Welcome to this month’s installment of Life at Agoda Highlights! In this blog series, we’ll take you inside Agoda to see what’s happening in our offices each month.
Read on to learn about our November! We spent time volunteering, toasting to new initiatives, and coming together to recognize the achievements of our community.
Giving back together
As we draw closer to the end of the year, our schedules are busier than ever, but giving back is something we’ll always make time for. Agodans lent a hand to the schoolchildren at Pasraman Gurukula Bangli in Indonesia and helped clean up the Huangpu River in Shanghai and Chigasaki Beach in Kanagawa. Our colleagues in Osaka assisted farmers in harvesting vegetables in Kishiwada.
In Seoul, Agoda volunteers helped build eco-friendly fences to restore otter habitats in Korea’s first ecological park. Kuala Lumpur Agodans planted trees and learned about forest conservation at Taman Tugu, a local forest park.
In Thailand, the home of our largest office, Agodans volunteered at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, the Thai Royal Thai Navy Sea Turtle Conservation Center, community spaces in Khlong Toey, and the Ban Nong Tao village, as well as partnering with Paper Ranger to create notebooks for disadvantaged children.
Welcoming our new brand ambassador
Fan-favorite Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana is officially the face of Agoda in India! “I’m hoping that together with Agoda, I can encourage even more Indians to travel and see the world for less,” shared the actor. To celebrate the launch of our first campaign with our magnetic new brand ambassador, we launched a global contest for Agodans to win a set of limited-edition magnets from the ad by sharing mementos from their travels. We also brought the campaign to life in our offices in Bangkok, Singapore, and Thailand, marking the occasion with colorful photo ops and delicious Indian sweets.
Talking tech
Proudly introducing Agoda Dev Day 2023, a first-of-its-kind event dedicated to all things tech at Agoda! We came together for a day of tech exploration, knowledge-sharing, and networking hosted at the Siam Pavalai Theater. The event started with a keynote address from our tech leadership team, followed by lightning talks, a fiery debate on client-side dilemmas, quizzes, and even our very own awards ceremony, where we celebrated the incredible accomplishments of our techies.
Celebrating Diwali
November is the month of Diwali – the Indian festival of lights that celebrates the triumph of light over dark, good over evil, and the blessings of victory, freedom, and enlightenment. We celebrated across our global offices, with Agodans coming together to mark the occasion with games, delicious food, and excellent company.
Strengthening our community bonds
As a company, we’re committed to fostering an inclusive environment that allows everyone to flourish. We recently launched THrive, an Employee Resource Group (ERG), to empower Thai employees, encourage personal and professional growth, nurture cross-cultural understanding, and build a supportive network for diverse experiences. To celebrate this milestone, we hosted a party in our Bangkok office, featuring workshops, networking, and plenty of authentic Thai food and desserts.
Inspiring the next generation of tech talent
Through our work, we’ve seen firsthand how tech education can open doors and spark innovation. That’s why we collaborated with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to create Agoda Tech Camp Day, a series of in-depth workshops for high schoolers to inspire the next generation of tech talent in Bangkok. In November, we welcomed over 1,000 students from nine BMA schools for our second installment of this event, making it one of the largest tech gatherings for high schoolers in Bangkok to date.
Throughout the day, our students immersed themselves in interactive workshops on cutting-edge tech topics, ranging from AI to UI/UX and website development. What set this event apart besides its size? Students could choose workshops aligned with their interests, allowing them to make the most of the experience. Beyond the workshops, we also hosted career talks with the Agoda tech team and special guest speakers from the tech scene in Thailand, aiming to inspire the students and share valuable insights as they think ahead about their future studies and careers.
Start your journey at Agoda today. We’re hiring!
