Public outrage over approval for CP Group's acquisition of Tesco Lotus

[fvw53]

8 hours ago, colinneil said:

Why are the public outraged?

It was a forgone conclusion that CP would be given the go ahead.

CP can do anything they want, no way will this so-called government oppose anything they do, money, money, money, thats all that matters.

..and who would be a more acceptable candidate able the cough up 10 billion USD ...the owners of Big-C ? the owners of Central Group ?

[dunque]

7 hours ago, scorecard said:

I don't buy that.

There are plenty who want the current outrageous gap in income strongly reduced. 

 

Currently Thailand has the biggest gap in the world regarding the gap in income. 

Thailand is not even in the lowest quartile when it comes to income equality, and certainly nowhere near the good old US of A.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality

[scorecard]

2 minutes ago, NightSky said:

And this my friends is a clear example of why living in Thailand can be frustrating to say the least AND probably why foreigners are not welcome by some, ie educated foreigners know better than to accept corruption. I think the younger Thais have caught on en mass. Good luck to them although i fear nothing will change in the near future.

 

 

I agree that the younger Thais are now becoming well informed and understand how to decide what is good and what is not good for society.

 

In my uni classes nowadays not so much time spent on selfies, more discussion on good valuable discussion about freedom of speech, civil society, human rights etc. Good!

[scorecard]

11 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

I agree that the younger Thais are now becoming well informed and understand how to decide what is good and what is not good for society.

 

In my uni classes nowadays not so much time spent on selfies, more on good valuable discussion about freedom of speech, civil society, human rights etc. Not every day but much more than before and especially when there's protests and demonstrations. Good!

 

 

[Venom]

Plenty of competition, cp chicken or cp chicken or if you don't like that there's always cp chicken, take your pick. 

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, condobrit001 said:

I think this "public outrage" is exaggerated. I did not encounter any demonstrations, looting, bottle throwing or any other signs of outrage during my morning walk today.

It usually is.

[TERMINATOR3AB]

Monopoly   is ilegal  in many countries

Thailand  it  is  all about money and corruption  and who gets  paid  

I  would like to know  what Hand the Chinese had int his ?

How  much Chinese  money or  control  is behind this takeover?

The way   the poor  are treated in Thailand  is truly Pathetic...........What  is the answer..Revolution??

Good Luck Thailand

 

[Sydebolle]

What is mind boggling, that it takes a 4:3 (total seven people involved) vote by the Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC) to approve a seedy deal by conglomerate Charoen Pokphand - well, it is not a worthwhile amount to talk about as it is only a US$10-billion. 

The selected few proved, oncemore again, how the deals work in the Land of Smiles! Happy shopping at 7/11 and Tesco Lotus ....... 

[onthedarkside]

An off-topic post has been removed.

[Misterwhisper]

4 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Oh dear, not that dreaded "ding dong welcome" now at every Tesco store???

And monkey-trained employees shouting a verbal greeting accompanying every 'ding dong' without even looking up from what they're doing.

[Knocker33]

Same same stock as makro and probably the same totally useless stock control as makro. Wait till they run out and then reorder 

[overt2016]

10 hours ago, quake said:

Sure its very bad

But all the people who are outraged, are just jealous

because they are not the owners and stinking rich.

TIT.

Probably because they are not Chinese!

[overt2016]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

Public outrage over approval for CP Group's acquisition of Tesco Lotus 

By The Nation

 

Nipon Poapongsakorn, distinguished fellow at the Thailand Development Research Institute

 

Academics and netizens have expressed their frustration after the Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC) approved conglomerate Charoen Pokphand's acquisition of retail giant Tesco Lotus.

 

The commission voted 4:3 in favour of the US$10-billion takeover deal.

 

The OTCC on Friday gave the green light to CP Group’s deal to buy Tesco Stores (Thailand).

 

“The decision fails to build trust among consumers and other parties, as it can potentially damage trade competition,” Nipon Poapongsakorn, distinguished fellow at the Thailand Development Research Institute, told the Nation on Sunday.

 

“It is not in line with the spirit of the competition law, which aims to prevent companies having market dominance to unfairly enjoy an advantage over other competitors,” said Nipon, a former member of the competition committee when it was under the supervision of the Commerce Ministry.

 

It reminded him of the past two disputed cases when a giant alcoholic beverage company forced small shops to buy its beer by bundling it with liquor products, and the former cable network operator, UBC Cable TV, which charged excessively high fees from subscribers, Nipon said.

