science

King Power

King Power is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand King Power rather than just read about it. In short: The King Power International Group (Thai: กลุ่มบริษัท คิง เพาเวอร์ อินเตอร์เนชันแนล) is a Thai travel retail group, based in Bangkok. The chairman and CEO was Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha until his death in October 2018.

Key takeaways

King Power belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect King Power to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of King Power from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The King Power International Group (Thai: กลุ่มบริษัท คิง เพาเวอร์ อินเตอร์เนชันแนล) is a Thai travel retail group, based in Bangkok. The chairman and CEO was Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha until his death in October 2018. He was succeeded as chairman by his son, Aiyawatt. King Power's cash cow is the proprietary concession of Thailand's duty-free business." The company is the largest duty-free retailer in Thailand. Its duty free shopping mall in Bangkok's central business district covers over 12,000 square metres (130,000 sq ft) and it has branches at Suvarnabhumi Airport and Thailand's other major airports. In 2015, King Power launched an online site selling duty-free and duty-paid items.

History

King Power began in 1989, with a license granted for Thailand's first downtown duty-free shop at Mahatun Plaza. In 1995, King Power won the sole concession to operate duty-free shops at Don Mueang Airport, then Bangkok's main airport. In 1997, the government of Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh granted the company the sole right to manage duty-free business at the World Trade Centre in downtown Bangkok for 10 years. The business had previously been managed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Some questioned whether it was contrary to Prime Minister's Office regulations regarding partnership with private business. In 2004, the government of Thaksin Shinawatra granted King Power the right to operate duty-free shops at Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok's new main airport, for 10 years. Shortly thereafter, the company won the concession to operate duty-free shops at four major provincial airports until 2015. There was no bidding for the concessions. As of 2016 King Power operated branches at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Hat Yai airports. King Power's monopoly status stands in sharp contrast to the practice at other comparable international airports. For example, Incheon International Airport has twelve duty-free concessions competing for trade. King Power received the royal warrant from the King of Thailand in December 2009. The garuda statue in front of its headquarters symbolizes that privilege.

In August 2010, following agreement on a three-year shirt sponsorship deal with King Power, Milan Mandarić sold the English football club Leicester City F.C. to a Thai-led consortium called Asian Football Investments (AFI), owned by King Power Group's Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. On 16 May 2017, Belgian First Division B team Oud-Heverlee Leuven announced that they had accepted an offer from King Power to buy the club. In 2011, it opened the first regional store in Thailand's eastern region, opening the King Power complex in Pattaya. The following year, the business gained a new duty-free store at Don Mueang airport. Then in 2014, King Power gained an in-flight duty free concession from Thai AirAsia X and opened the first Leicester City fan store at BTS Siam Station. In June 2016 King Power purchased a US$226 million stake in Thai AirAsia, the country's largest budget airline. The purchase of 39 percent of holding company Asia Aviation makes King Power the second largest shareholder in Thai AirAsia. On 27 October 2018, the chairman and CEO of King Power, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, died in a helicopter crash, shortly after leaving King Power Stadium, home of Leicester City FC. An investigation into the crash by the United Kingdom's Air Accident Investigation Branch found that it was caused by mechanical failure.

Stores

King Power has outlets at nine Thai airports and stores in major tourist venues.

Allegation of wrongdoing In 2017, King Power was accused of failing to pay the Thai state 14 billion baht (£327 million) from the operation of their airport duty-free shop monopoly. The original agreement, signed in 2006, requires that 15 percent of duty-free shop income be paid to the Thai government. The lawsuit alleges that King Power colluded with airport employees to pay the government only a three percent slice of duty free takings. The lawsuit was filed by a deputy chairman of a government anti-corruption subcommittee. Two other King Power group companies owned by the Srivaddhanaprabha family were also accused of corruption in the legal action, along with a senior King Power executive. Fourteen officials working for Airports of Thailand PCL (AOT) have also been named in the suit. King Power immediately dismissed allegations of corruption relating to its contract with state-owned AOT. The allegations were described as "absolutely untrue" by Dr. Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, President of AoT, who explained the allegations were based on a misunderstanding of contract modifications negotiated by AoT. In effect, fee percentage was effectively reduced, but there is a lack of understanding of this modification in the contracts as rate does not apply to the same calculation structure. Instead of charging 15 percent of profit, AoT receives three percent of turnover, resulting in increased fees received by AoT (seven times previous fees). "This absolutely cannot be considered as damage to the state", Dr. Nitinai said. The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases in Bangkok accepted the case in November 2017, and said it would begin to hear witnesses on 12 February 2018. In August 2018, the court said it would extend a hearing into accusations of graft against AOT and King Power, delaying a decision on whether to take up the case. The court will hold another hearing on 4 September 2018, summoning the AOT president to clarify the AOT's duties, revenues, and regulations governing commercial activity. The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases dismissed the case on 18 September 2018, ruling that the plaintiff "was not an affected party, therefore he cannot sue in this case."

Close ties to various Thai governments King Power's "cash cow" is its duty-free business which operates as a government-sanctioned monopoly. Over the years, King Power has been very close to the Thaksin, Abhisit, and Yingluck governments. It has also been a supporter of post-coup governments of Sonthi Boonyaratglin and more recently, Prayut Chan-o-cha. In January 2019, it was revealed that King Power was among the donors at the pro-junta Phalang Pracharat Party's 600 million baht dinner fundraiser.

Philanthropy

Football in Thailand

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

King Power: King Power founder Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha — King Power founder Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with King Power

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what King Power claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to King Power before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about King Power ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of King Power

In research: King Power appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses King Power in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: King Power is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1989 establishments in Thailand, Companies based in Bangkok, Duty-free shops, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for King Power outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study King Power in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what King Power means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain King Power out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is King Power in simple terms?

Why does King Power matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study King Power?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on King Power.