As part of its well-timed preparations, hiring a pretty girl in a high-cost-of-living city like Singapore would probably run to about 400 Singaporean dollars (Bt9,700) an hour.

Company sales last year totalled Bt90 billion, and it was the country's highest taxpayer: Bt50 billion, or 5 per cent of the overall tax collection in the Kingdom.

But no matter how wealthy the company may be, it does not spend money without thinking.

After doing the maths, Thai Beverage decided to select two of its own good-looking staff and three interns to take on the behind-the-bar PR job temporarily when Thai Beverage launched part of its Bt4.89-billion initial public offering (IPO) shares to investors in Singapore last week. The brewer raised $1.37 billion from the IPO - Singapore's biggest fund-raising in a decade.

Reporters never found out exactly how much the five temporary PR babes cost the company, but it was revealed that - even including airfare, accommodation and wages - it was still cheaper than hiring two Singaporean models for two hours.

Besides, the five Thai women worked longer than two hours and also helped out with everything from the tiniest to the largest task. It was a win-win deal, as the five lovely helpers also enjoyed a free trip to Singapore and extra pocket money.

To this end, if the Singaporean female service charge is so astronomical, Friday Bug can't imagine how expensive Thai Beverage stock will be whenever it lists on the Stock Exchange of Thailand after completion of its dual-listing plan.