Narong Chokwatana, a former senior executive of the consumer goods giant Sahapat Group, died of Covid-19 on Friday. He was 78.
He was the fourth of eight children of Thiam Chokwatana, who founded the Saha Group in 1942. Its SET-listed flagship, Saha Pathanapibul Plc, reported 32.4 billion baht in revenue and 1.7 billion in net profit last year.
Born on Dec 22, 1943, Narong finished high school at Assumption College in Bang Rak district and received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Chulalongkorn University in 1968. He also graduated from the National Defence College (NDC) in 1991.
He received an honorary doctorate in management from Dhurakij Pundit University in 1998 and was awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering management by Ramkhamhaeng University in 2007.
Narong held various positions in the Saha Group, including serving as an executive of Bangkok Athletic Co, which produces sports shoes under the Pan brand. He held a US patent, along with his two Thai co-inventors, granted in 1994 for an energy-return system for an athletic shoe.
Outside the business arena, Narong served as an independent academic. He worked for the NDC Alumni Think Tank Foundation and served as an adviser on financial affairs at Silpakorn University, among several other roles.