How In The World Did Taskin Become A Billionaire?

[austallia_1980]

He was born into a rich family. He becomes a police officer. He goes to the USA to earn a bach, masters and then doctorate degree in Criminal Justice from two relatively unspectacular universities that arent even close to being Ivey league.

He comes back to Thailand. Opens a few different business which all fail putting him 50 million baht in debt.

He continues to be an enterprenuer, with what money? He is supposed to be 50 million baht in debt.

He found AIS. When he did he ever learn anything about computer and mobile phone networks?

Mobile phone industry blows up during the 90's and he becomes a multi-billionaire? That is some success story! How much did he initially invest and where did he get that money?

He enters politics in 1994, seven years later he becomes Prime Minister...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatra

It seems as though the WikiBio has more holes than Swiss cheese. Anyone want to feel in any missing information?

[kayo]

Mostly froma gringo American farang whom he then promptly dumped, in proper thai girl style

And that american is currently trying to sue Taksi.

But yeah, wiki doesn`t mention it:

Business career

Thaksin and his wife ventured into several businesses while Thaksin was still in the police force. These included opening a silk shop, opening a movie theatre, and developing an apartment building. All of these ventures were failures, and left him over 50 million Baht in debt. He established ICSI in 1982, which leased computers to government agencies and was a modest success. However, later ventures in security systems (SOS) and public bus radio services (Bus Sound) were failures.[10][11] In April 1986, he founded Advanced Info Service (AIS), which started off as a computer rental business[12].

In 1987, after resigning from the police force, he marketed a Thai romance drama called "Baan Sai Thong"[13], which became a popular success in theaters[14]. In 1988 he joined with Pacific Telesis to operate and market the PacLink pager service, which was a modest success, although Thaksin later sold out his stake in PacLink to establish his own paging company[15][16]. In 1989 Thaksin launched IBC, a cable television company, which lost money and was later acquired by the CP Group's UTV.[17][18] In 1989, Thaksin established a data networking service, Shinawatra DataCom, which was a failure[19]. It is today known as Advanced Data Network, and is owned by AIS and the TOT[20].

In October 1990, Advanced Info Service launched analog mobile phone services after receiving a concession from the Telephone Organization of Thailand. AIS was listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in November 1991. AIS became the largest mobile phone operator in Thailand.

The Shinawatra Computer and Communications Group was founded in 1987 and listed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 1990.

In 1990, Thaksin founded Shinawatra Satellite, which has developed and operated a total of four Thaicom satellites.

In 2000, Thaksin acquired the ailing iTV television station from the Crown Property Bureau, Nation Multimedia Group, and Siam Commercial Bank.[21][22]

Edited September 23, 2006 by kayo

[jdinasia]

Buy the Book

[Cigarette Burn]

Buy the Book

Don't waste your money

[ColPyat]

It seems as though the WikiBio has more holes than Swiss cheese. Anyone want to feel in any missing information?

Buy the book by Cris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit - Thaksin: The Business Of Politics In Thailand.

Another good one is: The Thaksinization Of Thailand, by Duncan McCargo and Ukrist Pathmanand.

These books and other articles by those authors will give you a good picture of Thaksin and the social context in which he managed to make his fortune.

Other texts on Thaksin and other topics to read up upon are by Giles Ungpakorn and Thongchai Winichakul, two people whose moral courage especially in this present time is to be admired.

Edited September 23, 2006 by ColPyat

[britmaveric]

Telecom/Media I'd assume.

[yorkman]

It seems as though the WikiBio has more holes than Swiss cheese. Anyone want to feel in any missing information?

Giles Ungpakorn and Thongchai Winichakul, two people whose moral courage especially in this present time is to be admired.

It certainly is.....

The condensed version...

Start with a rich family...join the police and advance to senior officer.... x 1000 your fortune from graft

Gain dodgy degrees which seem nevertheless impressive, your status goes up 10%..advance 1 ladder

Start a communications company, and use all your family contacts to give you concessions and push out any opposition... x 1000 your fortune

Promise the Thai people that you will give them THEIR money, become popularly elected ...advance 1 ladder

Use your fortune to buy up land around an airport you push forward, change laws to gain pecuniary advantage..etc etc etc x 1000 .... a Billionare now...

Push your luck, underestimate the Thai people...slide down a snake

[Johpa]

I seem to remember another government coup, but in Cambodia, in which Mr. Shinawat was involved. His company Shinawatra Cambodia has, I believe, a monopoly on that country's telecommunications.

[taxexile]

his first fortune came when he left the police force and opened a business selling computer sysytems to the police calling on contacts within the police. he married the daughter of a high ranking and well connected police chief , went back into public service and the rest is history.

despite everything , he is a charismatic and astute businessman who was in the right places at the right times to take advantage of the growing need for computer systems and communications technology.

being involved in politics enabled him to alter legal frameworks to benefit his business interests.

he could have and should have taken thailand to great places.

his greed and pride brought him down.

