Mr. Kimmo Pekari is a special advisor for trade and economic affairs at the Finnish Embassy in Bangkok, as well as an entrepreneur, business consultant, and occasional guest lecturer. Originally from Finland, he spent his early 30s in Sweden, before moving to Asia in 2004.
In this candid conversation, he shares insights on economics, sustainability, teaching, and life in Thailand.
It took him exactly seven words to win over a class of 21 students from all around the world. That’s how he is: warm, witty, and with a certain spark in his eyes, radiating a “joie de vivre” and a curiosity so rarely seen in our society.
“Hi everyone! I’m Kimmo. Kimmo Pekari.”
He then noticed me writing in my journal and came over to my desk.
“You write your notes using pen and paper?” I nodded. “I’m passionate about handwriting too. But by no means am I good at it.”
He chuckled. That’s when I noticed his smile for the first time—the smile of someone who loved his job, and beyond everything, life itself. Soon enough, I’d learn he was Finnish, which explained a lot. Or so I thought!
After he agreed to our interview, the first question I had to ask was whether he had any story with knitting.
Funnily enough, unlike many Finns, he didn’t. So I had to try again, this time on the Swedish front. When I asked about semla and Fat Tuesday, a traditional Swedish celebration, he laughed. The question had caught him completely off guard and set the tone for the entire conversation.
From Europe to Asia
Mihai: What is a Nordic hobby you miss nowadays?
Kimmo: One thing that is very popular in both Finland and Sweden, but is not really available in Bangkok at all, is walking outside in nature. There, it’s an integrated part of everyday life in both big and small cities alike. And people walk in every possible weather.
Mihai: Since you mentioned nature, when I first came into the country a month ago, I had a shock. A quick trip to 7-Eleven can result in five plastic bags. That made me wonder what Thailand’s approach to sustainability is. I wanted to ask for your stance on that.
Kimmo: It sure is a shock, coming from Europe and seeing the devastating things that are being done here with plastic, waste, and so on. But Thailand is open to becoming more sustainable and is actively pursuing it. Looking back to when I first arrived here compared to now, I can say that waste management and pollution have improved a lot. And they continue to change all the time.
You also have to understand that Thailand’s past is very different from Europe’s. For sure, Thailand is behind in certain regards when it comes to sustainability. But if you look at a simple statistic such as the carbon footprint per capita in Finland compared to Thailand, you’ll see the Nordics still have a much larger footprint than Thai people.
Mihai: Any idea why that is?
Kimmo: There are many reasons, but one of them is that the Nordic environment is much more demanding. For example, so much energy is used for heating.
Mihai: Why did you decide to move to Thailand?
Kimmo: It was a random decision. I came to Asia in 2004 with a one-way ticket, thinking I’d spend some time in Thailand and figure out what I’d do next. Twenty years later, I’m still here. I first lived in Phuket and worked in the private sector there. The move to Bangkok came in 2019, together with my job at the Embassy.
The state of the world
Mihai: Talking about your job, working in international relations means you always have to stay up to date on politics, economics, culture, and so much more. How do you keep yourself informed?
Kimmo: I read a lot: books, as well as public reports. I google the things I’m interested in, and I also use AI to help. Once I don’t need a piece of information anymore, I try to forget it.
Mihai: Given your background, I feel your answer to this next question is important. Would you say that, in international relations, everything comes down to economics?
Kimmo: There is one god in this world that everybody worships, and that god is called money. There are a lot of bad things we can say about it, but I still think handling conflicts with money is a better idea than handling them with human lives. Looking at history and at our society, when commercial ties break, wars start. As long as nations, companies, and people are trading in a balanced environment, there is no reason for war. When that balance is broken, hell breaks loose.
Mihai: So, if we learn how to manage our money and economic ties, we can actually prevent wars, and thus the loss of lives.
Kimmo: That’s a very nice way of putting it, but yes.
Mihai: I read your resume and my jaw dropped. How did you end up doing so many diverse things?
Kimmo: I never really had a plan; I just picked up whatever life threw my way. I’ve spent about half of my adult life as an entrepreneur, running companies I owned or co-owned. The other half I worked for other people’s companies, and now I work for the state. But I suppose there is a red line through all of it: I’ve been working with international sales my whole life, interacting with people from different countries and, at some point, managing them. I could never have worked in fields like finance, let alone manufacturing. I can’t really do anything with my hands.
