Singha declares draft law unfair
The feud between Thailand's two largest beverage companies was refuelled yesterday, when Santi Bhirombhakdi, executive director of Singha Corp, declared that the draft Alcohol Act was "unfair to consumers".
"If you look at the draft, [Articles 25 to 34] all begin with 'must not'," said Sudhabodi Sattabusya, the company's vice president and Santi's legal assistant.He said the rules, which for instance prohibit alcohol producers and importers from using company logos and labels to advertise or promote their drinks, would scupper media freedom. In his first press interview since the Cabinet approved the controversial draft on Tuesday, Santi said white-spirit producers would benefit from the new law, because they required little advertising but were still able to grow 14.8 per cent last year. Thai Beverage, Singha's rival, reportedly controls about 70 per cent of the country's white-spirit production. In a statement handed to reporters, Santi zeroed in on white spirits as the main cause of alcoholism in Thailand. Citing statistics from the World Health Organisation, he said Thailand ranked fifth in the world for white-spirit consumption, 85th for beer consumption and only 124th for wine consumption. To combat alcoholism, it is vital to first control white-spirit consumption, he said, adding that one possible solution was to increase its tax. Sudhabodi pointed to the discrepancy between white-spirit and beer taxes, which, when calculated by unit of alcoholic strength, were 7 satang per unit for white liquor and Bt7 a unit for a large bottle of beer. Ki Nan Tsui The Nation
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