Hotel pioneer Chanut dies
Thanpuying Chanut Piyaoui, a leading pioneer of the country’s hospitality industry and founder of Dusit International, died yesterday at the age of 99.
Thanpuying Chanut was highly recognised for singlehandedly building the Dusit hospitality empire. She became one of the world’s prominent hoteliers having founded and managed the steady expansion of the Dusit hotel brand.
The iconic Dusit Thani Bangkok Hotel opened on Feb 27, 1970, and was, at the time, the city’s largest fivestar property, and quickly capitalised on Thailand’s new era of tourism.
The hotel, noted for its golden spire, was the tallest building in the country when it opened for business. Last year, the hotel was demolished to make way for development as part of a 36-billionbaht mixeduse project set for completion in 2023 on the site.
Thanpuying Chanut also served as honorary chairwoman of Dusit International. She was presented with the prestigious SHTM Lifetime Achievement Award in February 2018.
The award, created by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, honours outstanding figures who have contributed substantially to the development of hospitality and tourism in Hong Kong, the region and around the world.
Under Thanpuying Chanut’s stewardship, Dusit Thani also launched the Dusit Thani College, which specialises in hospitality management, in 1993.
The Dusit Thani group of hotels expanded internationally and acquired hotels under the management of Dusit Thani Hotels & Resorts in the Philippines, the Middle East, India, China, the United States and the Maldives.
Thanpuying Chanut received honorary degrees conferred by Johnson and Wales University, Mahidol University and Sripatum University.
Thanpuying Chanut had a son and two daughters.
Water has been royally bestowed for the bathing rite of Thanpuying Chanut’s funeral to be held today at Wat Benchamabophit in Bangkok.