Chirathivat beats Chearavanont to become Thailand’s richest family

[jucel]

Americans don't count

they've missed one out...

[fab4]

The Shinawatras are the Gates in reverse. Instead of giving away half their fortune, they get their cronies in government to give them back what was confiscated. Can't wait till their monies are frozen again and given back to the people.

How many times do you need to be told before it sinks in? The Supreme Court made the ruling on the return of $1 Billion US back in 2010, not the PTP.

[belg]

thailand, not a hub of rich people giving away their fortune to help others

so far is clear

[noitom]

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My question is, do those mega rich people ever give any thing to charity like those good

hearted and benevolent multi billionaires in the west and alike? or do they keep it all for

them selves and families? I never get to hear about any sizable charitable donation made

by any of the Maha Seatii of Thailand, do they?

Thai giving is miniscule and insignificant. They don't follow the concept of doing or funding work for the benefit of mankind.

[jucel]

thailand, not a hub of rich people giving away their fortune to help others

so far is clear

thailand, not a hub of rich Chinese people giving away their fortune to help others

so far is clear. I actually find that the lower echelon of people here are more hospitable/charitable.

[bangrak]

Of course such lists do not take hidden assets in consideration, for the very good reason that those are... hidden. For the Shins, I wonder whether were taken into account the assets in Burma (like minerals and precious stones mining, forest concessions, land concessions and real estate), in China (like investments in mining, industrial, trading, and real estate), in Hong-Kong (funds management and real estate), in Singapore (large 'participations' in some of the biggest groups), in Montenegro (real estate, and 'dark stuff'), in several African countries (mining, precious stones, import/export, press, lottery), not to forget all the cover-up 'trusts' in 'tax paradises' managing their hidden assets, just to name one from the long list: 'Amply Rich', and two of the many locations: Caïman islands, Virgin islands... This can, and IMO, should all be toroughly investigated, by international specialized investigators, as so much of their wealth was/is 'ill acquired', diverted, stolen from the Thai people! I know it's just a wild guess of mine, but all that hidden wealth would easily put the Shins within the top three.

[bangrak]

The Shinawatras are the Gates in reverse. Instead of giving away half their fortune, they get their cronies in government to give them back what was confiscated. Can't wait till their monies are frozen again and given back to the people.

How many times do you need to be told before it sinks in? The Supreme Court made the ruling on the return of $1 Billion US back in 2010, not the PTP.

One of these horribly biased Courts so vilified by you did that, fab4, unbelievable isn'it? And it was your beloved PT 'government' which for once gave a follow-up to a ruling, it wasn't because it was to return Thaksin a Billion USD, it was a question of principle of course, no matter they could have temporarily used that available pile of cash to reduce the suffering of the farmers waiting for their money, isn't it? But nobody's perfect, hmm?

[thaicookingchef]

If i had a daughter it would be a great list to find her a husband !

[gemini81]

If i had a daughter it would be a great list to find her a husband !

Maybe you can get added on the list too if you knock up one of these Chinese guys' daughters!

[gemini81]

The Shinawatras are the Gates in reverse. Instead of giving away half their fortune, they get their cronies in government to give them back what was confiscated. Can't wait till their monies are frozen again and given back to the people.

How many times do you need to be told before it sinks in? The Supreme Court made the ruling on the return of $1 Billion US back in 2010, not the PTP.

Well that turns a sinner into a saint.

[Bpuumike]

Does anyone know if any of them are self-made, i.e. from rags to riches through hard graft ?

Oh, a lot of hard 'graft' involved I'm sure.

[Mudcrab]

...and the list of endowments to charities ? Won't find any Bill gates or Chuck feeney style philanthropy with this lot

Oh I don't know. Thaksin donated many millions to the red shirt charity army. Maybe that flow of cash might have tightened up a little lately?

[UbonRatch]

Looks like a whole lot of Chinese people there.....

Swindler's List.

Classic!

[iancnx]

...and the list of endowments to charities ? Won't find any Bill gates or Chuck feeney style philanthropy with this lot

How do you know that? A rhetorical question, of course, you don't know.

Hear hear..... If you have the misfortune to read prbkk posts on a regular basis you will understand he has more hot gas than a right old geyser, actually, I have been too harsh, he is just a thoroughly mistaken chap.

[piersbeckett]

Is the true wealth of the Shins really known or do they have a ' little something ' well hidden ?

Yes, being in politics for so long; that's Thai politics,(incidentally Thaksin started out, I believe, as a policeman in Chiang Mai which might well be a 'rags to riches' story & if so, would hold, in itself, great appeal to Thais especially those still in rags) it would be suprising, to me anyway, that all the Shins' assets were declared anywhere but in their own volts & I just sense that being top of the rich list might not appeal to them.

