A consumer boycott against Coca-Cola in protest against the US-led war on Iraq has resulted in the closure of a Coke bottling plant in the Yala province of southern Thailand.
The Coke bottler for southern Thailand, Haad Thip, said it had shut its plant in Yala in response to an aggressive consumer boycott. “We heard (the protesters’) voices and respect their feelings,” said Haad Thip’s managing director, Phairoch Rattakul. “We will not open our warehouse until they understand that we are not an American-owned company.”
The closure of the Yala plant is expected to result in supplies of Coke, Fanta and Sprite drying up in the province.
The south of Thailand has a 2.5m Muslim population and religious and community leaders in the region have called for consumers to boycott US and UK products.
Haad Thip serves 14 provinces and had sales of US$37.3m last year. Coca-Cola has seven bottling plants in Thailand and employs in excess of 11,000 Thais.
Interestingly, Haad Thip’s main competitor in the south, Serm Suk, which bottles Pepsi, was quoted as saying that there had been no change in its Yala operations and it did not foresee any need for action.
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By GlobalData
