Working behind the scenes in the governor's back office, Kessara Thanyalakpark is busy working out ways to rise to the challenge of making Bangkok a truly liveable city.
Ms Kessara joins the ranks of advisers asked by Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt to stitch together his campaign pledges into coherent and functional policy.
It is a puzzle made up of 216 pieces that must all fit into place if he is to fulfil the vision he laid before the voters that ushered him to the helm at City Hall, and Ms Kessara, 47, has been appointed chief strategy and financial adviser for the governor following a long career in real estate development.
As part of the team behind the governor who swept into power with the support of 1.3 million voters, the most votes won by any of his elected predecessors, Ms Kessara said she has full confidence the new City Hall team will make Mr Chadchart's promise to turn Bangkok into a liveable city a reality.
Born and raised in Bangkok, Ms Kessara attended prestigious all-girl Mater Dei School before enrolling in the highly competitive Triam Udom Suksa School. After that, she was accepted into the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy at Chulalongkorn University.
Following graduation, she pursued her master's degree in finance at the University of California at Riverside. She later studied for a second master's and a doctoral degree at Claremont Graduate University, also in the US.
Upon completion of her studies, Ms Kessara taught at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, her alma mater, for 10 years.
Later, she worked at her family business, the SET-listed developer Sena Development, serving as the company's managing director.
Her working relationship and respect for Mr Chadchart goes back a long way, Ms Kessara recalls. She has known Mr Chadchart for 20 years as their professional lives have taken similar paths.
Mr Chadchart also lectured at Chulalongkorn before quitting to become transport minister under the Yingluck Shinawatra government. After the administration was toppled by the now-defunct National Council for Peace and Order in the military coup in 2014, Mr Chadchart was made executive of a large real estate company.
"I remember [Mr Chadchart] asking me to tag along on his visits to several communities in Bangkok.
"And this happened three years before he announced his bid to run for governor," the chief adviser," said.
At the time, Mr Chadchart enlisted her help in designing policies on urban housing, community economies and improving the quality of life of city residents plagued by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"That was how it all started and now I'm the governor's chief strategy and financial adviser," she said.
Ms Kessara said she and the governor had much in common. For one thing, they were both goal-oriented. "What impressed me the most is that he set out his ambition to vie for governorship very early and began working towards realising his vision three years ago. That's way, way back," she added.
Mr Chadchart surveyed areas and took note of people's needs and wants and set about formulating a solution to the city's problems, Ms Kessara noted.
"All the while, he didn't have a clue when the governor poll was going to take place. But he wanted to hit the ground running.
"Other people might prefer to wait until an election date is set before they start rolling up their sleeves. This speaks volumes for Mr Chadchart's dedication," Ms Kessara said.
As chief adviser, she is prioritising the implementation of the 216 campaign policies which have been grouped into nine areas: safety, commuting, residents' health, creativity, environment, infrastructure, city management, education and the economy.
The details of each of these is being worked on in parallel by the four deputy governors, although Ms Kessara admits some issues will be easier to put into practice than others.
"Every policy outlined by the governor is equally important," she said, adding that process involves the work of many district offices.
The first meeting with the offices on implementing the 216 policies into the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)'s development master plan was held recently.
"It does nothing to change the master plan. It's more about blending the policies with the plan," she said.
Each office has been assigned to come up with an action plan of its own to adopt the 216 policies in their district.
She said the next 100 days will see some early signs of the new regime making its mark as City Hall's "Open Bangkok" pledge to put budget and spending plans online for increased transparency via the Traffy Fondue (TF) application will go live.
Also to be applied is a "zero-based budgeting" method which will enable more effective tracking of the BMA's spending.
Ms Kessara added there will also soon be further progress in the BKK Food Bank project to distribute food to needy and vulnerable groups.
Street vendors will have security in their trade and find it easy to access financial aid with increased trading spaces. In addition, free sanitary pads will be distributed to young girls from poor families while a survey will be done to pinpoint locations designated as green spots near the neighbourhoods.
