The newly appointed Executive Chef and Director of F&B bring more than four decades of combined experience to the new urban hotel slated to open December this year

Thai national Suksant Chutinthratip (Billy) and Filipino national Jay Tadifa Abiang have been named the Executive Chef and Director of F&B respectively at Melia Chiang Mai in Thailand. The two take charge of the F&B team set to place the hotel on Chiang Mai’s culinary map with two restaurants that pay homage to Spain’s famed gastronomy. 

Equipped with 27 years of hospitality experience, Chutinthratip comes to the hotel’s pre-opening team after working as the executive chef at Hotel Nikko Bangkok, Rayong Marriott Resort & Spa, and Courtyard by Marriott Bangkok. He was also an Executive Sous Chef at SkyCity Auckland Entertainment, managing VIP and gaming restaurants, as well as Renaissance Ratchaprasong Bangkok Hotel. Nine of Abiang’s 16 years in the hospitality industry have been in hotel management with Meliá Hotels International. Prior to his appointment at Meliá Chiang Mai, he was the Executive Assistant Manager at The Reed Hotel Managed by Meliá and the F&B manager at Meliá Ba Vi Mountain Retreat in Vietnam. 

“With Billy’s wealth of experience at an impressive list of luxury hotels, working in many a pre-opening team, and Jay’s rich knowledge of the Meliá brand and its Mediterranean food concept, we are well positioned to launch Meliá Chiang Mai’s dining landscape during these unprecedented times,” said the Meliá Chiang Mai's General Manager, Edward E. Snoeks.

Comprising a 22-floor tower fronted by an adjoining seven-floor podium building, Meliá Chiang Mai will unveil a host of facilities including two restaurants, two bars, two lounges, a YHI Spa with seven treatment rooms, a fully-equipped fitness centre, swimming pool, ballroom and four other meeting spaces. Signature restaurant Mai Restaurant & Bar on the 21st floor will specialise in contemporary Northern Thai dishes with Mediterranean influences, with chefs preparing each dish à la minute from an open kitchen. All-day-dining restaurant Laan Na Kitchen will offer authentic Mediterranean cuisine in a vibrant marketplace setting.