Walk free with Songkran Issara

“I do believe that 'the more we give, the more we get'” “Becoming a bigger organization, we need others' help”

A Father’s Thinking and His Self-being

Besides being a businessman, Khun Songkran is also a father to his 3 children born with life's mate Mrs. Srivara. They have two sons and a little daughter and are named Vorasit (Pla-wan), Dhitavat (Pla-tu) and Krachpeth (Pla-khem) respectively.

In raising his children, Khun Songkran rejected the traditional Thai value of subjecting children to extra tutorial courses saying: “I don't believe in this, I don't like my children to take any extra courses. Instead, on every weekend, our family will take time to escape from Bangkok to anywhere else, sometimes Cha-am, or sometimes Pak-chong in Nakorn-rachasima.”

Khun Songkran believes that Thailand's education system has many inherent problems and for this reason he decided to send his children to study abroad from when they were young. “At nine or ten years-old, they were sent to England. It was my intention to give them the best education because in doing this I believe I've given them the best opportunity in life as well. I don't mind really if one day they don't want to continue our company, as I know they have their own thoughts. When they were young, they were just like me, naughty sometimes but in a level that we could control. They would be punished when they did something wrong since I did not want to spoil them. Actually, compared to their friends, what we gave them seems to be less, but I think it's better than to see them growing up to be vacuous.” recalls Khun Songkran.

In thinking back to his own childhood Khun Songkran recalls, “I had to fight all the time. From Hadyai to Bangkok, I was seen as a bumpkin but after a while things started getting better. Then I was sent to America and there I had to deal with racism. I always had to prove myself, either working at Citibank, working with my father, or working for myself. Thailand's real estate industry has a very seriously competitive industry but luckily, I was crafted to be competitive, thus I got use to it, and I want all of my children to be the same.”

Khun Songkran’s youngest child and only daughter is still studying Graphic Design in England, but both of his sons are now back in Thailand and have jumped into the fight alongside their father, even though they were given the opportunity to choose their own ways.

What Khun Songkran wants to see from his children is 'family unity' more than for them to be a great success. “They can lose, they can fail, but I want to see that they are good persons and love each other. If they are successful but fight with each other, I'd prefer to watch them fail”

Khun Songkran has now reached the state of what others call success, but when he was asked about this he said: “For me, money is not everything in life but happiness is. It's true if you have money in the pocket, you will be able to spend it easily, but that's not a guarantee of happiness. They say ‘Happiness belongs to those who learn how to be happy’. If you learn to find happiness easily from daily life, you will find it's harder to get into difficulties. Fortunately for me, that is my situation now.”

Phuketindex.com thanks Khun Songkran for his valuable time and interesting story, we wish him all her best in his work and his personal life.

“It's my intention to give them the best education because in doing this I believe I've given them the best opportunity in life as well.”

“For me, money is not everything in life but happiness is.”