MULTI-TALENTED, PRETTY - AND SINGLE

       Sikanya Bhanubandh is one busy lady, juggling many different tasks. On the day we spoke, she had just finished an interview for Who magazine, was on her way to be interviewed on a UBC program called Fashion Focus , before attending an event where she used to work closely with the host, and finally attending a movie premier.
       Miss Sikanya, or Pau, is marketing director to the family-owned MaliBu Kao Tao Condo at Hua Hin. Set among 15 rai of palm-filled landscaped grounds, this is a residence with a character of its own.
       "It's a Thai-colonial style right at the beachfront," explained the 28-year-old.
       She is also brand director for the popular Kipling brand of bags, which are trendy,practical, high-quality-yet affordable."My mother Sirikarn was the one who imported this brand to Thailand, and I took over as my mother is now assisting my father more in the real estate side of the business,currently with the new hotel Renaissance Bangkok Hotel Ratchaprasong," she said.
       "My family is actually mostly involved in the real estate business. As I first stepped in to assist with the family business, I chose to help with what I like most."
       Thus, Miss Sikanya chose the MaliBu Kao Tao Condo at Hua Hin because it is a beautiful project that is not too big to handle. This also applies to Kipling, and plus it is a retail project.
       "I like beautiful things," she explained,looking radiantly beautiful herself, clad in all white, wearing a white tank top and long flowing skirt. Yes, white is her favourite colour. It's not a surprise that she was voted Most Eligible Bachelor Woman 2005 byThailand Tatler magazine.Another retail brand that her mother is the sole distributor of is Shanghai Tang.From a colourful and nostalgic art deco concept, it has evolved into a modern lifestyle vision of Chinese chic.
       "There is already a brand manager, but I still help out with the buying process and the marketing and PR," she explained.
       Last but not least, Miss Sikanya is a shareholder in several restaurants, including Pomodoro and Amici, both offering tasty Italian food. Another restaurant she has shares in is Boqueria at All Seasons Place, which serves European food, where famous chef Ian Chalermkittichai of the famed Kittichai restaurant in New York's SoHo district is the head chef.
       However, a lot of us are used to seeing her as the news anchor for Newsline , the English-language news programme on channel 11, which she had done for five consecutive years. Many have picked up on her British accent on Newsline - she was sent to school in the UK where she started at Roedean School in Brighton when she was only 11.
       Her television career started when she became an intern at Newsline during her senior year when she was a student at Syracuse University in New York while doing a double major in economics and psychology.
       "I've always been interested in psychology. Regarding economics, I feel that Asian students are good in science and math, so I took up economics in New York. Also, I've always liked art. During my A levels, art was one of the subjects I took besides math and economics. I did everything from oil painting to water colours.
       "At first I wasn't ready to get into the family business. I wanted to search for my own professional experience first."
       Now with the big change in career, were there any doubts from the people around her? She smiled before answering."When my mother first brought in Kipling 11 years ago, there was Kipling fever. There was a long line of people waiting to buy the bags. Some looked at me as a dara [movie star] because they saw me on TV a lot, be it as a news anchor on Newsline or whichever channel, and they doubted if I could run a business.
       "Some looked at me as a khun khu [rich little lady], and doubted whether I could do real work. Some saw me as a celebrity or a socialite. My mother did everything so well, so there was certainly high expectation from some people, which created stress for me. However, my mother never gave me any pressure whatsoever. I stepped in to help when I felt I was ready,and she has always been a wonderful supporter to me."
       Now she has more responsibility."I was my own boss working as a news anchor.I looked after myself. If anything turned out bad, it reflected upon me, which made people want to hire me or not want to hire me. Now I have to take care of approximately 100 staff. How well I perform also reflects on their well-being."