Chin Sophonpanich (10 November 1910 – 4 January 1988) was a Thai entrepreneur who founded Bangkok Bank and Bangkok Insurance.
Biography
Chin was born in Wat Sai quarter in Thonburi Province (currently Chom Thong District) to a Thai Chinese family. His father was a Chinese immigrant from Chaoyang, Shantou, Guangdong, China[1] who worked at a sawmill, while his mother was a local-born Thai Chinese.[2][3] At the age of five years, Chin was sent back to China for education, and upon returning to Thailand at 17, he took up his first job as a manual labourer. In 1944, Chin founded Bangkok Bank, which started with only two shophouses. The bank later expanded and diversified into Hong Kong. Chin lived in Hong Kong from 1957 on, when Thailand came under the rule of