Before the days of automobiles, the Chao Phraya was a major artery of the Bangkok economy, with merchants and farmers taking boats up and down it. In front of the wharf was a bustling farmers’ market. When the farmers there had finished selling their produce, they were in the habit of stopping at the Chai Tai storefront to purchase seeds on their way home.
The family home

My father had married in his hometown of Chaozhou, in China’s Guangdong Province, and when his business in Bangkok got on track, he brought my mother to Thailand.

He set up his home and business headquarters in a three-story building across the street from his shop. The first floor housed the office and a warehouse, and the second and third floors were the living quarters. On the rooftop, he dried his vegetable seeds.

I was born on the third floor. The second floor was used by the family of my uncle, Chia Siew Whooy. Large steel cans filled with seeds stood in rows on the first floor – because the seeds could not be too dry or too damp, they were sealed in cans and carefully stored. As a child, I was forbidden from going near the office and had to play out back.

Three people worked in the office. One was a Briton, Alexander Campbell, who translated letters from overseas and drafted trade documents. He had a special room, larger than even my father’s office, for receiving visitors. There was also a Thai employee who spoke English.

The surrounding scenery has not changed much since my childhood. The seed shop continues to operate as a member of the CP Group, and the building in which I was born still serves as the headquarters of our group’s seed operations. Across the street, you can still buy vegetable seeds at the original store. Moreover, the neighboring shops where my older brother started a feed business are still standing as well.
Amazing acceptance

As there were no automobiles yet, the town was quiet. Many people who migrated to Bangkok from Chaozhou opened restaurants serving Chinese cuisine. Others set up shops selling tea and other products from China. Even today, the signboards throughout the neighbourhood are written in Chinese characters. Walking along the streets, it is easy to forget you’re in Thailand.

My entire family spoke the Teochew dialect of Chaozhou. In Chinatown in those days it was possible to conduct business without speaking a word of Thai, because -customers and business partners were all from Chaozhou. Indeed, it was often said that it would be impossible to do business if one did not speak Teochew.

Thai society was so broad-minded and accepting of immigrants that there could exist a whole town made up of people from Chaozhou. This is no small thing. In many other countries in Southeast Asia, Chinese immigrants were ostracised or persecuted. Such tragedies did not occur in Thailand. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that many Thais practice Buddhism, a religion that encourages tolerance and benevolence.

During my childhood, Bangkok was indeed peaceful, but looking beyond Thailand, one could see the flames of war starting to spread. Japan, which was at war with China, gradually expanded the battle lines to include Southeast Asia.

This was the beginning of the Pacific War, a conflict that would cast a shadow over my father’s business after years of smooth sailing.

Dhanin Chearavanont is chairman of the Charoen Pokphand Group.

This is the fourth of a 30-part series of “My Personal History” by Dhanin Chearavanont.

Reprint with permission from |The Nikkei Asian Review.

Vice chairwoman Supaluck Umpujh said the group expected its revenue to reach Bt55 billion this year, up 7 per cent from 2015.
Among its mall brands, The EmQuartier is projected to grow by more than 20 per cent, since this will be its first full year of operation, and The Emporium will fetch nearly double-digit growth. The Mall branches, meanwhile, anticipate low growth as many of them are under renovation.
Fresh from celebrating the opening of Bluport, a joint venture between The Mall Group and Proud Real Estate of the Liptapanlop family, in Hua Hin on Saturday, Supaluck held a briefing with reporters yesterday to elaborate on her next opening this coming Saturday: the face-lifted The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima.
The Korat branch of The Mall opened in 2000, and the group spent more than Bt2 billion on the grand facelift, which expands retail space by about 100,000 square metres to total 350,000sqm. It will spend another Bt300 million to renovate the old shopping spaces.
The facelift comes as Nakhon Ratchasima prepares to welcome two new large shopping malls, the Terminal 21 Korat in December and the CentralPlaza Nakhon Ratchasima in September next year.
“It helps give me an adrenaline rush,” said Supaluck, also known as “the Iron Butterfly” of Thailand’s retail industry, when asked how she viewed the competition.
“Competition gets fiercer but there is the chance to draw in shoppers from the surrounding provinces. Hence whoever [attains] perfection will win.”
Supaluck believes Nakhon Ratchasima will be able to attract more shoppers from nearby provinces, who will visit more often since “it will be worthwhile to do so”.
The expanded The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima includes many new attractions, including “the Snow & Ice Planet” to be opened on Saturday, which features an investment of more than Bt500 million to showcase an artificial snow ground produced by the latest German technology that is very close to natural snow.
“For the first time, northeastern Thailand will see snow. We think people from all over Isaan, as well as Bangkokians who drive to Khao Yai, must drive up there,” she said.
The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima expects 65 per cent of its shoppers to come from within the province and the rest from surrounding provinces. Nakhon Ratchasima, the second-largest city in Thailand, has a population of 3 million, and another 5 million people live in surrounding provinces.
Supaluck said the group still had a 40-to-50-rai (6.4-8 hectares) plot of land behind The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima reserved for future development. She has not decided yet whether this should be used for real-estate projects or other attractions.
Spending per bill at The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima is about Bt3,000, similar to its Bangkok branches. The group expects the number of visitors to the Korat branch to grow by at least 30 per cent after the grand facelift.
The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima will maintain its leading position because of its “diamond-grade” location, perfection and comprehensive features and excellent services, full-fledged marketing and promotional activities, the group’s long-time experience and strong customer base, she said.
The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima’s other key attractions and outlets include the Fantasia Lagoon water park, the Wonder Planet, Korat Cineplex, Gourmet Market, Fitness First, Burger King, Laem Charoen Seafood, H&M, Uniqlo, Sushi Hero, Jaspal, and Cotton On.