[The Skipper]

Thaksin borrowed some money from a bank and started selling communication equipment to Thai Police.

The banker went out on a limb and loaned this money, got rewarded nicely with a position on the board.

A few years later, Thaksin was launching satellites and building up communication business in and around SE Asia.

The guy is a smart businessman and was a multi Billionaire long before politics.

He lost a ton in the crash of 1997.

Since he was elected, the world economy has recovered and so has his portfolio.

He made some bad calls with censorship, the South, Drug war but overall, Thailand benefitted under his leadership.

[kiakaha]

What billionaries dont get where they are by backdoor tactics.

Bill Gates lied to IBM then 'stole' DOS then 'stole' Windows

[sriracha john]

overall, Thailand benefitted under his leadership.

However, the families of the 4,000 Thais murdered (Drug War + Deep South) under his leadership might reach a different conclusion.

Edited September 24, 2006 by sriracha john

[The Skipper]

What billionaries dont get where they are by backdoor tactics.

Bill Gates lied to IBM then 'stole' DOS then 'stole' Windows

Gates didn't have an operating system, sent IBM down to see Gary Kildall at Digital Research in Monterey.

Kildall didn't like dealing with "suits" and refused to sign the NDA.

Gates ended up buying DOS for $50,000USD, sold it to IBM.

Gates did steal Wozniacs User Interface.

[marshbags]

Thaksin borrowed some money from a bank and started selling communication equipment to Thai Police.

The banker went out on a limb and loaned this money, got rewarded nicely with a position on the board.

A few years later, Thaksin was launching satellites and building up communication business in and around SE Asia.

The guy is a smart businessman and was a multi Billionaire long before politics.

He lost a ton in the crash of 1997.

Since he was elected, the world economy has recovered and so has his portfolio.

He made some bad calls with censorship, the South, Drug war but overall, Thailand benefitted under his leadership.

Toxin is a devious crook pure and simple.

Maybe you should have a conversation with the American business partner he cheated to kick start his infamous route to becoming a successful billionaire by any and every criminal means he could lay his sticky fingers on.

Thailand is now in it,s present position because of Toxins abuse of the constitution and the paid for co operation of his cronies.

They all in turn did all they could to exploit Thailand and it,s citizens and only THEY benefitted from Toxin, his misuse of public money and his leadership.

For you to state different is your own opinion and while i respect your views and previuos contributions to T.Visa overall.

You are living on another planet making what i intepret as giving respectability to this evil man and his greedy coherts who only have / had self reward to show for their 5 years in power.

After all this is where he really made most of his fortune and hopefully they can confiscate what,s left in Thailand and give it back to it,s communities.

Maybe then they will at least benefit from some of his abuse.

As for all the poor innocents / scapegoats who have died under his leadership to stop them from revealing the true identities of the ones truly responsible for the drug situation.

Not forgetting the innocents families who are left to suffer from their slaughter.

Where in the world have they benefitted from his unethical leadership.

Give us a break...........................................................................

...........................................................

marshbags

P.S.

If you really must do a C.V. on this crook don,t forget to fill in the details as to how he proceeded to become a multi billionaire and how he misused his abilities to circumvent the constitution and laws in general to achieve this.

A smart business man............................................................................Y

u mean a devious crook surely.

Edited September 24, 2006 by marshbags

[The Skipper]

Thaksin borrowed some money from a bank and started selling communication equipment to Thai Police.

The banker went out on a limb and loaned this money, got rewarded nicely with a position on the board.

A few years later, Thaksin was launching satellites and building up communication business in and around SE Asia.

The guy is a smart businessman and was a multi Billionaire long before politics.

He lost a ton in the crash of 1997.

Since he was elected, the world economy has recovered and so has his portfolio.

He made some bad calls with censorship, the South, Drug war but overall, Thailand benefitted under his leadership.

Toxin is a devious crook pure and simple.

Maybe you should have a conversation with the American business partner he cheated to kick start his infamous route to becoming a successful billionaire by any and every criminal means he could lay his sticky fingers on.

Thailand is now in it,s present position because of Toxins abuse of the constitution and the paid for co operation of his cronies.

They all in turn did all they could to exploit Thailand and it,s citizens and only THEY benefitted from Toxin, his misuse of public money and his leadership.

For you to state different is your own opinion and while i respect your views and previuos contributions to T.Visa overall.

You are living on another planet making what i intepret as giving respectability to this evil man and his greedy coherts who only have / had self reward to show for their 5 years in power.

After all this is where he really made most of his fortune and hopefully they can confiscate what,s left in Thailand and give it back to it,s communities.

Maybe then they will at least benefit from some of his abuse.

As for all the poor innocents / scapegoats who have died under his leadership to stop them from revealing the true identities of the ones truly responsible for the drug situation.

Not forgetting the innocents families who are left to suffer from their slaughter.

Where in the world have they benefitted from his unethical leadership.

Give us a break...........................................................................

...........................................................

marshbags

P.S.

If you really must do a C.V. on this crook don,t forget to fill in the details as to how he proceeded to become a multi billionaire and how he misused his abilities to circumvent the constitution and laws in general to achieve this.

A smart business man............................................................................Y

u mean a devious crook surely.

Let's first, find all the missing bodies from the 1991 coup..... The thai govt is run by thugs, cheaters, always has been.

Cheating an American business partner? That's business as usual in Thailand.

Every Thai busines man alive would do the same.

Thaksin was a billionair before politics, a hugly successfull businessman, that's all I'm saying. To claim he got rich in office is not true.

[sriracha john]

Thaksin was a billionair before politics, a hugly successfull businessman, that's all I'm saying. To claim he got rich in office is not true.

A compromise statement perhaps?

Thaksin was a billionaire (in baht) before politics who got even infinitely richer after becoming PM to the point now where he is a billionaire (in US dollars).

[sbk]

Absolutely skipper, it is not true to say he got rich in office.

It is true to say he got richer in office. His personal wealth jumped by nearly 2 billion dollars after his little scheme.

[h90]

I heard him within 1 week once telling that he comes from an old rich family and once he comes from a very poor family and made everything on his own by credits.

Actually 2 complete different stories.

Story a) was when they asked him where some money came from

Story b.) was for giving some Isaan voters something to dream.

He was born into a rich family. He becomes a police officer. He goes to the USA to earn a bach, masters and then doctorate degree in Criminal Justice from two relatively unspectacular universities that arent even close to being Ivey league.

He comes back to Thailand. Opens a few different business which all fail putting him 50 million baht in debt.

He continues to be an enterprenuer, with what money? He is supposed to be 50 million baht in debt.

He found AIS. When he did he ever learn anything about computer and mobile phone networks?

Mobile phone industry blows up during the 90's and he becomes a multi-billionaire? That is some success story! How much did he initially invest and where did he get that money?

He enters politics in 1994, seven years later he becomes Prime Minister...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatra

It seems as though the WikiBio has more holes than Swiss cheese. Anyone want to feel in any missing information?

[The Skipper]

From Wikapedia regarding the Business career:

"Thaksin and his wife ventured into several businesses while Thaksin was still in the police force. These included opening a silk shop, opening a movie theatre, and developing an apartment building. All of these ventures were failures, and left him over 50 million Baht in debt. He established ICSI in 1982, which leased computers to government agencies and was a modest success. However, later ventures in security systems (SOS) and public bus radio services (Bus Sound) were failures.[10][11] In April 1986, he founded Advanced Info Service (AIS), which started off as a computer rental business[12].

In 1987, after resigning from the police force, he marketed a Thai romance drama called "Baan Sai Thong"[13], which became a popular success in theaters[14]. In 1988 he joined with Pacific Telesis to operate and market the PacLink pager service, which was a modest success, although Thaksin later sold out his stake in PacLink to establish his own paging company[15][16]. In 1989 Thaksin launched IBC, a cable television company, which lost money and was later acquired by the CP Group's UTV.[17][18] In 1989, Thaksin established a data networking service, Shinawatra DataCom, which was a failure[19]. It is today known as Advanced Data Network, and is owned by AIS and the TOT[20].

In October 1990, Advanced Info Service launched analog mobile phone services after receiving a concession from the Telephone Organization of Thailand. AIS was listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in November 1991. AIS became the largest mobile phone operator in Thailand.

The Shinawatra Computer and Communications Group was founded in 1987 and listed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 1990.

In 1990, Thaksin founded Shinawatra Satellite, which has developed and operated a total of four Thaicom satellites."

He was an entraprenur and finally hit the bigtime with his contract with TOT in 1990, 4 years before he was appointed Foreign Minister in 1994.

[COBBER]

IMO Taksin was not a very astute businessman or politician.

His fortune came from having a Telecomunications monopoly with AIS. A virtual license to print money. It seams that he had more business failures than sucesses.

If anything he was persistant . If one venture failed he moved to another.

Edited September 24, 2006 by COBBER

[The Skipper]

He was in the right place at the right time, the communications boom, could be dumb luck.

I was just pointing out we was filthy rich, long before politics.

People that say he is a crook or robbed the Country blind don't know what they are talking about.

[sriracha john]

He was in the right place at the right time, the communications boom, could be dumb luck.

I was just pointing out we was filthy rich, long before politics.

People that say he is a crook or robbed the Country blind don't know what they are talking about.

A further compromise statement?

