PAD's impact on logistics only slight so far

Procter & Gamble Thailand has seen no significant impact on its business as yet, managing director Parinda Hasdarngkul said yester¬day. The company has switched toshipping some raw materials from Malaysia by sea rather than by rail.

The impact on LG Electronics (Thailand)'s logistics system was minor, limited to the changing of routes near the areas of big politi¬cal demonstrations, product mar¬keting manager Sinamet Imaim said.

The closing of the port in Khlong Toei also didn't cause the company much problem as it usu¬ally uses Laem Chabang Port in Chon Buri as its main distribution hub. The company expects no mob or labour union to shut down that deepsea port.

"Closing the port would not only affect us but also all exporting businesses because it's the main port for all exports," he said.

However, PAD's movement had inconvenienced LG's staff who had to travel from upcountry to Bangkok for meetings, he said.

Oishi Group and Unilever Thai Trading are completely unruffled.

Oishi is lucky that it has received no over¬seas orders and if a new one is taken, the compa¬ny can use Laem Chabang Port as its transport cen¬tre, CEO Tan Passakornnathee said. The compa¬ny only had some items for decorat¬ing its sales points stuck at Bangkok Port and would have to wait until it reopened.

Unilever usually distributes its products by trucks, corporate rela¬tions director Pongtip Thesaphu said. It always plans in advance to stock raw materials for manufac¬turing.

All the companies expect logis¬tics operations to recover soon.

"The most important thing for us is that the major seaports need to remain open to allow our very large volume of hair care and skincare exports to get to their markets on time, and not ruin Thailand's reputation as a reliable manufacturing hub," P&G's Parinda said. Tan from Oishi also expects the political tur¬moil to end soon.

"I believe that there'll be a way out. Right now, people might be real emotional. The country just got a little dam¬age but if we let it go on like this, the damage will be much bigger than now. I hope everyone will think of Thailand as a whole. The country needs to have someone willing to sacrifice for it to be able to develop," he said.

Darmp Sukontasap, senior vice president of Tesco Lotus, said the supply chain and transportation system were very important to the success of all businesses. It is unfortunate that the current political strife has spread to the railways and ports.

This is especially troublesome when exports are now the main driving force for Thailand to realise its 5.25.7percent eco¬nomic growth target.

In July alone, exports increased over 44 per cent, outperforming other sectors. Since most exports are now agricultural products, which are perishable, and this year is also a golden year for farmers, who are enjoying a 70percent windfall in income, these farmers are bound to suffer most from any disturbance to the export supply chain.

"Like everybody else, we hope that normalcy will soon be restored. With or without the state of emergency, government meas¬ures should be implemented for the benefit of the Thai population as a whole," Darmp said.

"Currently, Thailand is quickly losing the confidence of investors, tourists and business travellers. All this will ultimately impact our economic growth and economic development. We have lost almost three years to political turmoil and our competitiveness in the region is declining," he added.