VietNamNet Bridge – They are millionaires, but they keep the habits of country dwellers. These could be the habits of a lifetime.

Real estate tycoon smokes pipe tobacco in super car





Le Thanh Than, a big real estate developer, had not been known to many people until the day his Dai Thanh project’s apartments were opened for sale at surprisingly low price of 10 million dong per square meter.

Than is the director of the Lai Chau Construction Private Enterprise No. 1, who now owns huge assets with 20 2-4 star hotels in many provinces and cities, and builds a lot of big new urban areas and buildings.

Born in 1949, Than was a nobody from the mountainous province of Lai Chau. He started his business by setting up a private enterprise in 1987, specializing in developing infrastructure items in the mountainous areas.

Following the initial successes, he “conquered” the neighboring Lao market and then reached out to the Hanoi market in 2000 after buying a land plot in the Linh Dam urban area, where he built the Muong Thanh Hotel and small apartment block.

His business has been prospering since then. The number of apartment blocs he has built so far in the capital city is no less than 30. In his home district of Dien Chau, Nghe An province, he built a hospital with hundreds of beds. He possesses a 300 hectare zoo. He built a lot of schools in the countryside and rebuilt the roads.

Owning a huge fortune, Than still likes smoking pipe tobacco, the favorite thing of the farmers in the northern province, and likes soya curds with shrimp paste. There always is a pipe for him to smoke pipe tobacco in his luxurious Rolls-Royce.

Than said that he was asked to leave the pipe at the airport when he was leaving for a business trip abroad. However, he insisted on bringing the pipe with him, because he cannot live without the pipe.

The lifelong barefoot female director





She is the director of a profitable company. She wears beautiful clothes. She has her company of her own and super car. However, she has mostly seen with the pants rolled up to the knees and without footwear.

She is Ran Thi Thuy, Director of the Bich Thuy Material Import-Export, Production and Trade Company in Bac Giang province.

Thuy said that the habit of walking barefoot reminded her of the days when she led a wretched existence and that she would never give up the habit.

Thuy got married when she was 13, and she had to struggle to survive since then. Thuy collected rubbish for a company which processed garbage into useful things.

After five years of working for the company, Thuy mastered the garbage processing techniques. In 2000, Thuy set up her own private company which has gained big achievements since 2006.

Thuy still keeps the habit of walking barefoot. In 2008, she was invited to the ceremony on awarding the Business Gold Cup presided by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong. It was funny that she nearly went to the stage to receive the award with no footwear. After that, when attending important events, Thuy has always been escorted by a relative, who just had the task of reminding Thuy to wear shoes.

Member of bank’s board of directors like going on taxi motorbike





Going to the office on taxi motorbike is the habit of Dr Nguyen Tri Hieu, a member of the Board of Directors of the An Binh Bank.

Hieu does not have personal home or car. Therefore, he calls himself “proletarian.”

Especially, unlike other big businessmen, who like playing golf, the man likes sitting in mediation. Hieu said that in meditation, he can find peace of mind and consistency.

Van Anh