BANGKOK -- Three of Thailand's biggest food companies are teaming up with government forces to police the country's borders in a desperate effort to protect the country's $3.3 billion a year pork industry from the spread of dreaded African Swine Flu from neighboring Myanmar.
Charoen Pokphand Foods, Thailand's biggest agro-industrial conglomerate, has joined with rivals Betagro and Thai Food to raise funds for 50 government-manned checkpoints along the border. The three companies together account for as much of 80% of Thai pork production, and the unusual private-public initiative is in part due to the lack of available state funds.
