Joon Wanavit, the 85-year-old founder of Hatari Electric, has been named among Asia's 2022 Heroes of Philanthropy by Forbes Magazine.
The 16th edition of the annual list highlights the region’s top 15 philanthropists who have demonstrated a strong personal commitment to causes such as education and the environment.
The list has nine new entrants, including Mr Joon, who is the only Thai national on the list.
It said in July, Mr Joon and his family donated 900 million baht (US$24 million) to the Ramathibodi Foundation, which raises funds for Ramathibodi Hospital and its public healthcare services.
Of the total, 160 million baht was earmarked for the hospital’s nursing school, 300 million for a medical learning centre, and 440 million for a new hospital building and medical innovation centre.
He was quoted in local media at that time as saying, “My children have their careers and money. I want to donate this money back to general patients.”
He was listed in Forbes' Thailand's 50 Richest 2016.
Mr Joon started out by opening a fan repair shop and later moved into contract manufacturing for Japanese brands before starting to produce his own Hatari brand.
According to the magazine, Hatari produces 90% of its components in-house and sells 8 million domestic and industrial fans annually. The privately held company posted 6.3 billion baht in revenue in 2021.
Other philanthropists in this year's list include Gautam Adani, India's richest person, who pledged $7.7 billion (268 billion baht) to address healthcare, education and skill development programmes in India. Also included are Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing who donated over $128 million to various initiatives in mainland China, Hong Kong and elsewhere through the eponymous Li Ka Shing Foundation, and Japan’s Hiroshi Mikitani, the founder of e-commerce giant Rakuten, who donated a $7.2 million gift to Ukraine for humanitarian aid.
