~June 25, 1997.
The history of Bangkok Bank dates back to World War II, during which Thailand did not experience any warfare. Coupled with its abundant natural resources, this period saw a boost in Thailand's export trade, leading to a positive trend in the domestic economy. In 1942, Thailand joined Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and subsequently declared war on the Allied Powers. Following this, the Thai government confiscated assets belonging to the enemy alliances as per the regulations.
In 1944, as the Pacific War was drawing to a close, three Chinese merchants, including Chin Sophonpanich, expressed their intention to establish a domestically registered bank named Bangkok Bank. In July of the same year, Bangkok Bank applied for registration with the Thai Ministry of Commerce, with a registered capital of 4 million baht, divided into 40,000 shares at 100 baht each. In November, it applied to the Ministry of Finance for approval to operate commercial banking services. On December 1, Bangkok Bank was granted a commercial banking business license.
In 1945, with the end of World War II, Japan announced its surrender, and the Thai government was reorganized. The government returned the confiscated assets of foreign banks in Thailand, which resumed operations from late 1945 to early 1946. This posed competition for domestically registered Thai banks. However, Bangkok Bank, with its sound business strategies and high-quality services, saw considerable business growth and an increasing number of customers after its opening.
By 1952, Bangkok Bank's total assets had reached 100 million baht, increasing to 880 million baht by the end of 1960. That same year, the bank employed over 800 staff, operated 19 domestic branches, and had 6 overseas branches, including two in Hong Kong, and one each in Singapore, London, Kuala Lumpur, and Tokyo. By 1976, the number of overseas branches had increased to 14.
On this day, a guest arrived at the office of Teddy Delas, the President of Bangkok Bank's Thailand headquarters. The guest was a young Chinese man named Yang Dilong, one of Mei'er's avatars.
Yang Dilong had forced his way in, and security was about to remove him. However, Yang remained calm, looked at the Thai man before him, and chuckled. Speaking fluent Thai, he said, 'President Delas, I have something here that will surely interest you. If you have me thrown out now, I believe you will regret it!'
President Delas initially intended to immediately eject the intruding Chinese man. But upon hearing this, his curiosity was piqued. He said, 'Fine, let's see what you have that could make me regret it. Out!' With a wave of his hand, the security personnel quickly exited.
Yang Dilong chuckled, took an envelope from his briefcase, and tossed it to Delas.
De Sila opened the envelope to find some photos inside. At first glance, he was immediately horrified to discover that these were pictures of him and a woman engaged in intimate activities in bed, completely naked. To his shock, the woman was none other than the wife of the Thai Defense Minister!
Indeed, De Sila had an affair with the Defense Minister's wife, but they had kept it well hidden, known only to themselves and perhaps the heavens. The sudden appearance of these photos left De Sila trembling at the thought of the consequences if they were made public. He dared not imagine what would happen next.
"You... what do you mean?! How did you get these photos?!" De Sila exclaimed, now genuinely relieved that he hadn't thrown this man out, or else it would have been disastrous.
Yang Dilong chuckled, took a seat on a nearby stool, and said, "President De Sila, I'm a businessman. I'm here today to discuss a business deal with you!"
"What kind of deal?" De Sila asked with a dark expression.
"These photos will serve as collateral. We'd like to take out a loan from you! If you agree, all the negatives and photos will be yours!" Yang Dilong said with a smile.
"A loan?!" De Sila was taken aback. "How much are we talking about?!"
"Not much, just thirty billion baht!" Yang Dilong replied lightly.
"What?!" De Sila nearly jumped out of his seat. "Thirty billion? Are you joking? That's not much?! You're robbing me!" Thirty billion baht was equivalent to one billion US dollars, a sum that was by no means small for Thailand, which wasn't at the top of the economic ladder.
"Hehe... Don't get so worked up, Mr. De Sila..." Yang Dilong laughed. "Your Bangkok Bank is one of the leading banks in Southeast Asia, and your personal worth is at least in the tens of billions of dollars. I'm sure this mere one billion is nothing to you. On the other hand, if you don't give us this money, these indecent photos will be splashed across the front pages of all Thai banks tomorrow morning. Just think, how would the Defense Minister react if he found out his wife was having an affair with you, and that it's now public knowledge? At that point, whether you can keep your position as bank president is one thing, but I'm afraid your wealth and glory will also go down the drain..."
"You... you scoundrel! You're threatening me!" De Sila's face turned pale with anger.
"Don't get excited! I'm just discussing business with you..." Yang Dilong chuckled. "If you're not satisfied with the value of these photos, here's something else I believe will interest you..." With that, Yang Dilong took out some account books from his briefcase and handed them to De Sila.
Desila trembled as he read through the documents, his face turning pale with fear. It turned out that these ledgers recorded his illicit financial dealings with both the Thai and U.S. governments, each entry enough to spark a political scandal in both countries. If exposed, Desila would be the first to suffer, and the idea of not only remaining as bank president but even surviving prison would be nothing but a distant dream.
"Who... who exactly are you? What do you want?!" Desila asked, his face pale. He was terrified; anyone capable of gathering such information was undoubtedly formidable!
"I told you, we're businessmen in need of a loan!" Yang Dilong laughed. "Thirty billion might seem like a terrifyingly large amount, but for your bank, it's just a drop in the bucket. Our boss is a man of his word. If you grant us the loan, we guarantee to repay it within two months and hand over all these materials to you, after which we'll pretend we never knew each other. How does that sound?"
"You're serious? Repayment in just two months?!" Desila stared at Yang Dilong in disbelief. "Why should I trust you?!"
"Of course, you have no reason to trust me! But do you really have a choice?" Yang Dilong glanced at his watch. "Let me tell you, our boss expects a call from me in an hour to hear the outcome. There are twenty minutes left... If by then there's no result—say, if I don't call or if the funds aren't transferred—then... well, these materials will find their way into the hands of your country's newspapers and TV stations!"
"You... you..." Desila was shaking with anger, but he quickly composed himself. After a moment of thought, he spat out the answer Yang Dilong wanted to hear, his voice dripping with venom: "Fine! It's a deal!"