Aaron Le Boutillier is a Bangkok-based security specialist and Managing Director of Le Boutillier Group, a company specialized in providing security and investigative services to a variety of clients throughout Asia. In this interview, Aaron talks about his latest security bulletin, some of the real threats that our society faces today, and the 2004 tsunami, among others.
Voicu Mihnea Simandan: Your company has recently launched an online security bulletin available to subscribers. What is the concept behind this new service?
Aaron Le Boutillier: It is still in its infancy, and the concept seems to be evolving and changing daily due to the high feedback from our clients. The original concept was to provide a realistic and accurate analysis of security and crime occurrences within Bangkok, which may affect the assets of our clients operations within the Kingdom.
VMS: Who has access to the bulletin and how many people (companies) do you actually reach with it?
ALB: At present we offer one of the free services to over 500 companies.
VMS: Tell us about the different bulletin options.
ALB: The silver option is for free and includes to a certain extent recycled news that I read, analyze and rewrite with my twist. This goes out weekly. There is also free access to our Twitter and Facebook pages. We also write detailed reports for gold members which involves “off the street” intelligence, musings, crime statistics and trends. This is a paid for subscription and is compiled solely by LBG staff. There is also an elite package which is by invitation only.
VMS: I was impressed by the concise details of the bulletin. Where do you get the intel. and who writes the bulletin?
ALB: The silver bulletin comes from sources such as The Bangkok Post and The Nation. I spend several hours each day comparing this information from other RSS feeds, then add my personal view and punch out a weekly summary that I write myself. The paid for reports are also written by me and one other member of the LBG team. The intel. for these comes from us and our individual sources from a huge range of Bangkok social circles.
VMS: Le Boutillier Group is governed by a very clear motto: “Keeping threats in check.” What are some of the real threats that Southeast Asia, in general, and Thailand, in particular, face nowadays?
ALB: I would have to specify that “keeping threats in check” is aimed at the threats of our clients with assets in Thailand, with that in mind would cite political instability, crime, drugs and insurgency depending on where the assets are based within the Kingdom
VMS: What other services does Le Boutillier Group has on offer?
ALB: We offer corporate investigations, background checks, defensive tactics training, hotel security, close protection and aviation security training through an affiliate company called Green Light Ltd.
VMS: Are there any other companies that offer similar services? Who’s the competition?
ALB: The security field covers a multitude of different types of businesses – from guarding services and building protection at one end right through to security intelligence and contingency planning at the other, with all sorts of businesses – IT security, loss prevention, close protection… and many others – somewhere in the middle. There are companies that focus on one aspect or another and some companies that attempt to be a one-stop-shop. At LBG we have aligned ourselves with the best in each field and we work with them to offer the highest levels of service across the whole ‘security’ industry.” Where possible I invite them to write reports and features within the LBG bulletin, which are then offered for free to silver subscribers. Some companies which I recommend and work closely with are: Simon Goddard (Global Insight Group), Simon and Grant (Clear View Solutions), Richard Goss (Corporate Protective Solutions), Andrew Styles (BRM), John Muller (Muller and Associates) and Larry Peak and Frank DeSommer (Peak Systems International).
VMS: Your company is active on several social media platforms. What is your business and marketing plan?
ALB: The business plan is to become the premier security consultancy company for MNC’s with operations in Thailand; my marketing plan is to be active not only on social media platforms but within Thai society and as an international speaker on the global circuit.
VMS: I would like to end our interview on a different note. You are also a 2004 tsunami survivor and author of And Then One Morning (Big Wave Publication, 2008), a book in which you wrote about your experiences on Koh Phi Phi. The book has recently seen some very good reviews in The Nation and Bangkok Time Saver. In a world where every day human lives are lost to both man-made and natural disasters, how important is it for the world to remember the events that followed the Indian Ocean tsunami?
ALB: Honestly, I don’t think it is important for people to remember. If you were not there, if you did not lose, if you were not affected in some way then there is no need to remember. Life would have thrown you other disasters that you will place as more important. For those who were there it is not a matter of remembering, some days it is a matter of trying to forget.
VMS: Thank you for your time and for trying to make the world around us a safer place.
ALB: Thanks Mihnea, I am not sure I make anything any safer, but at least try and draw attention to the dangers that may be waiting.
Below you can view an introductory video to the LBS security bulletin:
Voicu Mihnea Simandan
December 8, 2010
Bangkok, Thailand
