They must be overjoyed with the Commerce Ministry's plan to slap another birth-control measure on the breeding of chain retailers: using turnover and inventories in a particular area to determine if another store should be opened.

But to consumers like me, this measure sounds dubious, making it more difficult for Tesco Lotus or 7-Eleven to open new outlets. I don't see how this would benefit consumers who have to travel 3 or 4 kilometres to a retail shop for a bottle of fish sauce.

Moreover, how will the ministry ever implement its latest edict? First, it will need to gather information on the turnover and inventories of shops all across the Kingdom. Information from large retailers might be easy to get, but what about small shop-owners whose accounting books are not standardised?

Then, how do you determine whether a particular area is ready for a new shop? Would this decision be based on the number of residents in the area and the assumed rate of their consumption?

But then, the rate would differ depending on the income of individual buyers. A shop in a densely populated area might enjoy more customers, but the turnover could be lower than a shop in a neighbourhood of wealthy families.

A standard formula is needed if the ministry is serious about this measure; otherwise, it would only open the door for the ministry's officials to take bribes, since they alone would make the decisions about which areas still had room for retail expansion.

Surely, implementation will give politician Preecha Laohapongchana a serious headache if he returns to the ministry after the election.

achara_d@nationgroup.com