Thiraphong Chansiri, president and chief executive officer of Thai Union Group, has received the Wallace R. Stevens Lifetime Achievement Award from the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA), recognizing more than three decades of leadership that helped transform the Samut Sakhon-headquartered headquartered company and change the seafood industry.
The honor places Thiraphong (pictured above at far right) alongside figures such as aquaculture pioneer George Chamberlain (seen at his immediate left) and longtime industry leader John Connelly, whose work changed aquaculture and the institutions that guide the sector.
GSA presented the award at the Responsible Seafood Summit 2026 at the Shangri-La Bangkok hotel. Established in 2004, it recognizes individuals whose leadership, integrity and commitment to responsible production have advanced the seafood industry worldwide.
“Receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Global Seafood Alliance is a tremendous honor. It recognizes that meaningful change is possible in our industry,” said Thiraphong. “Thai Union had no blueprint when we started on our sustainability journey. We simply decided that a company our size could not stand on the sidelines, and over time we became a force for change. My hope for the next generation is that they can build on what we started and take it even further.”
For Thailand, the award is international recognition of a business leader who helped build a domestic seafood processor into one of the industry’s largest companies. Thiraphong led that growth while raising standards for traceability, worker welfare, and environmental responsibility.
Thiraphong is credited with pushing Thai Union to take greater responsibility for its impact across the seafood value chain. Under his leadership, the company launched its industry-leading SeaChange sustainability strategy, which placed marine ecosystem health and worker welfare at the center of its operations and set measurable standards where industry expectations were often inconsistent.
A decade after establishing its first global tuna sustainability goals, Thai Union now sources more than 99.9% from responsible fisheries, traces 100% back to the vessel of origin, and has 95% on-the-water monitoring coverage.
Thai Union’s relationship with GSA stretches back to the organization’s early years. Thiraphong spoke for the Thai shrimp industry at Global Shrimp Outlook meetings, which preceded today’s Responsible Seafood Summit. He later served on GSA’s board and supported the development of the Best Aquaculture Practices certification program.
“Our sustainability milestones took more than a decade of work with fisheries and partners. It did not happen overnight, and no single company could have done it alone. But Thai Union was the force for change to make it happen on a global scale. And it proves something important: an industry can change. And change starts with us,” said Thiraphong.
