A life that took the long way round
Businessman, designer and musician Carsten Lehn has lived in Asia for more than 40 years and has lived a life full of highs and lows.
In 1985, Carsten Lehn stands on stage at the Danish Melodi Grand Prix with "Lady Fantasi", while his wife Juliet is also competing with a song they have written. The Grand Prix becomes the springboard for a career as a composer for a number of well-known Danish musicians. He builds Songbird Studio.
Using his knowledge as a trained tanner, he develops a method for making dog snacks from waste from tanneries. The company Wishbone grows quickly, becomes a Gazelle company and earns him an entrepreneur award from Prime Minister Poul Schlüter.
In Thailand, the family moves to Bangkok to build a large dog food factory. Shortly before the project is completed, his Thai partner, billionaire Khun Young Kiat, is shot and killed on a golf course. The murder changes the family’s life and forces Carsten onto a completely new path.
After a long chain of coincidences and his first divorce, Carsten ends up in Vietnam, where he starts again from scratch. At one point he sleeps on a mattress on the floor of his small office. Later, he builds a furniture factory with almost 2,000 employees, which is eventually sold to the Danish furniture manufacturer Carl Hansen & Søn.
After a chance meeting with an Australian geologist, he buys the rights to a gold mine in Laos. He hires around 150 local workers to dig for gold, meets generals after a coup and experiences up close a society marked by power struggles and corruption.
During the construction of a large hydropower project in Laos, he is given responsibility for clearing the forest in an enormous area. Here he takes over 17 elephants and their mahouts, who are used to pull timber out of the jungle.