Vikrom Kromadit, the ethnic Chinese Thai who makes this suggestion, is chairman of Amata, Thailand's largest developer of industrial parks. In 2007 Kromadit was listed among the 30 richest Thais with personal wealth estimated at US$170 million. Having earned a BS in mechanical engineering at National Taiwan University in the 1970s, he identifies with Taiwan and holds a special place in his heart for it.
Kromadit believes that at a time when ASEAN is increasingly looking toward China, there is a great need for Chinese-language instruction, as well as various kinds of technical and specialized education, within ASEAN member nations. Why can't Taiwan employ the soft power of education to enter the ASEAN market? Toward this end, he wants to expand the Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate, turning it into a "perfect city" that combines a "university city" with a "science city." He hopes to be able to work with ROC government and educational institutions to build a cradle for developing well-trained personnel, as well as for technological R&D.
In Chonburi Province, more than 100 kilometers southeast of Bangkok, the Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate contains famous international companies, such as Toyota, Mitsubishi and Pepsi-Cola, as well as big Taiwan companies including Tatung and Delta Electronics. Built in 1989, this industrial area has extensive infrastructure, including power, natural gas, and water distribution systems. More than five times as large as the Hsinchu Science Park, the estate covers an area of more than 30 square kilometers. Within its confines are elementary and secondary schools, hospitals, training centers, residential districts, golf courses and so forth. It is known as the best industrial park in Thailand. Its wide boulevards and lush green landscaping have attracted 400 companies and 120,000 workers.
Apart from Amata Nakorn in Chonburi, Amata Corporation also has industrial parks in Rayong Province in southern Thailand and outside of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. All told, more than 600 firms have factories in its three locations, making Amata Thailand's largest developer of industrial zones.
Kromadit, the CEO and soul of Amata, is a self-made man with an acute business sense. He became wealthy by adroitly grasping opportunities to invest in industrial zones during Thailand's period of rapid economic growth. In 1996 he sold 90% of his personally owned stock to establish the Amata Foundation, which has become famous for its long-term commitment to supporting artists on the Indochina peninsula. His autobiography-Be a Better Man-broke records to sell more than 1 million copies.
Born in the countryside, the son of a sugarcane farmer, Vikrom Kromadit had nine younger brothers and sisters, and another 13 half-brothers and -sisters from his father's other wives. With so many mouths to feed, Virkom, as the oldest child, had to help with farm chores from a young age. When he was in fourth grade his mother told him to leave school to pick up agricultural goods that were being unloaded from a train. He used a pushcart to bring home several dozen burlap bags full of them. Then he had to sort, clean and weigh them. When he was a little older, his father sent him to sugarcane fields more than 20 kilometers from home to supervise 300 workers and to handle the accounts there. To set a good example, he'd join the workers sowing seeds. He'd go to the fields and turn up the earth, lug water, and spread fertilizer. He'd do every kind of rough work-rain or shine. No matter how blistered his hands, he wouldn't stop working.
Kromadit's private residence is set amid lushly wooded grounds where precious wild animals wander. His autobiography explains that because he grew up in the countryside, his spirit is deeply at one with nature. Consequently, his grounds are landscaped as if they were a forest.