Businesses wary of border closure
- Published: 6/11/2009 at 08:27 PM
- Online news: Breakingnews
Amid the rising tension after fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's appointment as economic adviser to Cambodia, Thai businesses are highly concerned about the safety of their people and assets, but they say closing the borders should be a last resort.
Thailand's national energy flagship PTT has valuable assets in Cambodia and is monitoring developments. Should violence occur, it said its assets in the country would be protected by The Royal Thai Navy.
"So far we are in alarm mode since we have facilities worth billions of baht in Cambodia, even though they are located in areas far from conflict,'' said Kampong Kittitornkul, vice-president for international marketing.
PTT has a 50% market share from its six service stations and three oil tank farms in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. The rest of the market is held by France-based Total.
PTT's oil products in tanks include jet fuel, petrol, diesel, lubricant and fuel-oil used in power plants. The oil tanks are located in Navy areas.
"The Thai business community has not seen any impact yet, but we have to be cautious,'' he said. "Our major concern is if the situation comes to the point of border closure, whether our business can run as usual or not. We also need to prepare for immediate evacuation if riots break out.''
"We hope the situation will not lead to violence as happened in 2003. So far, high-ranking officials in Cambodia are still attempting to calm down the local business community,'' he said.
Logistics operators are wary border closure will hurt not only trade with Cambodia but also within the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).
Sealing border trade with Cambodia affects co-operation to integrate GMS logistics networks. Last month, a trial run of trucking goods from the Thai border to Ho Chi Minh City via Cambodia went through, said Yoo Chienuenyongpong, counselor of Thai Logistics Alliance Co.
Chemical product shipments to factories in southern Vietnam would be affected, said Mr Yoo, also the president of the Land Transport Federation of Thailand.
"We should not let politics cause problems for people who are not involved in the dispute,'' he said.
"Vietnam is more important to us than Cambodia in terms of business opportunity. Our counterparts in China are concerned about growing disputes between Thailand and Cambodia because it might further delay our regional economic integration,'' he added.
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- Writer: Bangkokpost.com
