The film director who holds some of the best Porsche events in south-east Asia
Tenn Xoomsai fell in love with the 911 after driving one as a teen. His love for the car has led him to hosting events that bring Porsche fans together from across south-east Asia and beyond
When film director Tenn Xoomsai was a teenager, a friend of his father’s tossed him the keys to his 911 and told him that he could drive it. With that simple action his fate as a Porsche fan was sealed. In fact, such is Tenn’s love of Porsche that he has formed a community for Porsche fans in Thailand called Das Treffen (or ‘The Meeting’ when translated from the German) that hosts some of the must-visit Porsche events in the region. Here’s his story.How did your first drive in a Porsche lead you to buying your own 911?“My first experience driving a Porsche 911 was a 964. My dad’s friend came over to the house one day, threw me his keys and told me to go grab him some beer. I ran to the car because I thought he would change his mind or was pulling my leg. I was probably 19 at the time.Tenn keeps his growing collection of Porsche sportscars in an impressively appointed garage at his home in Thailand“From that day on, I learned that the best way to enjoy a Porsche is to share. That’s my thing with Porsche – sharing the passion. I bought my first 911 when I was around 30. I pretty much broke the bank buying it. I wanted a 964 for my first Porsche and it was my only car and my daily driver for three years.”What’s it like to own a Porsche collection?“I own a few now. The oldest is my 1966 911 (short wheelbase), plus I have a 911 ST backdate [a 911 modified to look like a different version of a classic 911], a 911 Turbo (type 930), a 1978 924, 911 GTS, a Boxster Spyder (type 987) and a first-generation Cayenne that I go off-road with. I don’t drive them much in the monsoon season because we get flash flooding around our house. I have to be careful that there’s no storms or thunderstorms when I take them out. I’m going to try to modify my 924 into a Safari version, so I can use it during the monsoon season.Among Tenn’s Porsche collection includes a number of 911 sportscars, including this 930 Turbo“I go on plenty of road trips with my cars. I drive to Laos or Malaysia whenever I can or go up to the north of Thailand. I just rotate between the cars so they all get used as much as possible.”How did you go from owning Porsche cars to building a Porsche community?“The Porsche community in Thailand is getting bigger. We’re not a big country compared to, say, China, but what’s nice about Thailand is that the community is really tight. Porsche means different things to different people. For some, it’s an investment, while for others it’s just a car that they drive.”Porsche owners and fans from all over south-east Asia – and beyond – flock to the Das Treffen events that Tenn hosts in Thailand | PHOTO: Stefan BognerWhat is the Porsche event and magazine Das Treffen?“I’m concentrating more and more on the Das Treffen brand I created at the moment. We have a printed magazine and a big meet at the end of every year. A lot of people drive from neighbouring countries such as Singapore or Malaysia, and some fly in from Vietnam or the Middle East. We’re trying to make Das Treffen more like a south-east Asia thing, so perhaps we’ll end up having one event in Thailand, one in Singapore and Malaysia.“We also do a pop-up meet once or twice a year and we’ll select different themes – the latest we did was a Das Treffen event for mid-engine cars. We showed all these mid-engine cars at a venue right in the middle of Bangkok and it attracted a lot of attention.“The last event was Das Treffen 7 [held in January 2023] and it’s just getting bigger and bigger. We’re also branching out to other kinds of users as well, for it to be open for all models in the Porsche family. We just want to come together as a brand.”Tenn’s Porsche collection isn’t just limited to the 911. He has a number of other Porsche models, like this Boxster Spyder in a 911 ‘sandwich’ hereWhat for you is the joy of Porsche road trips?“One of the most amazing things for me about Porsche is the community that comes with it. You meet so many new, cool, like-minded people. I’ll go on a vacation in Europe or America and if I see someone parking a 911 then I just walk up to them and start a conversation, because it seems like every Porsche owner has their own story about why and how [they bought their Porsche], of wanting a certain model or why they picked the colour they did.“Porsche is about friendship and freedom. I’ve made a lot of friends through Porsche – lifetime friends. The way we head out on road trips and enjoy our cars together is pretty awesome. I don’t see any other brand that do this.”
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