The Osathanugrah family which owns Osotspa, one of Thailand's oldest companies, is the latest Thai billionaire clan to announce it is ready to set aside 100 million baht to fund a new project to help relieve the impact of Covid-19 following a request from Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The Osathanugrah family, which ranked 8th in Thailand's top 50 richest on Forbes List 2020, yesterday issued a statement saying it had accepted the prime minister's invitation and has subsequently set aside funding for a related project.
Earlier, Dr Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, who owns Bangkok Airways and Bangkok Dusit Medical Services, promised to spend 100 million baht digging ponds and artesian wells in Sukhothai province to help people fight drought-related problems. He stated in a letter dated April 23 to Gen Prayut that he was happy to cooperate with government efforts to bring the country's richest into the Covid-19 fight.
Dr Prasert ranks 11th among the wealthiest Thais on the Forbes list.
According to the statement by the Osathanugrah family, the foundation will next map out details of its Covid-19 relief project and keep the public informed on developments, said the foundation.
Previously, the foundation had donated 10 million baht to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital for purchasing medical equipment needed for providing care to Covid-19 patients, the statement read.
What's more, Osotspa Plc, a core business of the Osathanugrah family, has contributed more than 40 million baht for various programmes ranging from Covid-19 prevention and treatment to reliving the impact of the outbreak on members of the public, said the foundation.
Bangkok University, another business of the Osathanugrah family, has provided various forms of financial aid to students and employees to help relieve the effects of the outbreak on them, said the foundation.
Meanwhile, Petch Osathanugrah, Chairman of the Executive Committee and CEO of Osotspa Plc, urged the government to pay special attention to the importance of micro finance as a key mechanism for helping low-income people cope with the impacts of the pandemic.
Gen Prayut, meanwhile, said he has begun receiving responses from the nation's 20 richest people, whom he reached out to so that they could help the country deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
"They all share a willingness to work with the government to help take care of people affected by the outbreak and decrease social disparity," said Gen Prayut.
"Of course the government alone won't be able to take good care of everyone in the country at the same time," he added.
"That's why we now need help from all parties during this crisis."