Nattavut Suwanyangyuan
March - May 2008

I think that I had a great experience of being an intern at the U.S. Commercial Service Bangkok. During my internship, I worked on a wide variety of assignments.

I was responsible for handling many tasks such as conducting the market research, providing assitances to Commercial specialists in conducting department of Commerce’s services. For example, I did the International company profile, updated the database in CMS and made a survey about Corporate Social Responsibility of U.S. organizations in Thailand. Furthermore, all the staffs here are very kind and friendly. They tried to teach me a lot and let me learn many new issues. In addition, I have also attended an Asia Commercial and Economic Officers Conference Bangkok 2008 concerning the current issues about CIP, IPR and Trades and a presentation given by the representative from U.S. government and private sectors.

Lastly, I would recommend this internship to motivated undergraduate or graduate students.

Melissa Pongtratic
July - September 2007

My summer internship at the U.S. Commercial Service Bangkok has helped to put a cultural perspective on doing business not only in Thailand, but Southeast Asia. I conducted a market research report on the automotive industry in Thailand and its plan to initiate an Eco-Car project to stimulate domestic and exports sales growth in the midst of political and economic uncertainty.

I also worked on a regional project developing a toolkit for intellectual property rights in the Philippines. This brought forth awareness of the many challenges the Philipinnes faces in its efforts to combat counterfeiting, piracy, and copyrights infringements. I teamed up with the Thai staff to help revamp its marketing plan in efforts to generate more traffic on their website and increased usage of promotional materials.

Away from my desk, I have been able to attend a conference hosted by the United States Patent and Trade Office concerning the current intellectual property issues facing the ASEAN region and a presentation given by the Asian Development Bank. I also had the priveleged opportunity of attending a seminar on global marketing in the 21st Century by renowned marketing guru, Philip Kotler.

The U.S. Embassy community here has been very welcoming and has opened my eyes to the many different opportunities in the public sector.

Seth Tator
July - September 2007

My internship with the USCS Bangkok provided me with broad insight into the challenges faced by US Multi-national companies. During my internship I worked on a wide variety of projects.

I conducted market research on Thailand's long range power production plan, which provided useful insight regarding political and economic challenges faced by US companies bidding for lucrative power gerneration projects abroad. My internship also included work supporting  a sales seminar, for a large IT Hardware company seeking to expand its sales in the ASEAN region. This project was conducted in conjunction with the Hong Kong office allowing for additional cultural perpsective regrding the challenges of selling into the Asian markets in general.

I had the opportunity to work with the Bangkok team assessing a CRM upgrade process, providing direct experience working with a Thai team. The Bangkok team has been wonderful, always helpful and providing great advice to ensure that my family and I had a great time in Bangkok. I did not fully grasp the extend of USCS's clout with local businesses, and working in the office provides great access to the Thai marketplace. I would recommend this internship to motivated undergraduate or graduate students.