At Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, Corporate Responsibility is central to our values and how we do business. Our approach covers all areas of the corporate responsibility agenda: community, environment, marketplace and workplace.

Workplace
We recognize that our business is built on service, and our employees are what make our guests experiences special. For this reason we strive to go above and beyond the minimum legal obligations to support and encourage our employees by providing continuous learning and development opportunities and a healthy, safe and comfortable working environment.

In October 2010 we opened a ‘hotel within a hotel’ for our 1,300 plus employees, a place where they can relax and feel at home. Named the ‘O-Zone’ this newly renovated space covers the entire second floor of our River Wing and is solely dedicated to employees providing not only a space to relax but also opportunities to do the things that are hard to do for shift workers. For example, we invite food suppliers in to provide grocery shopping days for staff, provide on-site medical facilities, a concierge desk set up just like our concierge services for our guests, and we have family and community days.

We believe that in order to meet the challenges of attracting the best staff and retaining the best people, we must endeavor to provide the best workplace. O-Zone is one of the ways in which we achieve employee loyalty and commitment hence our excellent level of customer service.

Environment
We are committed to actively participating in the continuous improvement and protection of the environment for our guests, colleagues and the community. The balance between providing a luxury environment and being socially and environmentally conscious is continually being reviewed, some of our current initiatives include:
- Annual energy audit by an independent consultant
- Monthly energy monitoring program by an independent consultant with the principal goal of reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions by 3% per annum
- Installation of a building management system to reduce electrical, air conditioning and chilled water plant usage by 25%
- Installation of water treatment plant to maximize the use of river water, thus conserving city water
- Automated system turning off power when guests leave their room
- Air conditioning in unoccupied guest rooms is only activated when a guest checks in
- Air conditioning in all public areas is turned off overnight and an all restaurants when not in use
- We recycle paper, glass and other waste.
- Purchases are made in bulk to reduce packaging from selected suppliers who support the environment.
- Discarded linen is re-used for cleaning areas at the back of the house.
- All cleaning chemicals used in the hotel are environmentally friendly products.
- Laundry items are returned with minimal packaging.
- Energy-saving lighting systems are installed where appropriate.
- Tree planting of over 5,000 trees annually since 1982.
- Consultant and participation in the Royal Project foundation since 1969.
- Annual community support for needy schools which includes the building of libraries, computer donation, the building of water reservoirs and other similar initiatives since 1982.