The
president of Payap University is a sprightly 60 something man,
Dr. Boonthong Poocharoen, who embodies a successful meld of
Chinese work ethics and the Christian philosophy of acceptance
of changes in life as God’s will. He is also a man who managed
to come from a small country village and overcome all the
disadvantages that that normally would bring. He is also a
fighter.
The young Boonthong was the third son and the
tenth child in a Chinese merchant family. He was born in the
(then) small village of Mae Chai and went to the local primary
school and then to the government school, where his natural
aptitude really began to show through. This was a boy who worked
hard and topped his class each year.
To further his education he was sent to
Lampang to study at a Christian College there, staying with one
of his sisters and her tailor husband. He earned his keep by
helping his brother-in-law in his tailor shop - a skill that was
to be to his advantage later in life. “I was kept very busy,
but I always enjoyed learning,” he said.
The next step in his personal education was
to enter Junior High School, and he set his sights on the Prince
Royal’s College in Chiang Mai. This was not going to be easy
as in those days, this school was full of students on a
Fulbright scholarship, and there were only 20 places left for
others.
He passed the entrance examination, but
needed financial assistance, and he experienced one of his first
turning points in life. He met an American Christian missionary,
a Dr. Konrad Kingshill, who took him into his home to be part of
the family, arranged a scholarship for him and even paid him B.
3 an hour to help mail out the missionary newsletter. Young
Boonthong also became a Christian while at the Prince Royal’s
College.
After this he set his sights on studying
medicine, and went to Chulalongkorn University to do the two
year pre-med science course. However, he did not go on to join
the medical faculty, but continued on in Science for another
three years to gain his B.Sc.
Dr. Konrad Kingshill was again a catalyst for
his next career move. The missionary had come to Bangkok to
teach at a Christian college there and asked Boonthong to join
him to teach Science. In some ways, he was trapped. He had
actually wanted to be a merchant with the family, but felt that
his debt of gratitude for what Dr. Konrad had done for him
previously had to be repaid. He spent the next two years
teaching Science.
Being a firm believer in the advantages of
education by this time, Boonthong looked at going to America to
study Chemistry. There was a scholarship available, with an
American sponsor family, but part of the conditions were that he
would have to return to Thailand and teach at Chulalongkorn
University. Not being able to see into the future, this seemed a
great opportunity, so he went to America, gaining his Masters in
Analytical Chemistry in two years. His wife also joined him in
the US, winning her own scholarship to study there too. They had
to live frugally and Boonthong even made their clothes, using
his tailoring skills learned as a child. However, he looked
forward to returning to Thailand. “America didn’t need me,
but Thailand did,” was how he described it.
With both their degree studies completed, he
returned, ready to work at Chulalongkorn, but fate (or God’s
will) stepped in again. Dr. Konrad had come to Chiang Mai to set
up a Christian institution called Payap College. Boonthong
received an invitation to join him in this new venture. He
wanted to help Dr. Konrad achieve his dream, but there was a
problem - he was indentured to Chulalongkorn. However, there was
a way around this problem - he had to get the permission from
his sponsor family in the US, which they granted. So in February
1973, Boonthong came to Chiang Mai to join Dr. Konrad at Payap.
Unfortunately, it was not plain sailing -
Payap did not receive permission to open from the government,
and in fact, it seemed averse to the idea of private higher
educational institutions. He could have turned away at that
point, but he did not. The provisional committee hired him to
put their case to the government and hopefully get the required
permission.
The next year of his life was spent on busses
between Chiang Mai and Bangkok and return, repeatedly presenting
the case for Payap to a government that had an inherent distrust
of students and universities. His committee began to see Payap
as a lost cause and gave Boonthong the opportunity to quit, but
he did not. “It was probably my Chinese nature, but I would
not quit. I would try my best.”
His perseverance paid off, and 13 months
later, Payap received the requisite permission. Payap and
Boonthong were up and running. At that stage in his life, he did
not see Payap as his future, “I intended to work for three to
five years and then go and work for a chemical company, but
after the opening, I came to love the college, so I decided to
stay on.” In return, the board sent him back to America to
gain his Ph.D., which he took in Food Technology, a subject that
he felt would be important for Thailand.
Again perseverance paid off, with Payap
becoming the first private university in Thailand, and a few
years later, Dr. Boonthong was offered the position as
president, the post he still has today.
The final words spoken during the interview
probably went right to the crux of this remarkable man’s life.
“As a country boy, if you live in a small village the chances
to go abroad for education are very slim. As a Christian, I
consider that (what has happened to me) is God’s will.”
