Court accepts suit against Thanong
The Central Administrative Court yesterday agreed to accept a lawsuit against caretaker Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya, for his failure to have Thai Beverage Plc - Thailand's largest brewer and distiller - list its shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
The petition was filed by Sonthiya Sawasdee, deputy spokesman of the Thai Citizen Party, who said that both Thanong and the board of the Stock Exchange of Thailand had caved under the pressure from anti-alcohol protesters led by Chamlong Srimuang. He said that although Thai Beverage's application to list on the Thai bourse followed Thai law and the Constitution, it had been forced, instead, to list its shares on the Singapore Exchange. "Thai Beverage is a Thai company that wants to benefit the Thai stock exchange and the economy," Sonthiya said in his petition. "Its market capitalisation is estimated to be as high as Bt200 billion, and to the Singapore exchange, the amount of funds raised is the highest in 10 years." He accused Thanong of failing to toe the constitutional line when he backed down to people who demonstrated for seven to eight months against the listing. That, according to Sonthiya, damaged the economy and showed the inefficiency of both civil servants and the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Sonthiya also asked the court to compel Thanong to urgently meet with the SET board of directors and immediately grant Thai Beverage access to the Thai stock market. Thai Beverage shares are scheduled to begin trading on the Singapore Exchange on Tuesday.
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