Angry mobs have thrown bottles at him and beaten up his staff. Death threats have forced him to live with bodyguards around the clock. “There was a time I came close to quitting, but I believe what I,m doing is right,,, says Norman.
Norman’s Australian company has worked on 20 previous Thai restructurings, but none has been as trying as its current assignment, Thai Petrochemical Industry, a manufacturer of plastic resins that has fought all attempts at reorganization.
TPI’s biggest lender, Bangkok Bank, called in Norman (who hails from New Zealand) to help after hearing about his success reviving Australian companies. In default on $3.7 billion in loans from 142 domestic and foreign banks, TPI is the largest corporate debtor in Southeast Asia.
Effective Planners was appointed to run TPI after the company’s former chief, Prachai Leophairatana, missed a court-ordered December 15 deadline to reach a restructuring agreement with creditors. The decision by Thailand’s fledgling Central Bankruptcy Court to install new leadership was hailed by lenders and foreign investors. Some had feared that the court, created at the urging of the International Monetary Fund after the 1997 baht crisis, wouldn,t stand up to what Thai Farmers Bank president Banthoon Lamsam calls the country’s “culture of nonpayment.,,
Prachai, meanwhile, has resisted any change in control, occasionally whipping up antiforeign sentiment with demonstrations to aid his cause. He’s also pushing ahead with more lawsuits. “Prachai once told me we,re like boxers going ten rounds,,, Norman says. “Well, the gloves haven,t come off yet.,,
