The Lamsam family ( th, ล่ำซำ) is a Thai family of

Chinese descent Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...

. Notable as the founders of

Kasikornbank Kasikornbank ( th, ธนาคารกสิกรไทย, , Teochew: Khai-thài Ngîng-hâng, , stylised in all caps), often stylised as KBank and formerly known as the Thai Farmers Bank is a banking group in Thailand. KBank was establishe ...

, the extended family owns businesses in the banking and insurance industries. The family's current head, Banthoon Lamsam, together with his family, is listed by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' as the 27th richest in Thailand in 2017. The Lamsam family traces its roots to Ung Miao Ngian ( zh, c=伍淼源, of the Ng () clan), a

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

immigrant from

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

who moved to Thailand (then known as Siam) during the reign of King

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร� ...

(Rama V, 1868–1910). He established himself in the timber industry, setting up shop in 1901 and later expanding into rice milling. He married two wives and had six children. His third son, Ung Yuk Long, inherited the business and led the family's most dominant branch. Yuk Long had three wives, with six sons and six daughters. His second wife Thongyu, a daughter of the

Wanglee family The Wanglee family ( th, หวั่งหลี, from zh, 黌利) is a Thai family of Teochew Chinese descent. The family traces its origins to Tan Tsue Huang (, 1841–1920), of the Tan clan (陳, '' Chen'' in Mandarin), who arrived in Siam du ...

, was the mother of the three of his sons— Choti, Chulin and Kasem Lamsam—who would establish Kasikornbank and three insurance companies, Phatra Insurance,

Muang Thai Insurance Mueang ( th, เมือง ''mɯ̄ang'', ), Muang ( lo, ເມືອງ ''mɯ́ang'', ; Tai Nuea: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ''muang''), Mong ( shn, ''mə́ŋ'', ), Meng () or Mường (Vietnamese), were pre-modern semi-independent city-states or principa ...

and

Muang Thai Life Assurance Muang Thai Life Assurance PCL. ( th, บริษัท เมืองไทยประกันชีวิต จำกัด (มหาชน)) is a Thai life insurance company based in Bangkok. The company’s headquarters is at street no. ...

. The name ''Lamsam'' is an alias invented by Ung Miao Ngian, based on an encounter he had back in China. While journeying alone, he encountered a group of bandits, whose leader asked, "You in the blue shirt, are you the third son of the Ungs?" To which he answered yes. The leader then told the bandits, "''Làm sâm'' here is known to be a charitable person. Let him pass safely." Ung adopted the name the bandit called him—''làm'' () means 'blue', the colour he was wearing, and ''sâm'' might have referred to 'shirt' or 'three', for him being the third son—as a token of good fortune, and members of the family from the third generation have used it as their Thai surname. The word ''lamsam'' has since entered Thai colloquial usage, meaning 'rich'.

People

People with the surname Lamsam include: * Banthoon Lamsam (born 1953), Thai business executive, grandson of Choti *

Banyong Lamsam Banyong Lamsam (born 1933) is a senior banker in Thailand. He is the former Chairman of Kasikornbank PLC (formerly known as Thai Farmers Bank), director of Com-Link Company Limited, director of Bangkok Inter-Continental Hotels and director of I ...

(born 1933), Thai senior banker, son of Choti *

Choti Lamsam Choti Lamsam (; th, โชติ ล่ำซำ; ) was a Thai businessman who founded the Kasikornbank or otherwise known as the Thai Farmers Bank in 1945 with registered capital of Baht 5 Million. The bank has been listed on the Stock Exchange of ...

(1879–1948), founder of Kasikornbank, grandson of Ung Miao Ngian *

Nualphan Lamsam Nualphan Lamsam (; ; born 21 March 1966), nicknamed Madame Pang, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Muang Thai Life Assurance, as well as the general manager of the Thailand national football team and the chairwoman of Port F.C. ...

(born 1966), President and CEO of Muang Thai Insurance, granddaughter of Chulin *

Robyn Lamsam Robyn Claire Lamsam ( Chinese: 伍劭斌; born 4 August 1977) is a swimmer who represented Hong Kong at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Lamsam started swimming when she was seven years old at the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, and would go on to break 21 ...

(born 1977), Hong Kong swimmer *

Roy Lamsam John Patrick Roy Lamsam (born 15 May 1980) is a Hong Kong cricketer who has played 8 One Day Internationals and four ICC Trophy matches between 1997 and 2008. He is a specialist batsman who has batted between five and eight in the batting order ...

(born 1980), Hong Kong cricketer *

Thita Lamsam Thita Lamsam (born 17 January 2000) is a Thai figure skater. She is a four-time Thai national champion (2014, 2016, 2018, and 2019) and a 2016 FBMA Trophy bronze medalist. She competed in the final segment of two ISU Championships – the 2016 ...

(born 2000), Thai figure skater

References

{{surname, Lamsam Thai Chinese families Business families of Thailand