In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 23 November 1964
- Birthplace
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Country
- Thailand
- Nationality
- Thai
- Known for
- Expanding a Thai retail family business into a global group
- Company
- Central Group
- Current role
- Executive chairman and CEO
- Education
- Wesleyan University and Columbia Business School
- Led Central Retail
- 2002–2014
Why this life matters
Tos represents the professionalisation and international growth of one of Thailand’s longest-established retail families.
Timeline
Key moments
Born in Bangkok
Born into the third generation of the Chirathivat family.
Joined the family group
Returned to Thailand after completing graduate business study.
Led Central Retail
Became chief executive of the group’s retail arm.
Entered European department stores
Central acquired Italy’s Rinascente, beginning a longer European expansion.
Became group CEO
Took leadership of Central Group and its international portfolio.
Central Retail became a public company
Joined the board structure created before Central Retail’s Bangkok listing.
Added Selfridges
Central and a partner completed the acquisition of the British department-store group.
Learning a multiformat retail system
Tos Chirathivat studied economics at Wesleyan University and earned an MBA in finance from Columbia University. He joined Central Group in 1989 and worked through merchandising and retail management rather than moving immediately into group leadership.
As chief executive of Central Retail from 2002 to 2014, he oversaw a business operating department stores, supermarkets and specialist formats. The role required common systems for buying, logistics, customer data and brands while preserving the different identities of each retail chain.
Leading Central Group beyond Thailand
Tos became Central Group’s executive chairman and chief executive in 2014. The portfolio spans retail, shopping centres, hotels, restaurants and digital commerce, with the Thai market continuing to supply the group’s operating base and brand recognition.
Central also developed a substantial presence in Europe and Vietnam. Its European sequence began with Rinascente in 2011 and later included Illum, KaDeWe, Globus and Selfridges. By 2026, Central described the portfolio as forty luxury department stores in thirty-four cities across seven countries, giving the Thai group access to established urban properties and luxury-retail expertise.
Professional management in a family group
Central Retail’s public disclosures place Tos on its board and record his education, appointment history and earlier chief-executive role. Those disclosures show how a family business can formalise governance through public-company committees even when ownership and strategic leadership remain concentrated within the founding family.
Tos describes Central’s next phase as both physical and digital: stores and mixed-use destinations remain important, but data, online commerce and loyalty systems increasingly connect them. His significance lies in managing that transition while taking a Thai retail institution into markets far beyond its original Bangkok store, without separating international acquisitions from the group’s property, hospitality and customer-data strategy.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Tos Chirathivat
- Who is Tos Chirathivat?
- Tos Chirathivat is an executive chairman and CEO of Central Group. Tos represents the professionalisation and international growth of one of Thailand’s longest-established retail families.
- What is Tos Chirathivat best known for?
- Tos Chirathivat is best known for expanding a Thai retail family business into a global group.
- When and where was Tos Chirathivat born?
- Tos Chirathivat was born on 23 November 1964 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. Central GroupBoard of Directors and Management Team
- 2. Central Retail CorporationExecutive Committee: Tos Chirathivat
- 3. Central GroupCentral Times: Family business history
- 4. Central Retail CorporationAnnual Report 2025 — director profile
- 5. Central GroupCentral Group marks 15 years of European expansion
- 6. Wikimedia CommonsTos Chirathivat — portrait and reuse record
