Lek Viriyaphan ( th, เล็ก วิริยะพันธุ์, sometimes referred to as Khun Lek; 1914 – 17 November 2000) was an eccentric

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

businessman, millionaire and patron of culture responsible for the construction of

Ancient Siam Ancient Siam (also known as Ancient City, th, เมืองโบราณ, Mueang Boran) is a museum park constructed by Lek Viriyaphant and occupying over in the shape of Thailand. Ancient Siam is dubbed as the world's largest outdoor mu ...

Erawan Museum Erawan Museum ( th, พิพิธภัณฑ์ช้างเอราวัณ) is a museum in Samut Prakan Province, Thailand. It is well known for its giant three-headed elephant art display. The three storeys inside the elephant contain ...

and Sanctuary of Truth.

Biography

Lek Viriyaphan was born in 1914 into a Chinese businessman's family in

Sampeng Sampheng ( th, สำเพ็ง, ) is a historic neighbourhood and market in Bangkok's Chinatown, in Samphanthawong District. It was settled during the establishment of Bangkok in 1782 by Teochew Chinese, and eventually grew into the surroundi ...

, Thailand. He was later sent to university in Shanghai,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It was during this period that he got to travel and became interested in arts and cultures. He accumulated professional knowledge and understanding of arts, religions, philosophies and cultures since an early period of his life. Until when his father fell ill, he then came back to Thailand to help with the family business. Later, through work relationships he met his wife and lifelong friend Prapai Viriyaphan, who became a partner and inspiration throughout his business career. His interests in the arts started from reading and collecting antiques when he was still a businessman, the more he understood how precious these antique pieces were, the more he felt a strong sense to preserve them. This inspired him to build the

open-air museum park in Samut Prakhan, Thailand. In 1941, Viriyaphan had bought Thonburi Panich Co, Ltd. The company got the right to distribute and service Mercedes Benz vehicles (both, commercial and passenger) in 1957. In 1942, he established Monton bank, it has merged with Kaset bank resulting today's Krungthai bank in 1966. In 1947, he established Viriya insurance company. In 1961, he established the Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant (TAAP). In 1979 the assembly of Mercedes cars (W123) was started in Samut Prakan Province. He has left his descendants a thriving group of companies that is still developing: besides expansion of a plant in 2017, the construction of the first factory producing batteries for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in Southeast Asia was announced where Mercedes-Benz had invested 100 million Euros.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Viriyaphan, Lek Lek Viriyaphan Lek Viriyaphan 1914 births 2000 deaths

Biography

See also

References

Sources