The Story of Tan Passakornnatee, the King of Japanese Cuisine in Thailand!
“30 years ago, happiness to me is ‘being successful and having money’. But today, happiness is about finding opportunities to pay it forward.”
Tan Passakornnatee, more commonly known as Tan Oishi, is a Thai businessman who left school after grade 9. After saving some money from his first job as a laborer at Sahapat (city south of Pattaya) where he earned 700THB ($19.6) a month, he opened a bookstall in the town of Chonburi. Also, he started investing his money in real estate. Unfortunately, due to the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, Tan went from being a millionaire to a person with a million Thai baht in debt. He had to sell everything he had, and started the WBC (Wedding Business Consultant) Wedding Studio, which helped him clear his debt within two years.
In 1999, Tan founded the Oishi Buffet Restaurant after hearing from Khun Wanchai Chirathivat, Chairman of Central Group, about an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant with a flat price in the United States.This new business was very successful. Nevertheless, Tan wanted to spend more time with his family and had officially resigned from the position of CEO of Oishi Group on the 29th of July, 2010, keeping only 3.5% of the company’s share. On the very same day, Tan established a new company named Mai Tan, which is later known as Ichitan Group Public Company Limited.
Looking from a business perspective, because Ichitan’s number one rival is Oishi, there has always been fierce competitions between the two companies. One of the marketing campaign that Tan has been running for many years is the “Bottle Cap Contest” — a monthly contest in which, all Oishi Green Tea bottle caps will have a certain number code on them and one winning number comes with a prize of one million baht. Other small prizes include Apple iPhones. Additionally, Tan had a dramatic run up to the IPO by awarding a Porsche once a month. As of now, Tan’s Facebook page has over 5 million likes; the second-highest in Thailand.
“In establishing Mai Tan co., ltd., among the dividends obtained from the shares my wife hold within this company, I would like to share 50% with the Tan Pan Foundation from the very first year onward. When I reach 60 years of age, starting from the 9th of September, 2019, I would like to increase the amount to no lower than 90% to the Tan Pan Foundation for educational and environmental purposes.”
There was an incident when a high school marching band staged a demonstration in front of Ichitan’s office, pressuring and asking Tan to donate 3.1million Thai baht to fund their trip to participate in a band competition in Netherlands. Because Tan is not only a master marketer but also a philanthropist, he gave the money and the high school band brought back 1st place from Netherlands.
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