Former Bangkok Post editor Bandhit Rajavatanadhanin has died at 85 of natural causes, his family said.
Apart from being editor of the Post, he was also the honorary president of the Confederation of Asean Journalists (CAJ). His funeral rites began on Friday and will last until Thursday at Wat Rat Bamrung on Phetkasem 69 Road in Bang Kae district.
Born in tambon Yaicha of Sam Phran district in Nakhon Pathom on June 4, 1938, Bandhit started at the Post on Nov 3, 1963, while he was a fourth-year student at Thammasat University's Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy.
He said he was the youngest of 18 employees of the newspaper, which at that time cost 1.50 baht on the newsstands.
His main focus was economic news but he also covered other fields of news, except for sport. After spending 10 years as a business reporter, he was made an editor of the Business section before rising to editor of the Post itself in 1989. Bandhit was its sixth editor since the Post was founded in 1946.
"Being appointed editor was the proudest moment in my professional life as a journalist," he said in 2016.
He worked for the Post for almost 35 years. Respected and loved by many colleagues, he was seen as a considerate person who relished helping people. He had the relentless spirit of being a journalist which could be a role model for other journalists, his colleagues say.
He served as president of the Thai Journalists Association four times from 1988 to 1992 and the president of CAJ from 1993 to 1994.
Bandhit: Proudest moment