Sandwich Sirivatvoravetvuthikun

Sirivat Voravetvuthikun SURVIVING THE SLUMP ASIAWEEK November 28,1997 Thailand's Sirivat Voravetvuthikun lost much more in the Bangkok bourse, which is down 49% from its 1997 peak. The bankrupt stockbroker, who is "hundreds of millions" in debt because of a 28-unit condominium project, now peddles sandwiches. "I'm still trying to sell the condo units," he says. "I can't give up, especially since I've had so much support from the media and the Thai people who buy my sandwiches. I was very depressed, but my morale is up now." Sirivat, 48, has given about 40 TV and print interviews. To outsiders, he personifies Thailand's rise and fall and ---- possible redemption.

The Business Desk profiles ten versatile business persons The Nation (Business & Finance Section) December 28,1998 Sirivat Voravetvuthikun : Former developer From being the owner of a real-estate company focusing on a luxury condominium development in Khao Yai, Sirivat Voravetvuthikun has turned himself and 20 employees into sandwich sellers for the survival of all. When his first-class, low-rise condominium was first erected in 1994, Sirivat had high hopes that the project would fetch Bt6-15 million per unit, but the economic slow-down drove away real buyers as well as speculators. When completed in 1997, the units found no buyers.

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Sandwich-seller plans expansion Bangkok January 1,1999 By late 1997, the story of Sirivat Voravetvuthikun, a former stocks and property highflyer who turned to selling sandwiches for a living, stunned Thailand's wealthy. Mr.Sirivat confessed that initially he felt ashamed of his new livelihood. He said : "It's like I was flying 10,000 feet above the ground, then I had to stay on the ground and sell sandwiches." "It's not easy to do whatever we never did before, carrying a tray on the ground and sell sandwiches". "In the first week my sandwiches were not moving very quickly, but thanks to the media publicity, people begin to know me and the sandwiches soon statred selling. I feel better for myself", he added. His sandwiches are made new everyday and the unsold are given to his staff first. The remaining are given to abandoned children at Ban Rajavithi, Phayathai Shelter and to the aged at Ban Bang Kae. His main principle is to be honest to his customers, by selling them products of good quality. The unsold sandwiches would never be frozen overnight for next day sale, because that would damage the taste. He said his failure has taught him to look into reality. He said that in the past he used to think that big is beautiful and small is ugly, but now he thinks the opposite. He said he was proud that his 'never-give-up' spirit has been meaningful to his family, his employees and others who are living in despair.

Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread News August 15,1999 Sandwich-making proof that there is life after the Thai crash, Sirivat Voravetvuthikun has found plenty of interest in his survival skills. The businessman became something of an celebrity after news organizations flashed his uplifting story round the world: following the baht plunge, he went from selling condominiums to cold-cuts so that he wouldn't have to fire 20 employees of his now-bankrupt real-estate company. Though the enterprise isn't ready to move into the kind of plush offices he used to have, it may be the start of a food empire.

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Fallen Thai tycoon knows how to earn a crust The Daily Telegraph (UK) July 2,2007 "I was a multi-millionaire," he said yesterday. "I was considered a big player." At that time, when he gambled £150,000 a day, he was better known by his real name, Sirivat Voravetvuthikun. "I lived in one of the most expensive condominiums in Bangkok. It's been repossessed by the bank," said the 56-year-old, wearing the uniform of a fast food trader. He now sells sandwiches and coffee in a Coffee Corner in the atrium of a Bangkok hospital. He never takes a day off and concerns himself with every detail of his business, stopping in mid-conversation to pick up dirt from the glistening white floor with a napkin. The logo on his T-shirt - the letter "B" on a balloon - represents the flotation of the Thai baht 10 years ago. The shock devaluation sent markets into a turbulent dive. The baht fell to half its previous price against the dollar, making foreign debt cripplingly expensive. The stock market lost three-quarters of its value. "Thai people cried," he said. "People were committing suicide. One guy went to shoot himself in front of the stock exchange but he didn't die, he was paralysed." The crisis spread across the region, toppling governments in Indonesia and the Philippines as well as Thailand over the following year. Mr Sandwich was one of the many victims who had borrowed to invest. "The interest killed me," he said. "My creditors took me to court and sued me." He was declared bankrupt, but his employees were pleading for support. "I was very depressed," he said. "I asked my wife: 'What should we do?' It was she who said: 'OK, let's make sandwiches and sell them.' " He took to the streets with the sandwiches in a plastic tray around his neck and was arrested twice for hawking. "I'd rather be bankrupt than dead," became his catchline. Most markets around the region have now surpassed 1997 levels, and many economists believe that they are structurally more sound than they were 10 years ago. Last year, Asian developing economies grew at 8.3 per cent overall. Growth rates are slower than before the crash, but investors are more wary. "I blame myself for being too greedy," said Mr Sandwich. "I never had enough." So far this year foreign buyers have spent £1.3 billion on the Thai stock market, but he advises investors to sell. "The earnings growth of listed companies is very low," he said. "There's violence in the south, political instability, and high fuel prices."

