The Kanjanapas family ( th, กาญจนพาสน์) is a Thai business family of Teochew Chinese origin, belonging to the

Huang Huang or Hwang may refer to: Location * Huang County, former county in Shandong, China, current Longkou City * Yellow River, or Huang River, in China * Huangshan, mountain range in Anhui, China * Huang (state), state in ancient China. * Hwang Riv ...

Wong Wong may refer to: Name * Wong (surname), a Chinese surname Places * Wong Chuk Hang, an area to the east of Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island * Wong Chuk Hang Estate, a public housing estate in Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong * Wong Chuk Hang Road, a majo ...

( 黃) clan. It owns businesses in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and Thailand, including Stelux Holdings,

Bangkok Land Bangkok Land Public Company Limited () is a real estate company in Thailand. It is best known as the developer of Muang Thong Thani, a large residential development in Bangkok's northern suburb city of Pak Kret in Nonthaburi Province. Bangkok ...

and

BTS Group Holdings BTS Group Holdings Public Company Limited (BTSG), formerly known as Tanayong Public Company Limited, is a public company in Thailand. It is the majority share holder of Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL (BTSC), the operator of the BTS Skytrain and ...

. The family was founded by Mongkol Kanjanapas ( th, มงคล กาญจนพาสน์) or Wong Chue Meng ( zh, 黃子明; 1919–2003), who was born in Bangkok to an immigrant Chinese father. He did business in Thailand, and was a shareholder in

Siam City Bank Siam City Bank ( th, ธนาคารนครหลวงไทย, ) was a Thai bank that operated from 1941 to 2010. The bank was founded by the Nirandorn family, but changed hands many times, and by the 1990s its largest shareholders were the ...

, before moving to Hong Kong. There, in 1963, he founded Stelux Holdings, whose business grew from producing

Seiko , commonly known as Seiko ( , ), is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, semiconductors, jewelry, and optical products. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced one of the first quartz watches and the ...

watches. Mongkol had eleven children, including sons Anant (1941–2020) and Keeree (born 1950). Most of the family settled in Hong Kong under the name Wong, though Anant and Keeree moved back to Thailand during the 1980s–1990s for business opportunities. Anant headed real estate developer Bangkok Land, while Keeree led Tanayong (later known as BTS Group Holdings, BTSG), the developer of Bangkok's first mass transit system, the

BTS Skytrain The Bangkok Mass Transit System, commonly known as the BTS Skytrain ( th, รถไฟฟ้าบีทีเอส '' TS'), is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok, Thailand. It is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL (BTSC), a ...

. Both companies suffered heavy losses from the

1997 Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

, but the family managed to retain the businesses. Today, Anant's sons Paul and Peter serve as vice chairs in Bangkok Land, while Keeree's son Kavin took over as CEO of BTSG in 2015.

Notable members

Keeree Kanjanapas Keeree Kanjanapas (Thai: คีรี กาญจนพาสน์; ; English: Wong Chong Shan) was born in Bangkok, Thailand in 1950. His family roots are in Chaozhou (Guangdong Province). He is a Thai entrepreneur with extensive business inter ...

Anant Kanjanapas Anant Kanjanapas ( th, อนันต์ กาญจนพาสน์, 2 June 1941 – 13 April 2020) was a Sino-Thai business executive, best known as CEO and chairman of Bangkok Land, developer of the Muang Thong Thani project in the northern ...

References

* * * * * {{cite web , title=2013 Thailand's 50 richest net worth: Anant Kanjanapas , url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/anant-kanjanapas , work=Forbes , access-date=15 October 2019 , language=en Business families of Thailand Thai Chinese families