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Published on April 7, 2008

Shop owners say they will march to the  Commerce Ministry again soon to pressure the new government into taking up the long-stalled retail and wholesale business bill.

"We don't know what the government's doing. But two months have passed and it hasn't made any move yet to revive the [first-ever] retail law to control the aggressive expansion of large, modern retailers," a small operator said last week.

Urban planning and building codes alone were ineffective in barring large retailers from spreading across the country, he said. And soon the codes would expire, meaning that any retailer with the money could open branches wherever it wants.

The new government must make the regulations for retailers a top priority, he said.

Once the urban planning and building codes expire, local administrations can issue permits to any giant retailer to open outlets even in small communities, which could push mom-and-pop stores into extinction, he said.

According to the Business Development Department, the largest modern retail operator here, Tesco Lotus, had grown to 492 outlets last year. Threatening local sundry stores is also 7-Eleven, which has more than 3,000 units. Other large retailers are Big C with 59 outlets, Makro with 45 and Carrefour with 29.

Up to now, the country still has no direct law governing retail chains, but only the urban planning and building codes of the Interior Ministry.

The retail business bill failed to win the government's support during the Thaksin administration.

Though it won approval from the following Surayud government, the National Legislative Assembly sent it back, citing many unclear issues.

Jit Siratranont, deputy secretary-general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the government should urgently pass the law as to assure that small retailers would not disappear from the Kingdom.

"Without the city planning codes and the retail act, large enterprises will continue to cannibalise small minnows. The government should pay more attention to the act's passage as it would take

more than three months to implement it afterwards," he said.

Under the current draft bill, existing giant retailers can expand but they must comply with the new re-

gulations - mainly for operating hours and size and distance from city hall - in order to leave room for small players.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation