Banthoon Lamsam

Banthoon Lamsam, Nickname; Pận (ปั้น); born January 15, 1953 is a Thai business executive and the successor to the family business Lamsam. He is the son of Bancha Lamsam and M.R. Sam-angwan Lamsam (maiden name Devakula; half-sister of M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula). Lamsam Family is one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Thailand. He is current chairman and chief executive officer of Kasikornbank, the top financial service provider group in Thailand.

Early life

Banthoon Lamsam was born on January 15, 1953, a son of Bancha Lamsam and Lady Sam-angwan Lamsam (maiden name M.R. Sam-angwan Devakula; daughter of HSH Prince Priditheppong Devakula and M.R. Saang Pramoj). He is a grandson of Choti Lamsam who founded Kasikornbank in 1945 as Thai Farmers Bank. Banthoon graduated from Saint Gabriel's College and Srinakharinwirot University Prasarnmit Demonstration School. Bantoon received bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Princeton, USA and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School (HBS).

After 1997 Asian financial crisis (known as วิกฤตต้มยำกุ้ง, literally translated as Tom Yam Kung crisis), he was the first who introduce the term "reengineering" to Thailand banking industry. Lamsam family became a minority shareholder of Kasikornbank as with other family-owned banks in Thailand. Mr. Banthoon Lamsam is an important contributor to the Democratic Party. Bantoon was skeptic towards country economic policies during Pol.Lt.Col Thaksin Shinawatra's term as the prime minister of Thailand, and it was rumored that he had been approached by the Democratic Party for the position of the party leader in 2004.

In 2002, Bantoon became President and CEO of TFB. In 2003, he changed the logo and name of the bank from Thai Farmers Bank (TFB) to the current name KASIKORNBANK (KBank) improvising Chinese characters style into the logo, "K".
Banthoon Lumsum's leisure activity is playing saxophone and canoeing on the river in the evening, at the KBank headquarters, Bangkok and KBank Learning Center, Bangpakong. He is also a staunch feng shui believer.

Education

Source @ Wikipedia