AS steelworkers marched to save their jobs they would have been unaware that their campaign had caught the imagination of a potential saviour thousands of miles away.

Win Viriyaprapaikit, president of Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), the Thai company proposing to buy Corus Teesside Cast Products (TCP), who has been in the region this week has already spoken of the passion of the region's steelworkers being "second to none".

The 40-year-old, responsible for the Thai steel firm founded by his father and aunt 55-years-ago, first encountered that passion last year when 5,000 steelworkers and local supporters marched through Redcar to call for the plant to be saved.

Mr Viriyaprapaikit said: "It was July last year, I read the news on the internet back home and I saw the flags and the marches, the Save our Steel campaign and I thought it was very apparent that the whole town was really behind this.

"I was quietly reading this at home but with a lot of interest at the time. I never thought we could be part of this."

He said those marches clearly demonstrated how much pride the people of Teesside took in their steel industry, that was under threat after an international consortium had pulled out of a ten-year deal to buy its steel.

Mr Viriyaprapaikit said: "After these marches that got our interest, they didn't really have to explain to me how they feel because the actions speak louder than words and throughout the year I was seeing these marches."

The same month a delegation from Corus TCP visited Mr Viriyaprapaikit in Bangkok to strike a deal for steel slabs, of which his company bought 400,000 tonnes, at a time the plant was desperately trying to secure orders to replace its lost work.

He said: "We became acquainted with the management, we came to be confident of the quality level, the production system and of course the people behind it, so we have confidence in the plant and the people running it.

"It makes the job of due dilligence much easier than going in somewhere without such knowledge."

SSI is a family business and what becomes clear from talking to the married father-of-two is that the quality and attitudes of people he is dealing with is an integral part of any deal, hence his fascination with the steel marches.

He said:"Teesside is passionate about steel and I have become passionate about Teesside, what we can do here will be a lot more because of the good will and the support of the community.

"This 150 years of history is actually the history of steel making itself. This must be one of the rare places with the full history. We feel really fortunate to be part of this."

An example of the importance in which people's feelings are held was the appointment last month of David Reid, as interim managing director.

Until September last year, Mr Reid spent five years as supply chain director at TCP and was one of the steelworkers who marched through Redcar.

In addition he is a steel expert but crucially also had a relationship with SSI going back 25 years.

Mr Viriyaprapaikit said: "When the delegation came to see us last July they had a chance to meet my father and my father called him old friend.

"It didn't ring a bell at the time, it was only a few weeks ago that I proposed to my father that Dave would be the perfect person to lead this and I asked him what he meant by old friend and he said he had known David for 25 years.

"I think Dave Reid is a person of integrity, that is why all of us feel so much trust in him and I hope this is the right choice not just for us but for Teesside."

Despite rumours of a potential deal with SSI surfacing in May it was only in August that it was finally confirmed the two were talking with SSI and Corus signing a memorandum of understanding paving the way for a £320m deal and steelmaking restarting at the plant, near Redcar, east Cleveland, by early next year.

It transpired that the two companies had been in discussions for around a year, with Mr Viriyaprapaikit visiting TCP last October.

More than 1,000 employees have left the plant since February's mothballing, with Mr Viriyaprapaikit confirming at the MOU signing that the 700 steelworkers remaining at the facility would be kept on should a deal progress.

Yesterday Mr Viriyaprapaikit spoke of his desire to create many more jobs at the plant, both immediately and in the long term.

He said: "It would be in terms of hundreds more jobs in addition to the 700 people we will offer the opportunity to transfer over."

He was keen to see the steelmaking skills that the region had retained.

Mr Viriyaprapaikit said: "I think one of the things we would like to do is have this knowledge of all these skilled people passed on to the next generation.

"That is one programme I would like to do if we get to succeed in acquiring the plant."

One reason he may speak so passionately about the region is that he happily admits that through the course of a number of private visits over the last year he has fallen in love with it.

On his last visit he took home 30 pictures of the North-East, taken by professional photographers and many of those are now in the company's boardroom in Thailand.

He said: "This place is wonderful. We had a board meeting last Friday and we managed to get these pictures framed and hung on the walls in time.

"Our board of directors came in and they were delighted because they didnt realise in addition to buying a steel plant we got all this beauty coming along as well.

"There were pictures of the shoreline of Saltburn, Whitby, the fishermens villages, I never expected it to be this beautiful.

"Dave Reid said I must take you around so we drove around Stockton, Yarm, Saltburn and around Roseberry Topping, it is wonderful."

What struck Mr Viriyaprapaikit on that particular journey, through talking to local people, was their genuine warmth and the welcome they gave visitors, despite the fact most of them were not aware who he was.

He said: "It was that particular trip that gave us the resolve that we have to make this plan work, because it was so much more than the steel plant."

What is sometimes forgotten in the excitement of having found a potential saviour is that the deal to buy TCP is in itself an exciting move for Mr Viriyaprapaikit and SSI, which is known in Thailand's steel industry for its pioneering spirit.

TCP produces 3.5 million tonnes of steel slab a year and SSI requires 4 million tonnes.

In addition both facilities are located on deepwater ports, a perfect match in Mr Viriyaprapaikits view.

He said: "It will be a crucial part of our business, it gives us the platform for where we can grow.

"Of course we hope the investment will be successful, but also give us a lot of other things to do.

"Thailand has a large need for automobile steel, this will be a record year for automobile production in Thailand and more than 50 per cent is exported so it is going to become a manufacturing hub. This fits perfectly with that growth strategy.

"It is a very exciting time for myself and my family."

There is still some work to be done on the final deal but Mr Viriyaprapaikit added: "We hope we can get to the finish line as soon as we can."