BANGKOK, Dec. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Families of the Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra are the richest individual and clan in Thailand, according to a recent study.

Families of the Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra are the richest individual and clan in Thailand, according to a recent study. This file photo taken in 2001 shows Thaksin Shinawatra and his family members.

    Pinthongtha Shinawatra, the second child of Thaksin, is the wealthiest individual with 18.03 billion baht (about 450.75 million US dollars) in share holdings of the families' flagship business Shin Corp, according to a joint survey by the magazine of Money & Banking and Chulalongkorn University.

    Other family members from Thaksin's family also occupied higher positions in a 500 richest list made by the survey, result of which was published by Thai press on Tuesday.

    Thaksin's brother-in-law Bannapot Damapong and the prime minister's son Panthongtae Shinawatra are among the five richest individuals, ranked second and fourth for possessing wealth of 15.27 billion baht (381.75 million dollars) and 11.09 billion baht (277.25 million dollars) respectively.

    Besides, names of Thaksin's wife and younger sister also appeared at the 321st and 65th positions respectively.

    Even Thaksin's youngest daughter, who is still a university student, is ranked the 28th place with shares worth 1.42 billion baht (35.5 million dollars).

    The survey only reaffirmed the huge concentration of wealth in Thailand, said Suriyasai Katasila, secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular Democracy.

    Ten leading families with close ties to the government altogether controlled over 40 percent of the market capitalization of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, with over 10 percent held by the prime minister's family alone, he was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying.

    Thaksin, who made his fortune from telecommunications, was ranked 16th in Southeast Asia's 40 wealthiest people, according to an August survey by the US business magazine Forbes.

    Thaksin is the sole politician on the Forbes list with a net worth of 1.2 billion dollars. Enditem