King Power to be Kicked Out of Suvarnabhumi International Airport

[Gaybutton]

Anyone who has traveled internationally through Don Muang or Suvarnabhumi International Airport is sure to be quite familiar with the King Power duty-free shops that seem to hold a monopoly on duty-free shopping within Thailand. Now King Power is to be kicked out of Suvarnabhumi, but predictably the company intends to fight back.

 

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST:

 

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/24Aug2007_news01.php

_____

 

Duty Free Firm Gets the Boot

 

King Power Ordered out of Suvarnabhumi

 

AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK

 

The Airports of Thailand (AoT) board has ordered King Power Duty Free out of Suvarnabhumi airport after a fresh investigation found that its contract was signed without approval from the government.

 

The board, led by Gen Saprang Kalayanamitr, also gave the green light to take action against present and past AoT officials who colluded with the firm.

 

The evidence was in the findings of an outside committee headed by Pol Gen Pratin Santiprabhob set up to investigate King Power's right to operate commercial space in the passenger terminal of the new airport.

 

AoT decided in March that the contracts were void because they were designed to avoid the Public-Private Joint Venture Act that requires a lengthy selection process for any investment worth one billion baht or more by the private sector in a state project.

 

But the airport agency has not made any legal move.

 

King Power and its sister firm, King Power Suvarnabhumi Co, filed lawsuits with the Civil Court demanding 20.8 billion baht and 48 billion baht, respectively, from AoT in compensation for nullifying their contracts in March.

 

Yesterday's meeting was told for the first time that the Pratin investigation had found the deals had bypassed both the cabinet and the Suvarnabhumi airport development committee chaired by the prime minister.

 

The approval given by the previous AoT board for King Power to operate at Suvarnabhumi was illegal, AoT board spokesman Chirmsak Pinthong said.

 

The seven new members on the AoT board, including the chairman, Gen Saprang, resolved unanimously to order King Power to leave the new airport in due time, he said.

 

They agreed to file the case with the Administrative Court and to ask the National Counter Corruption Commission to take up the case leading to action against present and past officials.

 

A new bidding contest to find a few duty free shop operators at Suvarnabhumi airport was needed, he added.

 

In response, Chulchit Bunyaketu, deputy chairman of King Power International Group, suggested AoT go to court.

 

The Prime Minister's Office issued a regulation in 2002, requiring AoT to study any deal under the airport project thoroughly and seek approval from the airport development committee and the cabinet before implementation.

 

However, the past AoT board, chaired by then transport permanent secretary Srisook Chandrangsu, approved the King Power duty free contract right away, without seeking approval from the prime minister's airport development committee and the cabinet, Mr Chirmsak said.

 

According to Pol Gen Pratin's report, King Power firstly asked AoT on Jan 13, 2004, to extend its duty free shop contract that would expire in 2005. The contract covered its duty free shop only at Don Mueang airport and regional airports of AoT, but the requested extension was aimed at allowing King Power to expand its duty free business at Suvarnabhumi, which took over Bangkok air traffic from Don Mueang.

 

Then acting AoT president Bancha Pattanaporn saw the issue as exceeding his authority and passed it to the previous AoT board.

 

The Srisook board first consulted the Council of State, which is the government's legal arm. The council disagreed with the contract extension and suggested a fresh bidding contest because the business venue would change from Don Mueang to Suvarnabhumi airport.

 

The past AoT board arranged for a working group to study the issue, headed by Vudhibhandu Vichairatana, the Budget Bureau director.

 

The working group agreed to extend the King Power contract to Suvarnabhumi airport and the past AoT board approved the extension accordingly.

 

Pol Gen Pratin's committee identified officials responsible for the irregularities but Mr Chirmsak declined to name them.

 

Earlier, Pol Gen Pratin had implicated politicians, former AoT board members and AoT officials.

 

Mr Vudhibhandu still sits on the present AoT board, but he and some other board members who were also on the past board did not attend the AoT board's meeting yesterday.

 

Pol Gen Pratin said his committee would now examine the contract of King Power Suvarnabhumi, which won the right to develop the rest of the commercial space in the airport terminal.

[Guest buaseng]

IF they are kicked it it will not be before time! The contracts awarding them the duty free concession and the right to develop other retail areas at Suvarnabhumi came under suspicion of corruption even while Thaksin and TRT were still running the country and awarding (should that be rewarding?) contracts for the construction, setting up and running of the new airport.

 

The King Power monopoly has been a scandal and a license to print money for them. There are numerous items of clothing, perfume, speciality foods, souvenirs etc etc in their 'duty free' shops which can be bought at a lower price in downtown Bangkok (and this is in the higher-end shops which do NOT sell copies/fakes). The retail set-up at Suvarnabhumi is one big rip-off.

[Guest Steve1903]

The new government will only want rid of them to install some other company which will pay THEM a kickback.