Former actress Suchada Zhang Thaensap is attracting an even hotter spotlight in her new role as a first-time MP from the ruling Bhumjaithai Party. She faces mounting scrutiny after opposition lawmakers launched an investigation into her husband’s substantial wealth.
Her asset declaration to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) totalled 1.97 billion baht, of which 1.84 billion baht was attributed to her husband, Taiyang Zhang.
Opposition scrutiny
During a parliamentary session in early October, opposition People’s Party MP Rangsiman Rome alleged that the husband of an unnamed Bhumjaithai MP from Chaiyaphum was linked to an international scam network.
Suchada – the only female MP from Chaiyaphum – angrily denied the claim, demanded evidence, and threatened to sue for defamation.
The argument blew up as Rangsiman questioned Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaichanok Chidchob over his claim to have been offered a 40-million-baht bribe to ignore online scam networks.
Rangsiman invited Suchada and her husband to clarify their fund flows before the House committee on legal affairs, justice, and human rights, which he chairs. Suchada turned down the invitation, saying it clashed with her duties on another House committee. She also denied any wrongdoing, stating: “I will explain with all the information soon.”
On October 2, Suchada filed a police complaint accusing Rangsiman of defamation. She insisted her husband was innocent, declaring he had no ties to scam networks, despite reports that some of his former associates have been convicted over the collapse of crypto companies.
Prime Minister and Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul quickly distanced his administration from the allegations, saying they were a private matter. According to Suchada, he also stated she has no reason to fear if she has done nothing wrong.
Chaichanok, who also serves as Bhumjaithai secretary general, said the allegations were groundless in the absence of concrete evidence.
Massive loan
The majority of Zhang’s declared assets comprises a 1.44-billion-baht loan made to a Singapore-based cryptocurrency hedge fund known as Three Arrows Capital. Three Arrows went bankrupt in 2022 and still owes Zhang 1.34 billion baht, according to Suchada’s asset declaration.
The firm collapsed after a British Virgin Islands court ordered its liquidation following losses of over US$4.2 billion and creditor claims of $3.5 billion.
Opposition politicians also linked her husband to Shuffle.com, an online gambling website based in the Caribbean country of Curaçao. While gambling is illegal in Thailand, Bhumjaithai’s Justice Minister Rutthaphon Naowarat said the website was outside the jurisdiction of Thai law.
Zhang graduated in software engineering from the Australian National University and co-founded Ren Protocol, an open-source platform for moving digital assets between different blockchains.
In 2021, he sold his stake in the business to Alameda Research, a company led by crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried. Ren Protocol was absorbed into the ecosystem of Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The ecosystem collapsed just one year later, leading to Bankman-Fried’s high-profile arrest, conviction and imprisonment for fraud and money laundering.
Former actress
Suchada was born on December 23, 1992, into a political family in Chaiyaphum. Her father, Samrit Thaensap, is a veteran MP from the northeastern province. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in finance from Thammasat University’s Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology.
Suchada pursued an acting career during her university years, with roles in a handful of TV dramas.
In 2018, she switched to politics at the age of 26, joining the Democrat Party’s New Dems group of young politicians. She contested as a party-list candidate in the 2019 election but failed to win a seat.
She left the Democrats a year later to join the ruling Palang Pracharath Party, where she was appointed assistant spokesperson for Suriya Jungrungruangkit, then industry minister under General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government.
Suchada jumped ship to Bhumjaithai in 2021, contesting for a seat in her home province two years later but again falling short. At that time, she served as a spokesperson for the party’s Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Minister Supamas Isarabhakdi.
The period of her life currently under scrutiny also coincides with her appointment as spokesperson and secretary to DES Minister Chaichanok last year.
Suchada made her parliamentary debut earlier this year after finally winning a seat in her home province in February’s election.
