Thread: Why are there no locally brewed ales?

What happened to Carlsberg in Thailand?

If I remember correctly the Thais tried to screw them over with some tax law and instead of bending over and taking it up the arse they told them to jam it and moved all their operations out of Thailand.

Good on them but I did like the Carlsbergs.

Originally Posted by Bung

What happened to Carlsberg in Thailand?

If I remember correctly the Thais tried to screw them over with some tax law and instead of bending over and taking it up the arse they told them to jam it and moved all their operations out of Thailand.

Good on them but I did like the Carlsbergs.

Tiger has replaced them as my "no Beer Lao" choice. If it is down to Singh I'm not drinking beer, and if there is only Chang it depends on how masochistic I am feeling that day; sorry, night. Drinking Chang during the day is hard to imagine.

The application and effect of tax laws has odd consequences. In Thailand you can get imported Belgian and German beers at the shops at prices that aren't too bad- I can go watch footie at the pub and drink Beer Lao, or stay home and watch it while drinking Weihenstefaner for less money- but wine prices are ridiculous. In Japan there is plenty of good mass-produced and microbrew, but it is cheaper to drink imported wine.

In my old restaurant I worked we still have a neon Carlsberg sign near the doorway - my gaffer was friends with Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi

Charoen is credited with widening the Thai beer market. The competition may come back to bite him, but he has survived challenges before. In a 1999 liberalization the government privatized alcohol concessions, putting the state-owned distilleries up for sale. But this came two years after the Asian financial crisis that caused the baht to plummet and left much of the country reeling. Charoen managed to raise $500 million through loans and bonds collateralized by his stash of the local whiskey. His tender of $385 million, nearly double the expected bid, won him ownership of all 12 distilleries he had renovated.

A new deal with Carlsberg came the following year, aimed at strengthening both companies' beer brands throughout Asia; the goal was to float the joint venture on a major stock exchange in three years. But instead in 2003 Carlsberg pulled out of the pact, deeming it no longer possible "to establish a constructive cooperation" with Chang. The two firms are now locked in arbitration in London and Bangkok, and both declined to discuss details of the dispute.

Charoen will only say he is trying to analyze what went wrong. He speaks of "walking the righteous path" in business and setting an example for his five children, each of whom has a floor at the family's $18 million estate. In return, like many Asian magnates, Charoen has drawn on his offspring for cosmopolitan guidance. Now in their late 20s and early 30s, with degrees from MIT, Harvard, the London School of Economics and Cambridge, they have come home to help Dad. He says he wants, despite the opulence of their shared home, to instill the Buddhist values of his modest upbringing. In the past he's asked the kids, instead of servants, to wait on guests at the compound.

The business frictions haven't dampened charoen's aspirations to go public. In fact, he is preparing an offering of his renamed ThaiBev Corp., which consolidates 45 of his spirits, beer, bottled water and other beverage-related companies. Possible by summer, the IPO of just a minority share could be the country's largest by a private company and raise up to $1 billion.

After that, Charoen promises, Chang beer will expand on its nascent exports, chasing Singha and bigger rivals abroad. Although Chang still lacks many global trappings- only recentley it has an English-language website but before that development -it struck a $2.9 million deal to become the official sponsor of England's Everton soccer club, ironically the crosstown rivals of the Carlsberg-sponsored Liverpool club. Players now sport Chang's elephant logo on their jerseys, Chang's ads line the pitch's perimeter, and Chang, naturally, is the stadium's official suds. (This wasn't Charoen's first entry into the Briish isles. In 2001 TCC picked up distilleries in Scotland for $81 million in cash.)

There are rumours Chareon screwed over Carlsberg regarding a whatever deal they made - but no one will really know with both parties unwilling to disclose the details.