[bangrak]

Nothing 'racist' or 'xenophobic' about it, just facts, look at who's in power in Thailand, think politics, banks, industry, construction, agriculture, food, commerce, ..., who's leading it, who's controlling it? (Thai-)CHINESE families! NOT that real, true Thais coundn't do it by themselves, there are reasons and factors too long, and too polemic, to be explained here...

It's not from yesterday, Siamese History tells us that H.M. King Rama III had fought a long and hard campaign to reduce and canalize that Chinese domination, but, when He died, one of the first things His Successor did was to appoint a ...Chinese as PM, the man didn't even have a Thai name at the time, so that was taken care of with no delay. Less than a century ago, there were also the anti-Chinese measures taken by Pibul Songkram, which f.i. lead to all Chinese rushing to change their official name in a Thai one, in the rush mistakes were made, which still survive today, like when the members of the Ko Shun family picked the name of one of their Chiang Mai silk businesses, calling themselves ShinawatRA, instead of Shinawat... But most Thais know little about their History, and are discouraged to learn about it, imagine they would start to discover the truth that has been intentionally kept hidden to them for so long, can't let them know all that, can we...

As for how to 'deal' with that 'imbedded' Chinese's power, the only SE Asian country I know which 'solved the main problems' is Indonesia. Oh, it was creative, radical, ...and violent, as hundreds of Chinese lost their life in the popular uprise against them, many thousands fled, leaving everything behind. But look where Indonesia stands today? Many Chinese stayed, some returned, new arrived, but the Chinese community's dominant, monopolistic, position had been broken, and forever I hope for the Indons.

I sometimes dream about the same end-result here, with real, true, Thais leading in the Kingdom of Thailand, and my dream ends in the land of milk and honey, the land of smile, that Thailand would have remained, when it would not have been insidiously COLONISED, by the Chinese... When the Thais truly want to get rid of the corruption system, IMO, they will need to have a, very, 'close look' at how the (Thai-)Chinese are running their country anyway...

[stoneyboy]

Is the true wealth of the Shins really known or do they have a ' little something ' well hidden ?

Yes, being in politics for so long; that's Thai politics,(incidentally Thaksin started out, I believe, as a policeman in Chiang Mai which might well be a 'rags to riches' story & if so, would hold, in itself, great appeal to Thais especially those still in rags) it would be suprising, to me anyway, that all the Shins' assets were declared anywhere but in their own volts & I just sense that being top of the rich list might not appeal to them.

That would be Vaults,shocking you should write volts.

[EyesWideOpen]

Is the true wealth of the Shins really known or do they have a ' little something ' well hidden ?

Yes, being in politics for so long; that's Thai politics,(incidentally Thaksin started out, I believe, as a policeman in Chiang Mai which might well be a 'rags to riches' story & if so, would hold, in itself, great appeal to Thais especially those still in rags) it would be suprising, to me anyway, that all the Shins' assets were declared anywhere but in their own volts & I just sense that being top of the rich list might not appeal to them.

His family was already rich through the practice of tax farming. The government could not be bothered with squeezing money from peasants, so they sold the tax rights to Seng Sae Khu ( Thaksin's great grandfather) at a discount. Then he would go out and squeeze the tax money from the peasants at the full amount. The rags to riches story of Thaksin as a humble policeman is total complete crap, made up to sound sweet to the ears of the red buffaloes......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatra

"Seng Sae Khu had made his fortune through tax farming. Chiang Sae Khu/Shinawatra later founded Shinawatra Silks and then by moving into finance, construction and property development."

The Chinese came into Thailand, and went through this country like a hot knife through butter.

Whether they enriched the country through business acumen, or basically took all the wealth

of the country for themselves leaving Thais in bamboo huts in Isan is up to debate. But

their strangle hold on the wealth of Thailand is not up to debate....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_Chinese

"In Thailand it is said that 50 ethnic Chinese families controlled most of the country’s business sectors or 81 to 90 percent of the overall market capitalization of the Thai economy.

[bangrak]

Is the true wealth of the Shins really known or do they have a ' little something ' well hidden ?

Yes, being in politics for so long; that's Thai politics,(incidentally Thaksin started out, I believe, as a policeman in Chiang Mai which might well be a 'rags to riches' story & if so, would hold, in itself, great appeal to Thais especially those still in rags) it would be suprising, to me anyway, that all the Shins' assets were declared anywhere but in their own volts & I just sense that being top of the rich list might not appeal to them.

