Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, secretary-general of the SEC, said such a law would give the agency the authority to quickly investigate any cases and ask for a huge fine if any accused are found guilty of stock manipulation.

"Many cases have come up and most of the people involved have walked away. Or if they are found guilty, the amount of the fine is very small. Also, the current legal process takes so long to investigate. A civil-fine law would help accelerate the cases and give out serious punishments," said Thirachai. The SEC will study the matter and then hold a public hearing.

Phone deal

TOT Plc has won a deal from Novotel Airport hotel at Suvarnabhumi Airport to provide cutting-edge telecom services to the hotel.

TOT will invest about Bt32 million in the project, which is expected to break even within five years.

CPF reassures

Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc yesterday sought to assure the public that its chicken-processing operations meet strict animal-welfare standards.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), an animal welfare group, has long claimed that restaurants like KFC treat chickens inhumanely. Peta urges people to boycott KFC.

Adirek Sripratak, president and CEO of Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc (CPF), said every step of the company's food production, from the raw material stages of breed development and feed production, to further processing, is carefully managed to ensure international standards are met.