Border dispute deals heavy blow to Thai business giants

The Thai–Cambodian diplomatic dispute has continued for about five months, dealing a heavy blow to Thai exports to Cambodia. The Japanese-language Bangkok Weekly yesterday cited Thailand's The Nation as reporting that Thai companies faced sales losses ranging from tens to hundreds of millions of baht in the third quarter alone. Some companies' sales across the entire CLMV market—Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam—even halved. Carabao Group, the parent company of energy drink Carabao Daeng, saw its Cambodian market fall sharply despite a record domestic market share in Thailand, according to chief executive 萨蒂安. The company estimated that confrontation between the two countries had cost it hundreds of millions of baht in sales. The report said heightened nationalist sentiment in Cambodia and continuing posts by influential online figures urging boycotts of Thai products had driven a sharp fall in exports to Cambodia. Carabao Group's sales to the four CLMV countries fell 44% in the third quarter, while sales of its own-brand products declined 5%. Thai President Foods, producer of Mama instant noodles, also faced difficulties in Cambodia, one of its major export markets. The company said Cambodia accounted for 17% to 18% of its total exports and that it had a production base there. Its third-quarter sales fell 12.17% year on year, while overseas sales declined approximately 30%. It is therefore accelerating efforts to develop new export destinations. Malee Group, which sells dairy products, juices and coconut water, was also severely affected by border closures. Chief executive 艾卡林 said dairy products had been hit hard in Cambodia. The company was working closely with local distributors to prepare inventory so it could return quickly when conditions improved. We believe this problem is temporary, he said. We have no intention of withdrawing. Cosmetics company Karmarts' exports to Cambodia have effectively stalled. Company president 翁维瓦特 said both official exports and unofficial channels through Rong Kluea market on the Thai–Cambodian border had been disrupted. Over the past three months, the company had lost 7 million to 8 million baht in sales each month. It was also losing 13 million to 14 million baht monthly in Myanmar. Karmarts hoped intergovernmental talks next year would restore normal conditions. A representative of a manufacturer of essential goods said some Thai products had begun switching Thai labels on goods exported to Cambodia into Khmer to reduce their political associations. If the diplomatic dispute persisted, Thai companies might need more detailed localization of brand strategies and language labelling.