[BANGKOK] The Chearavanont brothers of Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand (CP) group had a memorable year in 2023 as they completed a merger between CP’s telecoms unit True and Norway’s Telenor-owned Total Access Communications (DTAC).

That mega-deal played some part in beefing up their combined wealth to a record US$34 billion – an amount nearly 7 per cent of Thailand’s gross domestic product – and placing them firmly at the top of Forbes’ annual list of the richest people in Thailand.

The four Chearavanont brothers – Dhanin, Sumet, Jaran and the family of their late sibling, Montri – saw their combined wealth grow by US$7.5 billion from the 2022 ranking.