FORBES MAGAZINE
Rich left unscathed by political turmoil
- Published: 3/09/2010 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
The continuing political turmoil has not affected the wealth of Thailand's 40 richest people, who are now worth 1.14 trillion baht, up 46% from last year thanks to a booming stock market and strong currency, the Forbes Asia Thailand Rich List says.
Thailand now has 11 billionaires in dollar terms, six more than last year.
Topping the list for the first time and the biggest gainer in dollar terms is Dhanin Chearavanont with a net worth of 218 billion baht, up by 124.6 billion over last year. Ranked second last year, the 71-year-old tycoon heads the country's largest agribusiness conglomerate, Charoen Pokphand Group, which also has extensive interests in retailing, property and telecoms.
Mr Dhanin moved ahead of Chaleo Yoovidhya, the 78-year-old Red Bull co-founder, who slipped to No.2 this year despite increasing his wealth by 6.2 billion baht to 131 billion.
Moving up a notch to third place is 66-year-old beverage and property tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi with 129 billion baht, up from 87 billion. His holdings in Singapore-listed Thai Beverage, Thailand's largest brewer and distiller, nearly doubled in value in 2009.
Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra ranked 23rd on the list, unchanged from last year, with a net worth of 12.2 billion baht. The figure does not include his frozen assets.
The biggest gainer in percentage terms is longtime Thai resident Aloke Lohia. His wealth soared by 252% when he took his integrated polyester company, Indorama Ventures, public earlier this year. The son of an Indian entrepreneur is a newly minted billionaire and jumped 13 notches to No.6, with a net worth of 39 billion baht.
Also joining the billionaire ranks for the first time are Pruksa Real Estate's Thongma Vijitpongpun (No.8, 35.8 billion baht) and Mitr Phol Sugar's Isara Vongkusolkit (No.10, 34.7 billion).
Three new faces make the list this year: Keeree Kanjanapas (No.13, 20.3 billion baht). His property and construction firm, Tanayong (renamed BTS Group Holdings), owns the skytrain; Supalai's Prateep Tangmatitham (No.33, 5.9 billion baht); and building materials entrepreneur Roongroj Saengsastra, 60, (No.31, 6.2 billion baht). He founded Tile Top in 1995 and bought rival Dynasty Ceramic after the 1997 crisis.
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