As soon as Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha announced on the evening of April 17, 2020, that he would send invitation letters to the top 20 Thai billionaires to discuss how they could support efforts to address the COVID-19 crisis, the hashtag #รัฐบาลขอทาน (Government Begging) quickly became the number one trend on Twitter in Thailand. The list of the 20 billionaires to be invited was primarily referenced from Forbes' latest ranking of Thai billionaires for 2020, which included former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at number 16.

We invite you to look back at the assistance provided by Thai billionaire families since March 2020, exploring what each billionaire has done and which families have contributed to the COVID-19 crisis, based on publicly available information.

It was found that most Thai billionaire families have donated an average of 20-50 million baht, with only the Charoen Pokphand family contributing a total of 377 million baht for the establishment of a mask production factory. Most donations have been directed towards medical equipment and have been concentrated in large hospitals in Bangkok.

However, the overall donations, when compared to the value of their assets, remain quite low. In contrast to the giving and donations of billionaires globally, such as Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, who donated approximately 3.2 billion baht to food banks in the U.S. during the crisis, Bill Gates and his wife who donated 8.1 billion baht to support COVID-19 drug research, or Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, who contributed to vaccine development and other aid efforts.

Additionally, the response to the crisis has been relatively slow due to the donation and giving systems in place, while global billionaires operate in a more systematic manner through foundations, allowing them to respond to emerging issues promptly.

When assessing the structure of giving and donations abroad, it is evident that they can act quickly and utilize large amounts of donated funds, partly due to the framework and system of giving through foundations, enabling rapid assessment of crisis situations, knowing what to do, how to use funds, and collaborating with partners. In contrast, the giving model in Thailand is still based on personal decisions and relationships.

CP Group, Charoen Pokphand Family not only allocated over 100 million baht to establish a mask production factory for medical personnel and the public but also donated 2,000 full-body protective suits and 40,000 face shields to Chulalongkorn Hospital and other hospitals in need.

CPF supported a budget of 200 million baht to send food to 88 state hospitals across the country daily, continuing to families of doctors and nurses. CP All, the operator of 7-Eleven, donated 77 million baht to purchase medical equipment for 77 hospitals and provided 10,000 PPE suits to 5 hospitals, while Makro announced it would buy fruits to help farmers affected by COVID-19.

True Group installed 5G networks for hospitals and provided Hero SIM cards to medical personnel. They also collaborated with Chulalongkorn University's engineering faculty and startups HG Robotics and Obodroid to install smart transport robots to assist medical teams in various hospitals, such as Chulalongkorn Hospital, Ramathibodi Hospital, and Vachira Phuket Field Hospital.

TCP Group, Red Bull, Uthaitaya Family donated an automatic testing machine for detecting the coronavirus worth 15 million baht to Chulalongkorn Hospital, provided 120,000 alternative fabric masks to medical personnel at Chulalongkorn Hospital and other hospitals nationwide, and distributed them to the general public.

Thai Beverage Public Company Limited, Sirivadhanabhakdi Family donated cleaning products made from alcohol to the Thai Red Cross and operational centers in 76 provinces nationwide. Meanwhile, Oishi Group, part of Thai Beverage, collaborated with the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Thai Chamber of Commerce Council to donate money, food, and drinks totaling 24 million baht through the Thai Red Cross to 7 hospitals (Chulalongkorn Hospital, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, Siriraj Hospital, Ramathibodi Hospital, Thammasat University Hospital, Rajavithi Hospital, and Bamrasnaradura Institute).

Central Group, Chirathivat Family donated money and medical equipment worth 30 million baht to 20 hospitals nationwide.

Central Food Retail Group provided medical equipment and food to Siriraj Hospital, while Central employees produced 60,000 face shields for delivery to over 40 hospitals and healthcare facilities nationwide. Centara Grand at CentralWorld hotel offered free accommodation for executives and medical professors caring for general patients at Police Hospital.

Gulf Energy Development Public Company Limited, Rattanavadi Family donated 34 million baht to 5 hospitals (20 million baht to Ramathibodi Hospital, 5 million baht to Police Hospital, 4 million baht to Rajavithi Hospital, 4 million baht to Bamrasnaradura Institute, and 1 million baht to the Chest Disease Institute).

