Take a wander around town and count the number of kids riding pillion without a crash helmet. After a while it’ll strike you as the norm. In Southeast Asia the number of lives senselessly lost through motorcycle accidents is rising exponentially as more people are able to afford motorcycles. Most of these deaths can be easily avoided through the enforcement of wearing a crash helmet. The Asia Injury Prevention Foundation is a non-governmental organization dedicated to cutting road fatalities amongst Southeast Asian Nations through the use of crash helments. At the forefront of the drive to save countless thousands of lives is Greig Craft. Karin Lohitnavy recently met up with Greig to learn more about the scheme and what led him to devote his life to saving other people’s lives.

Q. Why did you want to give up a very successful career and the life of a jet-setter to dedicate your life to setting up the AIP (Asia Injury Prevention) Foundation.

G.C The epiphany took place over time. In 1996, I part­nered with Enron, a large US corporation, on a $300m iron ore infrastructure project of which I was the de­veloper. During the Asia financial crisis, my erstwhile ‘partners’ abandoned Vietnam, including our project, and defaulted on several millions of dollars owed to me (this was many years before their meltdown, at which time the world saw their true colors). Against over­whelming odds I fought them for several years in US courts. In 2000, I finally prevailed. Despite collecting substantial damages from them, I was very bitter and frustrated to have experienced such tactics at the hands of a supposedly ‘blue chip’ company. During this ordeal I began to question my own goals and objectives in life.

Though always socially responsible and involved in supporting charitable causes, I still didn’t feel satisfied or completely happy. Honestly, my soul felt ‘empty’ de­spite the many successes I had enjoyed. Coincidentally around this time, I was increasingly exposed to the haz­ards of the rapid motorization happening in the region, and was horrified at the numbers of young people being killed and suffering brain damage on the roads, mainly from driving motorbikes without helmets. After study­ing the situation extensively, I believed that I could use my business expertise and acumen to tackle this new public health crisis, and I set out to find solutions.

I soon realized that I could actually make a major im­pact, not only in Vietnam and Thailand, but throughout the developing world. I also realized I could create a sus­tainable model that could be adopted by others. Along with my general angst about leading a more pure and meaningful life, I believed this was a unique life oppor­tunity offering me a chance to have an impact. I literally sold everything, from my rare car collection, to art col­lections and watches, and I disposed of my businesses. I simplified my life dramatically. I became a human being proud of my new self, and regretted only that I had not come to this realization earlier in my life.

Q. I believe your own family has been tragically affected by road accidents; you have recently lost your younger brother and your elder brother is in a coma at the mo­ment?

G.C. This personal tragedy is too difficult to talk about now. I still do not understand the cruel irony of life where I could lose my only 2 brothers in a 3 month pe­riod. My youngest brother was killed in a motorbike ac­cident in Colorado recently, and was not wearing a hel­met. Unbelievable, especially as I am often referred to internationally as “Mr. Helmet”. My other brother was hit by a speeding drunk driver while walking in Arizona only 3 weeks ago. A father of two and a grandfather of 3, he was 52. Suffering massive internal damages and extensive brain damage he is on life support and not ex­pected to live much longer.

Obviously this makes my mission more personal, but I never forget that the same pain and grief I am feel­ing is happening to 3,000 families everyday around the world. Tears cannot undo this. My only solace is that their lives will not be in vain – they give new meaning to my mission.

Q. Do you consider your project as a success, what have been your greatest challenges, memorable experiences and frustrations so far?

G.C. With the exception of father hood, my project is the greatest success I will ever experience. From a simple dream and idea, I have created a vehicle that is saving lives. How often do we get such an opportunity in life? I am blessed. Yes, I have faced challenges throughout my life. I say this in a positive way however, because for me, ‘challenges’ are what drives us, challenges are what life throws at us, and I believe that proactive, successful and adventurous people thrive on challenges. People who are challenged are part of the force that helps change the world to make it better. But if I really look into myself deeply, probably the biggest ‘challenge’ in many senses of the word was the Tsunami. It rocked me to my core, and deeply, deeply affected my life, radically changing how I view the world, and especially its fragility. It has increased my personal dedica­tion to live each day with no regrets, and to its fullest potential.

