ENTREPRENEUR'S FIRST STEPS

Deep in my mind, I always felt involved with my father, my mother, my brothers and my sisters. As time passed, the resentment and hurt that I felt gradually faded away. The memory of my mother, who had flown to see me in Taiwan, and her obvious pride at seeing how well I was doing in my studies, softened my hard feelings. Even though father had never said so directly, he showed his feelings through his "envoys" such as my mother, and his friends such as Chue who often saw me. I knew that his stance, too, had softened a lot. One time I met a friend of his named Wichian Chantarapakhun, who told me there was an election coming up in Thailand. My father and his friends at Tha Reua were acting as election canvassers and offering financial support to his wife, Somsong, who was running for office as a Kanchanaburi MP. She was told she would get a Bt200-million loan if the Democrat Party, led by Seni Pramoj, was elected to government.

At the time, that sort of money was considered huge. Wichian intended to use it to build a pulp factory in Kanchanaburi, as this was Somsong's stronghold. Raw materials, such as crushed sugar cane and labor were available there. Wichian introduced me to his brother, Kiattichai, who had obtained a degree from Japan and owned a radio factory, called "Chantapa Industry" in the Bang Kae area of Bangkok and now had an office in Taipei.

Wichian and Kiattichai urged me to set up a machine-producing factory in Taiwan. He wanted a pulp factory. Wichian, who was very close to my father, said he had told my father about the idea and he was enthusiastic. In addition to helping me make money to pay for my Master's degree, I thought that it would benefit me and my family as well as sugar cane farmers.

Later, my father and his political friends came to see me in Taiwan for a few days. My father was very friendly and acted as if I were his favourite child. He begged his friends to convince me to return to Thailand. Finally, through Wichian, I agreed. I intended to work for a few years running my own business until I had saved enough money to go to Canada for my Master's degree.

During the summer break in 1974 I returned to Thailand. I was willing to swallow my pride by visiting my family in Kanchanaburi instead of staying at Aunt Hiang's house as I had been.

When I met my father, he acted as if we had never had a serious fight where we almost killed each other. He told me that he was old, his eyesight was getting worse, the business was expanding and there was a lot of work to do. He needed me to help take care of the family business because he saw that I was doing well at school and behaving well. He thought I could be the mainstay of our family in the future. If I came back, he told me, he would retire and leave everything under my care. Even though I didn't believe what he said completely, the look on his face showed that he really wanted me to work for the family business. I finally gave in and agreed to do everything he had asked me to.

Although all the bad memories were still rooted deep in my heart, I became softer when I saw my father because he talked to me nicely and showed me some compassion. It made me feel sorry for him. I knew that it was not easy for a man like him to back down and ask for help. What's more, he even offered to give me almost anything - including money - in order to persuade me to come back home. Until this very day, I don't know if he acted through guilt or whether he really wanted me to help him take care of the business.

Even though I had vowed never to go back to work at home again, my relationship seemed to be getting better. To me, the improvement of our once bitter relationship was like pouring water on a rock. No matter how hard it was, the rock would finally wear down after years of water. My heart was also ready to give in. No matter what, I realised that blood was thicker than water. He was my father, the person without whom I would never have come into this world. Even though I did not receive much love and warmth from him, I still loved him.

I thus began working for Wichian while I was still a student. I started building up my contacts by asking for quotations, visiting paper pulp factories and outlining working plans. At the same time, I still intended to fulfill my dream of studying for a Master's degree. Chitrakorn and I had plans to go to Canada together. We would work separately for a while in order to save up. When I graduated, I would go back to Thailand to work while Chitrakorn would work as a pharmacist at the Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei.

The plan for the paper pulp factory seemed to go well. In the election of January 28, 1975, the Democrat Party won and formed a coalition with the Thamma Sangkhom and Chart Thai Parties. However, the parties were unable to reach a deal so the Democrat Party joined the Kaset Sangkhom Party instead, which only had 91 supporters, to form a government. Seni Pramoj became prime minister. The Bt200-million loan seemed to be within reach. The project only needed to be proposed and approved. Everyone in Kanchanaburi province, as well as Wichian, was thrilled to finally see their dreams closer to becoming a reality.

It seemed to me as though I had Bt10 million in my hands and that my plan to go to Canada was about to become a reality. All I needed was a plane ticket. My life and future plans seemed to be so unbelieveably easy that I felt like I was living a dream. I felt as if I would become rich overnight. But I wasn't able to enjoy such dreams for very long.

Less than a month after it took power, Seni's government fell. Hopes of getting the loan that Wichian had expected faded rapidly - like a cloud floating away into the sky.

But it wasn't my nature to give up. I decided to go back to Aunt Hiang's house, a three-storeyed building in the Lat Ya district and open my own company in March 1975, during the summer holidays of my fourth year at university. I named the company V&K Corporation Co Ltd after the first names of myself and my girlfriend Kelly. The company's name was changed later to Amata Holding Co Ltd. The company's paid-up capital was Bt250,000, of which 25 per cent was paid upon registration. I borrowed Bt25,000 from my mother - a form of pocket money from her and the first capital I had ever received. I eventually ended up borrowing Bt80,000 from my mother. I also got a Bt40,000 loan from Tui, Aunt Lek's daughter, at an interest rate of 3 per cent per month. I only took out loans when the situation forced me to. Sometimes I borrowed Bt5,000 or Bt10,000. It was that way from 1975 to 1978. The only person I never thought to talk to about money was my father.

The first business of V&K Corporation was jasper export. It was the sort of business I had some experience in, since I had done it before in Taiwan. I travelled to Japan to survey the market. I also did some research on the jasper mine in Kanchanaburi. The Mitsui Mining Company was my biggest client. I earned US$700 for a tonne of jasper. The company sent Akira Zakuma to do an inspection of the mine in Kanchanaburi and the company approved the quality of jasper, saying it was good enough for making polished stones.

I also ran a jewellery business, a field in which I also had some knowledge. I also bought buffalo and cow horns to make jewellery for the Japanese market as well as other Asian countries. But this business was not as good as I had hoped and I soon closed it down. I sent letters to companies in other countries after getting their addresses from their respective embassies in Bangkok. Although the responses I received were much less than the number of letters I sent out, I never gave up.

One thing that worried me was the amount of money I had at the Bank of America on Surawong Road. When it was in danger of running out, I had to take a bus to Kanchanaburi to borrow more from my mother or from Tui.

Looking back on it now, I was no different from a baby left on his own to survive on a road strewn with obstacles. I did not even know how to write out an invoice, not to mention business documents. Many people felt sorry for me. Several asked me why I didn't ask for help from my father or go back to work for him. They all looked at me with pity and I'm sure they believed that I would probably crawl back to my parents sooner or later. But these people did not know me. They also didn't know about a resolution that I had written down in my diary: "Even if I have to starve to death, I will not ask for money from my father."

Here is another note that I will never forget: "Thank you, Kelly, for sending me money. I am really impressed with you."

I kept goading myself to achieve my goals: "One day, I will become successful. My aim is to have an international business."

That was my first step to creating a great international trading business, even though I did not had enough money to pay rent for a house of my own or buy myself a hot meal.

Vikrom Kromadit is executive chairman of Amata Industrial Parks, which operates two huge industrial parks in Thailand and another in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam