The Deputy Minister, His Son, and the $100 Million Superyacht

Welcome to Whale Hunting, where we follow the money behind some of the world's most brazen financial crimes and expose the networks of people who enable them.

When Vorapak Tanyawong resigned as Thailand's Deputy Finance Minister in October 2025, he offered a simple, dismissive explanation for his ties to Benjamin Mauerberger, the fugitive architect of a $1.5 billion money laundering empire. He claimed he only knew Mauerberger as a casual acquaintance from their children’s school.

The school connection is real. Vorapak’s children attended the same school as Mauerberger’s kids. But when Vorapak said “school friends,” he apparently also meant: private jet companions, superyacht guests, and business partners. It was a generous definition of the term. When Whale Hunting published photographic proof of Vorapak and Mauerberger on a business trip, Vorapak doubled down. He threatened to sue journalists. In November, he filed a 50-million-baht ($1.4 million) criminal defamation lawsuit against Sarinee Achavanuntakul, a respected Thai financial analyst, for daring to write about his connections.

But the “school parent” defense was always a half-truth, designed to obscure a relationship that ran far deeper than any school gate. And now, a trove of leaked photographs from a private Instagram account has exposed just how deep it went.

The account belongs to Kant Tanyawong, Vorapak’s adult son. The images show Kant living a life bankrolled by the network: flying on the network’s Gulfstream private jet, vacationing on the Wanderlust, the $100 million superyacht co-owned by Mauerberger and his Cambodian partner Yim Leak, and displaying a watch collection worth close to $1 million.

Most school friendships involve playdates and birthday parties. This one involved a Gulfstream and a $100 million superyacht.

Here is what they tried to hide (free if you subscribe).

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