Airplanes had nothing to do with selling seeds, but they had a special importance for my father. “Airplanes are a symbol of modern civilization, science and advanced technology,” he said.
Chia Tai sold seeds of cabbage, leaf mustard and turnips. The seeds came in small paper bags printed with colored ink, a rare touch at that time. Those around him laughed, saying, “ You don’t need such pretty bags to sell seeds,” but my father didn’t care.
Another unusual thing my father did: He printed an expiration date on each bag and would exchange -free of charge – any expired seeds. “Farming is back-breaking work,” he would say. |“If the farmer plants the seeds and waters them every day, but |they never sprout, he suffers |a tremendous loss. There’s no |way I will cause my customers to |suffer a loss.”

An analytical mind
My father never received a higher education, but he possessed a remarkable ability to analyse things in a rather |scientific manner. In Bangkok, many households raised chickens on their rooftop, but they |produced very few eggs. He carefully observed his own chickens and noticed they ate primarily bugs and grass.
Thinking they may not be |getting enough nutrition, he tried mixing fish powder and rice bran into their feed. He also gave them vegetables to eat, and ground up seashells for them. Even without full knowledge of such matters as protein and calcium, he could see from observation what nutrients were needed and was able to |engineer an appropriate feed. The upshot: My father’s chickens laid eggs every day.
He was also engrossed in developing better varieties of crops. To that end, he set up farms in Thailand and in his hometown of Chaozhou, in China. From these, he selected the highest-quality vegetables and harvested their seeds. He sought to improve varieties through so-called artificial selection. This was notsomething he learned at an agricultural school, but a process he discovered on his own based on experience and observation.
I pride myself on having inherited his love of new things and his scientific way of thinking.

Only the best
My father’s “quality first” |attitude and his respect for customers won over many farmers, allowing his seed business to steadily grow. He eventually invited his younger brother, Chia Siew Whooy, from Chaozhou to come help in the store.
In addition to the seeds he developed himself, my father also sold high-quality seeds from |various parts of China and later Japan. While the details are unclear, he began selling seeds from Takii& Co, a Kyoto-based company, in 1940. The association between CP Group and Takii has continued uninterrupted, and today we enjoy a cooperative |relationship, working together |to improve various cultivars |of fruit, vegetables and other plants. Last year, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the partnership.
My father could not speak Thai very well, to say nothing of English, so how was he able to conduct negotiations with foreign companies? By hiring a Briton by the name of Alexander Campbell and giving him a generous salary. Campbell, who lived in Bangkok and spoke Thai, handled all aspects of external negotiations, including contacting foreign companies.
In hiring Campbell and giving him such an important position, my father planted the seed of an important part of our corporate culture: a willingness to employ capable people regardless of their nationality. This is one of the reasons Chia Tai, which started out as a tiny store with only a handful of employees, could quickly join the ranks of international businesses.
Campbell continued to work for Chia Tai into the 1980s, firing off telex messages from his office in Chinatown well into his 80s.

Dhanin Chearavanont is chairman of the Charoen Pok-phand Group.This is the third of a 30-part series of “My Personal History” by Dhanin Chearavanont.
Reprint with permission from The Nikkei Asian Review.