Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi

In 1985, the remaining 85 percent of state licences were opened to bids. Charoen was able to take out a US$200 million loan using his large stocks of alcohol as collateral and soon after won 100 percent of the concessions. With this monopoly, Charoen's beverage companies were able to return US$550 million in royalties to Thailand's excise department in 1987, five percent of the national budget at the time.

Prem Tinsulanonda, the former military general and prime minister of Thailand who sat on ThaiBev's board of directors in the early-2000s, helped rescue Charoen's Surathip Group, the distributor of Chang beer, in 1986. The company at the time owed 14 billion baht (approximately US$450 million) to banks and six billion baht (approximately US$190 million) to the state before Tinsulanonda reportedly stepped in to help the company gain a monopoly over the liquor industry by restructuring contracts to reduce annual "burdens". Chang was also reportedly classified as an "economy brand", which meant a lower excise tax.

In 1991, Charoen teamed up with the Danish brewer Carlsberg to tap into Thailand's growing beer market, at the time dominated by the 60-year-old Boon Rawd Brewery which made Singha beer. Three years later, based on what he had learned from Carlsberg, he began making his own beer, branded "Chang" (Thai for 'elephant'). Within five years, Chang had 60 percent of the local market. Largely eclipsed, in 2003 Carlsberg withdrew from the joint venture. Charoen then successfully sued the Danish company, winning US$120 million in 2005. In 2005, an attempt by Siriwattanapakdi to list ThaiBev on the Thai stock market triggered protests from Thai Buddhist groups due to concerns over the dangers of increased consumption of alcohol. The protests from the Buddhists groups managed to stop ThaiBev from being listed on the Thai stock exchange.

Since the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and attempts to further liberalize Thailand's competition laws in 1999, Charoen has on occasion been able to use his political connections to increase his dominance over the country's alcohol industry.

Several competitors have protested against some of Charoen's activities. Boon Rawd Brewery, the producer of Singha beer, complained to Thailand's Fair Trade Department in October 2000 about Charoen's dumping of cheap products on the market, which the company claimed impeded competition. Charoen was warned that his actions were "inappropriate"; however, the department eventually ruled in his favour after claiming that no law had been violated as regulations regarding the issue had not yet been finalised. Thailand's commerce minister allegedly did not participate in the deliberations and the details of the decision-making process have never been made public.

In early-2013, Charoen won a bidding war for Singapore's Fraser and Neave, Ltd which has properties throughout Asia as well as soft-drinks operations, with debt accounting for most of the US$11.2 billion price. He received financing to back the deal, the largest merger-and-acquisition transaction introduced in Asia in 2012, from a group of banks including United Overseas Bank, Ltd of Singapore and DBS Bank, Ltd The total number of F&N shares owned by Charoen's group—TCC Assets and Thai Beverage—amounts to 1.19 billion, representing an approximate 83 percent stake, as of 14 February.

On 7 February 2016, TCC Group announced that it would buy a controlling 58.6 percent stake in Thai hypermarket operator Big C Supercenter for €3.1 billion from Groupe Casino of France. Big C is Thailand's second-largest hypermarket operator after Tesco's Thai unit, and has a market capitalisation of 163.25 billion baht (US$4.6 billion). Charoen's acquisition of Big C would boost the tycoon's retail presence in Thailand. He owns Berli Jucker PCL, the listed retail arm of TCC.

In April 2017, Charoen announced plans for a US$3.5 billion new development, a 104 rai site and the largest private sector property development in Thailand to date, located at the corners of Rama IV and Wireless Road opposite Lumphini Park, called One Bangkok. The development will include offices, retail, residential, hotels, and public space/arts program, jointly developed by TCC Assets and Frasers Property. The 1.83 million m project is expected to be completed in 2025.