Minor International Plc (MINT) has asked the Airports of Thailand (AoT) to reconsider its bid to run commercial areas in Suvarnabhumi, claiming the agency wrongfully rejected its entry to the bidding race, a source said.
MINT wants the AoT, which supervises Thailand's five airports including Suvarnabhumi, to "urgently review its qualifications", the source quoted its chief executive William Ellwood Heinecke as saying in a letter.
The letter, addressed to AoT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, was dated May 23, one day after MINT submitted its bid, the source said.
The firm, together with Central Pattana Plc, met AoT officials last Wednesday to check whether they met the criteria.
"AoT officials rejected the company's bid because it [MINT] lacks experience," the source was quoted as saying.
Mr Heinecke disagreed with the decision, arguing MINT executives have sound knowledge of running retail and food businesses through their supervision of subsidiary companies.
Attached with the letter to prove his point were documents showing the meeting agendas of executives of MINT and its sister companies.
An AoT announcement "does not exactly state" that a company which submitted a bid must be operators of these types of businesses. It only requires a bidder to have the experience, the source said.
Mr Heinecke also disagreed with AoT officials who said MINT violated a rule that requires a company buying and submitting a bid to be of the same name, the source said.
According to media reports, MINT used one of its subsidiaries, The Minor Food Group Plc, to present itself during the document submission stage.