Jareeporn Jarukornsakul

Group CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee — WHA Corporation

About Jareeporn Jarukornsakul

Key facts Role: Group chief executive and chairman of the executive committee Organisation: WHA Corporation Country: Thailand Sector: Industrial estates and logistics Headline figures: 2026 capital expenditure plan of 16.5bn baht; 2025 normalised net profit of 5.26bn baht, up 16% As manufacturers move production out of China to escape tariffs and geopolitical risk, much of the land they need in Thailand is controlled by one company. In February WHA Group's chief executive, Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, set out a 16.5bn-baht capital expenditure plan for 2026 under the banner "WHA: Shape the Future for Thailand". The plan bets on supply-chain relocation, clean energy and data centres. "2026 presents multifaceted challenges," she told a Bangkok press conference, according to the Nation. "Complex geopolitics, volatile global trade dynamics, the impact of AI — but WHA views these as opportunities for Thailand to upgrade its infrastructure and integrated industrial ecosystem." The role Jareeporn is group chief executive and chairman of the executive committee of WHA Corporation, the Bangkok-listed holding company. It spans five businesses: industrial estates, logistics, utilities and power, digital infrastructure and electric-vehicle mobility. WHA runs 17 industrial estates in Thailand and Vietnam. Forbes Asia reported in April 2025 that more than a third of the 26 estates in the Eastern Economic Corridor belong to the group, and that its clients include Google, BYD and Haier. For 2025 WHA reported normalised revenue and share of profit of 18.1bn baht, up 26%, and normalised net profit of 5.26bn baht, up 16%. Total assets rose above 100bn baht for the first time, to 101.4bn baht, the Nation reported. The group manages about 3.2m square metres of warehouse and factory space. Its equity share of power generation capacity is more than 1,000MW. “Complex geopolitics, volatile global trade dynamics, the impact of AI — but WHA views these as opportunities for Thailand to upgrade its infrastructure and integrated industrial ecosystem.” — Jareeporn, at a Bangkok press conference, according to the Nation The 2026 plan The 2026 plan puts 9bn baht into industrial estates, 3.7bn baht into logistics, 2.9bn baht into utilities and power, and smaller sums into mobility and digital. It also targets land sales of 2,500 rai. The first half has tested that ambition. WHA's normalised net profit fell 33.8% to 2.08bn baht in January–June, and normalised revenue and share of profit fell 30.8%, Kaohoon International reported in August. It sold 1,199 rai of land in the half, transferred 505 rai and held a backlog of 1,464 rai awaiting transfer. Jareeporn said she expected more land transfers in the second half. She also expected asset sales worth more than 3.7bn baht to the group's WHART and WHAIR property trusts. Logistics revenue and share of profit rose 19.2%. Background She built the business herself. After a public health degree from Mahidol University in 1988, she worked in pharmaceuticals, including at Wellcome, and earned an MBA at evening classes, Forbes reported. She started a plastics trading business in 1993. A decade later she co-founded WHA, whose name stands for Warehouse Asia, with 1m baht of seed capital to build custom warehouses. It listed in 2012. In 2015 WHA bought into the industrial estate developer Hemaraj Land and Development and later took it private in a deal Forbes valued at 43.7bn baht. That year Jareeporn became group chief executive. Regional reach Her regional reach runs mainly through Vietnam. There WHA received an investment certificate in February for a second industrial zone in Thanh Hoa province and is pursuing projects in Hung Yen and Da Nang. The Nation reported that Thailand's Board of Investment approvals hit a record 1.8tn baht in 2025, the flow of capital her estates are built to capture. Rising demand from data centres, which she says can need 12 to 16 times the water of standard industry, has turned WHA's water and power arms into growth businesses. What to watch: whether second-half land transfers and trust sales rescue the 2026 targets, and how WHA keeps its net debt-to-equity ratio at or below 1.2 times while spending heavily. Also watch the pace of its Vietnam expansion and its study of new clean-power options for data-centre clients. She ranks 41st as the founder-operator of a platform central to Thailand's bid to absorb supply chains leaving China. Her influence is commercial rather than regulatory, and exposed to a soft 2026. Sources The Nation, WHA Group Bets 16.5bn Baht on Thailand's New Economy as Global Trade Fractures , 26 Feb 2026 Forbes Asia, Thailand's WHA, Pioneer Of Bespoke Industrial Estates, Navigates Tariff Storm , 16 Apr 2025 Kaohoon International, WHA Reports Resilient 2Q26 Earnings Performance Despite External Challenges , 11 Aug 2026 Pattaya Mail, WHA reports first-half results, eyes more land transfers and clean energy , 11 Aug 2026

Why this entry is on the list

She ranks 41st as the founder-operator of a platform central to Thailand's bid to absorb supply chains leaving China. Her influence is commercial rather than regulatory, and exposed to a soft 2026. WHA runs 17 industrial estates in Thailand and Vietnam, and Forbes Asia reported that more than a third of the 26 estates in the Eastern Economic Corridor belong to the group.