Giant foreign retailers taking over a lot of land, seminar hears from concerned Thais

       Thais have lost their land ownership for expanding businesses and farm areas to foreign investors due to vast expansion by giant retailers, representatives at a seminar on the Retail and Wholesale Business Act (RBA) said.
       Speaking at the seminar yesterday on 'Retail Act: the Regulations in Capitalism and the Globalisation', organised by the Internal Trade Department, panelists voiced concern that foreign modern traders have occupied plenty of land to boost their business nationwide.
       They said that foreign retailers now have ownership over larger amounts of land through their outlets nationwide. They have the ownership right due to the lack of a specific law to block their expansion.
       Wichian Tangtumsatid, president of the Association for the Protection of Thai Occupation, said the expansion of large superstore chains have not only harmed small retailers, but also led to Thais losing their land for doing business and farming.
       "People are not aware that they have lost tens of thousands of rai to modern retailers. Farmers now have lower plantation areas due to wide expansion of modern retailers into small communities," he said.
       According to the commercial commission, there are about 680,000 small retailers and 125,000 fresh markets currently in Thailand. So far, some 20.7 million people are involved in the retail business, including owners, suppliers, employees, and family members of traditional retail businesses.
       Retail and wholesale business is currently worth Bt1.4 trillion. The sector accounts for 15 per cent of Gross Domestic Product. Of these, foreign investors, or the top five modern retail operators have enjoyed more than 50 per cent market share of the business.
       The association said giant retail businesses have expanded 90 to 100 per cent in the past 10 years, while the retail business has generally expanded by only 70 per cent during the same period.
       The association plans to propose its own draft for effectively controlling giant retailers' expansion in the country.
       Under the new draft from the people's side, it will specify that each retail or wholesale firm must not have a combined land of over 100,000 square metres. The draft law is expected to be completed in November this year for the government's consideration in line with the Commerce Ministry's draft.
       In addition, Thai retailers have called for the government to enact the Ministry Regulation for halting expansion of modern stores ahead of the retail act.
       Somchai Pornratanacharoen, president of the Association of Thai Wholesaling and Retailing, said the government must urgently announce temporary measures to stop large retailers from establishing new stores as they already have too many stores.
       "Thai small retailers have long suffered from the vast expansion of modern retailers. The government must ensure that during the vacuum period, small retailers will survive," Somchai said.
       Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai said that she could not assure when the retail act will be implemented. However, the current government has a clear policy to support the act's implementation to ensure a level playing field in the industry.