The three richest Thais among the world's 2,640 billionaires on the list are Dhanin Chearavanont (centre) of the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP), Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi (left) of the TCC Group, and Sarath Ratanavadi (right) of Gulf Energy Development.
BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): Twenty-eight wealthy Thais have made it to this year’s Forbes list of world billionaires in US dollar terms.
The three richest Thais among the world's 2,640 billionaires on the list are Dhanin Chearavanont of the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP), Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi of the TCC Group, and Sarath Ratanavadi of Gulf Energy Development.
Dhanin, senior chairman of Thailand's largest food and agriculture conglomerate CP Group, was ranked by Forbes as the world’s 116th richest person with a net worth of US$14.9 billion (508 billion baht) in 2023.
He was followed by alcohol and real estate tycoon Charoen, who ranked 118th with estimated assets of $14.8 billion (505 billion baht), and energy tycoon Sarath at 141st with $12.3 billion (420 billion baht) in estimated assets.
In addition to Dhanin, other members of the Chearavanont family also made the list.
Among other super-wealthy Thais on the list are Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, founder of Bangkok Airways and medical service group BDMS; Thailand's coffee king Prayudh Mahagitsiri; and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra whose main source of wealth was finance and investments, according to Forbes, which estimated Thaksin’s assets at $2.1 billion (72 billion baht).
Bernard Arnault, head of France’s luxury goods giant LVMH, has taken over from American multi-billionaire Elon Musk as the world’s wealthiest man, with $211 billion (7.2 trillion baht) in total assets compared to Musk’s $180 billion (6.2 trillion baht).
Jeff Bezos of US e-commerce giant Amazon came third with assets of $114 billion (3.9 trillion baht).
Forbes reported that nearly half of all billionaires were poorer than they were a year ago, which it blamed on the falling value of stocks and rising interest rates.
“Globally, we counted 2,640 ten-figure fortunes, down from 2,668 last year. Altogether, the planet’s billionaires are now worth $12.2 trillion, down $500 billion from $12.7 trillion in March 2022,” Forbes said.
The US-based magazine also noted that with LVMH’s Arnault taking the top spot, it was for the first time a citizen of France was leading the ranking.
The United States still boasts the most billionaires, with 735 people worth a collective $4.5 trillion. China (including Hong Kong and Macau) remains second, with 562 billionaires worth $2 trillion, followed by India, with 169 billionaires worth $675 billion.