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Despite this gloomy analysis, his trade is flourishing. "Today I am recovering but not fully recovered," he said. "It will take five more years for me to be richer than I was." He produces his own branded sushi and canned drinks. The first Coffee Corner outside Bangkok opens in August. In 2009 he expects to list the business on the stock market before developing it into a franchise. And then, as now, there will be a life-size cardboard figure of himself standing in every branch with a tray of sandwiches suspended from its neck.

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'Sandwich man' on a roll 10 years after economic meltdown. SIRIVAT VORAVETVUTHIKUN The Nation July 2,2007 Billions of baht worth of stock wealth became worthless overnight and all of his credit was cut. A new Bt 1-billion luxury condminium project at Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima was immediately in the red. But, the crisis turned him from a wealthy man into the 'sandwich man'. From easy streets, Sirivat began a new life, selling freshly-made sandwiches at crowded intersections in Bangkok's business areas like Sukhumvit, Silom and Phloenchit roads. The yellow box strung from his neck as he sold workers their lunch has endured to become a symbol. It tells the story of the hard times he and his wife overcame in the past 10 years. He will never forget his first day - six hours to sell 20 sandwiches. 'I had my family - my wife and three children - as well as 40 staff to take care of, 'Sirivat said of that day. No friends, no relatives and no bank to help him with money. He was a broken man. Yet Sirivat grew his new business with the little money left with him after his depts had been cleared. Five years ago, he decided to open the first of his new coffee-shops -- Coffee Corner by Sirivat Sandwich, in BNH Hospital. Last year, another opened at Bangkok Hospital on Rama IX Road. He makes all of his quick and ready-to-eat foods from local rice and fruit. Even though his earnings are a fraction of those of 10 years ago, he is happy doing 'the real thing; no bubbles'. 'I like my business to proceed step by step,' he said. The lessons of the crisis taught him the meaning of sufficiency, sustainability and patience. Sirivat patiently makes an effort to ensure that his business will be sustainable. He plans to go public over the next two years. His business model guarantees that wherever he opens a new coffee-shop, he recruits locals as staff and sources products from inside the province. He will use local graduates and teach them about running a business - and how not to run a business. He said it would be like a post-graduate course on the job. Sirivat's goal is simple and ambitious: 'if McDonald's aims to sell to just 1 per cent of the world's 6 billion people, then I want to sell to just 1 per cent of Thailand's 65 million,' he said. SASITHORN ONGDEE, THE NATION

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Former tycoon's sandwich empire expands The Nation June 18,2007 Sirivat Sandwich and Payap University will open Sirivat Voravetvuthikun's third Coffee Corner at the school's Chiang Mai campus in August. The shop is part of Sirivat's drive into the provinces. He said the shop would hire students and graduates as full-and part-time staff. Already the shop is being fitted out and should start serving in August. "This will be considered a work-shop for students studying business," said Sirivat, adding the shop would be a model for future Coffee Corners. As well as coffee, the shops offer sandwiches, sushi using local rice and locally canned and bottled fruit juices. Sirivat said apart from recruiting students he would use local materials, such as rice, as much as possible. "Unless it cannot be found in the province the shop is located in we will use local goods," he said. He expects to open more shops using the Payap format. "I aim to list on the Market for Alternative Investment in 2009," said Sirivat, a survivor of the 1997 economic meltdown. Starting from scratch after the crash, the former stock-market whiz and property developer began making and selling sandwiches at busy commercial areas in Bangkok like Silom and Sukhumvit. Presently he is running Coffee Corner as a private concern but will seek partners and venture capital as he expands the company. Before listing he hopes to franchise Coffee Corner to accelerate expansion. To help meet quality standards he plans to establish a Sirivat Institute to provide training for franchisees and staff. He opened his first Coffee Corner by Sirivat Sandwich at BNH Hospital five years ago. The second opened at Bangkok Hospital last year. He introduced a variety of healthy fast-food products, too, using local rice and fruit. Recently, Sirivat began marketing Ma-Kiang and Samrong fruit juices in bottles and cans using the Sirivat Sandwich brand.

