Chalermchai Charuvastr ( th, เฉลิมชัย จารุวัสตร์, 1916–2009) was a Thai army general, hotelier and business executive, known for pioneering the Thai tourism industry and heading the

Siam Piwat Siam Piwat is a Bangkok-based retail and development company. The company is best known for managing Siam Center, Siam Discovery, Siam Paragon, and Iconsiam shopping malls in Bangkok, Thailand. History Siam Piwat Company Limited was first establ ...

company, owner of multiple major shopping malls in the

Siam area Siam ( th, สยาม, , ) is a shopping district in the heart of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. It is situated alongside a stretch of Rama I Road in the city's Pathum Wan District, from Pathum Wan Intersection to Chaloem Phao Junction, beyon ...

. Chalermchai was a close aide of

Sarit Thanarat Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat (also spelt ''Dhanarajata''; th, สฤษดิ์ ธนะรัชต์, ; 16 June 1908 – 8 December 1963) was a Thai general who staged a coup in 1957, replacing Plaek Phibunsongkhram as Thailand's prime m ...

, Thailand's strongman dictator prime minister from 1959 to 1963, and he served several government positions under Sarit. Like Sarit, he was a strong supporter of the monarchy. In 1960, he was appointed the first director of the Tourist Organisation of Thailand (now the

Tourism Authority of Thailand The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) ( th, การท่องเที่ยวแห่งประเทศไทย) is an organization of Thailand under the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Its mandate is to promote Thailand's tourism in ...

), and became chairman of The Syndicate of Thai Hotels and Tourists Enterprises, the state-owned company that ran the

Erawan Hotel The Erawan Hotel ( th, โรงแรมเอราวัณ) was a luxury hotel in the Thai capital Bangkok. It was one of the first modern hotels built to accommodate the expansion of international air travel, and was operated by the governm ...

. He also headed the Bangkok Intercontinental Hotels Company, which was established to run the

Siam InterContinental Hotel The Siam InterContinental Hotel was a luxury hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. It stood on Rama I Road, in the neighbourhood now known as Siam in Pathum Wan District, on land leased from Sa Pathum Palace. It opened as part of Pan Am's InterContinental ...

and later became Siam Piwat.

References

Chalermchai Charuvastr Chalermchai Charuvastr ( th, เฉลิมชัย จารุวัสตร์, 1916–2009) was a Thai army general, hotelier and business executive, known for pioneering the Thai tourism industry and heading the Siam Piwat company, owner of ...

Businesspeople in tourism 1916 births 2009 deaths {{Thailand-bio-stub