The Thai public are no strangers to financial scandals. But when police held a press conference on November 23 and announced arrest warrants for Dr Boon Vanasin, 86, the founder and former chairman of Thonburi Healthcare Group (THG), it sent shockwaves.
Boon is absconding, reportedly in China. Police have charged him and eight others on several accounts with damage estimated at 7.5 billion baht.
Boon's former wife, Jaruwan Vanasin, 79, and her daughter, Nalin, 51, for whom arrest warrants were issued, denied all allegations, claiming their signatures were forged. Police also arrested six other suspects allegedly involved in the fraud.
The suspects are accused of misleading people into investing in medical businesses promoted by Boon. Police said those businesses did not exist.
Boon is also alleged to have forged his former daughter-in-law’s signature to secure a loan. He has been charged with committing public fraud, fraudulent borrowing, money laundering and issuing checks that bounced.
Police revealed that between December 2023 and October this year, 247 complaints were lodged against him at the Huai Khwang Police Station by victims who could not cash checks he had issued.
Boon earned the trust of his victims and the public after successfully listing his medical business on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in 2017. He was often in the news, regularly addressing news conferences.
He articulated well the narrative of Thailand becoming an aging society and a global trend opening vast opportunity for healthcare and well-being services and residences for senior clients. Boon’s standing enabled him to convince many investors to back his proposed projects.
His envisioned projects included a cancer centre and a wellness centre in Bangkok, a condominium on the banks of the Chao Phraya River for seniors, hospitals in Laos and Vietnam, and a medical intelligence project in Chonburi province.
Boon had shown a tendency to promise more than he could deliver. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, amid the clamor for vaccines, THG chairman Boon claimed in 2021 that his hospital would import 5 million vaccine doses from Pfizer. But that did not happen.
The Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) in 2022 fined him 2.3 million baht for releasing misinformation that could influence THG’s share price.
Regarding the current fraud allegations, the SEC has informed the public that preliminary information suggests it was his personal matter, unrelated to THG. In a filing to the SET recently, THG revealed that Boon had resigned from his position as director and chairman of the company in August 2022 and currently held no position in the management.
Business failure or outright fraud?
Boon’s past successes are making many wonder if the current situation was a case of business failure or outright fraud.
“I have no idea what happened,” Paiboon Nalinthrangkurn, former chairman of the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organizations, said in response to a question on whether Boon had committed crimes or his projects could not get off the ground.
Assoc Prof Nada Chunsom, director of the Master of Economics Program in Economics at the National Institute of Development Aministration, also said it was not clear yet whether the legal case exposed his crimes or were simply a business failure.
Could Boon’s fall suggest that the supposed business opportunities offered by an aging Thai society and increasing health consciousness among people around the world were not as bright? Paiboon believes those businesses could still succeed if operated by people with expertise
Widespread corruption in private sector
“There has been widespread corruption in the private sector in recent years,” said Mana Nimitmongkol, a secretary-general of Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand (ACT), a private sector network to combat corruption.
Many institutions have engaged in various kinds of irregular activities to take advantage of consumers or public resources, he lamented.
Weak law enforcement is a major problem, he said. He urged the Ant-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) to strictly monitor suspicious financial transactions. “I’m not sure the AMLO seriously carries out its duties,” he said.
He pointed to the strong law enforcement in the United States and Europe where authorities or tax investigators quickly respond to unusual financial transactions, such as someone suddenly buying a luxury home or fancy cars.
Numerous financial scandals involving private companies this year prompted the ACT to launch a campaign on corporate governance in September, he said.
“We have been talking much about good governance and sustainability, but there is slack implementation,” he said, adding concerned organizations should work together to improve corporate governance.
Thais trust high-profile figures without checking their past record and this makes them gullible, said Mana.
