Hong Taechawanit

Hong Taechawanit (ฮง เตชะวณิช; RTGS: Techawanit^[1]) born Zheng Yifeng^[2] (1851–5 March 1937) and also known as Zheng Zhiyong^[3] or Er Ge Feng^[4] (lit. 'Second Brother Feng', rendered in Thai as Yi Ko Hong^[5]), was a Chinese businessman, philanthropist, and secret society member active in early twentieth-century Siam.

Hong Taechawanit
Born	1851 (1851) Chaozhou, Guangdong, China
Died	5 March 1937(1937-03-05) (aged 85–86) Bangkok, Thailand
Occupation(s)	Businessman and philanthropist

He was later ennobled by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) with the title Phra Anuwat Ratchaniyom (พระอนุวัฒน์ราชนิยม), and granted the surname Techawanit (originally romanized Tejavanija).^[6][7]

Early life

Sources diverge on Hong’s origins. Thai accounts hold he was born in Bangkok in 1851, the son of Khia Tae, a Teochew immigrant, and Keut, a Thai woman. After his parents’ early deaths, he was raised by relatives in Guangdong Province, China, before returning to Siam at age sixteen (1866/1867).^[8]

Chinese sources state he was born in Qiyuan Village, Chao’an County, Chaozhou, Guangdong. His father, Zheng Shisheng (鄭詩生), fled China during the First Opium War but died en route to Thailand. After his mother remarried, Yifeng moved to Thailand and settled in Bangkok.^[9]

Career

While working for gambling magnate Liu Jibin (劉繼賓), Hong became a member of the clandestine Chinatown-based 'Tian Di Hui' (天地會) or 'Heaven and Earth Society'. He acquired the nickname Er Ge Feng ("Second Brother Feng") as the society's second-highest authority and became leader after his predecessor's death.^[10]

Hong successfully petitioned King Chulalongkorn for tax farming rights over gambling houses. In 1909, he dissented from popular Chinese sentiment against tax reforms and refused to join a three-day strike.^[11] In June 1918, he was granted the surname Taechawanit (Tejavanija),^[12] and conferred the title of Phra Anuwat Ratchaniyom by King Vajiravudh.^[13][14]

He built a conglomerate comprising pawnshops, a printing press, a shipping line,^[15] a theatre,^[16] and the biggest gambling house in the country.^[17] His mansion in Phlapphla Chai served as his company headquarters.^[18]

He financed schools in Thailand and China, newspapers, charities, and flood relief in Guangdong (380,000 silver dollars in 1918).^[19]

Final years and legacy

Hong sympathised with the Kuomintang led by Sun Yat-sen, gifting Sun with ivory after the 1911 revolution. After losing his tax farming license, he died on 5 March 1937, aged 84.^[20] Taechawanit Road, which he financed, is named after him.^[21] His mansion became the present-day Phlapphachai Police Station.^[22] Deified as a 'luck-bringer', he remains worshipped by Thai gamblers.^[23][24]