Chirathivat family
The Chirathivat family is a Thai family of Chinese descent. The family was headed by Tiang Chirathivat, who migrated to Siam from Hainan and settled in Bangkok in 1927. Tiang's original Chinese surname was Cheng. He had 26 children with three wives that resulted in roughly 220 descendants today. Fifty-one are currently involved in the business. His descendants jointly own and manage the Central Group, and are ranked third on Forbes' list of Thailand's fifty richest. The Central Group owns more than 60 department stores and shopping malls. It also operates hotels and restaurants, with a total of 5,000 outlets. The Chirathivat family bought the upscale Italian department store chain, La Rinascente, for a reputed US$291 million. The purchase was announced in May 2011 by Tos Chirathivat, a Central Group executive.
