King Power concerned over damage to reputation

King Power International plans to submit a request to the British Embassy asking what action it plans to take regarding a disgruntled UK couple.

Deputy chairman Chulchit Bunyaketu said the group last Wednesday asked the embassy to explain the facts to the British press following a theft in Suvarnabhumi Airport's duty-free area, which is under King Power's management.

A British couple was charged with stealing a wallet. They have since complained to the UK media they had to pay Bt200,000 extra on top of Bt200,000 bail to have the charges dropped and urged British tourists not to patronise King Power duty-free shops.

Chulchit told a press conference yesterday that the case had caused damage to both King Power and Thai investigators.

He insisted King Power's closed-circuit TV clearly showed the couple at the scene and said the footage could be viewed on King Power's website. Regarding their complaints about being cheated out of extra money, he said this happened the world over whenever people sought help from the wrong channels. False reports will tarnish Thailand's image.

He said the company's duty-free shops had experienced a few cases of shoplifting each month this year.

At a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva reportedly expressed concern over a BBC report on this most recent case.

Airports of Thailand president Serirat Prasutanond supported King Power's assertion that the couple did steal an item but said their bribery complaint was outside of AOT's responsibility.

Regarding remarks by the prime minister about reports of lost or damaged luggage, Serirat said AOT's responsibility was limited to the check-in and loading process inside the terminal. Airlines load the bags onto the planes themselves, and that is where the losses and damage occur. Therefore, airlines must be held responsible for that, not AOT.

Meanwhile, King Power is suffering a decline in sales volume, due to the domestic political turbulence and type-A (H1N1) influenza. This year's sales are down 30-40 per cent so far.