A further instance of the state’s policy to undermine foreign influence in the economy was the establishment, in mid-1939, of the Thai Niyom Company. The company, whose shareholders included such individuals as Yuwachon leader Prayun Phamonmontri, Wilat Osatl head of the Publicity Department and the newly created Thai Marine Navigation Company, Chin Phinthanon, Director-General of the Crown Property Division of the Finance Ministry, and the SinoThai businessman Chulin Lamsam,66 was, in fact, the "cornerstone" of the government's "Thai ification" programme.