Siripong Akkarasriyoak, the founder of the popular Thai ice cream brand Hawell’s, has put his entire company up for sale for 165 million Thai Baht (approximately 6 million Singapore Dollars) to abandon secular life and become a monk.
The business package, which includes real estate, offices, manufacturing facilities, machinery, licenses, trademarks, and proprietary ice cream formulas developed over 37 years, is being offered in its entirety. Siripong revealed that he has contemplated renouncing worldly pursuits for nearly 15 years. Under his two-year plan, he intends to purchase land to build a meditation sanctuary in a forest before officially taking vows as a Buddhist monk.
Upon entering the priesthood, Siripong plans to sever all ties with society, including contact with his wife and daughter. He stated that his ultimate objective is to achieve Arhatship—the highest state of spiritual enlightenment and liberation in Buddhism.