Additionally, they donated 20 million baht to the Faculty of Medicine at Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, to purchase ECMO machines and ventilators for COVID-19 patients, and provided 2,000 boxed meals daily to 27 communities in Bangkok.

King Power, Srivaddhanaprabha Family through the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation donated a total of 45 million baht to 3 medical agencies (5 million baht to the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, 20 million baht to Bamrasnaradura Institute, and 20 million baht to Ramathibodi Hospital).

TOA Paint (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Tangkaravakoon Family donated 1 million baht to support the purchase of medical equipment for Hua Chiew Hospital, a private hospital under the Poh Teck Tung Foundation, and provided 5,000 sets of handwashing foam and alcohol hand gel branded Teepol to the Ministry of Public Health to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Osotspa Public Company Limited, Osathanugrah Family through the Osotspa Project, provided support and assistance to various sectors in the fight against the virus outbreak. The company delivered beverages and alcohol spray products worth over 23 million baht, donated hand sanitizing spray and Osotspa beverages worth 100,000 baht to Bamrasnaradura Institute, and provided beverages worth 180,000 baht to Chulalongkorn Hospital, Ramathibodi Hospital, and Rajavithi Hospital.

Thai Life Insurance Public Company Limited, Chaiyawan Family through CEO Chai Chaiyawan, provided group life insurance policies under the "White Shirt Warriors Against COVID-19" project to protect doctors and nurses caring for COVID-19 patients in case of death from COVID-19, with an insurance coverage of 5 million baht per person, at no management cost, totaling over 1.4 trillion baht for medical personnel.

Muang Thai Capital Public Company Limited, Phet Amphaip Family through Chuchart Phet Amphaip donated 60 million baht to 7 hospitals for the purchase of medical equipment (Chulalongkorn Hospital, Siriraj Hospital, Thammasat University Hospital, Ramathibodi Hospital, Bamrasnaradura Institute, Rajavithi Hospital, and Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital).

B.Grimm Power Public Company Limited in the B.Grimm Group of Harald Link donated 6.5 million baht to support life insurance for all personnel at Ramathibodi Hospital, including doctors, nurses, and other staff members.

Rattanarak Family at Krungsri Bank donated 1 million baht to support the "Channel 7 United Against COVID-19" fund, with all funds directed towards procuring medical equipment and assisting patients at 10 state hospitals nationwide caring for COVID-19 patients.

Khun Kiri Kanjanapas and BTS Group donated 60 million baht to support the "White Shirt Warriors Against COVID-19" project, providing life insurance for medical personnel nationwide.

Boonsiri Brewery Company Limited, Phiroj Phakdee Family donated 50 million baht to 26 hospitals nationwide, along with food and drinking water to care for medical personnel.

Shinawatra Family donated PPE suits and masks to Ramathibodi Hospital, Siriraj Hospital, and Chulalongkorn Hospital.

Pure Energy Company Limited, Somphote Ahunai collaborated with partners to support funding for 50,000 medical insurance policies.

MK Restaurant Group, Rit Thirakomen delivered over 7,400 boxed meals to 34 state hospitals nationwide daily, along with a donation of 10 million baht to support the development of rapid COVID-19 screening kits through Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine.

The Mall Group, Amphon Family donated money, medical equipment, and food totaling 20 million baht to 5 major hospitals (Siriraj Hospital, Ramathibodi Hospital, Chulalongkorn Hospital, Rajavithi Hospital, and Bamrasnaradura Institute).

In addition to the top 20, there are many other billionaire families that have donated and provided assistance during this crisis, such as Bangkok Bank, Sophonpanich Family donating 40 million baht to 4 hospitals (Ramathibodi Hospital, Thammasat University Hospital, Chulalongkorn Hospital, and the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University and Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, 10 million baht each), Betagro Group, Taepaisitpong Family donating 5 million baht for medical equipment and 5,000 bottles of alcohol gel to 5 hospitals, and providing 30,000 kilograms of frozen food to 22 hospitals nationwide. Meanwhile, Chansiri Family through Thai Union Group donated 80,000 cans of food worth 1 million baht to 20,000 households affected by COVID-19 in Bangkok and provided Select and Fisho brand products worth 1 million baht to medical personnel.

This is just a portion of the giving and donations, and it will be interesting to see how the response from Thai billionaires and prominent families evolves after the Prime Minister's invitation letter is sent out next week.

SOURCE: www.thaipublica.org