"I don't have the money, but I won't run away, and I won't pay them either," the steel tycoon said.

Many debtors would be ashamed of missing their payments and avoid coming face to face with their creditors. Some might decide to commit suicide or just fade away.

But not Sawasdi.

He managed to strike a debt-restructuring deal with his creditors so that 10 years on he has pared down that debt load to some Bt1.2 billion today.

What's the key to his success?

"I don't like grey areas. I want to see things worked out clearly in black and white," he told our reporters.

Sawasdi refused to avoid his debtors. He talked frankly with them, telling each of them the limit of his capability to repay each loan. He also decided to let go of some of his companies and keep those that showed potential.

Sawasdi said there had been times when he was at his wits' end about where to start.

"But I knew I would be able to find a way out if I just thought it through and took my time," he said.

Sawasdi's wife, however, could not stay calm during that difficult period.

Of course, any wife would be distressed if she learnt that her husband was wrestling with a big problem.

"She asked me every night what I was doing to do about it. I just told her to stay cool, because I wouldn't be able to sort things out overnight and I needed time to think it through but things would work out just fine."

His story should be a lesson to businessmen who have lost hope in life.

If a man with debts of Bt100 billion can survive, there's a solution to everything.

Busdsk@nationgroup.com