Don’t let others dictate your dreams. I’ve always been self-confident with lots of ideas. Even though I graduated with a law degree, I decided to work as an advertising creative before becoming a TV creative.

Create a job if you can’t find the right one for you. When I was 26, I realized that I wanted to be an event organizer but there was no such thing in Thailand. So I quit my job and founded Index Creative Village 23 years ago. I didn’t see it as a business; I just wanted to do it. I didn’t even know what to name my job!

You’ll never get a job if you don’t go looking for it. I spent months walking into companies and agencies to explain what services we could offer. The Nescafe Shake campaign in 1990 was the turning point for event marketing here and it built our reputation.

Never stop creating. That’s the key to success. There are tons of event companies now, so you must constantly improve and stay fresh.

Don’t make what you love most your profession. I love to play bass more than anything in this world and at one point I even dreamed of becoming a musician. But now I feel blessed that I didn’t make it my job. It might not have been so much fun forcing myself to play better and better.

Playing music is aesthetic. If you play for happiness, you can create happiness anytime. It’s real creative expression, too. And you can play by yourself or join with friends.

Kids these days have too many choices and they don’t know what they really like to do. My advice, choose what you never get bored of.

I never waste my time. I really value it. I always feel as though time flies so fast—I mean, we are already half way through the year!

I never think of myself as successful even though my company is listed as one of the world’s top seven events companies by USA’s Special Events Magazine. There are so many people who’ve achieved more than me, like my juniors at school, or Abhisit and Yingluck, who’ve both served as Prime Minister.

I always give myself new goals to reach. Next I aim to establish Index as one of the world’s top five events companies.

The AEC is already here. It’s not coming in the next couple of years. It’s already happened. We know that there’s more to the market than just us. We’re talking about a population all over Southeast Asia. But the question is, will we be the taker or the taken?

Thailand isn’t ready for the AEC at all. Thais know about the AEC, but don’t know what they have to deal with. It will be a real challenge for every country as each has their own language and it’s only really the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore who are good at English.

If we want to be a leader, we must move first. That’s why we decided to launch our business in Myanmar since things opened up there. If you get in first, you have more choices. You can choose the best partners to get in the best position to go further.

It’s better to walk with the people who are just getting started than try to keep pace with those already running fast. Myanmar is just awakening compared to somewhere like China. But I’m sure Myanmar will be moving faster and faster in the next couple of years.

Do your research before taking the next step. We visited Myanmar in order to meet people and prepare properly. We knew that one day, when the country opened up, we would hit the ground running. That’s why we were trusted to hold events like the countdown and Ting Yan (Songkran), which were attended by hundreds of thousands of people, something the military regime had never allowed before.

Our ministers aren’t as smart as other countries’ ministers. I’ve talked to many ministers from many countries. Our ministers are picked for self-serving reasons.

I’m disappointed by our country in many ways. As I jet around the world, I wonder why, as a Thai, we aren’t considered as cool as other countries? Maybe it’s because Thais never admire Thais. It’s annoying to see Thais admire Japanese, Koreans or Westerners more than their countrymen.

My worst moment happened when we were running the Thailand Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010. We were trying to do branding for Thailand as Thais were burning their homeland. I felt so dispirited and so bad for holding a Thai passport.

Just do your job. When I saw people queuing up for three hours to get into the Thailand Pavilion, I realized you can’t change some things but you still have a part to play. I’m proud of this country. I’m a small person who tries his best for his nation.

We can create great things on a par with any country in this world if we put our mind to it. We must come together to create a better future for our country.

I really admire Walt Disney for his empire: his cartoons, studios and Disneyland theme parks. It’s marvelous! Every kid knows Mickey Mouse, but many of them have never seen a cartoon with him in it.

Always dreams of goals that are reachable. It’s better to view goals as stepping stones, so you don’t get tired and have the energy to keep moving forward.