-----【原文】-----
INTRO: Ten years after the Asian financial crisis, Thailand's most famous victim finds his fortune in the market.
STORY: Ten years after problems in Thailand triggered the Asian financial crisis, its most famous victim, stock guru-turned-sandwich seller Sirivat Voravetvuthikun (Pron: Si-ri-vat Vor-ra-vet-vut-ti-koon), discovered his fortune in a new business.
Sirivat, known in Thailand as "Mr. Sandwich", was a classic riches-to-rags story in 1997 when Thailand's crash wiped out his estimated $8.7 million (U.S. dollars) assets and threw him onto the streets where he began selling sandwiches to survive.
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. Sirivat, 58, 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 the 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, northeast of Bangkok, where he had invested more than 300 million baht (almost $10 million U.S. dollars) in borrowed money.
"I am happier now after being acquitted from bankruptcy three years ago. Right now I own a small business, but it isn't big like what I had before. Before I sold condominiums for five million or 15 million baht, but now my sandwiches only cost 20, 40 or 50 baht. But I'm still happy because I don't need to borrow money from anybody," he said at one of his trendy coffee shops in a Bangkok hospital, part of a food and drinks company that grew from his street days.
After years of litigation, Sirivat was declared bankrupt in 2003 with unpaid debt of nearly one billion baht. Apart from selling sandwiches and sushi near mass transit stations and shopping malls, he runs Coffee Corner shops at two hospitals in Bangkok and provides a coffee break catering service.
His spectacular fall made headlines in and outside Thailand, dramatised by two arrests as Bangkok police cracked down on a surge of street hawkers after the collapse. He plans to open another eight coffee shops before listing his business on the Thai bourse's small companies board in the second half of 2009.
Sirivat, now wary of relying on bank loans to speed up his business growth, said he cannot afford to make another mistake. "I still have some ambitions. I still have an idea. I'm still strong to fight. As I said, I want to sell at least 100,000 sandwiches a day to the people of Bangkok," said Sirivat.
In 1997, Thai baht was floated and it had weakened to almost half its previous price against the dollar. Exchange rate volatility was inevitable under a managed float system by the government. Analysts say the attacks on the baht before it was floated on July 2 exposed the inefficiency and weakness of the local financial market. The crisis spread across the region which most affected countries were Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Philippines.
-----【初稿】-----
【主播】在泰國經歷金融危機因而破產的富豪斯里瓦(Sirivat Voravetvuthikun),在經過十年的努力打拼後,透過三明治的販售,再創人生事業第二高峰。讓我們一塊來看一看他的故事。
【配音】在1997年時,由於泰國貨幣泰銖通貨膨脹嚴重到僅有原先價值的一半,導致亞洲各國匯率起伏不定,使得整個亞洲地區,包括泰國、印尼、馬來西亞、韓國與菲律賓等國,陷入金融風暴。在這之前,由於斯里瓦(Sirivat Voravetvuthikun)在理財界的卓越表現,已讓不少泰國富豪聘請斯里瓦專門為自己從事投資事宜的管控,斯瓦里也因而累積個人資產達870萬美元。
而在泰國爆發金融危機時,斯里瓦正在進行位於曼谷東北部大山國家公園(Khao Yai National Park)的度假中心投資計畫。這項投資計畫的資金總額高達三億泰銖,並以借貸的方式取得,這也使得原先非常富有的斯里瓦,變成負債累累。
在經過數年的纏訟後,斯瓦里於2003年宣告破產,身負十億泰銖的債務,因而迫使他不得不在曼谷從事販賣三明治的工作。除了在各大交通運輸站與購物中心販售三明治與壽司外,斯里瓦也在曼谷的兩家醫院裡,經營咖啡店,提供餐飲服務。
如今,現年五十八歲的斯里瓦,搖身一變成為泰國當地著名的三明治先生("Mr. Sandwich),同時也聲名遠播到國外。斯里瓦說:「我仍然有雄心壯志與理想抱負,還想繼續打拼下去。因為我曾經說過,我要每天賣十萬個三明治給曼谷人享用」。
由於先前的慘痛經驗,斯里瓦對於向銀行貸款拓展事業,特別小心翼翼,他表示自己不能再犯同樣的錯誤。目前他計畫在2009年下半年公司股票上櫃之前,再另外開設八家咖啡店。
-----【正式新聞稿】-----
【標題】泰國破產富豪 再創事業第二春 在線 下載
【主播】在給您播報了一系列嚴肅、沉重的新聞之后,我們來一起听一個傳奇人物的故事,他從巨富到赤貧,又奮斗到巨富的故事引人入胜,這位傳奇人物就是泰國的富豪斯里瓦(Sirivat Voravetvuthikun),人稱三明治先生。
【報導內容】在1997年時,由於泰國貨幣泰銖通貨膨脹嚴重到僅有原先價值的一半,導致亞洲各國匯率起伏不定,使得整個亞洲地區,包括泰國、印尼、馬來西亞、韓國與菲律賓等國,陷入金融風暴。在這之前,由於斯里瓦(Sirivat Voravetvuthikun)在理財界的卓越表現,已讓不少泰國富豪聘請斯里瓦專門為自己從事投資事宜的管控,斯瓦里也因而累積個人資產達870萬美元。
而在泰國爆發金融危機時,斯里瓦正在進行位於曼谷東北部大山國家公園(Khao Yai National Park)的度假中心投資計畫。這項投資計畫的資金總額高達三億泰銖,並以借貸的方式取得,這也使得原先非常富有的斯里瓦,變成負債累累。
在經過數年的纏訟後,斯瓦里於2003年宣告破產,身負十億泰銖的債務,因而迫使他不得不在曼谷從事販賣三明治的工作。除了在各大交通運輸站與購物中心販售三明治與壽司外,斯里瓦也在曼谷的兩家醫院裡,經營咖啡店,提供餐飲服務。
如今,現年五十八歲的斯里瓦,搖身一變成為泰國當地著名的三明治先生("Mr. Sandwich),同時也聲名遠播到國外。斯里瓦說:「我仍然有雄心壯志與理想抱負,還想繼續打拼下去。因為我曾經說過,我要每天賣十萬個三明治給曼谷人享用」。
由於先前的慘痛經驗,斯里瓦對於向銀行貸款拓展事業,特別小心翼翼,他表示自己不能再犯同樣的錯誤。目前他計畫在2009年下半年公司股票上櫃之前,再另外開設八家咖啡店。
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