Who Will Take Over The Reins At King Power After Vichai's Death?

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa BANGKOK, Oct 30 (Bernama) -- The untimely death of tycoon Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha in a helicopter crash last Saturday has thrust the issue of a succession to his multi-billion conglomerate, the King Power Group. All eyes, are now on the late businessman's youngest son, Aiyawatt, or "Top" as he is commonly known among Thais, who has been groomed by his publicity-shy father to take over the reins of the company. "With his father gone, Aiyawatt has to take over (the company) as the Chief Executive Officer of King Power Group, as well as, chairman of the Leicester City Football Club (LCFC)," according to the country's English daily "The Nation" in its front page report on Tuesday. The 32-year-old business graduate has been sharing the limelight with his 60-year old late father, who founded the company in 1989 and remained the chairman until his unexpected death last Saturday outside LCFC's stadium in Leicester. Thailand's fifth richest man with a whopping fortune of US$4.9 billion according to Forbes, bought LCFC in 2011 and used his wealth to engineer one of football's most memorable fairytale when they clinched the English Premier League two years ago. He left behind wife, Aimon and children, Voramas, Aroonroong, Apichet and Aiyawatt. Aiyawatt who shared his late father's passion for polo, will have his hands full once he takes over the company especially wikth the possibility of its lucrative monopoly on duty-free shops at Suvarnabhumi International Airport coming to an end. "His first challenge will be to win a new (duty-free) concession (for King Power) in Suvarnabhumi (International Airport) when the current 10-year licence expires in 2020," said the newspaper. King Power won the bid to operate duty-free shops at the airport in 2010. Airports of Thailand (AOT) which managed the airport will call for bids for new duty-free concession soon before the current term ends in Sept 2020. The agency, which is 70 per cent government-owned, is under increasing pressure to boost competition in the bidding process for a new concession to operate duty-free shops in the international airport. Local economist and retail associations have called on the government to end a monopoly by King Power by awarding the concession to multiple operators as it will provide more revenue to the government. They cited Incheon Airport in South Korea, which handled a similar number of passengers as Suvarnabhumi but generated six times higher revenue to the government. South Korea's Lotte Duty Free which set up shops in Bangkok and Bangkok Airways which is listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand is among the rivals mentioned by local media that are expected to bid for the licence to operate duty-free shops in Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Besides running profitable duty-free shops at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Vichai's King Power Group also operated similar shops at Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport and airports in Chiang Mai, Phuket and Hatyai. The company also operated duty-free shopping complexes in Bangkok's Rang Nam, Phuket and Pattaya. -- BERNAMA