Bangkok, Thailand - Thousands of people demonstrated Wednesday outside the Stock Exchange of Thailand to protest plans by the country's largest beer company to list its shares on the market, saying the need to make a profit would encourage drinking.
Thai Beverage PCL, which brews Beer Chang (Elephant Beer) the country's top seller, has submitted an application for listing but a date for its initial public offering hasn't been set, said Pattariya Benjaphonchai, a senior SET official. It would be the first alcoholic beverage company to list on the market.
Police estimated the number of protesters at 3,000, but reporters said it was closer to 10,000. The demonstrators were largely members of Buddhist organizations, inspired by the religion's principle of abstinence from alcohol. Many carried Thai flags and banners with slogans such as "If you love Thailand, oppose the listing of alcoholic beverages on the SET."
"My father was killed by a drunk driver. Who is responsible?" read another banner.
Several hundred monks took part in the protest, which occurred on the eve of one of the year's most important Buddhist holidays, Visakha Bucha.
"If the company is listed on the stock exchange, the price of beer will be cheap and people will buy more beer," said a Buddhist monk who uses the single name Chinnakrit.
Buddhism - the main religion in Thailand - teaches followers to refrain from consuming alcohol, but most people ignore the rule and beer consumption is high. Muslims, whose religion also opposes drinking, were also among the protesters.
Former Bangkok Governor Chamlong Srimuang, a longtime political activist and devout Buddhist, told the crowd that "We are here to stop the apocalypse that would occur as a result of Beer Chang being listed on the stock exchange."
Pattariya, the senior SET official, said the exchange would consider the protesters' demand.
Earlier Wednesday, SET Secretary General Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubal told reporters that "There is no law or regulation barring a beer company from listing on the stock exchange if the application meets all the requirements."
Chamlong said the protesters would submit some 63,000 signatures to Parliament later Wednesday calling for a new law banning tobacco and alcoholic beverage companies from listing on the exchange.
Under Thailand's constitution, ordinary citizens can propose a new law if they gather at least 50,000 signatures.
The beer company, owned by liquor tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, has said it hopes to raise up to 40 billion baht ($950 million) through its initial public offering, which would be the biggest in the Thai market's history.