ThaiBev

ThaiBev was founded on 29 October 2003 with the consolidation of 58 beer and spirits businesses, among them Chang beer, second in the beer market after Singha. ThaiBev brands include green-tea beverage Oishi and Est, a cola. The Sirivadhanabhakdi family's stake in Thai Beverage is around 30%. Charoen is chairman and his son Thapana serves as president and CEO. Thai Beverage is listed on the Singapore stock exchange as the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) prohibits the listing of alcohol-related stocks.

Molasses are the main raw material used for the production of ThaiBev's spirits, so that most of the products fall under the category of rum. As is the case with all distilled spirits, the distillate is crystal clear when first distilled. Amber and dark brown spirits obtain their colour from the extracts from the oak barrel during aging and from caramel, a natural coloring agent.

ThaiBev's yeast cultures, used for fermentation, are grown in its own laboratory and propagated in a yeast propagation tank. The yeast, molasses diluted by water, steamed rice that has been sprayed with mould (to create sugar) and incubated for four days, and water are added into a fermenter and the mixture is allowed to ferment for approximately 72 hours. The liquid that is left at the end of the fermentation process is known as fermented mash.

Distillation takes place in a distilling column and a pot still, which is a large copper or stainless steel kettle. Distilling involves boiling the "fermented mash" and condensing its vapour. The spent sludge remaining in the pot still is removed to be processed. The company's white spirits are then diluted with demineralized water to the desired alcohol content in a white spirits blending tank and sent to be packaged and bottled after filtering.

Brown spirits are diluted with demineralized water and then aged in oak barrels for three to eight years depending on the brand. The aged alcohol is then further diluted with demineralized water before bottling. Liquor concentrate alcohol and caramel colour are added. The brown spirits are passed through filters and then bottled and packaged. ThaiBev also makes Chinese herb spirits, branded as Chiang-Chun and Sua Dum. These are produced by blending alcohol, white spirits, sugar, caramel and Chinese herbs, and then further diluting the mixture with demineralized water.

Criticism and protest

In 2005, ThaiBev became the subject of nationwide criticism in Thailand by the Buddhist monastic community and other religious groups. At the time, Thai Beverage had announced its intent to list publicly on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), which would be the biggest listing in Thai history. Despite attempts by the National Office of Buddhism (a government agency) to prohibit monks from protesting, 2,000 monks from Wat Phra Dhammakaya organized chants of Buddhist texts in front of the Stock Exchange to halt Thai Beverage's IPO. In an unprecedented cooperative effort, the temple was joined by former Black May revolt leader Chamlong Srimuang and the Santi Asoke movement. Subsequently, another 122 religious and social organizations joined the opposition, reaching numbers of 10,000 protesters. The organizations asked Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's cooperation to stop the company, in what some of the protest leaders described as "a grave threat to the health and culture" of Thai society. While SET pointed out the economic benefits of the listing, opponents referred to rising alcohol abuse in Thai society, ranking fifth in alcohol consumption according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Ultimately, the protests led to an indefinite postponement of the listing by the exchange. Thai Beverage chose to list in Singapore instead, as the Thai Stock Exchange chief resigned as a result.