The
chairman and CEO of the Legend Chiang Rai boutique resort and
spa is Dusit Thammaraks, a man who managed to juggle several
careers and projects, while still working for the government in
the Ministry of the Interior. He is a man who says, “My life
began at 60, not 40.” That was when he retired from government
service. He is also a man who almost became a rubber plantation
labourer!
He was born in Trang, the hometown of ex-PM
Chuan Leekpai. His father was the mayor and Dusit was the oldest
of seven children. His young life was overseen by his very
forthright and authoritarian mother. “She was devoted, but
very strict. She taught us how to behave,” said Dusit. Part of
that training apparently involved the use of the rattan cane, so
the young Dusit knew there was retribution in store for
transgressions!
His mother also decided the style of
education her children would get. Dusit and his eldest sister
were to receive an English education, while the next two were to
be educated in the Chinese way, and the final three through the
Thai curriculum. “Mother controlled the family and made plans
for everyone,” said Dusit simply.
To prepare Dusit for his English education,
mother sent him to Penang, where she bought a town house, and
installed three of his aunts to look after him and his sister.
There he completed his Lower Cambridge Certificate, and he was
sent to England.
Dusit, by all accounts, was not the hardest
working Thai student in the British Isles. He used to play the
guitar in Penang, and was soon playing in pubs in the UK. His
somewhat laid back attitude to life and work was noticed by the
Thai Students Office in England, and his mother was informed.
Out of reach of the rattan cane, but not out of reach of
mother’s wrath, he was firmly reminded that his grandfather
had started working in rubber plantations, and if Dusit’s
marks did not improve, he would be joining the labourers there
as well.
Since being a rubber tapper was not high in
his list of desired occupations for the future, young Dusit
knuckled down, “I got scared and gave away my guitar!” and
passed his O and A levels and entered the Enfield College of
Technology (now called the North London University), finally
coming out with his Bachelor’s degree in Science (Economics).
Dusit also wanted to see America before
returning to mother and the rattan cane, so talked his parents
into letting him go for one year to do a Masters in Political
Science in the USA. The course was for two years, but Dusit, who
could work hard when he wanted to, completed the course in eight
months and spent the next four months of his extra year enjoying
America!
On returning to Thailand, he was told that
his playing was over (guitar or otherwise) and his future would
be in government service. Since his father knew many government
officials through his position in Trang, Dusit was pushed
inexorably towards this career path, even though he was
personally more attracted to private enterprise. He joined Lever
Brothers, but when a position became available in the Ministry
of Interior, he had to resign and begin his government service
career.
Thais with some Chinese inheritance are known
as hard workers, and Dusit, with his paternal great-grandfather
having migrated from China, was no exception. His father built a
hotel in Bangkok (the Manhattan) and Dusit was expected to
manage this concern for the family, remembering that he was the
oldest. So after work in the Ministry, he would return to the
hotel and work would begin all over again.
I asked how he could do this and he gave much
credit to the training he received in the UK. “The English
people taught me well. I am the administrator. I set the
principles for the people (who work there) to follow. I just
look at the books.”
The family dynasty did not begin and end at
the Manhattan. After Dusit was married, he and his wife began
embarking on a set of parallel careers that his wife could head,
while Dusit continued with his work ‘after hours’, setting
principles and checking books.
In 1975 they came to Chiang Mai to set up an
office for Diethelm, called International Travel Consultants,
with his wife at the helm. The family then became involved in
setting up the Hmong Lodge, with the Diethelm group, using the
Hmong hill tribe folk in the resort high in the mountains, 850
meters above sea level.
Another enterprise was the Lampang River
Lodge which they started 16 years ago, which Dusit very proudly
told me received the Tourism Authority of Thailand highest award
of excellence (the Golden Kinnaree) this year.
If these were not enough, Dusit also became a
restaurateur. In his student days in the UK he had enjoyed
Italian cuisine, and one of his brothers had a friend in
Singapore who was a fine Italian cook. They brought him to the
Manhattan Hotel and started an Italian restaurant there called
Gino’s. This was very successful, and Dusit, the administrator
and now restaurateur, ended up opening two Italian restaurants
in Bangkok (now called La Casa) and another one in Chiang Mai!
But as his time with the government came to
an end with compulsory retirement, as Dusit had said, his life
was just beginning. Where the family properties had been three
star, Dusit had plans for a five star resort. This is The
Legend, a boutique resort in Chiang Rai of 78 rooms overlooking
the Kok River, and now up and running, with Dusit administrating
as always.
Dusit is not one to go haphazardly from one
project to another. “I always plan ahead. I know exactly what
I want to do.” He is a man who has certainly made it all
happen, and mother’s rattan cane certainly worked for her
unruly son all those years ago!
