Controversy
A controversy arose when the Royal Thai Police alleged that Thai soldiers operating as Tesco security intimidated a rural boy into poisoning chocolates as revenge for having their contracts revoked by the company. An Englishman in Bangkok was severely poisoned but survived the ordeal.
In late 2007 and early 2008, controversy arose when Tesco Lotus sued three of its critics for libel. Jit Siratranont, former MP and now vice-general secretary of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, faces two years in jail accused of criminal libel, and a damages claim of 1.1bn baht (roughly 33 million USD); while Kamol Kamoltrakul, another newspaper journalist, has been served with a libel writ demanding 100m baht (roughly 3 million USD). Most recently, newspaper columnist Nongnart Harnvilai was sued for 100m baht for writing in her newspaper column that Tesco no longer 'loved' Thais. The offending article in tongue-in-cheek "Buzz" column was part of a collection of short stories on page 28 of the paper, and ran to just a few sentences. Free speech campaigners have said these writs underscore Tesco Lotus's determination to stamp out criticism of its rapid expansion, which has been hotly debated for nearly a decade. In May 2008, the Thailand National Human Rights Commission and the National Foundation of Consumers held a joint seminar on Tesco's negative impact on communities and the media's freedom to report and criticise.
Read more about this topic: Tesco Lotus
Famous quotes containing the word controversy:
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
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