120 | theceomagazine.com
Rail
rescue
TO
THE
Against great odds, the BTS Group Holdings built
Bangkok’s first Skytrain – transforming a congested
capital into a clean and organised metropolis.WORDS HOLLY JOHNSON • IMAGES BTS GROUP HOLDINGSW
hen it comes to business acumen in the
Kanjanapas family, it would appear the apple
doesn’t fall far from the tree. BTS Group
Holdings CEO Kavin Kanjanapas is the eldest
son of Keeree Kanjanapas, BTS Chairman and
the founder and owner of its major subsidiary
Bangkok Mass Transit System. Together, the pair has paved the way for
a brighter transport future in Thailand. However, the road to the top was
not an easy one.
Shortly after graduating from college, Kavin was summoned home
to help salvage his father’s company, which had accumulated debts of
up to THB100 billion in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
When BTS launched Thailand’s first Skytrain in 1999, purchasing power
took a sharp decline and the company sank even further into strife.
Even faced with the overwhelming debts, Keeree and Kavin stood by
the business and rebuilt it from the ground up over 10 exhausting years.
While his father dealt with debt rehabilitation and negotiation in
Bangkok, Kavin focused on the family’s businesses in Hong Kong.
However, most of the Bangkok ventures were eventually abandoned
to secure the family’s principal investments in Thailand. »INNOVATE | Interview