After spending nine years restructuring the debts of Nakornthai Strip Mill (NSM), steel tycoon and NSM founder Sawasdi Horrungruang took only a few days to make his decision to quit every post in the company, paving the way for the smooth operation of the steel company.

His decision to leave NSM took place three months after the company exited its rehabilitation plan in June.

He revealed that he became bored with NSM's creditors, and that was the reason he left. After NSM's exit from the rehabilitation plan, he expected the creditors to approve new loans of US$140 million (Bt5.11 billion), in order to increase production capacity from 1.5 million tonnes a year to 3 million, but the creditors rejected his proposal.

And Sawasdi did not fool himself. He admitted the creditors rejected his proposal because of him alone and not the virtues of the expansion project.

"I'm a nightmare for Thai banks," he said. "When they hear my name, they feel like they've seen a ghost. Although NSM has no debts at present, the creditors didn't approve the new loan because I was still the company's CEO and a director. So I thought I should leave to let NSM carry on."

Although he still has a few shares in the company - falling from a majority to 1 per cent - Sawasdi is no longer the CEO or a director. It must have been a painful moment for a man who was touted as a steel tycoon back in the 1990s. In an industry where few players existed, Sawasdi was a big guy with a huge stake in the NTS Steel Group. In 1992, NTS fell under a mountain of debt, and to cut losses Sawasdi had to sell off his shares in NTS to an offspring of Siam Cement that is now called Millennium Steel.

Founded in his glory days, NTS was then the country's biggest steel-rod manufacturer, with a production capacity of 800,000-1,000,000 tonnes a year. Last year, Tata Steel, a big producer in India, bought 2.1 billion shares in Millennium Steel and took control. Now Sawasdi has a few shares but no power in Millennium Steel.

And the same feeling hit him when he decided he must leave NSM.

Sawasdi said he felt some slight regrets about leaving, because NSM had been his dream and become everything to him. He spent half his life in the steel industry and is still recognised today as one of the country's steel tycoons. But he would not let his personal feelings obstruct the growth of NSM. He knew he had to make the sacrifice. Sawasdi believes the creditors will now throw a lot of money into the company and that NSM will prosper without him.

He said that if he were still CEO, he would only be in the way, and NSM would lose the opportunity to grow. So he thought he should leave and let the good creditors drive the firm.

"Now my days in the steel industry are over," said the man who has worked in it for 38 years.

Despite his fame as a steel tycoon, reigning over companies with a peak volume in the billions of baht, Sawasdi never earned a bachelor's degree in engineering or a related field. He obtained only a high-school diploma from Sathorn Witthaya School in Bangkok.

He started his career in the steel industry at age 25, working with his elder brother in the Krung Thai Steel Works. Later, he expanded his business by establishing the Nakornthai Steel Works - the beginning of the NTS Steel Group. He enjoyed great success following the construction boom and became a rich man.

Sawasdi enlarged his business again by setting up the NTS Steel Group and finally listed it with the Stock Exchange of Thailand. But his steel businesses collapsed in the aftermath of the 1997 economic crisis. Suddenly he was transformed into a debtor who was Bt100 billion in the hole.

"The day I left NSM, I took with me only my safety helmet. With that, I ended all my responsibility for protecting the company and its shareholders. I'm happy, though, to leave, knowing that NSM will live," he said.

Asked what he received after leaving, he answered it was not about money. As far as he is concerned, he founded NSM and was the one who brought it into bankruptcy. Therefore, it was his mission to save the company and not hurt the shareholders.

Today, without an upstream steel business in hand, Sawasdi still operates Suntec Scrap Processing, the only company he owns that is involved in the steel industry.

Other businesses include Hemaraj Land and Development, a real-estate developer; and Glow Hemaraj Energy, a joint venture between Hemaraj and Glow Energy that generates electricity for sale to the Eastern Industrial Estate. He owns other businesses that operate in the agricultural, service and entertainment sectors.

Now, Sawasdi is turning his eye towards a land bank of more than 10,000 rai owned by Hemaraj, with a vision of making Hemaraj a leader in industrial-estate and residential development. His family holds a 15.02-per-cent stake in the property company, and he has vowed to remain a major shareholder.

"Now I have an idea for expanding business in the Hemaraj Industrial Estate by increasing water and electricity supplies. Maybe this will be a big project in the near future," he said.