Over a third of Thai retail dynasty’s fortune wiped out by pandemic

The pandemic has brought mighty losses to Thailand’s retail royalty, while an even bigger monopolistic dynasty managed to hold onto most of its obscene wealth this year.

After years trading the top spot among Thailand’s wealthiest families, the Chearavanonts, owners of one of the world’s largest corporate conglomerates, opened a wide lead over the Chirathivat family, which fell 11 places to No. 20 on Bloomberg’s ranking of Asia’s wealthiest families.

The Chearavanonts, who own Thai uber-monopoly CP, came in third place overall again this year in Asia with wealth of US$31.7 billion, down by about $6.2 billion from 2019. But the COVID-19 fallout on real estate and retail left its marks on Central Group’s Chirathivat family, owners of major malls, resorts, supermarkets and more. They fell from No. 9 to No. 20 with $12.9 billion after sustaining losses of…