 

The two cases damaged the reputation of the competition committee, leading to legal amendments that paved the way for creating the current independent trade competition commission.

 

“In the controversial CP case, the majority of the commissioners failed to take into consideration the possible risky behaviour of the powerful companies in the future,” Nipon lamented.

 

He pointed out that the commissioners apparently failed to carefully look at the big picture where CP, via the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, and its targeted acquisition of Tesco Lotus, can dominate in all three market segments: wholesale, discount, and convenience stores.

 

CP Group already operates 7-Eleven convenience stores and the Siam Makro chain, a wholesale trading business.

 

In some provinces, their combined market share would be between 80 to 90 per cent, he said.

 

He also does not agree with the seven conditions set by the commission. These are minor issues, he said.

 

"The important condition they should have set is prohibited the group from opening new stores in provincial areas,” he noted.

 

He urged the commission to release the full details of their decision and the individual opinions both of those who voted for and against the acquisition.

 

It is unusual for the commission to not release much details when the OTCC issued a press release on Friday, he noted.

 

Sakon Varunyuwatana, chairperson of the commission, who voted against the decision said that the individual opinion of the minority commissioners would be released soon.

 

Suppliers, or small and medium-sized enterprises are adversely affected by the decision and they could lodge a complaint in the Administrative Court, he said about the next legal procedure.

 

They, however, must, convince the court on how it would damage their businesses, he added.

 

Netizens expressing their opposition via social media have also cited their concerns about the potential of rising prices of goods and how the bargaining power of suppliers and small businesses, in particular, could be affected.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30397580

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-11-09

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

 I don't understand this!!!My local Tesco has implemented numerous changes to it's stock ,layout, pricing etc over the last few months,

that an outgoing owner would NOT do.

Business 101. So even blind Freddie could see that the change of hands has gone ahead despite this so called official approval.

[mark131v]

1 hour ago, Sydebolle said:

What is mind boggling, that it takes a 4:3 (total seven people involved) vote by the Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC) to approve a seedy deal by conglomerate Charoen Pokphand

 

It would be absolutely fascinating to access those seven's bank accounts just to see if they had recently become much more wealthy

 

I would be willing to bet they or their family may all have had a big lottery win or a very successful investment, certainly wouldn't have been a brown envelope...

[quake]

49 minutes ago, overt2016 said:

Probably because they are not Chinese!

No, for Thais, money number one,

General public or Rich gits, just wanting more.

They all think the same, when it comes to money.

me ,me and more me, need more money, me.

TIT. what's new, zero.

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by quake

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, possum1931 said:

At least he knows what razors are for unlike some.

So your one of the beardies then? ????

[Fex Bluse]

Very Chinese style. No such thing as fair competition among Sino cultures. They care about winning only. At any cost. 

[Kalasin Jo]

15 hours ago, colinneil said:

Why are the public outraged?

It was a forgone conclusion that CP would be given the go ahead.

CP can do anything they want, no way will this so-called government oppose anything they do, money, money, money, thats all that matters.

Why shouldn't the public be outraged? They know that this will lead to price hikes which of course will filter down to the local Mom and Pop shops, the street and market vendors,  as they will need to pass on to the end consumer

[Freigeist365]

A monopoly a day keeps the competition away... ????

[kiwikeith]

14 hours ago, crickets said:

Prayut should use his power to step into this because it is unfair for the consumer. Prices will go up eventually and people can't really go anywhere else.

 

What, cross his best mate, Mr Dhanin, Thailand's wealthiest Chinese family and owner of CP group 

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

On 11/9/2020 at 8:25 AM, scorecard said:

salary & benefits of managerial staff cannot be more than 3 (?) times salary of labour staff

This is absolutely criminal in public education. It should be a noble vocation, not a business minded, money making career, as its funded with public funds, intended for the public good.

 

Not sure how it is in Thailand, but this is how it certainly was when I was in uni back in States. Administrators making hundreds of thousands, approaching the millions of dollars. Especially football coaches. Why? Promoting the school and attracting “top talent” are the rationale.

 

Meanwhile, teachers are underpaid, they can’t hire enough teachers, and I couldn’t get the classes I needed to graduate on time.

 

In terms of private business, though they aren’t beholden to public taxpayers, they certainly are to investors. Which we know they don’t give a <deleted> about either.