Thaksin was rich before politics, he became "filthy" rich since becoming PM due to all the extra dirty dealings he orchestrated.

[sbk]

Somehow I doubt anything Thaksin gained was due to "dumb luck". Doesn't seem to be in the man's makeup to rely on luck.

[Johpa]

He was in the right place at the right time, the communications boom, could be dumb luck.

I was just pointing out we was filthy rich, long before politics.

People that say he is a crook or robbed the Country blind don't know what they are talking about.

No, he was indeed wealthy before he directly entered politics but was involved in politics well before he became involved with the TRT. But despite being wealthy, he is still a crook and he still engaged in that venerable Thai tradition known in Thai as kin muang, robbing the country blind, to a larger extent than even his most notorious predecessors. By Thai standards, you have to really push your criminal intent to have the great equalizer step in and say "enough is enopugh" and declare an exile status.

For some to imply that because of his wealth Taksin is in the same class as Gates or Buffet don't know what they are talking about. All one can say is that they are all astute business men who saw certain trends before others. Apart from that they have nothing in common whatsoever.

[meadish_sweetball]

To be fair, 'Wozniak's' graphic user interface was also 'stolen' - from ideas developed by Xerox... so Gates wasn't the only pirate in that respect.

[PeaceBlondie]

I'm just an old poor boy from "Upper middle class" background where money and class weren't mentioned. I don't know real money.

However, here in Thailand, are there differences between baht rich, dollar millionaires, sterling multi-billionaires, etc? And is there a difference in Bangkok between old money and noveau riche? Do the elite in BKK consider nouveau riche Chiang Mai folks to be ......intruding upon their territory? Perhaps the story of the coup to prevent Thaksin's coup is about the rivalry between old and new money and power.

I understand Thaksin's doctorate is from Sam Houston State University. I think most of us Texans would say that's three ranks below Rice and Trinity, UT-Austin and UT-College Station, except in the criminal justice circles.

As a former English teacher in Thailand (and as a Texan). I can't believe how bad the man's English pronunciation is!! Unlike the other non-native Texan, Bush, it's not even a fake West Texas accent.

[eljeque]

He was in the right place at the right time, the communications boom, could be dumb luck.

I was just pointing out we was filthy rich, long before politics.

People that say he is a crook or robbed the Country blind don't know what they are talking about.

He was filthy rich before politics, if you do not consider the police force being in some way politics or a place where one robs the people blind.

He did rob the people blind while being the already rich PM as well. He was also robbing the people blind while the CEO of AIS which maintained a virtual monopoly and also received overly-rich goverment contracts.

[ovenman]

He was in the right place at the right time, the communications boom, could be dumb luck.

Dumb luck that was bought and paid for by all indications.

[Oishi]

I seem to remember another government coup, but in Cambodia, in which Mr. Shinawat was involved. His company Shinawatra Cambodia has, I believe, a monopoly on that country's telecommunications.

Maybe in Laos not in Cambodia. Their are 3 operators in Cambodia.

Marketleader is MobiTel

Second is CamShin (250.000 subscribers)

Third is Samart Communication (Part of Samart Thailand) will be changed to Telekom Malaysia International soon.

Their combined average monthly revenues per user are US$9 to $11 (Bt337 to Bt412).

There were around 1.2 million mobile-phone users in Cambodia last year, up from 900,000 in 2004.

Camshin entered the market via Shin Satelitte around 10 years ago.

Keep in mind the infastructure back then wasent up and running, demanding a huge investment in setting up antennas, laying cables and so on...this wasent an investment giving Thaksin money quickly, but a long time investment. He might however have sold some stakes in the company and being a sole investor he could have decided to keep the money himself instead of using them in the company.

[Johpa]

He was in the right place at the right time, the communications boom, could be dumb luck.

Dumb luck that was bought and paid for by all indications.

Indeed a certain element of luck being around as a new technology developed and matured. But in Thailand, business at the higher levels tends to be built around family monopolies, and nobody was going to challenge an influential police officer from an influential family ( I believe it was a sister who got away with the murder of a school head in Sankhampeng) once he had pissed upon the telecommunications fire hydrant. But give him credit for seeing early on the potential profit at that hydrant. From a strictly business perspective, he is more similar to a Craig McCaw than a Bill Gates.

On a like note, it was perhaps similar luck to be around at a time when it became less expensive to pay off the masses of rural poor than to pay off your competitors. Thus Taksin was able to translate his wealth into a political mandate with the backing of the rural poor in the voting process. I do hope that future politicians will continue to throw some bones to the rural poor and eventually give them some real meat.

That being said, Taksin, or at least the business people behind him were very smart cookies. But they were also, at heart, colonial robber barrons, sucking Thailand dry for their personal profit. Alas, most of Thailand's business elite conduct business in the same manner.