June (22): When Samak Srisarakham first came to Bangkok as an 11-year-old with his older brother, he slept in bare-bones communal bedding next to a tennis court. He could barely imagine growing up to a life of fancy restaurants, new clothes and the latest electronics.

Yet 30 years later, he’s a tennis coach in the Thai capital, and a perfect illustration of what former Goldman Sachs Asset Management Chair Jim O’Neill calls “the biggest story in the world” when it comes to investing: the rise of the emerging-market consumer.

Originally from a poor town in rural northern Thailand, Samak owns three properties and two cars. His two daughters go to an international school and the family has an assortment of smartphones and tablets.

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