My most memorable experience so far was the passage of a national helmet wearing law in 2007 in Vietnam. For 10 years many, many people – friends, family and others – told me that I was ‘a dreamer,’ and that my plan was hopeless and impossible. It has been quite the opposite. We have been told by the highest levels of government in Vietnam that our work over the past 10 years greatly influenced the entire motorcycle helmet issue. To have witnessed the change this law has made on Vietnam’s streets, and know that I played a major part in it, is something that I’ll remember forever. I could die tomorrow a happy and satisfied man!

The second memorable experiences are those moments when I meet kids whose lives have been saved by my tropical helmet. This is a ‘high that is indescribable. And finally, attend ing our Helmets for Kids ceremonies and seeing a sea of shining faces sometimes several thousand young children putting on my helmets for the first time. In that instant, I know that our work is changing their lives forever, and even if they will never know it, or know me, that is memorable.

My most frustrating experience to date was trying to teach parents and even global leaders what a crisis road crashes are, and that despite the fact that we have a cure’; and a vaccine, we are not using it the way we could be. There is no brain medicine for brain damage. There is no ‘happy ending like in the movies. Everyone must understand that accidents happen in the blink of an eye, and we never know when they will strike. They cannot be planned for; they cannot be avoided. We can only try to prevent them by teaching people better skills, helping them to protect themselves and their loved ones, and supporting the government and police who must enforce the existing laws and regulations.

Q. If your greatest dream for AIP Foundation could be fulfilled what would it consist of?

G.C. My greatest dream is to expand this unique model throughout the developing world. The elements of the model are fairly simple. We produce a tropical helmet, in a non-profit factory that employs the physically disabled. All revenues from the factory are put back into the local community for road safety education and public awareness. It is a fantastic model for creating an inexpensive, yet safe and environmentally appropriate helmet for both chil dren and adults in hot, tropical climates. Most importantly, it is a peoples helmet that most can afford.

As a retired businessman, I know that the market availability and appeal of the product, the helmet, is a critical factor to ensuring that people buy them and wear them. As a road safety advocate, I also know how important education is to achieving long-lasting change, and that the correct legal and enforcement structures must be in place to help create the right incen tives. It has taken me almost ten years to evolve a tried and true model, but now that it has revolutionized road safety in Vietnam, I am taking the lessons I learned forward, and as we at AIP Foundation expand our work in other countries, now including Thailand, we are taking a unique approach to focus on the specific road safety challenges here. But we have learned that the combination of helmet production, school-based safety education and traffic environment modification, public awareness education, and helmet donation provides the right starting framework.

Pieces of this dream, such as sharing this vaccine with the parts of the world hit by this epidemic, have already begun to be realized; bringing it to the attention of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, for example, and the passage of a resolution to address the issue at a UN-sponsored ministerial meeting in 2009. Slowly, people are standing up and starting to take notice, and I dream of a day when so many people have stood up and spoken out against these unnecessary deaths that no child, young adult, or adult needs to thoughtlessly lose their life on the worlds roads. Everything I do now is part of turning that dream into a reality. This is why I am self proclaimed Road Safety Warrior ! I am fighting a new war; a road war that is killing and maiming so many innocent children and adults. It is wrong.

One of my favorite mottos is “One hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove… but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” This is my target now.

Many consider me eccentric yet while no doubt many people would actually follow my ex treme vision and dream, I do hope they will think about what I have accomplished, and try to copy me, or do it better! And in any area that they desire. Because it CAN be done. It is not difficult. Think about it. I am a foreigner, yet I have directly, and indirectly, been able to raise and contribute nearly $5 million in only 10 years for the benefit of this worthy cause and millions of my own money, in Asia alone.

More importantly, I have been able to influence the behavior of tens of millions of people, directly and indirectly. Imagine if 10, 100, 1,000, or 10,000 young Thais could do something similar? Wow! Its an amazing thought, wouldnt you agree?

Q. You came to Thailand just after the Tsunami to help with relief and emergency supplies, how did this experience affect the already changed Greig Craft?

