The Charnvirakul family has vast business interests, and "Sia Nu," our Prime Minister, has been wealthy since birth—practically born with a golden spoon in his mouth. His father, Chavarat Charnvirakul, is a billionaire businessman known for his generosity as vast as the Chao Phraya River. He owns Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction, a company that has undertaken many government mega-projects across multiple administrations. Notable works include the construction of Suvarnabhumi Airport, Ratchaburi power plant, Kaeng Khoi power plant, Bangkok South power plant for the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), and the new parliament building project. The standout vehicle, though several years old, still looks expensive: the 2016 Rolls-Royce Ghost, the car of Thailand's latest Prime Minister. Its starting price is a reasonable 30 million baht, excluding options. With full customization, the Ghost’s price could easily surpass 40 million baht.
The Rolls-Royce Ghost is a large limousine with impressive power. The long-wheelbase Ghost is meticulously handcrafted at the Goodwood factory in England, owned by BMW Group. This limousine is ideal for 21st-century use, especially for rear passengers. Powered by a 563-horsepower V12 twin-turbo engine, fuel efficiency isn’t a concern—the car weighs 2.6 tons and has a 6.7-liter engine. The doors open in a 'coach' style to provide ample space for rear passengers, who are usually the owners themselves, since Rolls-Royces are rarely self-driven. As mentioned, the rear seats focus on comfort for owners who prefer to be chauffeured. The seats are designed for relaxation during travel. Although the Prime Minister’s Ghost model is older, it underwent extensive upgrades before production to enhance comfort to match the image and demands of ultra-wealthy clients, of which there are very few.
Making a clear statement on the road with a 30 million baht price tag is typical for the wealthy. Today, Rolls-Royce operates under the German automotive giant BMW Group. This means new Rolls-Royce models incorporate new technologies from the BMW 7 Series but are further refined to a higher level. The car is highly coveted by billionaires who have inherited vast wealth and desire a model superior to the Ghost. It represents the ultimate luxury car ownership experience, combining fine art, dynamic engineering, and the prestige of a century-old brand long favored by the rich.
The Rolls-Royce Ghost uses an aluminum body, known for its strength. It’s also difficult to repair and repaint after accidents. Rolls-Royce craftsmen use manual metal joining techniques rather than robotic welders to achieve exceptional detail down to the pores. The car’s shape resembles a large painted canvas with smooth, flowing lines all around. The upright grille is made of finely plated metal, connecting to the emblem of the Spirit of Ecstasy—a flying silver lady soaring forward in the wind. The rear is solid and substantial, with tail lights placed on the outer edges, a traditional Rolls-Royce style. The Spirit of Ecstasy emblem sits centrally on the grille without a frame at its base, making the silver figure appear to float gracefully over a tranquil lake. The Ghost features Adaptive Laser Headlights, a revolutionary lighting system with superior illumination compared to all other headlight types.
This model’s front lighting system projects illumination over 600 meters, with modern LED turn signals and daytime running lights that eliminate the need for fog lights. Nighttime safety is enhanced by visibility support and obstacle detection systems active during driving. There is a drowsiness alert system and four cameras providing a surround view including a top-down perspective. The heads-up display (HUD) projects the clearest and sharpest information in the automotive industry onto the windshield. The car also features automatic parking and other automation to maximize passenger protection. The lower front bumper is designed with honeycomb-shaped air intakes made from high-grade black plastic, perfectly contrasting with the silver grille.
With its imposing size and lofty price, those familiar with this car tend to avoid driving too close. The side design is simple, featuring a trim line along the upper edge of the side panel running through the two thick doors, over the fuel filler, to the rear light corner. The large size is accentuated by the front pillar’s rake angle, the gently sloping roofline, and the massive rear pillar. Rolls-Royce uses metal frames around the door windows, and the side mirrors are mounted directly on the doors rather than on the window frames.
The classic door design, inspired by older Rolls-Royce models, opens like a coach door to maximize entry and exit space for rear passengers. The wide opening angle also makes it easier for elderly owners to get in and out. This feature surpasses even the BMW 7 Series or the newest Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which do not have such luxurious doors. The tail light shape is almost square and relatively small, a design principle for Rolls-Royce’s large rear ends. The LED tail lights have been modernized, and the seamless rear design makes the lights appear like islands of glowing light blending smoothly into the rear surface.
Inside the 2016 Ghost, artisans installed an illuminated fascia dashboard to harmonize the interior décor. The glowing dashboard matches the lighting of the clock and gauges. It features a 2-millimeter-thick light guide with over 90,000 laser-drilled micro-holes to evenly illuminate the word “Ghost” beneath 152 tiny LEDs surrounded by 850 twinkling stars, all hidden when the engine is off. This is layered under a three-ply composite material: a laser-drilled black Piano Black base allowing light through the letters and stars, followed by opaque lacquer, then frosted lacquer, all hand-polished to a thin 0.5-millimeter glossy finish. Rear seats can be chosen as Serenity Seats with ultra-quiet electric adjustment, resembling a private jet cabin. A champagne cooler, adjustable between 6 and 11 degrees Celsius, caters to billionaires who enjoy celebrating on the move, keeping vintage or modern champagne perfectly chilled.
The Ghost’s cabin is exceptionally quiet, due to its ultra-strong aluminum structure with acoustic impedance higher than steel. The double-layer wall and floor design incorporates high-quality sound-absorbing materials. Doors, roof, and other points use new sound insulation materials, adding over 100 kilograms of noise protection to create a serene cabin environment. The interior is tuned to reflect low-frequency sound waves effectively. It also includes the MEPS (Micro Environment Purification System) air filter, equipped with high-sensitivity sensors to monitor cabin air quality. When pollutants are detected, air is routed through a nanofleece filter to remove fine particles within two minutes.
The suspension delivers a magical softness using Planar Suspension technology through an air suspension system. Both front and rear feature double wishbone front and 5-link rear setups, with all-wheel drive and rear-wheel steering. The Ghost LWB’s suspension combines advanced engineering with cutting-edge software, marking the world’s first installation of an Upper Wishbone Damper above the front suspension arm. This enhances stability when cornering at high speed, working alongside the Flagbearer system, which uses dual cameras to scan the road ahead and adjust suspension response to road conditions. This integrates with an 8-speed transmission connected to satellite-aided transmission technology that optimizes gear ratios based on the chosen route for maximum balance.
The 6.75-liter twin-turbo V12 gasoline engine is specially tuned for the Ghost model. This nearly 7-liter V12 produces 563 horsepower and a massive 850 Newton-meters of torque, effortlessly moving the 2.5-ton vehicle. Peak torque arrives early at 1,600 rpm thanks to the 8-speed transmission setup, with the engine’s highest speed only 600 rpm above idle. Redesigned intake manifolds allow faster airflow to the combustion chambers and reduce engine noise. Performance figures include 0–100 km/h acceleration in 4.8 seconds, a top speed of 250 km/h, fuel consumption between 5.5 and 6.7 km per liter, and CO2 emissions of 359 grams per kilometer.
This is the story behind the Rolls-Royce Ghost, priced between 32.7 and 35 million baht, owned by "Sia Nu." He is actually a classic car enthusiast with several models in his collection. We will share more about that in the future.