THAILAND: K-TECH’S MANAGING DIRECTOR BOB KEVORKIAN DIES
Thai Press Reports, Thailand
May 3, 2005
Section: Corporate News – The Thai business community mourned the
passing of Bob Kevorkian, managing director of K-Tech Construction &
Engineering and a key player in the country’s real estate sector,
The Nation reports.
Kevorkian, a British national of Armenian origin, died early Tuesday
morning, aged 65, said Pritpal Singh Gill, who heads urban projects
at Golden Land.
“His death came as a shock to us all,” said Gill, whose friendship
with Kevorkian goes back 16 years to when they worked together on
the President Park residential site.
“Bob was a self-taught, self-made man,” said Gill, who recalled how
the builder founded “from scratch” the Thai Bauer construction firm
in the late 80s, before joining Philip Holzman.
A large, jovial, rotund man, Kevorkian was a powerful player in the
local construction scene over the past two decades, when the real
estate market expanded to staggering new heights, before collapsing
during the 1997 financial crash.
“Remarkably, it was during the worst period of the property fallout
in 1997 that Bob was able to form K-Tech with a formidable team of
professionals,” said Gill.
Today, the firm is involved with several major projects, including
the Northshore condominium project in Pattaya and the Central Group’s
new office tower.
Nigel Cornick, chief executive of Raimon Land, said Kevorkian’s death
was a ‘big loss’ as he had been a key player in the real estate scene.
Cornick, whose ties to Kevorkian go back 10 years, said K-Tech had been
instrumental in finishing his firm’s luxury condominium – The Lakes –
last year. Kevorkian was also constructing Raimon’s Northshore project,
due to be completed at the end of this year.
His passing should not affect K-Tech’s contracts, however, as Kevorkian
was a good organiser who was able to place capable managers to oversee
respective sites, said Cornick and Gill.
When asked to describe Kevorkian’s key trait, Cornick said: “His
presence and his ability to stick to his commitments.” Gill said:
“Bob was an affable man” whose warm character could quickly gain the
confidence of partners and customers.
Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, managing director of CB Richard Ellis Thailand,
was also shocked by the news of his passing.
“I will always remember him as a kind and nice man,” she said. “Bob
ran a professional show.” Gill said Kevorkian had been committed to
his work and was a devoted husband to his British wife, Linda. They
have two sons, a daughter and an adopted Thai son.
Apart from his huge portfolio of projects – which include the new
Bt6-billion Royal Phuket Marina project on the eastern coast of Phuket
– Kevorkian also spent much of his time on charity work.
He set up an Aids home in Bangkok and another in Armenia.
“When the tsunami struck in late December, Bob mobilised his men to
help in the rescue effort and to clean up the beaches at no cost,”
said Gill.