Anjali Jalichandra
August 27, 2018Mrs. Anjali Jalichandra has been working with Honda, a Japanese leading automotive manufacturer, for twenty years in both the Asia & Oceania regional headquarter function and currently in domestic function at Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd.. Her current position is the Government Affairs Department Manager. Her main responsibility is to liase with government policy makers and leaders about the automotive industry outlook and policies related to foreign investors.
With respect to her interests in the rule of law, she personally would like to learn more about how to solve inequality in Thai society and particularly to understand how the marginalized and the vulnerable can access more opportunities. For almost 10 years, she has been at the helm of a major CSR initiative known as “KhaoHom Boon” project in my hometown Buriram province where she helped design a business model to make farmers in the area self-sufficient and able to make a steady income by growing organic rice. To achieve that, she spearheaded marketing campaigns, fundraised for the procurement of safe fertilizers, and collaborated with the abbot at the temple to make sure the momentum of the campaign had a lasting impact on the community. Together, they achieved considerable success as the farmers are able to enjoy their earnings while making a healthy living, free of the need to rely on toxic pesticides. However, at a later stage, they encountered a major challenge as their farmers became attracted by the promise of higher prices for the sugar cane crop, seeing it as an opportunity for them to earn higher income, despite exposing themselves to a more toxic environment.