By Wu Xiaohan

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Joe Horn’s Friendship with China for Three Generations

By Wu Xiaohan

Chang Yuan with son Joe Horn， and grandson.

The gentleman opposite has a Eurasian appearance. Actually， he is one of the elite in Tailand's business community，a man who can switch freely between diferent languages.

While talking to this reporter in standard mandarin Chinese， he issued instructions to an employee in English. When the cell phone rang， he answered in French. When a waiter came， he ordered more beer in Tai.

Joe Horn （Chang Nianzhou， literally“Often Missing Zhou”）， is a name closely related to China's late Premier Zhou Enlai（1898-1976） in the 1970s. Behind its continued use by this particular man are many stories of China-Tailand relations.

Family Friendship for China

In the 1950s， Mr. Sang Phathanothai，Joe's maternal grandfather， held a post as special adviser to Tai Prime Minister Pibul Songkhram. This was at the height of the Cold War， and he quietly advised the Prime Minister to covertly establish close personal relations with the top Chinese leadership.

Afer the Bandung Conference in 1955，Sang began to correspond with Premier Zhou， establishing a secret connection between China and Thailand. At the same time， he overcame many hardships to send his adolescent son （Wongkhouw Phathanothai， then aged 12） and daughter（Sirin Phathanothai， then aged eight） to Beijing to study in Chinese school， thus showing his confidence in Premier Zhou Enlai and expectations of future close friendship between the two countries.

To ensure good care for the youngsters， Premier Zhou entrusted them to Liao Chengzhi， a senior foreign ministry ofcial. Madame He Xiangning， Liao's mother， gave the siblings Chinese names of Chang Huai and Chang Yuan based on pronunciation of their Tai names.

Te boy and girl， respectively， Joe Horn's uncle and mother， went through primary，secondary and tertiary education in Beijing，making many Chinese friends. In 1969， afer 13 years of life in China， Chang Yuan left China for Great Britain， where she married and gave birth to her frst son in 1975.

The birth occurred just months before the death of Premier Zhou， and she decided to name him Chang Nianzhou to express her deep feelings for， and later， of course，her deep sadness at the loss of “Papa Zhou”.

When a second son came along， she named him Chang Nianliao， literally “ofen missing Liao ［Chengzhi］”. The two names bears witness of the deep feelings of the“Chang family” for China-Tailand friendship.

In bilateral relations， Joe Horn's maternal grandfather built the frst bridge. His mother took over as the second generation of bridge-builders. Then， Joe Horn felt a strong obligation to play his role in the third generation.

However， he built a bridge that difered from the previous ones that had a strongpolitical nature， instead focusing more on economic and cultural cooperation. As he says： “Te family has passed on to us a great honor and responsibility！”

Now， however busy he might be with corporate and social affairs， he takes time out of his busy schedule to fly to Thailand to look after his own son's education and responsibility. In order for his son to inherit the task of ensuring continued China-Thailand friendship， he named his son Chang Sizhou （literally “Often Thinking of Zhou”）.

Joe Horn's Bridge of Cooperation

Joe Horn received his primary school education in Beijing， but his secondary education took place in Paris. As required by his mother， he was expected to speak in mandarin Chinese when talking to his mother，Thai to his younger brother， and French to his school playmates. Besides， he always spent his school summer holidays in Beijing to practice Chinese.

His family was refected a multi-culture，multi-nation and multi-element environment， which allowed him to feel comfortable with different people from his young age and understand diferent cultures. Tis has been of immense beneft later when he engaged in commercial negotiations.

Having secured his Master's degree in Mathematics at Cambridge University，Joe Horn got his first job offer from the Deutsche Morgan Grenfell in Singapore. He started work in July 1997， which unfortunately coincided with the Asian Financial Crisis.

While working in Singapore， he got acquainted with Banthoon Lamsam， the Chief Executive of Tailand's Kasikorn Bank， and became his senior adviser. During the fnancial crisis， he successively participated in the purchase of the Union Bank of Hong Kong by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China （ICBC）， and the Standard Chartered Bank's purchase of the Tailand Bank， accumulating invaluable experience for regional economic restructuring after the financial crisis ended.

Owing to his excellent performance in the series of major cases， he gradually became recognized as an expert in Chinese commerce and fnance.

In 2000， Joe Horn resigned a high-paying job with the Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong and returned to Bangkok to start his own company， specializing in investment consultancy whose Chinese name means“Strategy 613”， refecting his love of mathematics.

Te company has succeeded in building many bridges of international cooperation. It has successfully planned and promoted “marriages” involving quite a few famous-brand big companies. For example， as the senior adviser of the Banthoon Lamsam， he was able to promote cooperation between the Kasikorn Bank and the Goldman Sachs and the JP Morgan Chase in America， and between the Tai Bank and China's Minsheng Banking Corp. and the Alipay online system of Alibaba Corp.， as well as helping with the establishment of the Kasikorn Bank's China branch.

Strategy 613 also played a major role in ICBC's purchase of the Thailand Asian Bank. It also provided consultancy services to the Bangkok Branch of the Bank of China，and helped to introduce the Gladway and Philips companies to China.

Precious historical photos displayed in Chang Yuna's home.

Joe Horn said his business negotiations in China benefted much from his mother's name and experience in laying the foundations of client trust. He has successfully introduced European and US clients to China. Now he is introducing Chinese enterprises and projects abroad， building the Phathanothai family's strengthened third generation bridge for China-Thailand relations.

Chinese Culture from Generation to Generation

Chang Yuan's home in Bangkok for three generations can be dubbed a home of blue and white porcelain. In the sitting room on the ground foor of the mansion are two ceiling-to-foor classic wooden display racks holding a great variety of Chinese blue and white porcelain， creating a strong atmosphere of Chinese culture.

Like his mother， Joe Horn treasures Chinese antiques， especially porcelain. The beauty， the elegance of blue and white porcelain has for many centuries displayed its charm to the world， he says，adding： “The artistic and cultural value of blue and white porcelain can teach my two sons from an early age all about Chinese culture”.

Joe Horn's wife has been well-educated from childhood and speaks Thai， English，F(xiàn)rench and Spanish. What's more， she also knows much Chinese. Both of their sons have Chinese names： the first， four-yearold Chang Sizhou， the second one， oneyear-old Chang Songzhou （literally “Often Celebrating Zhou”）.

Both are the favorites of their grandmother Chang Yuan. What makes it interesting is young Sizhou's language talent，speaking in Thai and English while talking with his mother， and fluent Chinese while talking with his father and grandmother.

Joe Horn is fully confident in the relations between China and Tailand. Tese， he says， have formed an excellent framework，with all-round development of friendship in politics， economy and culture.

This will help the two countries avoid mistakes in future， he believes. More important， China should understand and respect Thailand's unique national features and core strategies. That is an important foundation for the sustainable development of China-Tailand friendship.