Boonsithi Chokwatana is chairman of Saha Group, Thailand’s leading consumer products conglomerate. This is part 26 of a 30-part series.
To this day, Saha Group and I have worked to strengthen our bond with Japan. As I wanted to let Thais know more about Japan, I have engaged in work to mediate between the two countries. Education is part of this endeavor.
It started in the mid-1990s, when a plan was suggested to develop 3.2 sq. kilometers of land we owned in Sriracha, southeast of Bangkok, where we had developed an industrial park. I came up with the idea of building an international school there. International schools were few and far between in Thailand back then.
I first took the proposal to Keio University through a referral by an executive of Lion who was close to me, but it was turned down. Next, I visited Takayasu Okushima, who was then president of Waseda University, through an…
