by Dr. Iain
Corness
The
charter president of the newly established French speaking provisional
Rotary Club Pattaya Marina is a passionate Belgian, Nic Demet. However,
his passion is not really Belgium, his passion is Rotary International!
“I have always had a dream to form a French
(speaking) club,” said Nic, and then told me there are 56 French
speaking countries in the world, and there are 175 million French
speakers. With some of those 175 million already in Pattaya, he should
have enough to fill the Le Petit Liegeois Restaurant (formerly Mon Ami
Pierrot) each week, where the meetings will be held.
Nic was born in Liege in Belgium, the son of a
construction company owner, but as he was going through school, WWII
intervened. He was studying at the Institute of Decoration and Industrial
Art where he put in five years, but as soon as he was finished he joined
the army. Not the Belgian forces which were in tatters by that time, but
the British Army Engineers.
Engineering, and in particular automotive engineering,
was of much more interest to the young Nic, but his father was insistent.
“I had no choice. The war was over and my father told me I was working
for him in the construction business.” However, his father did send him
to other companies to learn the business quickly, and that he did. “I
enjoyed learning, but as soon as I knew it I became bored,” said Nic.
He stuck it out with his father for three years, but it
was never going to be an easy situation. “I was the young generation and
he was the old generation. It was impossible.” He left and set up two
businesses that were closer to his heart. One was in motor vehicle spare
parts and the other was selling boats. He could also begin to indulge
himself in his passion for cars, and racing.
He built the first go-kart in Belgium and became the
first Belgian go-kart champion. He attended a driving school run by the
famous Belgian drivers Jacky Ickx, Olivier Gendebien and Paul Frere. Nic
did well, and began to compete in events such as the Spa 24 hour race, but
was never able to realize his real potential. Family responsibilities and
pressures were enough to stop him, but it is something he still thinks
about.
However, his business was going well and Nic was to win
many incentive prizes, most of which were travel packages and Nic was to
visit Rio, Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago and finally Thailand, a country
that impressed him very much.
While he might have been winning incentive trips, he
was not winning much else. He was not motor racing, he was living in
somewhere that was not warm and sunny, he was in short, not enjoying
himself. It was time for another rethink.
He was 52 years old and wondering if this was the best
that life could offer him. He began to think more about Thailand as an
option and finally made the big decision. He was going to Thailand, no
matter what the objections were. He literally gave everything away,
including the business and with an air ticket to Bangkok and 55,000 baht
in his pocket, went to Brussels airport to wait for his flight.
In retrospect, the next phase of his life is almost
unbelievable. While waiting in Brussels he met a businessman who knew him
and asked him where he was going. On hearing that he was going to Thailand
to live, the businessman said he would organize a job for him in Soi Asoke
in Bangkok. The job was to be the general manager of a firm involved in
decoration and construction! The skills needed were all those that he had
learned while working for his father! “Always my opportunities came in
the decoration business, not automobiles,” said Nic ruefully.
True to his word, Nic found that the Belgian
businessman had arranged everything, including an office in Soi Asoke, and
Nic was back in the decoration business! Like most things that Nic has
done in his life, he applied himself well and was successful. It was
during his time in Bangkok that he was also introduced to Rotary
International. That was 21 years ago and Nic has never tired of it. “I
realized what a wonderful organization this was. It is like a religion.
For this reason I decided to create this new (French speaking) club.” He
was actually no stranger to charitable organizations as he had been
involved with the Belgian Red Cross, even arranging a Glen Miller
orchestra concert, which brought in much charity funds for the Red Cross
group.
After several years in Bangkok he was becoming more and
more frustrated by the traffic and the fact that it was not possible to
schedule more than two appointments in any one day. He also needed to work
for himself again, having been self-employed for most of his adult life.
He came to Pattaya and started Nic Ace, a decoration and construction
company which grew, and even though he is advisory these days, it is still
an integral part of the local construction and decoration industry.
He brought his Rotary International ideals from Bangkok
with him and joined the Rotary Club of Jomtien Pattaya, being president in
1991, and having a 100 percent attendance record even today.
Nic lists Rotary International as his hobby, and is
obviously very excited with the concept of this new club. He dreams that
one day he might win the lottery with his # 28 ticket (he was born in
1928, his international go-karts had # 28 and his race cars wore # 28). If
he does he will buy a van and drive all over Thailand to visit other
Rotary Clubs. And what will he do there? Raise funds to assist his new
club’s project of feeding the poor!
Nic Demet has been a successful man, and is still a very successful
Rotarian. Vive President Nic!
