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At 44, Lek now serves as CEO of the Nai Lert Group, a Bangkok-based family enterprise that built its fortune in the late 19th century with ventures in ice imports, bus services, and real estate.
Once known for her glamorous party lifestyle, she has since recast herself as a businesswoman driving the firm’s latest property moves, including the April launch of the Aman Nai Lert Bangkok luxury hotel, a joint venture with Switzerland-based hospitality brand Aman.
"When I work, I work. When I party, I party," she says during a recent interview with The Business Times. "I don’t like half measures. I don’t do mediocre."
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Naphaporn "Lek" Bodiratnangkura, CEO of Nai Lert Group |
The Nai Lert legacy
Lek is the fourth-generation heiress to the Nai Lert empire founded by her great-grandfather, Nai Lert Sreshthaputra, who was often hailed as Bangkok’s first great real estate developer-entrepreneur. He was known for starting Thailand's first ice factory and Bangkok's first bus services, and for building a family home with expansive gardens that later became Nai Lert Park—a rare green oasis in the capital.
His only daughter, Thanpuying Lursakdi Sampatisiri, carried forward his pioneering spirit. She steered the family business with both determination and elegance, and broke barriers as Thailand’s first woman minister, taking on the role of transport minister in 1976.
Born in the capital, Lek recalls her childhood as rebellious, lively and free.
"I was given a lot of space to discover who I was and what I wanted to do," she told Prestige Hong Kong.
Lek studied abroad in her 20s, first in hospitality at the University of Surrey in England, then in fashion design at Parsons School of Design in New York. When she eventually returned to Bangkok, she threw herself into the city’s vibrant social scene and, by her own admission, overindulged in the nightlife.
"I basically partied nonstop from age 22 to 33, frequenting Silom Soi 4, Bed Supperclub, and attending every event I was invited to," she recalls.
At the time, her daily routine would begin with lunch with her grandmother before she slipped into a fresh outfit for a whirl of three or four events, capped by dinner with friends and dancing until dawn.
The Thai press quickly branded her the "Paris Hilton of Thailand," with tabloids eagerly chronicling her romances and fashion choices.
‘To be somebody is more difficult than to be a nobody’
The turning point in Lek’s life came when the Nai Lert Park Hotel was preparing to end its management contract with Hilton International and it was time for her to join Nai Lert.
She began learning about business not from textbooks, but from her grandmother’s anecdotes and witty one-liners. To prepare Lek further, her grandmother sent her to Singapore for intensive management training at the Four Seasons.
By 2013, Lek was working full-time at that hotel, rotating through departments from housekeeping and accounting to purchasing and guest services. She also kept traveling, determined to see how hotels were run around the world.
"Traveling and visiting other places can really help me get ideas," the Bangkok Post quoted her as saying. "For example, visiting a flower show overseas led to the adoption of a prolonged flower show at my hotel."
One piece of advice from her grandmother never left her and lit the spark of transformation: "To be somebody is more difficult than to be a nobody."
"When my grandmother gave me this advice, I understood that there are expectations that come with having a certain name," she told The Peak. "I want to be able to not only honor our family’s legacy, but to also build upon it and take it to greater heights."
From then on, she set out not only to prove herself as a capable executive but also to make her mark as a trendsetter in her own right.
Socialite to CEO
Throughout her career, notable milestones comprised several global partnerships that she secured, from world-class culinary school École Ducasse Paris to Aman.
"It shows how far we’ve come and the impact we’ve made," she said.
Looking back, Lek does not see her years on the party circuit as wasted. Instead, she calls them her unofficial MBA, which taught her how to read a room, seek those who mattered and persuade people to join her cause. The exposure, she says, helps her understand what her country lacks and how her projects can fill those gaps.
"When you’ve been on many stages, you know what people want, and why they behave the way they do."
As a business leader, Lek keeps a firm grip and refuses to hand over her vision to outside consultants.
"I try to maintain presence at all our properties, speak to our people, our customers, and get their insights on our businesses," she says.
She measures performance not just by revenues, but also by customer loyalty. Team meetings are famously quick and decisive, a pace she once summed up as "bam, bam, bam," clapping her hands for emphasis.
Regarding the leadership role, she believes it should be anchored in purpose.
"There’s no shortcuts to success. A good leader knows their goal and sticks to it," she remarks.
"My goals have never changed, but my approach has, because there’s a lot of value in being adaptable, and in understanding the world is always shifting."
Over time, she has reshaped not only Nai Lert but also her own image. After years of being in the spotlight, she has learned to be selective about what she shares, often deflecting questions about her love life.
What she does open up about, however, is her grandmother, whom she calls a "great inspiration" both personally and professionally.
"When [my grandmother] passed away [in 2010], it made me pause and reflect. I had just turned 30 then, and it felt like closing the chapter of my twenties," she recalls, as quoted by the South China Morning Post.
That mix of family influence and personal growth now guides her vision for Nai Lert. Lek says her hard work is driven by a desire to see the company endure and continue contributing to Thailand’s progress for generations.
"I’m centered on building something that will last another hundred years," she remarks.
Now at the helm, she remembers the burden of expectation when she first started.
"I had enormous shoes to fill, and more than one pair!" she says. "It took me 40 years to become CEO, and I had to earn it."
