When Thai Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt met a group of Australian journalists on a balmy Bangkok afternoon recently, he was quick to offer a share tip to visitors.

''You should buy stocks in Cochlear,'' said Dr Sittipunt, a MIT-educated engineering professor who spent 18 months in Australia 10 years ago as a researcher at the CSIRO.

The tip was as much personal as financial. Sittipunt's son had his hearing restored by an Australian medical expert with the aid of a Cochlear implant. He is a believer in the Australian technology, which he said had ''changed the lives of many people''.

As Transport Minister, Sittipunt is overseeing one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country's history, worth $67 billion. He is also one of many south-east Asian political and business elites with ties to Australia.

Advertisement

These Australian alumni can be found in the corridors of power across the region, from the presidential palace in Singapore to executive suites in Bangkok.

Even Maha Vajiralongkorn, the future King of Thailand, is a product of the famous old King's School in Sydney and the Royal Military College at Duntroon.

Brian Rogers, an Australian automotive executive based in Bangkok, said Thai alumni from Geelong Grammar could be found in many senior business positions in the country.

Together, these people form a crucial nexus linking Australia with the world's most economically dynamic region.

However, it is not clear whether the government or the business community is making best use of this valuable human asset, which is dwindling as the younger generation of Asian leaders turn to better known universities in the US and Europe for education.

See the article here:
Old school ties key to Australia's role