Pratheep (Peter) Singh Malhotra receives the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand’s 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony held at the Pullman Pattaya Hotel, attended by 150 Chamber members, guests, and local business leaders. PATTAYA, Thailand – Peter Malhotra has won the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand’s business recognition title in the Lifetime Achievement Award Category 2025. The event was held in the Pullman Pattaya Hotel and attended by 150 Chamber members, guests and local business people. The Chamber currently has a membership of around 500 companies which in turn employ more than 250,000 people. This year there were eleven categories of awards and the winners were announced from shortlisted individuals and organizations. They included Most Innovative Company, Community Impact, Environmental Sustainability, Tourism Excellence and Women in Business amongst others. The British Chamber was founded in 1946 and is the oldest in Thailand. Pratheep Singh Malhotra was born in Phitsanulok province where his father owned a successful business. During the Vietnam War era, his father set up tailor shops in Bangkok and Utapao where Peter started his career. The family moved to Pattaya in 1975 and the original shop was in (what became) Walking Street. In 1993 he opened Pattaya Mail, the first local print newspaper, to give Pattaya a much-needed “voice” in the local and international community. In 2002 Peter’s company launched the Pattaya Blatt newspaper in the German language and also the Chiang Mai Mail to serve the north of Thailand. At this point, the Pattaya Mail Media Group was formed as a wholly Thai-owned enterprise. Changing market patterns in the media industry caused print editions to cease in December 2023 to make way for digitalization. However, Pattaya Mai had first entered the internet as early as 1996. Famous as a newspaper proprietor, Peter is also well-known for his charity work over the years and voluminous committee activities in sports and community areas. Receiving the British Chamber’s Lifetime Achievement Award, he said, was one of the greatest honours of his life as he looked back on the history of Pattaya which he had first visited in 1967. Pattaya Mail has won many awards over the decades, including “Best in the East” from the Eastern Mass Media Association for 18 consecutive years. Participants at the dinner were welcomed by Greg Watkins MBE, executive director of the British Chamber since 1996 and keen networker. The keynote speech was given by Dr Chula Sukmanop, secretary general of the Eastern Economic Corridor Office, who updated on recent developments such as the projected hi-speed train to link Utapao with Bangkok airports and the expansion of Laem Chabang’s deepwater port. Freeflow imported wine at the event was provided by McQuillan Enterprises.