He knew very little about Thailand when, as a member of a Canadian technical team, he was sent here to do a job, 16 years ago. But when, at the height of the 1997 financial crisis, he was given the opportunity to go home, Peter J van Haren opted to stay in Thailand.

"I'm the only one of 17 Canadian technicians who is still here. Most of my friends decided to go back to Canada after the contract ended, but for me, I wanted to stay here," he says.

Van Haren, 51, chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce in Thailand, wants nothing more than to remain in Thailand for the rest of his life. He feels like a native-born Thai, but concedes that his appearance betrays his foreign origins.

"I don't know when I fell in love with this country. I only know that I want to stay here as long as possible," says Van Haren, a fluent Thai speaker.

He was 35 years old when he was sent to Bangkok. It was his first experience in the country.

"Without any picture of Thailand, I brought a lot of things here, particularly luxury and consumer goods from Canada. They accounted for 50 per cent of the container space when I was moving here. But when I arrived, everything was the opposite way around. I could find essential things here," he recalls.

Van Haren came to the country in 1991 with a group of Canadian technicians to undertake a fibre-optic project for a company called Complink. But, unlike the others, Van Haren chose not to return.

"Thailand was a land of opportunity. I felt a sense of future in this country," he says.

As a developing country, many things needed improving, and there were many chances for explorers, he says. There were no expressways on Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road in 1991, but the city could be seen growing up.

He decided to stay for "one or two years", but that was soon forgotten. "Now, I can even use a subway and the Skytrain for travelling in the city," he says.

Besides the natural environment and Thai food, van Haren also likes the Thai way of life and culture. It has taught him how to be patient and to be more flexible.

"I was an impatient person, but Thai people taught me to be more patient by using the words mai pen rai [that's alright]," he says. This habit reflects that fact that Thai society is based more on hospitality and kindness than Western society.

For six years, van Haren owned a consulting company in the Kingdom, but he decided to shut the business down in 2004.

He is now chief executive of Wiik and Hoeglund, Thailand's leading maker of polyethylene pipes. In this position, he tries to create an "East meets West" working culture, not only to smooth the company's operations, but to ensure high efficiency.

"Thai employees are afraid to say when they do something wrong, but foreigners dare to tell their boss to solve the problem before it becomes worse," he says.

Despite graduating only from grade 12 at school, Van Haren learned his management skills from accumulated experience.

His first job was shovelling snow as a five-year-old, and he got a part-time job when he was only 12 years old.

"Working means gaining knowledge," he says. "I gathered a lot of knowledge from my work experiences, both technical and management skills."

He began working with Wiik and Hoeglund in 2004. He enjoys the job and believes he gets a greater sense of satisfaction from it than if he were working only for money.

"I believe I was born to assist people, rather than being purely a businessman who targets only the highest benefit," he says.

Wiik and Hoeglund, a multinational company based in Finland, is not only the country's largest maker of polyethylene pipes, but it also finds itself bidding for projects of organisations like the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority and the Royal Irrigation Department. The company's plant is located in Amata City on 12.8 hectares of land.

Van Haren likes to apply lessons from his management hero, a former boss. He says this boss always gave employees a chance to develop themselves.

"My ex-boss taught me to grasp for opportunities," he says. "That is why I do not like denying opportunities to other people. If an employee proposes doing something, I will support them. If they fail by their own decisions, they will learn from that mistake."

Talking about the target of his life, Van Haren says he would like to help build a better society.

He cites American President John F Kennedy's often-quoted line, "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

"I will always remember this quotation, as it warns me not to be only a businessman, but to be a person who belongs to a country," he says

Van Haren was recently granted permanent residence in Thailand.

Recently, his affection for his adopted country prompted him to interrupt his busy life to lead 28 foreign chambers of commerce in an attempt to convince the government to reconsider its amendments to the Foreign Business Act.

It was the first time that all 28 chambers had a consensus to call for reconsideration of the amendments. They fear that the government will perform a favour to a group of major Thai businessmen, benefiting only them, he says.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai,

 Achara Pongvutitham

 The Nation