Soneva Group, an owner of luxury hotels and resorts, plans an initial public offering to raise US$100 million to lift the standards of its Thai island resort as part of an expansion drive.
An elevated view from Soneva Kiri, which promotes eco-friendly luxury on Koh Kut in Trat province.
Chairman and chief executive Sonu Shivdasani has already put the island of Koh Kut, 50 kilometres from the Cambodian border, on the map of the wealthy through his desire to promote sustainability, learning and fun in an exotic location.
Now he plans to make his Soneva Kiri resort, where he employs some 350 staff, even more attractive by listing publicly in Singapore, Hong Kong or London in the next two or three years.
Speaking to the Bangkok Post from his office in Two Pacific Place in central Bangkok, where he has 40-50 staff in a hub for sales, marketing, finance and creativity, he said he was driven by a change in world demographics, a personal philosophy about ecology and his own vision of what was in demand.
"Two billion more people will be entering the super-rich class over the next few years. There will be more demand from short-haul places such as Southeast Asia. I think Koh Kut can become another Koh Samui," said the 48-year-old Oxford University-educated Indian.
Mr Shivdasani believes in a concept he calls "intelligent luxury", which he encapsulates in the acrostic SLOW LIFE, in which S stands for sustainability, L for luxury, O for organic, W for wellness, the second L for learning, I for Inspiring, F for fun and E for experience.
Shivdasani: Promotes 'intelligent luxury'
This translates in practice into, for example, providing the resort's own suitably treated water from a reservoir the company created on the island in reusable jugs and bottles.
The 18% profit from not importing and disposing of plastic bottles is given to water charities, benefiting 600,000 people who lack access to clean water, Mr Shivdasani said.
Soneva began life in 1995, when Mr Shivdasani and his wife Eva built their home on the deserted Maldivian island of Kunfunadhoo, later developing Soneva Kiri on unspoiled Koh Kut in 2009.
"We take our environmental and social responsibilities very seriously," said Mr Shivdasani.
"Whether it's developing resorts using sustainable materials, recycling waste materials, conserving water or preserving ecosystems, we're always prepared to take the initiative."
As a child growing up in Britain, his parents used to take him and his older brother on holiday to the Maldives.
He loved it but was shocked by certain practices there such as dumping raw sewage into the sea and using coral for building.
Despite not having any formal training in hospitality, Mr Shivdasani decided to use the family's wealth to enter the industry and apply his own strict criteria to it.
His late father was a very successful businessman operating out of Nigeria.
A total of 74% of Soneva's solid waste is recycled, while the overall carbon footprint of Soneva's waste management is a negative 69 tonnes per year.
Other waste control methods include composting, glass recycling and recycling wood waste into charcoal for barbecues.
The Slow Life Foundation launched by Soneva partnered with the Plant a Tree Today Foundation to plant 452,000 trees on 300 acres in Chiang Mai from 2011-12.
Last year, they planted a further 59,920 trees to address losses in initial planting.
A framework-species methodology with guidance from Chiang Mai University's forest restoration research unit was used.