King Power wins reprieve in Bangkok

The Thai civil court has served Airports of Thailand (AOT) with a temporary but indefinite injunction against evicting King Power International Group (Thailand) from its commercial master concession and duty-free contract at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport. The injunction, issued on February 1, will “remain valid until it is otherwise amended or rescinded under court ruling”.

 

Under the injunction, AOT must allow King Power to continue operating at Suvarnabhumi and regional Thai airports in accordance with the contract signed on April 20 2004. However, the injunction specifies that King Power can only operate “in the space it has occupied before the issue of the temporary injunction”.

 

King Power can build and refurbish shops as long as it is given permission from AOT, which the injunction says will be considered with “fairness and expedition”. The injunction also says that King Power must pay AOT as stipulated in the concession and, interestingly, that should the court rule that the concession is not binding, those payments would count as compensation for damages.