Tesco sues a second Thai journalist for libel

Tesco's behaviour in Thailand is bordering on the bizarre.

Tesco in Thailand is suing a second columnist from a Bangkok business newspaper for £1.6m in libel damages.

The global retailer, trading as Tesco Lotus, claims the business gossip writer for Bangkok Business News damaged the company's reputation when she said the company did not "love" Thailand.

The offending article in Nongnart Harnvilai's 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.

Six weeks after the article appeared on January 29, the journalist on the Thai-language business daily, part of the respected Nation newspaper group, received a writ from Tesco Lotus.

Another of the paper's columnists, Kamol Kamoltrakul, had also been served with a libel writ from Tesco Lotus seeking 100m baht (£1.6m) in damages 11 days earlier.

A third Tesco Lotus critic, 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 (£16.6m).

Campaigners for free speech said the latest writ underscored Tesco Lotus's determination to stamp out criticism of its rapid expansion, which has been hotly debated for nearly a decade.

"Obviously Tesco Lotus is on the warpath," said Roby Alampay, of the South-east Asian Press Alliance (Seapa). "It's out to silence not only criticism, but seems to want to stop anyone saying anything about the company. We find that very ominous."

So they are suing people for stating that Tesco does "not love Thailand"?

How, in their defence, are they going to prove that they do "love Thailand"? Are we now to suppose that multi national companies, which until now have always been motivated purely by profit, are actually capable of experiencing love towards their customers?

I don't know about you, but I have never felt loved by a supermarket at any point in my life nor do I ever expect to feel so. I'm not sure that what this journalist has said is even remotely controversial, it certainly doesn't sound to me as if some slander has taken place here.

Tesco disagrees:

But Tesco Lotus denied it was involved in a witch-hunt against individuals and merely felt it had to protect its name.

"It has never been our policy to seek legal action against anyone unless the things they say about the company are blatantly untrue," said Darmp Sukontasap, a Tesco Lotus senior vice-president.

"I believe this was the case in this instance. We're pursuing the case mainly because we believe that the things Nongnart said about the company were untrue. We have no other alternative but to seek justice in the court of law in order defend our good name and commitment we have to Thailand."

So, it is blatantly untrue that Tesco does "not love Thailand"? I look forward to the court case where Tesco will, no doubt, produce all the love notes and trinkets it has sent to Thailand over the years.

What a load of garbage.

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Tags: Tesco, Thailand, suing, love