Chanut Piyaoui (1924-2020) *95

was a Thai businesswoman and entrepreneur best known as the founder of Thai hospitality group Dusit International. She served as the managing director and chairperson of Dusit International from 1970 to 2014, and held the post of honorary chairman. Thanpuying Chanut was born in Bangkok, Thailand. Her father was a businessman who owned a saw mill in Bangkok and her mother ran a rice mill outside the city.:124 In 1946, Thanpuying Chanut went to the United States hoping to attend Columbia University. Having been unsuccessful in her attempt to gain entrance due to her level of English, she was sent to an English school in New York City. After completing her studies, she traveled around the country, becoming fascinated with the hotels she visited and their modern facilities and quality of service.

Upon returning home in 1947, she aspired to build a hotel that would be like the ones she had visited in the US, but with a distinctively Thai touch. In 1948, Thanpuying Chanut opened her first hotel, the "Princess" on Bangkok's New Road. It had only 30 rooms but had the distinction of being the first modern hotel in Bangkok with a swimming pool. The hotel was the accommodation of choice for the flight crews of Pan American Airways (Pan Am) for several years.:125