Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has as shown himself to be a real humanitarian by spending 91.7 million baht to buy a new BMW for each of the players in his English football team. Vichai, who is the seventh richest person in Thailand, has amassed of fortune of US $ 3.3 billion by the grueling labor of owning the Duty Free concessions at Thailand's largest airports. Not content with becoming a billionaire by doing sweet FA, this patriot then took a load of the money he earned in Thailand and invested it in F.A. That is, a team in the English Football Association. He owns Leicester City, which recently won the FA cup, making him a true hero to the people of Leicester as well as to all those people who bought over priced stuff they didn't need at his airport shops. [editors notes: The lead picture was taken in Klong Toei in the centre of Bangkok. In England the expression doing sweet FA or doing sweet f*ck all means doing nothing at all.] Vichai in Forbes:
Duty-free tycoon Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's King Power, which has a monopoly on retail operations at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports, reported a 12% rise in revenues to $2 billion in 2015 on the continuing influx of Chinese tourists, its biggest customers. It also runs three shopping complexes in Bangkok but will face new competition once South Korea's Lotte Group opens its first duty free store in Bangkok later this year. Vichai's English football club Leicester City, once an underdog, recently won the English Premier League championship. ABC Correspondents Reports on Vichai: Leicester's entire player budget was as much as a single transfer for some of the big-name clubs. Last season, Leicester reportedly spent $70 million on staff, compared to more than $400 million spent by Manchester United. Not that Vichai lacked money or generosity. To mark his birthday and thank fans for their support last month, he gave away a free beer and a free donut to every ticketholder at the game. But trading alcohol is core business for Vichai. He's the owner of King Power Duty Free, the airport retail chain that started in 1989 and has grown to hold a near-monopoly at Thailand's busy international airports. The 58-year-old was born Vichai Raksriaksorn, but in 2012 was honoured with a new title from the Thai king, which he adopted as his new family name, becoming Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. He was considered close to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, but deftly managed to survive the shifts and fractures of Thailand's tumultuous politics. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing for Leicester City and its Thai connection. Last year, three young players were sacked when a sex tape was leaked to the public, showing an orgy in a hotel room with three Thai prostitutes during an end-of-season trip to Bangkok. On the tape, the players refer to the women in racist and demeaning terms.
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