Born and brought up in the northern city of Chiang Mai, he began his career in Thailand's notoriously corrupt police force, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel and completing a Phd in Texas before resigning.

BBC: Thaksin Shinawatra

Once, in 1974, he received a tip that two of his own officers were planning to burglarize a local restaurant, the Mai Tai, and he arrested the men himself.

NEWYORKER: A Loaded Gun

He saw Mai-Lea run out from behind his lorry into the path of the quad bike.

BBC: Guernsey girl's quad bike death ruled accidental

Fifteen-year-old Justin Nocombway Nujinga(ph) says he was captured by the Mai Mai last year, and forced to join them.

NPR: Rogue Militia Terrorizes Southeast Congo

As such, Lee opened the Akha Ama coffee shop in Chiang Mai and twice a year, as part of the Akha Ama Coffee Journey, he takes around 20 participants from around the world to Maejantai to see how the villagers live and work.

BBC: Thailand��s mountainous coffee journey

The Mai Mai were set up in the late 1990's by Laurent Kabila, shortly after he overthrew President Mobutu Sese Seko.

NPR: Rogue Militia Terrorizes Southeast Congo

Michael Flancman, who divides his time between his native Toronto and Chiang Mai, Thailand, first learned that elephant waste could be turned into paper in 2002, when he heard about a Thai villager who was doing just that.

FORBES: Magazine Article

As usual, Four Seasons has brought in a seasoned veteran to run the operation: GM James Kostecky comes from the same position at frequent award-winning sister hotels, Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai and Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle in Thailand, and prior to joining the company, he worked in Kenya with a local hotel group.

FORBES: Four Seasons Hotels Expands To Africa And Luxury Safaris