Who is Boon Vanasin? - Thailand-based healthcare business tycoon wanted in $350 million scam

Authorities are seizing the assets of Boon Vanasin, a Thailand-based doctor-turned-businessman, who fled the country after allegedly receiving more than 12 billion baht ($350 million) through fake medical projects from several investors.

The charges follow multiple fraud and money laundering complaints since December 2023. Vanasin allegedly told investors that they were investing in five medical projects in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, none of which existed, reported Bloomberg.

Who is Boon Vanasin?

Boon Vanasin is the 86-year-old founder of Thonburi Healthcare Group. He was born into a family engaged in selling rice and other agricultural goods. Vanasin finished his bachelor's degree in medicine at Mahidol University. He has a specialisation in gastrointestinal medicine from Johns Hopkins University, US, according to a local Thai media, ThaiPBS report.

He returned to Thailand, started teaching at Mahidol University, and was later appointed as Director.

He established Thonburi Hospital Co Ltd with his colleagues in August 1976 to serve Bangkok residents living on the west side of the Chao Phraya River. At that time, Siriraj Hospital was the only major medical facility in the area.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Vanasin promised Thonburi Hospital would receive 20 million doses of the Pfizer mRNA vaccine, pushing the stocks up by 13%. However, people did not receive the vaccines. In 2022, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined Vanasin 2.3 million baht over misleading vaccine claims. The SEC also barred him from serving as a director or executive in a public company for 42 months.

Prior to this, he was also associated with the Alpine Golf Course scandal, a controversial land deal issue that led to the arrest of former Pheu Thai Party leader Yongyuth Wichaidit in 2020.

Vanasin served as chief adviser of Wichaidit from 2011 to 2012 when he was deputy prime minister.

In the current case, Vansin's wife, Charuvarn Vanasin, and daughter, Nalin Vanasin, who remain in court detention, have denied the allegations of fraud and money laundering. According to them, the signatures on the fake document projects are forged, Bloomberg reported. 

The allegations against Vanasin are being probed by the Department of Special Investigation in Thailand. The authorities have arrested 13 people so far including Vanasin's wife and daughter. In September, Vanasin fled Thailand, initially to Hong Kong and then to China.