Madam Pang, whose real name is Nualphan Lamsam, gained attention for her presence at My Dinh Stadium during the ASEAN Cup final between Vietnam and Thailand. Beyond her role as president of the Football Association of Thailand, she is a fifth-generation member of the Lamsam family, one of Thailand's oldest business dynasties.

The Lamsam family, of Hakka (Chinese) origin in Thailand, began their business ventures in timber trading and rice milling in the early 20th century under Ung Yuk Long.

By the third generation, family members developed separate business branches. Choti Lamsam expanded into banking, while Chulin Lamsam and his siblings built an insurance group, including Muang Thai Insurance and Muang Thai Life Assurance. Madam Pang also serves as chairperson and chief executive officer of Muang Thai Insurance.

In the banking branch, the business continued through Banyong Lamsam and then Banthoon Lamsam. Banthoon served as KBank's chairperson and chief executive officer for 28 years before stepping down from his executive role in 2020. He currently holds the position of honorary chairperson.

By late 2025, KBank ranked second in Thailand by total assets, approximately 144.3 billion USD, and held around 90 billion USD in deposits. The bank was third in outstanding loan balances, at about 78.4 billion USD.

KBank currently operates in nine countries through its overseas branches and headquarters, serving approximately 20 million customers.

Choti Lamsam, a third-generation member of the Lamsam family, founded KBank in 1945. The bank was listed on the stock exchange in 1976 and is currently among Thailand's three largest banks.

In Vietnam, KBank received its operating license in 2021 and opened its Ho Chi Minh City branch in 8/2022. It is one of 51 foreign bank branches operating in Vietnam as of mid-June.

With an allocated capital of 285 million USD, KBank Vietnam is among the top 20 foreign bank branches with the largest capital scale in the market.

By late 2025, KBank Vietnam's total assets exceeded 24,300 billion dong, a 9.6-fold increase since its initial operations. Asset growth has slowed in the past two years, following a rapid expansion period from 2021-2023.

The bank's outstanding customer loans reached nearly 13,800 billion dong by late 2025, while customer deposits were only about 5,500 billion dong.

After five years, KBank has yet to turn a profit in the Vietnamese market. Cumulative losses steadily increased from 2021-2024 before narrowing in 2025. In 2025, the bank reported a pre-tax loss of approximately 315 billion dong, down from 422 billion dong in 2024.

KBank Ho Chi Minh City is headquartered in the Sunwah Tower, District 1. Photo: KBank

The expansion into Vietnam is part of KBank's Southeast Asian banking development strategy. However, after five years, KBank is still in the early stages of building its market presence and has not yet reached the break-even point.

Quynh Trang