ABSTRACT
In 1885 a young Danish engineer arrived in the East, one of many Scandinavians who were attracted to Siam as naval volunteers or civil engineers, and who found themselves especially welcome there because of their status as citizens of neutral European states, posing no imperial threat. They were an enterprising and adventurous group; yet even within such a company, Aage Westenholz stood out. In partnership with his two equally energetic and forceful compatriots, Admiral Andreas de Richelieu and H.N.Andersen, he helped to transform Bangkok’s infrastructure and made a fortune in the process. The capital which was later used to fund Karen Blixen’s famous farm in Africa, and the first rubber trees at Jendarata, was therefore created in Siam, and had its roots in the three partners’ rare combination of engineering skills, innovative flair and hard-headed business sense.1
