SELLING WEED, MAKING WEAPONS AND BUILDING DAMS - THE SHADY WORLD OF NATTAPHOB BHURIDEJ

 Drugs, guns and energy. Three very diverse businesses, each with their own set of consequences and each with their equally diverse type of victims. But, each can be incredibly profitable. Particularly if your spouse is in a key position in the right ministry in a government which makes the decisions regarding your investments. 

Let's start with weed. In 2022 Thailand, in effect, completely decriminalized the use, sale and growing of cannabis. The government actually distributed free cannabis plants to households and "dispensaries" - AKA weed cafes - proliferated. A lot of people got wealthy very quickly and the Vega Group Ltd - a company of which Nattaphob "Kla" Bhuridej (note the change of name to Phuridech) is the sole shareholder - were quick to get in on the action. 

After Thailand tightened the weed laws in 2025 business opportunities dwindled and, to be fair to Mr and Mrs Bhuridej/Phuridech, they had far more serious plans with far more serious money on offer. 

If you take a look at the Vega Group's "about us" webpage you'll get a glimpse into the bizarre world that makes up the Bhuridej/Puridech's business. There are pictures of cannabis plants, of tree planting as part of "greening projects", of hydro electric dams and of bullets.

 The pictures of the bullets relate to a company known as the Siam Ammunition Company. (The link to their Thai Department of Business Development (DBD) filing is here but to get full details use your browser's translation service from Thai rather than the English version of the listing which only gives you limited information). This company, of which Kla is, once again, the sole shareholder is noted for manufacturing ammunition and explosives. 

 However, Kla is not content with just making bullets and explosives. As well as creating a portfolio of "wellness" and "culinary" businesses Kla's Vega Group is also creating the "next-generation armored tracked vehicles" . And this will also involve turning "VEGA Defense Systems [into] one of the most ambitious defense manufacturing initiatives in Southeast Asia — a national-scale endeavor reshaping regional defense." On paper, at least, it looks very impressive if a little weird. 

But it's the energy sector and specifically hydro electricity generation where Kla is really making an impact. After all his wife is the top civil servant in the country making decisions in that sector, one of his brother's is the Thai King's henchman and the other brother is a bodyguard to the Thai Queen, on friendly terms with US government sanctioned cyberscammers and the senior police general dealing, supposedly, with cyberscams.

 Such is the depth and scale of what can only be termed as corruption involving senior public officials we're going to have to devote an entire new post to the Bhuridej family's involvement with their hydro generating heist. 

Watch this space.