Mihai: Did you get a chance to listen to the UN speeches this year? It’s said that the Finnish president gave “the most inspiring speech in UN history.”
Kimmo: I did listen to that one, but only caught bits and pieces of the others, mostly through the media. Overall, I’m quite worried about the current situation. It doesn’t look good. But I’d rather not go much deeper into the subject.
Mihai: That’s perfectly understandable. And it’s also worth noting that everything you share here represents your personal opinion, not the official stance of any institution or state.
A Finnish childhood
Mihai: Speaking of Finland, the country is widely regarded as “the happiest nation in the world.” What do you think about that?
Kimmo: I’ve been asked this so many times that I’ve started to develop a standard answer. The study that calls Finland the happiest nation in the world is often misrepresented. What it actually measures is not happiness in the literal sense. It’s not as if Finnish people laugh more than others. In fact, it’s quite the contrary. Finns tend to be rather serious in their outlook. The study is measuring the overall stability of people’s lives. Finland is a very stable society, and Finns — unlike much of the world — actually trust their government. On top of that, the cooperation between the Nordic countries runs very deep, with strong cultural and political foundations.
Mihai: I know Finnish people learn Swedish at school.
Kimmo: Indeed. The role of the Swedish language in Finnish culture and politics is extremely important. It also helps tie Finland to the Western hemisphere and distance it from the East. But that’s a rather sensitive topic.
Mihai: That’s very true. Since they taught you Swedish at school, I suppose it was very easy for you to make the transition to Stockholm.
Kimmo: No, not at all. Students have a nickname for it, they call it “forced Swedish.” It’s not a very nice way to put it, and it shows a bit of attitude too, but I was guilty of that myself. During my school years, I did everything I could to avoid learning it, thinking I’d never need it in my life. Funny enough, a few years later I found myself living in Stockholm and taking lessons to actually learn the language. If I could go back in time, I would definitely slap my teenage self and tell him to behave and appreciate everything he gets to learn.
Curiosity, teaching, and passions
Mihai: Talking about learning, in your lecture at Stenden Thailand last month, you touched upon a topic very close to my heart: questions — how to ask them and why. How long have you been researching this topic?
Kimmo: That’s knowledge I’ve had for a long time, but your class was actually the first time I ever shared it publicly. I first discovered this framework about a year ago, when I was giving a lecture to another group of students. I can’t remember whether it came up because they asked me something or because it just popped into my head, the idea that you can actually categorise questions that way. Right after your class, I even wrote a LinkedIn post so more people could read and learn about my framework.
Mihai: The class was so interesting and engaging that I wanted to ask: have you ever considered becoming a full-time teacher?
Kimmo: Absolutely not. And I definitely don’t do it for money, fame, or anything like that. I do it because it’s an excellent reality check for me. It’s a way to see if my knowledge and methods are still relevant in today’s fast-paced world, where tools like AI are becoming more and more widespread, especially among younger generations. Believe it or not, I learned more from that class than you, the students, did.
Mihai: Here’s a fun fact: Finland has the highest number of metal bands per capita in the world. Are you a fan of the genre?
Kimmo: No, it’s not really my kind of music. But I do know a lot of people who are in such bands or work with them. A long time ago, I was a professional musician myself, though not in metal. We were actually quite famous in Finland.
Mihai: I would’ve never guessed you were a musician before! I remember my mother once told me that many popular bands and artists in history came from the Nordic countries: ABBA, A-ha, Europe, Ace of Base, Roxette, Sabaton, Avicii, Jean Sibelius, Yngwie Malmsteen, and so on. Come to think of it, many of them are Swedish.
Kimmo: That’s true! Music has always played an important role in my life. For a short period of time, I even worked in the music industry, selling CDs and so on. To this day, I’m still quite well informed about what’s happening there.
Mihai: As we approach the end of this interview, let’s circle back to your beginnings in Asia. When you first came here, did you struggle to adapt to Thai culture and the local way of life?
Kimmo: Well, life itself is a daily struggle. But I wouldn’t say adapting to Thai culture was particularly difficult. I also came here willingly, fully aware that things wouldn’t work the same way I was used to. Life in Thailand has been good so far, and I’ve learned to deal with things as they come. Even after all this time, I still learn new things every day.
But knowledge is pain. The more you know, the more it hurts…