By Susan J. Cunningham
Forbes Asia
April 15, 2013

As he clowns around for a photo shoot in front of the giant fiberglass animals adorning his restaurant compound off of tony Thonglor Road, Tan Passakornnatee is sporting vivid yellow pants and a polka-dot shirt, his customary style for addressing college students or business groups.

When he’s in an even more casual mood, he wears T-shirts with the image of a pig (he was born in the year of the pig). But either way he always dons a captain’s hat–not least when he flies amid tall buildings wearing a caped costume in the commercials for his company’s current promotion. The tubby superhero “Tan Man” is on his way to change the lives of 60 people–one a day for 60 days–who are about to win 1 million baht ($33,000). As consolation prizes, he’s also giving away … MORE