And speaking of Thais in Dubai
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Dhanin Chearavanont, chairman and CEO of the Charoen Pokphand Group, rarely speaks in public. You might catch him at the podium a couple of times a year at big forums. But he'll be onstage at the Forbes Global CEO conference in Dubai next Tuesday.
He’s Forbes Asia’s Businessman of 2011, so he’d better say a few words.
Dhanin will have an audience of tycoons, entrepreneurs and other unrepentant capitalists from around the world eager to hear his views on how Asia countries can play a bigger role in world trade as power shifts from West to East.
He’s part of a panel discussion entitled “Enlarging the Winner’s Circle”, packed with other top guns of the world market. Steve Forbes, the chairman and editor-in-chief at Forbes Media who twice ran for US president, settles for being moderator.
A lot of Thai businessmen will no doubt join the slew of CP executives expected at the session and, who knows, maybe that Thaksin Shinawatra guy will pop around, since he lives there and famously kept the “Thai” in “tycoon”.
Stamina in doubt
Whenever someone hits up businessman Somchai Amatasin to buy a membership in a fitness club, he says okay. He’s not an exercise nut, he tells Dichan magazine – he just likes to help the sales people get a commission.
But he’s more cautious since California Wow went bust in spectacular fashion. Now when they ask Somchai to buy a lifetime membership, he asks, “The club’s lifetime or mine?” He expects the businesses he invests in to at least outlive him.
Stretched thin
We’ve had TV producers complaining about soap stars dashing off the set to earn money at corporate appearances. Now thanawat “Pope” wattanaputi has apologised for leaving the public events early!
His soap opera gets priority, he says. “Anyone will tell you I’m a responsible person, but acting is my main job.”
Pope adds that this problem will soon take care of itself anyway, since he’s doing far fewer public appearances now.
