Wed, 28 July, 2021
Nikom Promngam, who was born in Chiang Rai, Thailand, decided to study mechanical engineering with the aim of landing a progressive job in a lucrative industry.
Time proved that he wasn’t wrong in his planning and he landed a job in pipeline construction. He was assigned to a project on the Thai – Myanmar natural gas pipeline and his contribution to the successful delivery of the project impressed his supervisors enough to hire him as the general controller on the same project.
While he was working in Myanmar, he was exposed to welding inspection. So, he decided to upgrade his qualifications by attending the CSWIP Welding Inspector course at TWI Thailand. Once his project in Myanmar was over, it took him only a few months to land his next venture as a welding inspector in Georgia. Even though his first contract was for one and half years, his competence in generating comprehensive and easy to understand reports kept him on the job for more than two years. His good reputation from the Georgia project led him to a new opportunity in Chile, after which he was happy to return to Thailand to work as a piping QC inspector at Saipem Thailand.
The outbreak of COVID-19 interrupted Nikom’s plans as he was looking for more opportunities to work abroad. However, he decided that now is the best time to take advantage of the downtime to upgrade his skillset by attending BGAS-CSWIP and NDT courses at TWI Thailand and gaining qualifications that can supplement his hands-on skills. He believes that CSWIP Radiographic Interpretation and BGAS-CSWIP Painting inspector certificates can enhance his C.V., as well as his opportunities for landing a better job.
Nikom explains that, although he is familiar with NDT techniques and able to apply the techniques to his work, he knows that, as a successful welding inspector, he should be able to interpret and validate radiographic testing reports. So, holding a CSWIP certificate in radiographic interpretation is not only important, but also something that is going to benefit him in his career path. Pairing his knowledge of welding inspection with NDT as well as painting and coating is helpful in achieving his plan to become a multi-discipline inspector.