The patriarch of the clan, Tiang Chirathivat, was born Zheng Xinping in Hainan, China, and belonged to the Zheng (Cheng) surname line before adopting a Thai-style surname.[page:34] He migrated to Siam and settled in Bangkok in 1927, joining a wave of Chinese migrants who would become central to Thailand’s commercial class.[page:34]

Over his lifetime, Tiang had 26 children with three wives, creating a sprawling family that today counts roughly 220 descendants.[page:34] About 51 of these are currently involved in the business, forming a dense internal network of cousins and siblings inside Central Group.[page:34] In genealogical summaries, the family is explicitly connected to other influential Thai lines such as the House of Kitiyakara and the Hongsakula family.[page:34]

Central Group is the main heirloom of the Chirathivat family. It owns more than 60 department stores and shopping malls, and also operates hotels and restaurants, reaching a total of around 5,000 outlets.[page:34] The group’s footprint makes it one of the dominant forces in Thai retail and hospitality, with formats ranging from high-end malls to mid-market chains.[page:34]

Forbes ranks the Chirathivats third on the list of Thailand’s fifty richest families, underlining the scale of wealth tied up in Central’s operations and real estate.[page:34] A Nikkei Asian Review profile noted that, while historically “all in the family,” Central has increasingly professionalised and diversified management, but equity and ultimate control remain concentrated among Tiang’s descendants.[page:34]

The Chirathivats have not limited themselves to Thailand. In May 2011, Central Group, led by executive Tos Chirathivat, announced the purchase of La Rinascente, an upscale Italian department store chain, for a reported US$291 million.[page:34] The acquisition gave the Thai family a foothold in European luxury retail, putting their capital behind iconic city-centre stores in Italy.[page:34]

Bloomberg reported that Central planned to expand La Rinascente locations after the acquisition, signalling a strategy of using Thai cash to scale foreign heritage brands rather than only exporting their own banners abroad.[page:34] For a family whose public image is tied to Bangkok malls, owning La Rinascente quietly inserts them into the shopping habits of Italian and international tourists on the other side of the world.[page:34]

In 2020, Central Group continued its European shopping spree by announcing, together with Austrian group Signa, the purchase of Swiss luxury department store chain Globus and related assets for more than US$1 billion.[page:34] The deal positioned the Thai family as co-owners of prime commercial real estate and high-end retail operations in Switzerland.[page:34]

The Bangkok Post covered the transaction as part of a broader joint venture strategy, with Central partnering up to spread risk and access local expertise.[page:34] Signa later announced insolvency in November 2023, adding a layer of counterparty risk to the arrangement, but Central’s stake underscores how far the Chirathivats have leveraged their Thai base into European assets.[page:34]

Among the most visible family members is Tos Chirathivat, who serves as a key Central Group executive and has been the public face behind major acquisitions like La Rinascente.[page:34] His leadership represents the formal “current head” role within the clan, according to the family infobox.[page:34]

Another notable figure is Pachara Chirathivat, known more as an actor and public personality than as a corporate executive.[page:34] The presence of entertainers alongside executives reflects how the extended family’s social capital spills into Thai pop culture, even as most strategic decisions remain in the hands of a smaller inner circle of business-oriented cousins and uncles.[page:34]

The Chirathivats fit a wider pattern of Thai families of Chinese (especially Hainanese) descent who moved from small trading operations to large conglomerates.[page:34] Their classification on Wikipedia under “Thai families of Chinese ancestry” and “Business families of Thailand” signals how much of the country’s modern retail economy rests on such clans.[page:34]

Their parent line is identified as the Zheng family, tying Tiang’s original surname into a broader Chinese genealogical context.[page:34] Connected Thai noble families, including the House of Kitiyakara, show how economic power has cross-pollinated with royal and aristocratic circles, even if the article does not detail specific marriages.[page:34]

With Central Group as their heirloom, the Chirathivats use retail as both a business model and a family operating system.[page:34] Department stores, malls, hotels and restaurants provide thousands of management and professional roles into which different branches can slot their members, while central capital allocation stays in the hands of a core leadership around Tos.[page:34]

Ranked third on Forbes’ Thailand rich list, they sit just behind the country’s most powerful agro-industrial and energy families, but their leverage over consumption patterns is outsized.[page:34] When the Chirathivats decide which brands get the best floor space in Bangkok — or on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Milan — they quietly arbitrate what “middle class” and “luxury” look like for millions of shoppers.[page:34]