In a speech delivered in Manila in 2003, Thaksin said: "Through my modest family background ...I learned the hardship of poverty in the rural areas. I learned the importance of earning rewards by working hard" (Thaksin, 2003f). In fact, by the time of his birth, the Shinawatra were one of the most prominent families in Thailand's second city, Chiang Mai. They were big in both business and politics. Thaksin returned from his overseas education to be immediately appointed private secretary to a Cabinet minister. Thaksin grew up in an environment of wealth, power, and privilege. Like many of his generation, he moved from provinces to capital initially for education, and then never left. Also like many privileged students of his generation, he returned from a US education with new ideas that had a business application in his case, a fascination with computer technology. Then, unlike others, he made a billion dollars in a handful of years. This was not a normal level of profit. It came from the unique combination of new technology, high demand, new forms of financing, and-above all-a politically constructed oligopoly.