Top Thai banker wants to retire, seeks successor

Bangkok

THESE days, the head of Thailand's Kasikornbank Pcl spends much of his time saving trees in the remote province of Nan and promoting his romance novel, rather than running the country's second-largest lender in Bangkok.

"I have the forest to worry about," Banthoon Lamsam, who as chief executive officer took over 25 years ago from his father, said in a March interview at his teak home, built according to the influence of fengshui and characters from his 600-page book, on nine wooded acres near the Lao border where he has moved his official household registration.