Disgraced general appears as tycoon

Disgraced general appears as tycoon

BANGKOK (AFP): Suchinda Khrapayoon, a former Thai Army chief who took power in a coup in 1991 and was forced from office in disgrace a year later, has waged a quiet but successful business campaign to return from the ashes of history.

The general, who was deposed in a popular pro-democracy movement which triggered several bloody riots and a military crackdown, has been moving up through the ranks of Thai companies, including Charoon Pokphand Group, Thailand's largest conglomerate.

Yesterday, The Nation daily reported that Suchinda and Kaset Rojananil, the general's classmate and armed forces chief, are to head an US$80 million joint-venture to build a hotel in Hanoi.