A woman of firsts: Thippaporn Ahriyavraromp (Chearavanont) of MQDC is the first female PropertyGuru Icon Award winner

From being the first woman to receive the PropertyGuru Real Estate Personality of the Year title in 2012, she has yet nabbed another prestigious honour to represent her gender

Throughout the course of quite an unprecedented year, the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards has overcome barriers and celebrated milestones, from successfully hosting the first series of virtual galas to organising safe yet glamourous ceremonies to producing a hybrid of both.

And for the final stretch of our awards programme, the 15th edition of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final Virtual Edition – broadcasted on multiple channels last 4 December 2020 – we were delighted to crown the first female recipient of the 2020 PropertyGuru Icon Award distinction, Thippaporn Ahriyavraromp (Chearavanont), the Chairman of Executive Committee at MQDC and DTGO, as well as the Chairman of Buddharaksa Foundation.

The PropertyGuru Icon Award title is one of the highest recognitions presented by the editors of the PropertyGuru Property Report as we commend the achievements of past PropertyGuru Real Estate Personality of the Year recipients.

In 2012, she received one of the proudest honours, the first woman to receive the PropertyGuru Real Estate Personality of the Year award not only in Thailand but also across all our awards market.

During the presentation of the award at the 2020 PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final, the managing director of PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards & Events Jules Kay had this to say:

“Khun Thippaporn Ahriyavraromp (Chearavanont) is a worthy winner of this year’s PropertyGuru Icon Award. In 2012, she was the first female to receive the Thailand Real Estate Personality of the Year award. Now, eight years later in 2020, she is once again the first female to receive this impressive regional honour.

As Chairperson of Executive Committee at MQDC and DTGO, as well as Chairperson of Buddharaksa Foundation, Khun Thippaporn sets an example for the real estate industry to follow. Her long term vision for sustainable, resilient, community-focused development is supported by exemplary research, and with MQDC’s latest project, The Forestias, she is creating a model for the future of healthy, compassionate, multi-generational living.”

Since accepting said honour eight years ago, the editors have witnessed her continued drive, ambition, perseverance, and success in constructing sustainable buildings that have a deep focus on enhancing the wellbeing “not only [of] our residents but surrounding communities, society at large, and all life on earth,” shared Thippaporn during her Icon Award acceptance speech.

She has raised the bar for both commercial and residential developments throughout the kingdom, leading her firm MQDC to become one of the biggest development companies in Thailand.

Together with two other companies, MQDC worked on ICONSIAM, a massive mixed-use complex that is now regarded as a global lifestyle destination. MQDC also developed Magnolia Waterfront Residences, one of the condominiums at ICONSIAM, which is considered as the tallest building in the country to date. A couple of their other developments are also included in Thailand’s 10 tallest properties.

Apart from these renowned achievements, MQDC is part of parent group DTGO that was formed to create “a community of smart and good-hearted people” who are all looking to add value in their respective industries. During a recent interview, Thippaporn shared that they donate two percent of their topline revenue, proving that Corporate Social Responsibility is at the core of their operations.

She also revealed that most of their projects follow the concept of sustainnovation, which aims to search for “new ways to achieve sustainable quality of life.” Forest for Life is one of their initiatives “where the green values of our flagship development The Forestias [inspire] action to help underprivileged communities and expand green space in Bangkok. I am delighted to say that Forest for Life recently presented 300,000 trees to the city to help all its people enjoy green space.”

The Forestias, the largest property development in the country, is a 64-hectare forested neighbourhood “where humankind will live again in harmony with the rest of nature,” she added.

When asked about her plan for MQDC’s future, Thippaporn shared three aspects that they want to focus on:

1. Resilience – To keep up with the times, she said that ‘sustainability’ won’t be enough anymore and they need to consider resiliency to achieve their vision of enhancing the well-being of “all life on Earth.”
2. Biodiversity – Their team seeks to figure out “how humankind and all life can coexist happily.”
3. Robotics – Thus far, her firm boasts to be the only one in the kingdom with robots that can communicate with buildings. “Research shows that residents in the future will want to live in harmony with robots as well as nature,” she added.

Yet, these are just a glimpse of her firms’ impressive achievements, efforts, and future initiatives under her leadership. In such a male-dominated industry, the editorial team of the PropertyGuru Property commends Thippaporn for breaking gender norms and serving as a powerful force in Thai real estate.

The 15th Annual PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final is supported by platinum sponsor Kohler; official airline partner Thai Airways; official portal partner PropertyGuru; official magazine PropertyGuru Property Report; official PR partner Artemis Associates; media partners Archibazaar, Bliss Saigon, Business Today, Construction & Property, Deluxe Magazine, HOT Magazine, Inquirer.net, Kopi and Property, Locanation, Luxury Society Asia, Myanmar Times, PropertyInvestSG, REm Thailand, The Grid Asia, and Vietnam Heritage; official charity partner Right to Play; official ESG partner Baan Dek Foundation; official supervisor BDO; and supporting association Green Building Consulting & Engineering.

Complete winners’ list here