Amazon pulls out of bid for cafe at Thammasat, as disabled staff could lose jobs

By The Nation

 

 

PTT Oil and Retail Business (PTTOR), the operator of Cafe Amazon coffee shops, has decided to opt out of the concession it could reportedly obtain to operate the cafe at Thammasat University's Faculty of Law at Tha Prachan campus in Bangkok.

 

 

In a Facebook post on Saturday, PTTOR said it made the decision to withdraw after learning from reports that current concession holder Yimsoo Cafe, which provides employment to people with disability, might have to lay off staff if its concession was not renewed.

 

PTTOR added that Cafe Amazon was yet to be informed officially by the faculty as to which bidder it had decided to award the concession. Cafe Amazon believes in offering equal job opportunities to all people, the FB post added.

 

Earlier Wiriya Namsiripongpun, the president of Universal Foundation for Persons with Disabilities, posted on his Facebook that Yimsoo Café, founded by him and located at the Faculty of Law, would have to close its business in November. The closure would cost disabled staff working at the cafe their jobs, he added.

 

He said the faculty had decided to grant the concession to a big company. He said he was sad that the efforts to create jobs for the disabled had been lost to big investors.

 

Later, the faculty made a statement that it had decided to grant the concession to Cafe Amazon, as it had got higher scores than Yimsoo, according to its selection panel's evaluation.

 

According to the statement, Yimsoo's concession ended in the middle of this year but the faculty has allowed the cafe to continue the service until November. The faculty started inviting bids in August when there were two contenders, Yimsoo and Cafe Amazon.

 

Then it set up a selection panel to evaluate their criteria from business process to food, cleanliness and service. It added that the selection process was the same as the one used in 2018 when it granted the concession to Yimsoo.

The faculty added that the panel realised the possible impact on the disabled staff at Yimsoo. It asked if Cafe Amazon would recruit these staff if it were granted the concession. Cafe Amazon said it would do so if selected.

 

As of now, the panel is still to propose the final selection result to the faculty's dean for approval. It added that the dean was yet to make any final decision on the result.

 

The faculty has already informally told Yimsoo about the selection result and informed it that in case it was not selected, it could continue operation until November 30.

 

The faculty added that the selection process was done on a transparent basis. It would also try all means to help the affected disabled staff at Yimsoo to have a chance to work with the new operator in case Yimsoo's concession was not renewed.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30395556

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-10-04

 

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Tick for Amazon ... I'll make a point of buying a coffee or 2 from them next time I'm in Thailand ...

 

Well done Amazon, sadly another company are not as honorable as you, they have grabbed the concession and are making disabled people jobless, bar stewards.

Edited October 3, 20205 yr by colinneil

Good for Amazon, but couldn't they have also taken them on? I would hope a company as large as that would have some type of disability program too.

7 minutes ago, sungod said:

Good for Amazon, but couldn't they have also taken them on? I would hope a company as large as that would have some type of disability program too.

Yes they would have employed the staff so I do not understand what the fuss is about :

It asked if Cafe Amazon would recruit these staff if it were granted the concession. Cafe Amazon said it would do so if selected

3 hours ago, JoePai said:

Yes they would have employed the staff so I do not understand what the fuss is about :

It asked if Cafe Amazon would recruit these staff if it were granted the concession. Cafe Amazon said it would do so if selected

What about the fact that the staff are comfortable with the foundation they are with, that the money the foundation creates goes towards helping other disabled people, that they highlight the needs of disabled people, that the cafe is designed for them to work in, that there is no guarantee that the big corporation will change its mind later etc. etc. etc. 

7 hours ago, rooster59 said:

It added that the dean was yet to make any final decision on the result.

Wonder what the offer will be 

6 hours ago, sungod said:

Good for Amazon, but couldn't they have also taken them on? I would hope a company as large as that would have some type of disability program too.

From the OP,

"The faculty added that the panel realised the possible impact on the disabled staff at Yimsoo. It asked if Cafe Amazon would recruit these staff if it were granted the concession. Cafe Amazon said it would do so if selected".

2 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

What about the fact that the staff are comfortable with the foundation they are with, that the money the foundation creates goes towards helping other disabled people, that they highlight the needs of disabled people, that the cafe is designed for them to work in, that there is no guarantee that the big corporation will change its mind later etc. etc. etc. 

What about the fact that Cafe Amazon has pulled out of the deal?

Way to go Cafe Amazon! My favorite coffee/tea shop. I also like the fact they discount 5 baht if you bring your own glass/cup. They can be a little inconsistent quality between branches, but my local branch makes Green Tea Latte perfect for my taste (and inexpensive as well).

PTT coffee is the most popular brand in Thailand.  

6 hours ago, Cod Face said:

From the OP,

"The faculty added that the panel realised the possible impact on the disabled staff at Yimsoo. It asked if Cafe Amazon would recruit these staff if it were granted the concession. Cafe Amazon said it would do so if selected".

Stop being so pedantic

15 hours ago, colinneil said:

Well done Amazon, sadly another company are not as honorable as you, they have grabbed the concession and are making disabled people jobless, bar stewards.

I truly applaud Amazon, however it would be better if Amazon took another step forward and hired handicapped people at all their stores!!!

 

At one time about 5 years ago, KFC had a program hiring deaf individuals in a number of their downtown locations.  They mostly performed maintenance tasks such as busing tables and swabbing floors.  I haven't noticed them recently in any KFC's so I suppose the program was suspended.  Too bad as many local deaf people were vendors along Sukhumvit who lost their jobs when they were closed down.

Edited October 5, 20205 yr by dddave

But their hiring policy is incredible ageist, they only hire 18-25 year olds, what happens when they get to 26 I have no idea. Having looked at who part owns them I try to avoid the company

23 hours ago, Cod Face said:

What about the fact that Cafe Amazon has pulled out of the deal?

how about the fact that it was not the point being made ???? I knew they had pulled out of the deal, but others were saying that Amazon would have given them jobs anyway. It is good Amazon pulled out

17 hours ago, sungod said:

On 10/4/2020 at 1:59 PM, Cod Face said:

From the OP,

"The faculty added that the panel realised the possible impact on the disabled staff at Yimsoo. It asked if Cafe Amazon would recruit these staff if it were granted the concession. Cafe Amazon said it would do so if selected".

Stop being so pedantic

What's "so pedantic" about quoting from the OP?

17 hours ago, sungod said:

Stop being so pedantic

Stop thinking that you're in a position to tell any members what to post.

4 minutes ago, Cod Face said:

Stop thinking that you're in a position to tell any members what to post.

Do you actually have anything to contribute?

2 minutes ago, sungod said:

6 minutes ago, Cod Face said:

Stop thinking that you're in a position to tell any members what to post.

Do you actually have anything to contribute?

What's that got to do with you?

6 minutes ago, Cod Face said:

What's that got to do with you?

Same could be said for you, just weird some of the comments you are making.

Time for you to go get your Hi tea, isnt it?

20 minutes ago, Cod Face said:

Stop thinking that you're in a position to tell any members what to post.

Careful blud, Colin was my Captain when we were in the SF.