwood exports to South East Asia. Michael Snow, executive director of AHEC, will talk about wood and the environment. Tripp Pryor, international programme manager of AHEC, will talk about the state of the US hardwood industry.
And lastly, Dana Spessert, chief inspector and dean of education of grading school from the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA), will share about US Hardwood lumber grading rules.