Banthoon Lamsam was born on 15 January 1953, son of Bancha Lamsam and
Thanphuying Sam-aungvarn Lamsam (maiden name
Mom Rajawongse Sam-aungvarn Devakula; daughter of Prince
Priditheppong Devakula and Mom Rajawongse Sa-ang Pramoj). Bantoon has two younger sisters. Bantoon is a grandson of
Choti Lamsam who founded
Kasikornbank in 1945 as Thai Farmers Bank. Banthoon graduated from
Saint Gabriel's College and
Srinakharinwirot University Prasarnmit Demonstration School. He studied at
Phillips Exeter Academy from 1967 to 1971 before going on to earn a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from
Princeton University and a masters of business administration (MBA) from
Harvard Business School (HBS). After the
1997 Asian financial crisis (known as วิกฤตต้มยำกุ้ง, literally translated as
Tom Yam Kung crisis), he was the first to introduce the term "reengineering" to Thailand's banking industry. The Lamsam family became a minority shareholder of Kasikornbank. Banthoon Lamsam is an important contributor to the
Democratic Party. Banthoon was skeptical of the country's economic policies during
Pol. Lt. Col Thaksin Shinawatra's term as the prime minister of Thailand, and it was rumored that he had been approached by the Democratic Party for the position of the party leader in 2004. In 2002, Banthoon became president and CEO of TFB. In 2003, he changed the logo and name of the bank from Thai Farmers Bank (TFB) to the current name, Kasikornbank (KBank), improvising Chinese characters style into the logo, "K". Banthoon Lamsam's leisure pursuits are playing the saxophone and canoeing. He is a staunch feng shui believer. == Current profession ==