King Power seeks to exit duty-free contract at Thai airports
published : 17 Jun 2025 at 08:08
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Saritdet Marukatat
King Power is seeking to end the contract with Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) for its duty-free business at five international airports.
The AoT said on Monday that King Power Duty Free Co had informed it of its intention to cancel the contract to operate duty-free shops at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Hat Yai airports.
The company cited the impacts on its business from the government's decision to lower taxes on wine; a continued drop in tourists, especially from China; the Covid-19 pandemic; and geopolitical and trade wars.
An analyst at Pi Securities said he did not expect King Power to walk away from the duty-free business at the five airports.
King Power only wanted to renegotiate the existing contract with the airport agency, he said.
King Power anticipated more air travellers at Suvarnabhumi after the pandemic and the operation of its satellite, Sat-1 to serve more passengers, he added.
King Power won the bid to operate duty-free shops at Thailand's international airports in 2019.
Vocabulary
- analyst: a person whose job involves examining facts or materials in order to give an opinion on them - นักวิเคราะห์
- anticipate: to expect something - คาดหมาย,มุ่งหวัง
- bid: an offer to buy or provide something at a specific price - การประมูล, การให้ราคา, การเสนอราคา
- contract: an official written agreement - สัญญา
- duty-free (adj): goods from another country that you don't need to pay a tariff or tax on -
- geopolitical (adj): connected with the political relations between countries and groups of countries in the world or with the study of these relations -
- intention: a plan in your mind to do something - ความตั้งใจ เจตนา แผนการ
- renegotiate: to try to reach an agreement for a second time by discussing something in a formal way - เจรจาอีกครั้ง, ต่อรองใหม่, เจรจาใหม่
- seek: to try to obtain or achieve something - พยายามได้มา
- taxes: money that you have to pay to the government so that it can pay for public services - ภาษี