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Beware, Thailand’s Mr Sandwich tells speculators. The Star (Malaysia) June 25,2007 “It’s wishful thinking to believe you can be a millionaire speculating in stocks,” Sirivat said in an interview. “You will end up bankrupt like me.” Sirivat, known in Thailand as “Mr Sandwich”, was a classic riches-to-rags story in 1997 when Thailand’s crash wiped out his estimated US$8.7mil(RM 30 mil) assets and threw him onto the streets where he began selling sandwiches to survive. His spectacular fall made headlines in and outside Thailand, dramatized by two arrests as police here cracked down on a surge of street hawkers after the collapse. “I was quite depressed,” Sirivat, 58, said, recalling that he felt like a critical hospital patient on life support. “Now I am recovering fast and ready for discharge. Give me another five years and I will be back and strong,” he said at one of his trendy coffee shops in a hospital here, part of a food and drinks company that grew from his street days. Sirivat, a high-flying stock analyst a decade ago, is back on the lecture circuit. But this time he urges Thais to learn from his mistakes. “People should sell, not buy stocks now. I don’t care many analysts are talking about the index going through 800,” he said. Some analysts say stocks in Thailand, where the main index hovered around 773 points last week, are a good buy. Foreign investors have bought Thai shares worth 95 billion baht(RM10.4 bil) so far this year. Sirivat is more cautious. “Thai corporate earning are weak and tonight a bomb might go off in Bangkok and provoke another military coup,”he said of the uncertainty dogging Thailand since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a bloodless coup last year. Sirivat took the market by storm in the late 1970s when, at 28,he was the youngest chief executive of a major brokerage, Asia Securities. Under his 11 years at helm, it grew into the biggest brokerage in Thailand. By the early 1990s, his reputation had earned him the trust of a dozen wealthy Thais who hired him to manage their investment portfolios. His downfall was a resort condominium project at Khao Yai National Park, north-east of here, where he had invested more than 300 million baht(RM32.7 mil) in borrowed money.

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After years of litigation, Sirivat was declared bankrupt in 2003 with unpaid dept of nearly one billion baht(RM109mil). He emerged from bankruptcy in 2006 and since then has focused on building his business, Sirivat Sandwich. Apart from selling sandwiches and sushi near mass transit stations and shopping malls, he runs Coffee Corner shops at two hospitals here and provides a coffee break catering service. He plans to open another eight coffee shops before listing his business on the Thai bourse’s small companies board in 2009. Sirivat, now wary of relying on bank loans to speed up his business growth, said he cannot afford to make another mistake. “Ten years ago I was proud, successful and very greedy. I was 48 then had a lot of time. Now at 58, how much longer can I sell sandwiches?” – Reuters

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Sandwich Man makes good by following King’s formula. The Star (Malaysia) June 30,2007 He became a celebrity when, almost overnight, the baht’s collapse forced him to go from a yuppie dream life style of selling stocks and condominiums, to hawking home made sandwiches on the streets of Bangkok. But these days, if Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej needs a poster boy for his littleunderstood “sufficiency economy” philosophy, he might want to turn to Mr Sirivat. In fact, much of the region could learn, from the Sandwich Man’s rocky journey over the past decade. Ten years on, Mr Sirivat, 58, has turned his simple sandwich enterprise into a thriving catering business. He is coy about how much he rakes in, but says the income has help him expand his business without taking on bank loans, and he is thinking of listing on the stock market within the next five years. What he does want to emphasise is that he did it by sticking closely to the principles of King Bhumibol’s sufficiency economy, which stresses moderation, simplicity and living within one’s means. “I am living proof that the King’s philosophy works,” he said, during a recent interview at his coffee kiosk in the Bangkok General Hospital. Before the dark days of the late 1990s, when banks collapsed, companies went bust, millions lost jobs and powerful politicians fell from grace, Mr Sirivat embodied the over heated, speculative growth which King Bhumibol’s sufficiency economy specifically rejects. A graduate, with a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Texas in the mid – 1970s, he worked his way up the ladder in a Bangkok-based stockbroking company called Asia Securities Company, becoming its chief executive in th mid-1980s. In the mid-1990s, he left to start his own investment management outfit and dabble in the property market. When the crisis hit, Mr Sirivat’s businesses – which were heavily dependent on borrowed capital – went belly up. He lost US$8.7 million in the crisis, including assets like his luxury condo and two plots of land. He even saw his two cars repossessed. To survive, he traded punting on the stock market for peddling sandwiches made by his wife and three children. The sight of the one-time high-flying stockbroker walking the streets of Bangkok with a sandwich box slung over his neck quickly made local and international news. “I think the publicity I got was crucial in making Thais, who are so used to rice, try my sandwiches. These days if you say sandwich, they think Sirivat,” he said, noting that he

