Dhanin Chearavanont : The start of my
own family and my father's final days
The first
time I saw my future wife, Khunying Tawee, I gasped at the sight. "Like a
celestial maiden come down from heaven!" I thought.
I had just
returned to Bangkok from Hong Kong and was probably about 18 years old. I had
come across her by chance in a garden.
At that
time, she was a young woman of about 17. Her relatives lived at the back of our
company, and she often came to visit them. From the time I was young, one of my
hobbies has been photography, and she let me take a picture of her playing on
the seashore. I still have that photo.
However, I
was not thinking of anything beyond friendship at that point. I was still young
and had just begun working, having decided against attending university in
Australia. I was still a simple office worker, and my salary wasn't very large,
so I didn't think I would be a good match for her. Indeed, I was in no position
to fall in love with anyone, so I devoted myself to my job.
Before I
knew it, I was 22 years old. I ran into her by chance again at a friend's
wedding. She was not married, nor did she have a boyfriend. I, meanwhile, had
made decent advancements at the government-affiliated cooperative where I
worked, so I made up my mind to ask her to marry me. At the age of 23, I
started a family with her and we were eventually blessed with three sons and
two daughters.
Family and
business
As I have
said before, I had decided against having my sons enter the core business
-- agriculture and food -- of Charoen Pokphand Group. I stuck to this
plan.
Our oldest
son, Soopakij, took the reins of the cable TV business and now oversees the
retail business in China and large-scale investments for the group. He is very
good with people and is surrounded by numerous friends.
Our second
son, Narong, has a strong sense of responsibility. He was given responsibility
for the group's hypermarket operations in China, but the business did not
expand as he had planned. This was due to his limited decision-making power,
which resulted in his ideas not being used. Narong spent many trying days in
China, but he has never uttered a word of complaint to me.
Our third
son, Suphachai, worked as an executive at a polyvinyl chloride business with a
Belgian company, and following that, he moved to the communications business.
There, he steadily learned the business from the ground up, one step at a time.
During the Asian currency
crisis, Suphachai became chief executive of our group's telecom business
after a group of banks asked us to put him in that position to help get
through the trying times.
When it came to the issue
of succession at CP Group, I talked to all three of my older brothers and we
decided on a plan: I would become senior chairman, my oldest son would be
appointed chairman, and my third son would become group CEO. We plan to groom
the next CEO over the coming decade. We believe that it is a good idea to
change the top management after 10 years, five years being too short a period.
So after 10 years, I will step down as senior chairman and be succeeded by my
oldest son, and my third son will be appointed chairman. We hope to fill the
CEO post with someone we have prepared for the role.
Speaking of family, I would
like to touch on my father, Chia Ek Chor. My father lost his Chinese business
during the Cultural Revolution, and following that, lived in Hong Kong and
Singapore. As I lived in Bangkok then, we had few opportunities to see each
other. But at important turns, I was always able to receive his advice.
Eventually, Deng Xiaoping
was restored to power and China's relations with Thailand normalized.
Immediately after Deng began opening up the economy, my father escorted me to
China where, at his suggestion, I began investment negotiations.
After witnessing China's
sweeping changes, my elderly father finally returned to Bangkok. There, his
stormy life, full of ups and downs, came to a close in 1983.
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