G.C. Like everyone, I was horrified by the events of December 2004 when the terrible Tsu nami struck. I felt compelled to take action, and with the help of my staff, friends and family I raised nearly $300,000 cash for emergency supplies that I flew to southern Thailand for distribution to the temporary refugee camps. I assisted initially with search and rescue, flying in helicopters to remote areas along the coast. Sadly there were very few survivors. The task quickly changed into body recovery. I saw and experienced sights that I hope never to see again. The most difficult and heartbreaking was finding mothers and infants clinging together in death, and trying to remove their bodies from trees and brush. I then worked at the “Takopa” temple that was set up as a morgue, as well as a central repository of information for distraught family members from all over the world.

I assisted doctors at this morgue by photographing distinguishing marks on the bodies of victims as they were brought in by the truck load in the hope of matching them to family members. There were thousands and thousands. It was a surreal experience, working night and day in protective suits in the stifling heat amongst thousands of bodies of all nationalities. The smells and decomposing bodies were indescribable. I had nightmares and difficulty sleeping for many months thereafter. The images, the memories are seared in my brain and soul forever. However this experience has truly, truly af­fected me and put my life in a new perspective. To this day, it gives me a new outlook on what is important and ‘real’ in life, and how fleeting life can be.

Q. Could you tell us more about a typical day in the “old” Greig life?

The ‘old’ Greig was a hard driving young entrepreneur always developing bigger and more ambitious projects, from real estate to oil & gas explora­tion to steel mills. The old Greig was a social creature, attending parties and functions, diplomatic events and generally judging myself on the number of deals I sealed. It was also a Greig very involved in the highly competitive sport of world class sailing; I campaigned a One Tonne sailing boat for 2 years in the 1980’s, winning multiple trophies along the way. I drove a Ferrari, had a boat, several homes around the world, lived on the Riviera and mixed with ‘high society’ and royalty. There was no typical day, because I was working 16 hours a day and living a fast-paced lifestyle.

Q. Do you recall the series of events leading you to Asia and more particularly Vietnam?

G.C. In 1988 I was ready to restart my business career and began assessing oil exploration and trading opportunities around the world. I was fascinated with Vietnam, and more so after meeting some Vietnamese in the South of France. They told me of the remarkable changes going on because of the new economic ‘renovation’ policy. By 1989 I was ready to make my first explora­tory trip there, but it was not easy for an American then. I will never forget stepping off the plane at Tan Son Nhat airport. It was ‘love at first sight’. For the first time in my life I felt I had found where I was meant to be. It was a profound experience. But I had one business transaction to fulfill before I could make the final move. I note this for interesting historic reasons, and to show how ‘lucky’ I have been in my life.

In 1988 I structured a unique trading deal whereby I arranged for the acqui­sition of large numbers of Italian cars (that the Iraq government highly de­sired) to be counter-traded for Iraqi oil, which would then be sold to South America. It was a complicated venture, involving financiers and executives from many nations, including a Saudi Prince. To make a long story short, through contacts in Kuwait, my delegation and I were finally scheduled to travel to Baghdad on August 5, 1990 to meet senior members of the regime to conclude the deal. However, on August 2, 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait (which precipitated the first ‘gulf war’) and sadly, my contacts in Kuwait were killed in the first days of the war. This hastened my decision to focus on the new ‘frontier’ of Vietnam, and I have never regretted that fateful intervention.

Q. Can you explain some of the highlights of your mission more in detail to our readers?

G.C. I was making multiple trips between Washington and Hanoi during 1990, 1991 and 1992, I am proud that my efforts at least helped improve communication and understanding, despite no specific diplomatic move­ment. It is hard for people to realize now just how complete the barriers were between the two sides. There was very, very little understanding, nor contact. I finally reached out to former President Richard Nixon and implored him to help end the wounds and bitterness from the war, and suggested a meeting between himself and Mr. Do Muoi to find a way to ‘bury the hatchet’. For me, very bitterly, this was not to be. He declined, claiming he could not interfere with US policies. I was deeply disappointed by this reaction, by the one man who had caused so much death and destruction in my opinion, yet had such an historic opportunity in his hands to rectify and change the course of his­tory. But he chose not to.

In August of 1992 the (then called) Council of Ministers authorized me to bring a senior official to the US on an ‘unofficial’ mission. I obtained ap­proval from the US and brought the delegation to New York, Washington, Houston and San Francisco. I arranged meetings with Senator John McCain, Senator John Kerry and even Henry Kissinger. The head of the delegation made very favorable impressions on all whom he met. We even had a private meeting with the National Security Council, which soon after led to positive steps.