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has given more than 270 interviews over the years, including three with CNN and two with the BBC. Within a year , Mr Sirivat, along with 20 former employees of his failed financial management company, opened three sandwich shops and several mobile stalls. “After I went bankrupt, the main lessons I learnt were that you didn’t have to be big to succeed in business. You needed to be involved in the real sector and just build on the few resources available to you, and don’t borrow from the banks,” he says. The formula has clearly worked for Mr Sirivat, whose business now includes organic juices, coffee and unique brown rice sushi. The catering arm of his business, which provides sandwich boxes and coffee, has also become a major hit among organizers of seminars and at Bangkok funerals. Meanwhile, he dreams of emulating the McDonald’s fast-food chain model. “The McDonald’s philosophy is to sell its burgers to 1 per cent of the world’s population. Bangkok has one million people and I just want 1 per cent.” But while his business is thriving, Mr Sirivat says he is concerned about the economic challenges facing Thailand. He says the strengthening baht is sapping the competitiveness of exports while foreign private investment has stumbled because of Thailand’s political troubles. “The politicians running our government since the crisis haven’t learnt any lessons,” he said. By Lislie Lopez South-east Asia Correspondent In Bangkok [email protected]

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Thailand's Mr Sandwich happier 10 years on The Star (Malaysia) July 7,2007 IS IT a happy anniversary? I had directed the question at the most recognisable face of Thailand's 1997 economic meltdown on July 2, which a decade ago was the day his country devalued the baht, triggering the Asian financial crisis. The pocky face of Sirivat Voravetvuthikun turned animated as he recalled the crisis that turned him from a multi-millionaire property developer and stock market investor to a sandwich hawker. 'Yes, today I am happy.' declares Mr Sandwich, as Sirivat is known. 'Because of the crisis I found a new business -- although it is selling sandwiches for 40 baht (RM 4.30) apiece versus selling a condominium for 5 million baht (RM 546,000) a unit -- I am happier,' he said. 'I've learnt has the size of the business is not important, as long as it is long lasting and in a real sector like food and beverage.' In early 1997, Sirivat was in the 'bubble business', borrowing heavily from finance companies to bankroll his property projects including a one billion baht (RM 109mil) condominium development and to dabble in the stock market. It was a 'big business' which, on hindsight, the US-educated Chinese Thai businessman says, was beyond his financial capacity. 'I borrowed heavily at an interest rate of 17% a year,' he recalls. 'But I was not scared of my borrowings considering my capabilities and experience. I never thought I would go bust in a couple of months.' However, around February 1997 Sirivat had to inform his staff of 40 that he was going bust as he was unable to service his loans. His cash flow had dried up when he could not sell any condominium unit. Even after the banks seized his properties, he still owed them about 400 million baht (RM 43mil). Depression hit Sirivat but he did not commit suicide, which was the option of many who lost their fortune during th Asian financial crisis. 'If I killed my self the problem would not be solved, and the burden would be on my wife and children,' said the man whose motto is 'I'd rather be bankrupt than dead'. In those dark, sleepless days, Sirivat blamed himself for losing his fortune. 'I was too greedy. Why wasn't a couple of million baht enough? Why did I want to make a billion baht?' he asks. To eke out a living, Sirivat strung a 12kg yellow foam box around his neck and began peddling sandwiches on the streets of Bangkok. On his first day, Sirivat had to put on a brave face as many people asked him: 'You are a multi-millionaire, why are you selling sandwiches?'

