Mr Charoen runs ThaiBev and its parent company TCC in much the same way as Thailand's other Chinese tycoons - as a strictly family business.

BBC: Thai whiskey tycoon Charoen takes over Fraser and Neave

But trouble, most recently including allegations of illegal fishing amid ties to the Chinese government, has followed the Ng family and its business for over two decades.

FORBES: Blue Waters Gray Areas

Some Chinese bloggers rail against the aid wasted propping up this failing family business.

ECONOMIST: Banyan

Nowhere is the Chinese propensity to base business on relationships more obvious than in the family-run firms that make up the bulk of the private sector.

ECONOMIST: Private businesses are China's great hope for the future

Officially, mainlanders are permitted to venture overseas only as part of tour groups organized by state-owned travel agencies--a legacy of the days when Chinese vacationers often chose not to return--and then only for business or family reasons.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Travel Watch

The Sutardjas are of Chinese ancestry and grew up in Jakarta, part of a wealthy family that owned a Mercedes parts business.

FORBES: Magazine Article