BANGKOK -- A battle is brewing over Thailand's growing population of coffee drinkers that will pitch one of the country's wealthiest tycoons against the mighty state-controlled oil and gas company PTT.
Thai Charoen Corporation Group last month paid $500 million to acquire the rights to operate 372 Starbucks coffee shops in Thailand. The move by the food and drinks conglomerate owned by billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi comes as PTT invests $1.3 billion in aggressive expansion of its own coffee shop business at home and abroad, in a bid to rival Starbucks in Asia.
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