Good morning,

Khun Kamol Kamoltrakul, one of three Thai writers being sued by Tesco Lotus, has arrived in the UK to state his case. Khun Kamol, who is a respected figure and an academic, is one of various people to complain about the success of Tesco Lotus in Thailand. There have been many campaigns at local levels against the opening of new supermarkets (not just from Tesco) because of the fear of the impact on local small ‘mom and pop’ retailers, which cannot compete. Tesco point out that they have done nothing wrong (which they have not, so far as I can see) other than be better at business than the smaller shops. They also point out that opening new supermarkets represents good new jobs for people (include former small retailers) and that many people prefer to shop in air conditioned surroundings, with better range of goods and lower prices (plus there is no need to haggle).

Tesco people have brought writs for libel against the individuals concerned on the basis of defamation. Similar tactics have been used in the past by AIS and former PM Khun Thaksin. It is possible (as many have done) to represent these efforts as attempts to suppress free speech and political debate – and considering the quite harsh penalties laid down for libel by Thai law such tactics can be intimidating. On the other hand, the quality of journalism and political discourse in Thailand is such that it is generally not difficult to find factual errors or false claims which can give substance to a claim for libel. The Thailand Journalists Association is to investigate Tesco to determine the extent to which any of the various claims made about them is true.

In not terribly surprising news, it appears the Olympic Torch procession did not go off quite as smoothly as had been portrayed: two of the torches, feared stolen, have been returned and another, wrapped in newspaper, has been found after being gnawed by a dog.

Back tomorrow.