About 35 members attended the Council's Annual General Meeting. The year 2008 was an eventful one for Thailand and indeed the world, and the Council played its part in keeping members informed about the changing political and economic situation in the Kingdom and the affects of global events on Hong Kong and the Mainland. The Council continued to develop ties with other organizations. Our Chairman, Mr. Bernard Chan, GBS, JP, summarized the past activities of the Council and stressed that the mission in 2010 and beyond was again, to expand the number and range of activities.

Mr. Clayton T. Hebbard, Mrs. Katherine Ngan, JP and Dr. Harry Lee, SBS, JP were re-elected as Directors for the ensuing year. Simultaneously, Ernst & Young was re-appointed the Council's Honorary Auditors. The current Board of Directors consists of 10 directors:

1) Mr. Bernard Chan, GBS, JP, President of Asia Financial Group

2) Mr. William Chao, Managing Director of Wing Wah Limited

3) Mr. Tom V. Chatjaval, Founder and Chairman & CEO of TVC Management Ltd

4) Mr. Kenneth Gaw, President & Managing Principal of Gaw Capital

5) Mr. Horst Geicke, Chairman and Co-Founder of Pacific Alliance Group, VinaCapital Group

6) M. Clayton T. Hebbard, Consultant of Grant Thornton

7) Dr. Harry Lee, SBS, JP, Managing Director of TAL Apparel Limited

8) Mr. Willy Lin, Managing Director of Milo's Knitwear (International) Ltd

9) Mrs. Katherine Ngan, JP, Executive Director of May Cheong Toy Products Fty Ltd

10) Mr. Raphael Tong, Managing Director of Shanghai Mister Softee Food Products Co Limited

We were honored to have a special guest joining us at the luncheon right after our AGM, Mr. Sirivat Voravetvuthikun (The Sandwich Man), Advisor of Sirivat Sandwich. The story of the Sandwich Man is a story of resilience and recovery. Sirivat Voravetvuthikun graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1974 and went into finance and securities. By the early 1990s he was a multi-millionaire. Then came the 1994 stock market crash, which wiped out his investment business, and then the IMF year of 1997, which wiped out his high-end condominium project. He was left with nothing.

He ended up making sandwiches and selling them on the street to make just a few hundred baht a day. Through hard work and an amazing spirit, he slowly built up this new business. Today, he is a success once more, running a chain of coffee shops and a catering operation. But Thailand still faces challenges, and entrepreneurs like the Sandwich Man are bound to be affected directly or indirectly by the global slowdown and the domestic instability that have hit tourism and investment in the kingdom.

The Sandwich Man, who is a symbol of optimism for Thais, talked about the current situation and the future of Thailand at the luncheon.