I'm getting a bit fed up with the media recently with the military coup being blamed for restricting Tescos growth in Thailand.

I know that they have talked to Tesco but they are merely following through on the expansion ban proposed by Thaksin as part of his recent election campaign.

Is this sloppy reporting or is Tesco trying to deflect the criticism they are getting, quite rightly, from small retailers.

BigRed

I havent read any thing relating to Tesco/Thailand but the news in the UK reported a 1 billion pound profit in 6 months for Tesco.

If Thailand is trying to oppose Tesco's growth then good for them we can all see the effects that supermarkets have had on producers, prices and local shops in the UK, you cant move for opticians and dammed estate agents round here but try a buy a bit of fresh fish anywere other than the supermarket or the local equivalent, not a chance.

Maybe they can have a word with Macdee's as well.

Tesco and other mega-stores are being blamed for the death of the good old Mom&Pop general shops in LOS. However my view is that 7Eleven and Family Mart had already killed off the Mom&Pop shops.

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but try a buy a bit of fresh fish anywere other than the supermarket or the local equivalent, not a chance.

You can in Tesco/Lotus Phetchabun, but not in the local market, I assume you mean seafish.
Also Bread, milk, HP sauce, proper sausages & bacon , Beef (without the flies), orange oranges and the beloved pork pies,
I love Tesco Lotus best thing in Phetchabun (apart from Mervyn)
And the Thai's love it also, what's the problem

Maybe people have to move with the times

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Maybe people have to move with the times

Hear Hear. The Tesco in Rayong is only a few hundred yards from a big traditional market, and there's a lively night market just behind their shed.
Now Asda is a different matter. I think one of the outer circles of Hell must be something like Asda's in Totton

First Cold Storage supermarket and then FairPrice supermarket local to us here in Singapore have both closed because they cannot compete with the fresh market next door which is open every morning except Monday (the only day the supermarkets got busy).

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Maybe people have to move with the times

Do you really want a shopping centre which is indestinguishable from the bland UK high streets, full of Next, TopShop, New Look, McDonalds, and KFC? Do you support a company which practices subsidised prices in selected stores until all of the competition is closed down? Do you support the globalization of business where all of the jobs move to low cost economies and the savings are retained by the shareholders? What about the practice of buying up all of a manufacturers capacity then slowly squeezing the profit out of them until they go bust?

There is a limited place for big supermarkets but I guess Thailand has realised that they already have their quota.
BigRed

the company i work for has the contract to work on the build and fit-out of the Tesco Express stores which have been steadily appearing throughout the UK.
I have arrived at many pre-build meetings to be greeted by banner waving locals dead set against Tesco coming to there little corner of the world. I have also returned months later for maintenance issues to find the same banner wavers walking out of Tesco with bags full of shopping.
The complaint is of local shop closures, and obviously with those in direct competition this is regretably often the case, but most other local retailers in the immediate area report a massive increase in sales due to the extra customers Tesco attracts

This is what you are funding every time you shop at Tesco!
http://society.guardian.co.uk/housing/news/0,8366,988801,00.html
This woman bought votes, so no wonder Toxin welcomed her company with open arms! Like for like.

I shop at ASDA because its closer, and at WING HONG because it sells the oriental ingredients my wife craves.
These are my only considerations as i would imagine is true of the vast majority of people

I would imagine if you searched long and hard enough you could come up with reasons not to use most major company in the world.
Hilton Hotel do not employ men who have a haircut shaved at less than a N03, perhaps i should boycott them cos i am baldy

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Do you really want a shopping centre which is indestinguishable from the bland UK high streets, full of Next, TopShop, New Look, McDonalds, and KFC? Do you support a company which practices subsidised prices in selected stores until all of the competition is closed down? Do you support the globalization of business where all of the jobs move to low cost economies and the savings are retained by the shareholders? What about the practice of buying up all of a manufacturers capacity then slowly squeezing the profit out of them until they go bust?

So you don't shop in Supermarkets then

That's just business, dog eat dog, Capitalism, and I am all for it,

the little guys could club together if they had the will to do it,
the dairy farmers could all say no and demand 2p a pint more from all the supermarkets, but they don't.Cos one of them will be prepared to do it for the current price and then, it's the supermarkets fault

If you have a small business come up with new idea's and stop moaning, Tesco ain't going away.

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That's just business, dog eat dog, Capitalism, and I am all for it,

Or man eat dog (but not purchased from Tesco Lotus).
Still its handy to have in Thailand dont you think, home away from home just how some farang like it, sooner they start selling PG tips and not that inciped yellow label stuff the better.

