Facebook's co founder visits Thailand and is impressed

		Thu, Dec 30, 2010 The Nation/Asia News Network
Zuckerberg impressed with Thai culture
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's co-founder, was impressed with the Thai culture he experienced at the wedding ceremony this week of his close friend Chris Cox, the vice president of Facebook. Vivatvong Vichit-Vadakan, the father of Cox's bride Visra Vichit-Vadakan, said Zuckerberg had taken part in all three days of his daughter's wedding and was impressed with the culture he had experienced throughout the proceedings. "He is a very nice, humble person. We chatted. I thanked him for taking part in my daughter's wedding in Bangkok for three days. We didn't talk about business, or even about Facebook or social networking in Thailand, as he had come for the wedding ceremony and was here in a private capacity," said Vivatvong, who is chief open-source technologist at Loxley Business Information Technology-PointAsia. He said Zuckerberg had seen a lot of Thai culture during his stay, as his family had arranged a full traditional Thai-style wedding ceremony for 40 of Cox's friends who had come over from the United States. Cox joined Facebook four years ago. "Mark joined the merit-making ritual as part of the wedding ceremony on Monday, and then he also joined the engagement ceremony Tuesday. These two activities were at the bride's home in Sukhumvit Soi 24. And we had the wedding ceremony yesterday morning at the house of General MR Kukrit Pramoj," said Vivatvong. He added that his daughter had been friends with Cox since 2000, when they were freshmen at Stanford University. Cox was studying symbolic systems while Visra was studying human biology, but they were both in the university's Traditional Japanese Drum Club, which is where they met. Their relationship continued in the ensuing years and blossomed into that of lovers three years ago, he said. After graduation, Cox pursued a master's in computer science at the same university, while Visra came back to Thailand, working for TK Park during the time that Sirikorn Maneerin was deputy education minister. She is now a second-year graduate student of the Film School at New York University and expects to earn her master's degree next year. Vivatvong said Zuckerberg would not be staying in the Kingdom to celebrate the New Year. "He is a very nice and humble guy. He is not as he is portrayed in the movie 'The Social Network'," he said. Zuckerberg, dressed in grey T-shirt and jeans, arrived at last night's party venue - a restaurant on Sukhumvit 36 - at about 8pm in a van and accompanied by security guards. Journalists took photographs but he did not respond to any of their questions. -The Nation/Asia News Network