Our Story

There are more than 2 million people with disabilities living in Thailand. They have as much talent, skill and value to add to the workplace as anyone else. But less than two percent of them have had vocational training and less than 25 percent of them are employed.

Our mission to transform this situation began in 2016 with Max Simpson, an inclusion specialist, and Uang Hokrakitya, a diplomat turned pastry chef. United by a passion to ensure everyone – regardless of their differences – is able to access a dignified, fulfilling career, they set up Steps , a vocational training centre with a coffee shop attached where trainees could serve and apply their new-found work skills.

Over the years Steps has grown to run four coffee shops and two vocational centres in Bangkok. We’ve expanded our range of inclusive businesses and started offering consultancy to external businesses which want to be more inclusive. We’ve also established, in partnership with Sasin, Southeast Asia’s first ever Neurodiversity at Work Research Centre (NWRC) dedicated to seeking out solutions which will empower businesses across the region to become neuro-inclusive. 

Our professionalism and experience has won us a long list of awards and we have been featured multiple times in the media.

The coming years promise to be just as busy. The Steps extended family is growing as more people and businesses reach out, some to offer employment opportunities to the trainees once they have completed the programme, others to learn from us about how to welcome neurodivergent people to their workforce.

For Steps, this is the ultimate aim; providing fulfilling employment which enables Neurodivergent young people – such as those with autism – to be independent and to contribute to their community.