From java to jail: The rise and fall of Thai ‘coffee king’ Prayudh Mahagitsiri

Billionaire industrialist Prayudh Mahagitsiri, known as “Thailand’s coffee king”, was convicted of corruption last week – a verdict that undermined the transparency he claimed his business is built on.

On May 1, the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases sentenced Prayudh to 24 years in prison for colluding with state officials to encroach upon protected forest in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

It was found that Prayudh had plotted with Land Department officials to expand the Mountain Creek Golf Resort and Residences by 189 rai (14.2 hectares) into a forest reserve and government land area.

The golf course-cum-residential project is owned by Thainox Stainless Plc, of which Prayudh is honorary chairman.

His daughter, Ausana Mahagitsiri, also received 12 years in the same case, which was sent to trial last November by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).

Ausana is the managing director of Mountain Creek Development Co Ltd, a company under the Mahagitsiri family-owned PM Group.

Two land officials – Krissanapong Pusakulsathaporn and Thiamsak Jinda – were given prison terms of 42 years and 30 years, respectively.

The defendants were granted bail on a bond of 1 million baht each.

This wasn’t Prayudh’s first land-grab conviction. In August 2023, the same court sentenced him to two years and eight months over the illegal issuance of land deeds for a plot in Krabi, southern Thailand. The term was halved from four years after Prayudh confessed, while 10 land officials were convicted of unlawfully granting title deeds for nearly 20 rai of state forestland.

In the latest trial, the coffee mogul maintained his innocence, denying collusion with public officials to grab the land. He argued that the officials who surveyed the plots and issued the deeds had acted within their legal authority and followed relevant regulations. After weighing the evidence, the judge disagreed.

‘Playing by the rules’

“My investment philosophy has always been to play by the rules and to excel within the limits of the law in full transparency,” Prayudh states in his “message from the Chairman” on the PM Group website.

The conglomerate – purportedly named after his initials – lists its core values as “always playing by the rules”, “maintaining transparency” and “upholding ethical practices”.

Among Thailand’s richest

Prayudh, 79, stands 10th in the list of Thailand’s richest citizens, with an estimated net worth of US$2.6 billion or 86 billion baht, according to Forbes magazine. He ranks 1,462nd in Forbes’ list of global billionaires.

Prayudh was born on December 1, 1945, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of San Diego in the US.

He is married to Suvimol, and their three children – two daughters and a son – all serve as top executives in the family’s many businesses.

A leading industrialist, Prayudh’s PM Group spans sectors from industrial and consumer manufacturing to property development, entertainment and food & beverage.

He also spent a decade in politics, appointed to the Senate in July 1997 by then-PM Chavalit Yongchaiyuth. A year later, he joined fellow tycoon-turned-politician Thaksin Shinawatra’s newly founded Thai Rak Thai as party deputy.

However, he was banned from politics for five years in 2002 after the Constitutional Court found him guilty of a false asset declaration. The ban expired in 2007, but soon after he was hit by another five-year ban when Thai Rak Thai was dissolved by court for electoral fraud.

Between the bans, Prayudh served briefly as an adviser to then-prime minister Thaksin, who was ousted in the September 2006 military coup.

The Nestle connection

Four years ago, Prayudh stood down from his executive posts in the family business and passed them on to his children. However, he retained the role of honorary chairman.

The PM Group’s F&B arm owns several global franchises in Thailand, including Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Krispy Kreme.

The Mahagitsiri clan also runs Thoresen Thai Agencies Plc (TTA), a holding company with diverse interests in shipping, offshore oil and gas services, agrochemicals, logistics and F&B.

Prayudh’s son Chalermchai Mahagitsiri serves as TTA’s president and chief executive officer, while his daughter Ausana is an executive director, according to the company’s website.

Prayudh earned his “coffee king” moniker through his company’s 35-year partnership with Nestle.

However, their joint venture operated under Quality Coffee Products Co Ltd ended last year when the licence to manufacture and sell the Swiss food giant’s coffee products in Thailand expired.