Shop owners from several provinces launched a last-ditch effort yesterday to save their businesses from being des-troyed by huge supermarkets.

More than 30 shop owners representing small retailers nationwide arrived in Bangkok to lodge a petition outlining their grievances at the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary.

They deposited copies at Parliament and the Commerce Ministry.

Pak Chong/Nakhon Ratchasima retailers' association president Chanasak Unmeata-aree said government measures to control the expansion of giant retail complexes had stalled. Thousands of provincial shopkeepers would suffer.

"If the ministry takes no action to address this within 15 days, hundreds of retailers from across the country will demonstrate here and seal off the ministry," he threatened.

Panthep Suleesatira, coordinator of the Opposition to Multina-tional Business Union, said: "His Majesty the King has great care for his citizens. He always wants villagers to have a place to make a living under the sufficiency economy." The business owners had travelled to the capital to ask His Majesty the King for a favour.

Panthep argued that the government had to act urgently and implement retail-business laws to protect smaller concerns from being driven under by multinational companies.

He said the current law, that allows foreign multinationals to expand, should be suspended.

The delivery of the petition yesterday follows a series of demonstrations in the provinces against the opening of new supermarkets.

The groups said the supermarket firms received substantial funding from cash-rich foreign partners and would force hundreds of traditional shops out of business.

Chief among them was Tesco Lotus, which operates 55 hypermarkets and 140 Tesco Lotus Express markets nationwide.

On Sunday, more than 300 retailers in Pak Thong and Nakhon Ratchasima gathered to protest at the opening of Tesco's new hypermarket there.

A plan to build a Tesco hypermarket at Sakon Nakhon also faced opposition. Other major foreign players were Carrefour, Big C and 7-Eleven.

The shop owners' representatives in Bangkok yesterday came from Surat Thani, Khon Kaen, Sakon Nakhon, Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani, Lamphun, and Nakhon Sawan.

Their petition pressed for caretaker Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak to implement more retail controls.

They claimed a failure to act would see multinational players dominate the Kingdom's retail and wholesale businesses.

Suchart Thang-hua, president of Thang-Hua department store in Suphan Buri, said his store's turnover had plunged 70 per cent to Bt300,000 a day since the opening of a Makro store.

"If Tesco opens there, we may be forced to shut down," he claimed, adding in his area there were 42 7-Eleven convenience stores.

The shop owners wanted the government's help because they were unable to compete with the massive bargaining power of multinationals.

They failed to secure a meeting with Somkid but were received by the deputy director-general of the Internal Trade Department, Vatchari Vimooktayon.

Earlier, the Commerce Ministry announced it would revive the shelved retail business bill, which may require retail giants to reveal expansion plans on a quarterly basis.

The new law could place strict regulations on expansion now partly controlled by planning laws that prohibit hypermarkets in some urban areas.

But the shop owners said big firms had scaled down markets to comply with the law. Tesco Lotus Express markets were an example and nearly 100 of them would open this year in a Bt7-billion expansion.

In a recent interview, Tesco Lotus CEO Jeff Adams downplayed the grievances. He claimed they represented just small number of complaints - while consumers showed no opposition.

The Thai Retailers Association was considering the issue, and as a member, Tesco was waiting for a consensus on the dissent.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation