Airport Authority of Thailand (AOT) President Dr. Nitinai Sirismatthakarn and King Power CEO Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha have both publicly dismissed alleged corruption claims relating to a lawsuit filed against AOT in relation to its duty free concession at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.

 

Both companies have totally rejected allegations made within the lawsuit that the government and AOT were somehow defrauded to the benefit of King Power, following a reduction in the concession fee percentage payable at the airport’s pick-up counters from 15% to 3%.

 

Highly significantly, Dr. Nitinai Sirismatthakarn’s decision to go public in The Nation newspaper to wholly reject the claim also reinforces AOT’s strong contention that rather than being disadvantaged, both the government and the State actually benefitted hugely (i.e. seven-fold) from the percentage revision – with this never in any doubt at any level up to now.

 

LAWSUIT SAID TO BE ‘ABSOLUTELY GROUNDLESS’

The lawsuit described by AOT as ‘absolutely groundless’ was originally filed by former government opposition MP Charnchai Issarasenarak who is understood to hold the position of Deputy Chairman of the National Reform Steering Assembly – an anti-corruption subcommittee. However, his application that this lawsuit should be allowed to proceed has yet to be accepted, according to the AOT President.

 

Charnchai Issarasenarak’s allegations were first published in the UK newspaper The Guardian and also within the Singaporean Straits Times.

 

Dr. Sirismatthakarn has since taken the unprecedented step of making a detailed statement to The Nation newspaper, both denying any wrongdoing on the part of King Power or AOT, while also explaining the reasons and nature of the pick-up fee changes.

 

Having contacted senior sources at King Power directly today, TRBusiness can also report that the retailer has confirmed that the explanation relating to the pick-up counter fee changes reflects its own version of events – exactly as outlined by Dr. Sirismatthakarn in his statement to The Nation.

 

The AOT President also made it clear that the duty free concession and pick-up counter functions are not even directly connected in any contractual fashion.

 

KING POWER CEO STATEMENT:

At the same time, King Power CEO Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha has released the following statement which also rejects all of the allegations in no uncertain terms: “The allegations in question are categorically denied. King Power has always followed and been absolutely committed to the highest standards in proper and ethical business practice.

 

“We are proud of our company’s good name and honest reputation and will fight rigorously any attempts to discredit them.”

 

As mentioned above, Airport Authority of Thailand (AOT) President Dr. Nitinai Sirismatthakarn has now provided a detailed explanation of what changes were made and why in relation to the aforementioned pick-up counters at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport and this can be found in his statement to The Nation newspaper within its July 18 edition.