POWER AND PROFIT
CONCLUSION: THE FAMILY BUSINESS
A. prime rrtifilster, my motto is "vou must be rich and don't stop becoming richer" The rich should not be envied. (Speech, 21
August 2003)
In early 2004, Forbes magazine credited Thaksin with a worth of USSl.4 billion, around 55 billion baht. Slightly tongue-in-cheek, the magazine ranked him sixth on a sub-list of "Royals and Rulers," outpaced by four oil sheiks and the Prince of Liechtenstein.] 0
In 2003, Shin Corporation's net profit was 9.7 billion baht, of which the Shinawatra-Damaphong family's share was 47 percent. ll A newspaper estimated that the family's cash income from the Shin group was around 2.8 billion baht made up of 1.6 billion baht of dividends; 700 million baht from property rentals and other purchases (e.g., car rentals) which the Shin group made from companies directly owned by the family; 230 million baht from land sold to SC Asset; and 280 million baht in interest on loans to the companies (KT, 5 January 2004). 12 The income on several billion baht of other property and investments outside Shin is unknown.
Fig 7.3 Shin stocks performance against SET, 2002—2004