Meet the Team: Linh Thai, Principal Consultant Environmental & Social , Southeast Asia | OWC Vietnam
At OWC, our teams are constantly expanding into more locations, in expertise, and in sectors of influence. Our people are at the heart of what we do, and we invite you to get to know our team members so you can meet the energy behind change.
As renewable energy momentum continues to grow across Southeast Asia, environmental and social compliance is playing an increasingly important role in successful project development. To explore the opportunities, evolving requirements, and key considerations shaping the market, we spoke with Linh Thai, Principal Consultant at our Vietnam team.
- Name: Linh Thai
- Title: Principal Consultant – Environment and Social Lead, Southeast Asia
- Office: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Hobbies: Spending time with my family, baking cookies, making homemade yoghurt, and caring for my collection of plants
- Favourite movie: I love watching movies but cannot recall the name of my favourite one right now
Give us a glimpse into your day-to-day life at OWC. What keeps you on your toes?
As OWC’s Environment & Social Lead for Southeast Asia, I provide environmental and social (E&S) advisory services across a range of renewable energy projects, including offshore wind, onshore wind, solar and transmission developments.
My day-to-day work at OWC involves supporting clients in identifying and managing E&S risks, engaging with stakeholders, and aligning projects with both local regulations and international standards.
I’m also focused on growing OWC’s E&S advisory offering across the Southeast Asia region through client engagement and business development activities.
What keeps me on my toes is the diversity of projects, markets and challenges across Southeast Asia. I also work closely with our technical team to align understanding on the project design and E&S considerations, and with the UK E&S team, sharing knowledge, experience and resources to bring the best of OWC’s global expertise to our clients in the region.
What drew you to the industry and what keeps you passionate about it?
My background is in environmental engineering and management, and I’ve always been passionate about finding ways to balance economic development with environmental protection and social well-being.
What attracted me to this field was the opportunity to support nature-conscious development while helping projects create meaningful benefits for communities. I believe we not only provide advisory that fits the compliance requirements of each stage of the renewable project development, but also that our environmental and social advisory services could support the client to go beyond compliance, where they understand their impacts, manage risks responsibly, and maximise positive outcomes for both people and the environment.
What keeps me passionate today is seeing projects move from concept to reality while contributing to support long-term sustainable development across Southeast Asia.
Can you tell us about something exciting you are working on right now?
One of the most exciting areas I’m involved in is providing environmental and social advisory services as part of OWC’s broader technical advisory support for offshore wind projects in Vietnam.
As the offshore wind sector continues to evolve in the region, we are helping clients navigate complex environmental, social, and regulatory considerations alongside technical development requirements, with the E&S team working closely with the technical team.
OWC is among the first consultancies supporting offshore wind projects in Vietnam with this integrated approach, which is a fantastic opportunity to help shape industry best practice from an early stage.
At the same time, I’m focused on expanding OWC’s E&S service offering across Southeast Asia and building stronger regional capabilities to support the growing renewable energy market.
What are the biggest challenges for scaling offshore and onshore renewables in Southeast Asia right now – and how are you and OWC Environment & Consents team helping projects move from ambition to delivery?
When it comes to scaling renewable energy in Southeast Asia, key enablers include a supportive policy environment, grid development, access to international capital, and meaningful stakeholder engagement.
For offshore renewables, building confidence among investors, communities, and regulators, building stakeholder trust and understanding together with international capital access are essential to unlocking long-term growth.
For onshore renewables, effective land-use planning and proactive management of environmental and social considerations can help projects progress more smoothly.
At OWC, our Environment & Social team works alongside our technical team to support developers through early-stage screening, stakeholder engagement, internationally bankable impact assessments, and lender-aligned due diligence. By identifying opportunities and challenges early, we help projects move from ambition to delivery with greater confidence.
Beyond project planning and permitting, we also support clients during construction and operation through the development and implementation of environmental and social management plans, monitoring, and auditing to help maintain compliance with lender requirements and international standards throughout the project lifecycle.
Beyond the work, what makes you tick outside of the office?
Outside work, I enjoy spending quality time with my family and caring for my children. I love simple activities such as baking cookies, making homemade yoghurt, and looking after my plants. These hobbies help me slow down, stay grounded and appreciate the small things in life.
Advancing Southeast Asia’s Energy Transition from Ambition to Action
OWC supports clients in de-risking and delivering grid-scale renewable energy projects worldwide through independent engineering, project development, technical engineering, environmental planning and asset management services. Contact Linh and other team members of our Vietnam office to learn how we can help turn your renewable energy ambitions in Southeast Asia into successful, bankable projects.