In December of 1992, then President George H. Bush (senior) eased the US embargo so that US companies could begin to carry out feasibility stud­ies. Personally, I was able to conduct evaluation of offshore oil blocks in the Gulf of Tonkin, under my company PetroMonaco. At the same time, an old family friend, Mr. Robert Galvin (the founding family of Motorola) asked me to help organize a mission of senior Motorola executives to Vietnam. I subsequently became their in-country advisor for several years. I helped es­tablish their Vietnam operations, and carried out feasibility studies to set up nationwide paging operations (then an important form of communications before cell phones). Through these successes, I was engaged by Ford Motor Company as their senior Vietnam advisor. I am proud to have led their suc­cessful licensing of a $100 million plant located in the North of Vietnam. Most auto companies at the time were considering investment only in the south, but I believed strongly that an American company investing in the north was an economically, and politically, important advantage.

Q. Is there any special person who isn’t a famous diplomat who has inspired you since you have campaigned for AIP?

G.C. I am blessed with numerous close friends. But my most important friend currently is a child too young to talk, named Thien Nhan meaning “Good Person”. He is important to me because, even at this stage in my life, I have to constantly set my bearings – to work out what is important and what isn’t – and assess what my life is all about. Thien Nhan is 23 months old. He was mauled by wild animals at birth and lost his right leg and genitals. It was an incomprehensible act of cruelty difficult to comprehend. But I am blessed to know him because whenever I feel sorry for myself, or get caught up in petty matters, I think about his life and the challenge he faces. Yet he is happy, confident and a survivor. He is a truly remarkable human being. He inspires me. Friends come in many shapes, sizes and types. My friendship with him is unique and special. Now I am privileged to return his gift of friendship by helping him obtain medical treatment.

Q. How about here in Thailand? Who is the Thai figure you draw your inspiration from?

G.C. In my opinion he is one of the most important figures in the world and one for whom I have the great­est respect; His Majesty the King of Thailand. The love and care that he shows his people is unlike any sover­eign leader in the world. It has been a consistent and constant driving force throughout his life. The way it is reciprocated by his subjects is remarkable. I hope that after he learns of our vision, aims and goals, that he will understand our cause and encourage his subjects to do something about reckless driving in order to end the heartache and tragedy that it brings. After all, children and young adults are Thailand’s most precious national treasure!

Q. Could you tell our readers more about your family and those close to you to get to know the real Greig bet­ter?

G.C. I think your question is about my immediate fam­ily. But I must answer more broadly first. I employ more than 200 people. These people are very much my ‘family’. And their families in turn represent perhaps 1,000 people who depend on me. But what defines family? Family is more than blood or biological con­nection. It is a bond. It is a unit of belonging. It is a col­lective group of people that one cares for and one takes care of. So I am very blessed by my ‘extended’ family. I take very seriously my duty to them. I am “their Asian brother”. Not ‘the general director’, not ‘the president’, not ‘the boss’. I am the one who cares for them.

Then, I have 350,000 children who are members of my Helmets for Kids family. I take this responsibility very, very seriously too. I recently lost one of my ‘children’ who was killed in a motorbike accident in Ho Chi Min. I grieve for her. It is a terrible pain. She was part of my ‘family’. Now her surviving parents and sister support our works to help prevent such a tragedy from happen­ing to any other family. I admire their compassion to others, during this dark time of their lives. It says a lot about the character of Asian people.

“Now, in my ‘immediate family’ I have a young daugh­ter 27 months old and 13 year old son, they are the light of my life. Four elder daughters in America have already given me a lifetime of joy and wonder and con­tinue to do so, I live a charmed existence because of all six of them. As an older father I have more time and appreciation of their youthfulness, and also know how quickly time flies and that they will soon be ‘gone’. Both are a treasure because as mixed children I am amazed at the positive feelings they inspire in all who see and meet them. It shows to me that someday, we will all hopefully be a “mixed” humanity, and not prejudiced or fearful of other races and cultures. A mixed mar­riage can also be a challenge. There are good times and not so good. But this is life. At least the common love of a young child is universal and transcends culture. So the reason for my deep love of Asia begins with my Asian son and daughter, and then spreads from there to my broader ‘family’.”