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He sold about 40 sandwiches on that day. He sold more when local and international media zoomed in on the compelling story of an insolvent multi-millionaire peddling sandwiches. 'It is you, the media, who helped me to sell my sandwiches. When my story became known to the public, they supported me by buying my sandwiches,' he says, adding that Sirivat Sandwich now sells about 800 sandwiches a day. What happened to your 400 million baht debt, I asked the 58-year-old man who is so famous in Bangkok that the public frequently interrupted my interview, greeting him in Thai and saying 'I'm glad to meet the real person I saw on television.' In 2003, he was declared a bankrupt. And according to Thai law, he was free of bankruptcy after three years. Now he owes about 11 million baht (RM 1.2mil), to several friends. 'I'm not worth anything today except for my brand,' he declares, stabbing at his company logo (a symbol of a baht inside a hot air balloon that is held back by the initials IMF, the International Monetary Fund) on his T-shirt. 'How much is my brand worth now? You will be surprised, a hundred million baht.' In 2009, the Sandwich Man plans to list his food beverage business on the Thai stock market. At present, Sirivat is not optimistic about the Thai economy, saying Thais have not learnt the lesson of 1997. 'Thai people forget easily. They are over borrowing again.' he notes. 'It is not a Happy 10th anniversary for Thailand.'

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'We haven't learned anything at all' Bangkok Post Economic Review Mid - Year 2007 July 9,2007 Q : Ten years after the crisis, how has the country been doing? A : Looking back over the past 10 years, the economy started to pick up during the Thaksin Shinawatra government as it heavily pushed a marketing concept to elicit demand and stimulate domestic consumption. But, this whole thing happened too abruptly and it resulted in huge corruption which eventually led to a big change in politics. Worse, oil prices haven't stopped rising and that has forced people to pay more. Consequently, people now are tightening their budgets for other things, which eventually has affected other sectors --except energy. Q : Have we actually learned anything from the 1997 events? A : No. We haven't learned anything at all. Thais seem to lose sight of things so easily. Actually we're so lucky to have such abundant natural resources within the country. However, we've not seemed to realise and appreciate it but continue to spend so recklessly. Thais have had this wrong attitude about spending beyond their means and being too consumeristic. One more thing is that Thailand has become less and less competitive. Look at Vietnam, a developing country that had been far behind us, and is now one of the hottest emerging countries. All the investors are going there, not to Thailand. That definitely will result in higher unemployment in our country in the future. I must say we've repeated history by walking the same path as we did before the days of crisis. Q : After the consistent development of the stock market in the past 10 years, have you witnessed any improvement in transparency? A : Yes, there has been some improvements. For instance, there is a setup for audit committees and outside directors. However, that hasn't really solved the insider trading problems. Prices of many IPOs (initial public offerings) have still been set far too high and thus are too unrealistic. And the risk will fall only on retail investors. The Thai stock market is still a market that depends more on mood rather than intrinsic value. As long as the market is managed this way and the system isn't changed, there won't be obvious improvements. Q : Have you seen any developments in investors? A : No. The majority, say 70%, are still speculators. The only development I've noticed is that they tend to be more sophisticated, knowing and exercising their rights better than in the past. Q : What about regulators?

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A : The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has more or less proved that it's more active and strict by finding and punishing more people involved in irregular cases. However, there's still a long way to go. I wish it could be like the SEC in the US, which works very openly and strictly without minding or caring about anyone or any parties. The SEC and the SET need to have a solid stance and carefully screen the companies entering the stock market. They should act like a committee that is concerned about and thinking about investors and their benefits, not anybody else. Q : What about securities broker? A : Nothing has changed much, though these days the marketing people have to first get licences. Their income, however, is still based on commissions. Thus, the consequence is still the same -- they still have to encourage investors to go for day trading. We can't really blame investors for being day traders. Yet, we also can't blame the marketing people as it involves their incentives. And, well, I'm too small to say how to make it right. Q : What about the next 10 years? A : (laughs) I don't think things will be much different from today.

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Asia's Financial Outlook The Next 10 Years. The Nation August 10,2007 Billions of baht worth of stock wealth became worthless overnight and all of his credit was cut. A new 1-billion-baht luxury condominium project at Kao Yai National park in Nakhon Ratchasima was immediately in the red. But, the crisis turned him from a wealthy man into the 'sandwich man'. From easy street to the streets, Sirivat began a new life, selling freshly made sandwiches at crowded intersections in Bangkok's business areas like Sukhumvit, Silom and phloenchit Roads. The yellow box strung from his neck, as he, his wife, three children and 40 staff sold workers their lunch, has endured to become a symbol. It look him six hours to sell 20 sandwiches on the first day. Yet over the years Sirivat has successfully expanded his business. Five years ago, he decided to open the first of his new coffee shops, Coffee Corner by Sirivat Sandwich, in BNH Hospital. Last year, another opened at Bangkok Hospital. Sirivat's goal is simple and ambitious: 'If McDonald's aims to sell to just 1 per cent of the world's 6 billion people, then I want to sell to just 1 per cent of Thailand's 65 million,' he said. By Sasithorn Ongdee The Nation

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