Fly on the Corporate Wall

The potential is there because his company, Serm Suk, which has been bottling Pepsi for Thai consumption for 59 years, is parting ways with US-based Pepsi Co on November 1. Serm Suk is going to make its own soda pop.

But don’t offer Dhitivute a Coke, even as a joke. The Bulsook family is renowned for its loyalty to Pepsi, going right back through Dhitivute’s father Somchai to his grandfather Song. They never drank anything else. Rival soft drinks were not allowed in their presence.

And that allegiance remains rock-solid, for now at least, as witnessed by reporters who accompanied the Serm Suk president to Hong Kong recently.

Unlike Thailand, where Pepsi holds the lion’s share of the market, Coke rules Hong Kong. Even so, Dhitivute’s staff always makes sure there’s Pepsi on the table for him and his entourage. And on this trip the tour guide had to work as hard as ever to track down enough Pepsi for everyone.

So far, no exceptions.

Pity the rich

Virabongsa Ramangkura is flush with cash. You probably already knew that. He’s chairman of the Bank of Thailand and lots of other boards of directors and an adviser to 20 additional corporations as well as the Pheu Thai Party.

But unlike many wealthy people who are convinced they can get their money into Heaven with them, Virabongsa wants to spend all his dough.

At 70, he only wishes he could cash in all his cash by the time he dies. He reckons there’s too much of it, though. "I don’t think my kids will get through it all either," he says.

Virabongsa has just built a massive Bt20-million house on the Khiri Maya golf links in Khao Yai, but he has opted to stay in a little place out back. He sleeps on the floor, under a simple mosquito net. He cooks his own meals.

Very admirable and, yes, the house took care of a wad of change, but he’s never going to get through his fortune at this rate. We’d be happy to show him how to empty his bank account a whole lot faster.

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