Subsidiary Thai Oil Plc also posted a consolidated net profit of Bt6.88 billion for the second quarter, up from Bt3.531 billion in the same period last year, according to the filings to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

GE pulls out

Samart Buranawatanachoke, assistant governor of the Bank of Thailand's Supervision Group, said yesterday GE Capital Asia-Pacific had decided to return the retail banking licence for its GE Money retail bank to the Finance Ministry after acquiring 25 per cent of Bank of Ayudhya (BAY).

The move is in line with the central bank's "one-presence rule" under its financial master plan. The rule stipulates foreign banks holding more than one financial institution in the country must choose only one unit. GE Money will continue to do business as a credit company.

Samart said it would be up to GE to decide how it will implement lending. The central bank, he said, was more concerned with how the company will return deposits to the public.

It had been reported that GE Capital would have a retail bank in Thailand through a merger with BAY. However, the US-based bank later decided not to go through with the merger and to return its retail banking licence instead.

Debt confusion

Thai ABS Co Ltd chief executive Prachai Leophairatana yesterday demanded that Thai Petrochemical Industry (TPI) Plc pay its overdue debts for plastic pellets and other raw materials.

TPI has asked Thai ABS to pay a Bt925.65-million debt for raw materials, chemicals and other expenses, but Prachai sent a letter to TPI saying it owed Thai ABS Bt3.57 billion.

In his letter, Prachai asked TPI to deduct the Bt925.65 million from the Bt3.57 billion and demanded that TPI pay the remaining Bt2.6 billion as soon as possible.

TAT woos Seoul

The Tourism Authority of Thailand's office in Seoul said yesterday it was concentrating its efforts on promoting Thailand in online and offline media, to convert awareness and interest among South Koreans into travel demand.

South Korean arrivals from January to June reached 443,604, 63.3 per cent up on year, while South Koreans topped the visitor numbers to Phuket at 55,407 from January to April, the office said.

The TAT has already convinced several popular South Korean game shows, such as "The X-Man" and "Love Letter", which reach more than 7 million viewers, to film in Thailand.