'We were weak. We thought we had done everything right."
‘A company cannot survive without skilful people no matter how much money you have,’ says Mr Santi.
Santi Bhirombhakdi, president of Boonrawd Brewery Co, reminisced about the lowest point of Boonrawd when the newcomer "Chang" emerged, breaking Singha beer's long-time leading position in Thai beer market and eroding its market share to 26% in 2003 from 82% in 1996.
It was at that time that Mr Santi succeeded Piya Bhirombhakdi (his elder brother), and his family mandate, to become the fourth leader of the company.
When looking back at their biggest failure, Mr Santi avoids talking about the competitor in a damaging manner. Rather, he pointed the finger at the team's negligence and lack of insights into market situation and consumers' needs.
"Khun Charoen [Sirivadhanabhakdi] and I are not personally on bad terms. It's just that our businesses compete."
But the hardships taught Boonrawd valuable lessons. Mr Santi came up with three crucial lessons from the difficult decade for the company and the executives to bear in mind.
"First, don't think that you are smarter than others. Second, learn from your mistakes. And third, train employees and communicate with customers regularly," he said.
Boonrawd was mired in the difficulties for almost a decade from 1998. It was not until 2006 that Singh reclaimed its market share from its rival. Victory was declared in the latest numbers in 2012 with Boonrawd's market share of all beer types at 69%.
Sales were projected to grow 3% year-on-year this year against the average industry growth of 1.5%.
Boonrawd is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. The domestic market share is retained and there is nothing to worry about despite the modest single-digit growth rate of the industry for many years.
Today, Boonrawd continues to look for new markets, whether in neighbouring countries, Europe and America. It is also finding partners specialising in food and non-alcoholic beverages to increase the company's non-alcoholic beverages income to 35% within five years from 15% currently.
Its ultimate goal is to be a global brand. Boonrawd will also strive to be as successful as Red Bull. It has introduced its brand to the world through two English football clubs _ Chelsea and Manchester United.
The company has the rights to sell beer, water and soda produced and bottled in Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford.
As well, its partnership with Carlsberg, the fourth largest beer manufacturer in the world, to develop the beer markets in Southeast Asia, Europe and Russia was a major step for Boonrawd in the local and global markets.
Carlsberg is the manufacturer and distributor of Singha in Russia and Eastern Europe.
Finding partners for Boonrawd is not limited to only beers but also food businesses at home and abroad.
Domestically, Boonrawd manufactures and sells many things _ from sports drinks and functional drinks to rice snacks and seaweeds. It also operates Japanese restaurants and cafe{aac}s.
Internationally, Boonrawd looks for Thai manufacturers as partners.
"We can't compete with CP [Charoen Pokphand]... we are not good at everything but we welcome someone who is better at something to work with us because we have a distribution network."
While Boonrawd is expanding in many areas, Mr Santi has restructured the company many times in the past decade to strengthen and make it more appealing for people to work for as human capital is the most important resource of the company.
"We treat our people as family members," he said.
"For anyone thinking of becoming a CEO of a small business, you must know your people. You can't just look ahead at your boss while overlooking those behind you. A company cannot survive without skilful people no matter how much money you have."
At 67, Mr Santi still enjoys working with no plan to retire soon although he is gradually reducing his normal workload. Eventually, he will have to step down from Boonrawd but it will not be any time soon. He described the next leader of Boonrawd as "someone like me who is able to manage the family."
Read the full interview with Santi Bhirombhakdi in Forbes Thailand