Sorry, but are you ill-informed, a newcomer, just joking, what is it? The Shinawatra family is, for generations already, (one of?) the most wealthy and powerfull family(ies) of Chiang Mai, and the North! Being sent(!) to the Academy was one of the many steps in the shrewd profiling strategy lined out patiently and relentlessly by his father, uncles and some cousins, (MPs, Generals, dep. army chief, police chief, etc.) aimed at bringing their son and relative 'golden boy' Thaksin to the summit of power and wealth in Thailand, what should have lead to the establishment of a Shinawatra dynasty in control of the whole country. So, your 'policeman' and 'rags to riches' story, how 'appealing' it might be to you and red propagandists, is, erm, well, complete bull, sorry.

[chainarong]

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...and the list of endowments to charities ? Won't find any Bill gates or Chuck feeney style philanthropy with this lot

How do you know that? A rhetorical question, of course, you don't know.

It was noted a few months back by Warren Buffet that Chinese and Thai tycoons are not partial in departing with their money,

[bangrak]

Is the true wealth of the Shins really known or do they have a ' little something ' well hidden ?

Yes, being in politics for so long; that's Thai politics,(incidentally Thaksin started out, I believe, as a policeman in Chiang Mai which might well be a 'rags to riches' story & if so, would hold, in itself, great appeal to Thais especially those still in rags) it would be suprising, to me anyway, that all the Shins' assets were declared anywhere but in their own volts & I just sense that being top of the rich list might not appeal to them.

His family was already rich through the practice of tax farming. The government could not be bothered with squeezing money from peasants, so they sold the tax rights to Seng Sae Khu ( Thaksin's great grandfather) at a discount. Then he would go out and squeeze the tax money from the peasants at the full amount. The rags to riches story of Thaksin as a humble policeman is total complete crap, made up to sound sweet to the ears of the red buffaloes......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatra

"Seng Sae Khu had made his fortune through tax farming. Chiang Sae Khu/Shinawatra later founded Shinawatra Silks and then by moving into finance, construction and property development."

Yep, and the 'expurged' wikipedia story doesn't tell how that young Akku Chinese (in his mid-thirties) from the Ku Shun family, newly arrived in Chiang Mai, had succeeded previously in gathering the substantial amount of money needed to buy such 'tax farmer' charge... I heard it were 'trading activities' which had made him rich at young age. But I won't write here what most 'trading activities' between North Siam and the Chinese Empire were about at that time. Silk it was no more, nor livestock nor vegetables...

[marcusd]

Does anyone know if any of them are self-made, i.e. from rags to riches through hard graft ?

Rhetorical Question I think. This is THAILAND and they only make money by using (stealing) other peoples ideas

[marcusd]

...and the list of endowments to charities ? Won't find any Bill gates or Chuck feeney style philanthropy with this lot

Was the PDRC registered as a charity?

Yes only this year... lol

[Prbkk]

Years ago, the richest person was a woman who owned all the river boats and taxis. Never hear about her anymore.

[bangrak]

Does anyone know if any of them are self-made, i.e. from rags to riches through hard graft ?

Rhetorical Question I think. This is THAILAND and they only make money by using (stealing) other peoples ideas

Just remember this one: 'At the origin of every fortune, there is, at least, one small dishonesty', not that any youngster would mind being dishonest when it is the way to get rich, that far it has come nowadays... And that, we have to 'thank' to the American 'wild capitalism', and their 'globalization', not the hard working American citizens, but that despicable greedy financial 'elite' they let run their country for their own deep pockets, and poison the whole world with their growth theory!

[Frank James]

"The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed."---attributed to Honore de Balzac, often simplified to "Behind every great fortune is a crime." Mario Puzo, The Godfather

[piersbeckett]

Is the true wealth of the Shins really known or do they have a ' little something ' well hidden ?

Yes, being in politics for so long; that's Thai politics,(incidentally Thaksin started out, I believe, as a policeman in Chiang Mai which might well be a 'rags to riches' story & if so, would hold, in itself, great appeal to Thais especially those still in rags) it would be suprising, to me anyway, that all the Shins' assets were declared anywhere but in their own volts & I just sense that being top of the rich list might not appeal to them.

That would be Vaults,shocking you should write volts.

Sorry, made a splelling error - hope it didn't spoil your dinner

[lineofentry]

2,5,6,8&9 look like a bundle of fun.

[behonset]

They are all ethnic Chinese

The 10 poorest would probably all be 100% Thai

[Pralaad]

It is not easy to run a business in Thailand, it is even harder to run a successful one.

So good on them.

However, this being Thailand and tax system being somewhat "easy" i can not help but wonder, how much are they really worth? The undeclared and hidden money.

I am almost certain there are a few more billionaires hanging around with undeclared hidden money.

Take Lengkee family in Pattaya for example. This family has its own streets, hotels, shops, restaurants, condo's, apartments, villa's, villages, etc.

All built with their own money.

Soi Dianna, 3 road and few more are all LK built buildings