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sooner they start selling PG tips and not that inciped yellow label stuff the better

They also sell imported potatoes, which make better mash, nicer than the one's from the market, which are more yellow in colour and soft

They also sell Frozen chips, buns, cakes have there own bakery, fresh Sea food, (you don't know how long it has been there on the market) Imported Steak mmmmmm,
Only 4 1/2 weeks and counting.

Got myself a big box of PG already, Tesco Lotus had opened in Phetchabun ,in June this year, and when they openend they had, all of the above,
So all thats needed is proper beans, PG tips, maybe some meat pies, oh and of course some Thai snap.
I cant wait.

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That's just business, dog eat dog, Capitalism, and I am all for it,

the little guys could club together if they had the will to do it,
the dairy farmers could all say no and demand 2p a pint more from all the supermarkets, but they don't.Cos one of them will be prepared to do it for the current price and then, it's the supermarkets fault

I don't think you grasp the impact of globalization of big businesses. Try looking here

BigRed

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I don't think you grasp the impact of globalization of big businesses.

Maybe not but

, `The impact is...... we all use them, If nobody used them, then there wouldn't be a problem, the fact is people want them, and people use them, blame the people, not Tesco.

Bryn

colin 244

Certain areas do very well without the big names. I can get fantastic fish in a shop close to my work in marlebone high st. The pull of these shops are their imaginitive ideas, some shops you can go and get your own aftershave made, brilliant french bakers and so on. A bit pricey but a great street.
Neil

if unskilled jobs move to low-cost economies, then that helps the people who live there and they are not forced to migrate to richer countries to earn a decent wage. nothing wrong with that at all.

it makes no sense to kill ur supplier if he is as efficient as other suppliers, since u then have to find another one and pay a higher price, due to the reduced competition in supply. if ur supplier is charging more than someone else, then u are perfectly entitled to ask him to justify it, or else risk losing the contract.

we do not need to fear town-centre supermarkets, which bring choice to us. if and when large food and grocery suppliers, such as unilever, proctor & gamble or nestle, open large shops as a way to stop us from buying competitors' products, that is the time to protest in a big way.

ian.

Ian, your reply strikes me as very naive. Have you not heard of the exploitation of foreign labour by Gap, Nike, and Coca Cola to name but a few. Why do you think Fair Trade was set up? We are not just talking about unskilled jobs either, there are microchip manufacturers, heavy industry, chemicals companies all taking advantage of the oportunity to produce goods without regard to safety of the workers or the pollution they produce.

here are some other links if you can be bothered to follow them:

Women and Global rights

Here's one about Nike and one for Coca Cola

BigRed

there are good companies and bad companies the world over. just because a uk company sources goods or services from a low-cost country does not mean that it is engaging in questionable practices there. it is wrong to take a protectionist attitude and assume that all goods made in the third world are the result of exploitation.

for example, working for a uk company's call-centre is regarded as a desirable job in india, as the pay and conditions are superior to a typical job working for a local company.

as far as tesco lotus is concerned, the company can be considered to be looking after its workers if they enjoy more pay, more benefits and better job security than the norm. if it so happens that, for example, it employs contract staff who are routinely forced to resign just before they gain legal employment rights (not unheard of in thailand), then it is right for us to put pressure on tesco to change things (simply withdrawing from that market does not help the workers one bit).

incidentally, i do buy fairtrade coffee, as i agree with the principles behind it. i also avoid nike because of the reasons u mention and avoid coca-cola in favour of local options where more of the money is likely to be retained in the local economy.

ian.

Ian, I'm glad you are aware of some of the issues. This is drifting away from the subject of the original post. I have not commented on the working conditions of the workers at Tesco/Lotus, the original point was to do with the false reporting of the military initiating a freeze on their developments when in fact it was already in progress under Thaksin.

The impact of big stores on the local competition by using unfair pricing is the underlying problem.

BigRed

next time iam doing maintenance on a Tesco Express i will egt hold of the monthly staff magazine. It gives reports on the development of new stores throughout the world, i always have a look out for Thailand.
Iam not 100% but iam sure in the August issue Tesco/Lotus had just opened 12 more Express stores making the total in Thailand to around 130.
I think despite any reports you read Tesco/Lotus will continue to develop througout Thailand

Big Red,
It the Tesco Express stores that are making it hard for little Mom and Pop stores dotted around every Thai town.
They really can't compete with Tesco's buying power. Small shop owners come over from Laos. Go to Tesco's in Nong Khai and resell Tesco's stuff in the shops, it cheaper than the wholesalers prices.

I see Tesco are at the centre of a Channel 4 News investigation regarding employing numerous underage children in a Bangladesh clothing factory.

Tesco claim their inspection revealed no dubious practices. What a surprise, still, as long a Bryn gets his HP sauce.

BigRed