Thai billionaire actor makes presence felt in Philippines
Heir to the Central Group fortune, Pachara “Peach” Chirathivat, was in town just this week.
What’s noticeable was how down-to-earth and low-key he was as he promoted his No. 1 Netflix show in Thailand at the moment which is “The Believers.”
He was dressed in a classic semi-formal all-black attire with no bodyguards in sight, just pure buddies and business partners from the Philippines. His intimate event was held at the trendy and tucked away Bar.Flora in Scout Rallos, Quezon City, co-owned by the sister of his Filipino business partner Nicko Falcis.
It is not Peach’s first time in the Philippines. He has been here a couple of times when he started out Potato Corner in Thailand.
“It’s a different perspective as well because normally I don’t meet the media so this is my first time,” Peach shared.
Now, the famous Pinoy french fries stand has more than 100 branches in Thailand and is also expanding in Singapore and Malaysia, thanks to Peach and Nicko.
Unless you were living under a rock, Nicko’s name became mainstream back in 2019 when he became Kris Aquino’s business manager but things went south between the two.
Now, thankfully, all is well with Nicko. His “trauma” from that brouhaha is all in the past now. He has been thriving better than ever as he also brought in Snail White, Oxecure and a couple of other Thai brands to the Philippines with Peach.
The Thai actor told us that he’s aware about what happened to his business partner in the Philippines and is discerning enough to know that Nicko has been an ace business partner for him, whom he learns a lot from.
He said, “For example, I bring the product from the Philippines to Thailand, he understands the brand well. Then when I bring the beauty business here, he understands the market better than me so it is a good relationship.”
Peach is proud that their Potato Corner venture has been doing immensely well in Thailand, stating: “The Filipino and Thai palates are very similar and there is a lot to tap on when it comes to that.”
He hopes that goes the same for his TV series “The Believers” since both Filipino and Thai audiences like controversial topics. For this one, Peach said that they dabbled on the anomalies of Thai religion and what is going on behind the scenes.
Though the series is fiction, some of the aspects are inspired by real-life events. It sets out to show the complex interplay between faith and finance within the context of Buddhism.
He said they’re even fortunate that the series was not banned in Thailand, “We want to raise awareness. With this project, we’ve been so lucky in particular that we got to air because the topic is about religion. And (it’s) not supposed to be aired in Thailand because the film where we talk about monks usually gets banned and this is the second film that has been released.”
Peach’s series is five years in the making. It is helmed by director Wattanapong Wongwan.
“The Believers” is now streaming on Netflix.
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