about 1,000 villagers from the Caravan of the Poor gather yesterday in front of the Nation Multimedia Group office to protest against a report in the company’s Thai-language newspaper ‘Kom Chad Luek’. The report, published last Friday, misquoted a referen

Merchants from the internationally renowned shopping strip along Rama I Road, which is targeted for a anti-Thaksin rally today, called on the protest leaders yesterday to select a new venue, fearing the huge gathering will scare away customers.

The shop owners from Siam Square, Siam Paragon, Siam Centre, Siam Discovery Centre, Central World Plaza and MBK Centre issued a joint statement outlining their concerns. Earlier in the day, Siam Paragon, Siam Discovery and Siam Centre announced they would shut their doors today and tomorrow.

Gaysorn Plaza, another ritzy shopping attraction at the nearby Rajprasong Intersection, said it would also consider closing temporarily if the situation became critical.

Siam Piwat Co Ltd and Siam Paragon Development Co Ltd, which manage the three adjacent malls, based their decision on reports of possible chaos along Rama I Road to the Pathum Wan Intersection and probably parts of Phyathai Road.

Employees, deliverymen and patrons would be prevented from entering the malls during the two days, the operators said.

The closure will force the postponement of several functions and the loss of tens of millions in baht in sales.

Executives of the two companies refrained from commenting on how much they stood to lose, particularly those at Siam Paragon which had to cancel its summer sales campaign scheduled for today despite spending heavily to promote its first sales season.

Siam Centre and Siam Discovery are estimated to take in a combined Bt100 million a day, while the massive Siam Paragon, which opened last December, can do that kind of business by itself.

Emilie Isidoro Singhabhandhu, general manager of Peppo Fashions Group Co Ltd, an importer and distributor of Guess, MNG, and Castro clothes with 11 shops in all three malls, was looking at losses of several million baht in revenue from the cancellation of the grand summer sale. "Too bad that the three-day event has to be postponed."

Sales at Siam Paragon are 30-35 per cent better than those of stores in other upscale shopping complexes, but the two-day suspension was an obvious move, given that anti-government demonstrations could be unpredictable, he said.

Nualphan Lamsam, managing director of Saint Honore (Bangkok), the sole distributor of Hermes products in Thailand, also backed the malls' decision.

"We're losing some clients but I guess the resignation of the prime minister may boost long-term confidence in the Thai economy. If that's the case, it's worthwhile," she told a group of reporters.

Pornchanok Khongdechakul said there was an 80-per-cent chance that she would lock up her Ballet shoe store in Siam Square, as traffic jams would keep shoppers away.

The "Do Re Mi" CD shop owner refused to close during the two days. "I'm really fed up with the protests. They should end as soon as possible."

Parinda Hasdarngkul, managing director of Procter & Gamble Trading (Thailand) Ltd, said the assembly in the key shopping district would depress the mood of consumers, who could tighten their purse strings out of a lack of confidence in the economy. This would hurt the company, even though it sells daily necessities.

"They (the protesters) should remain there for a few days only, or the impact would be more severe," she said.

Traders around the five malls and in Siam Square were more hostile.

In their statement, which contained no trace of the sender, they said "the gathering would drive away both Thai and foreign shoppers".

"We will lose money. We're not rich guys and to close the shops for three to four days would greatly affect us."

They cited three reasons for wanting the protesters to stay out. First, the planned venue in front of Siam Paragon is close to Sa Pathum Royal Palace. Second, the venue is in the inner city area, which could cause traffic havoc for the entire city. Third, large crowds of shoppers regularly go to the area and the chaos would hurt Thailand's image.

Traffic Police commissioner Phanu Kerdlarpphol said anti-Thakin protestors could be charged with breaking the law if they disrupted vehicle flows in front of Siam Paragon and other shopping centres.

Core members of the People's Alliance for Democracy could be arrested and fined Bt500 each.

He warned that road closures in the area could snarl traffic in many parts of the capital.

Sondhi Limthongkul, a leader of the alliance, said a stage would be set up on Rama I Road in front of Pathumnaram Temple, on the east side of Siam Paragon.

The stage would face west in the direction of the National Stadium. He said one lane out of the six inbound and outbound lanes would be left open to vehicular traffic.

Business Reporters

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