Once Taboo, IPOs for Brewers Are Back on Thai Bourse’s Agenda

Thailand’s stock exchange may open the door to alcohol beverage listings, long a taboo topic in the predominantly Buddhist country, as it seeks to jump-start share sales in its embattled equity market, according to its chairman.

“We urgently need to adjust ourselves before we lose those companies to other overseas stock exchanges,” Kitipong Urapeepatanapong, chairman of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, said in an interview. Permitting alcohol beverage producers to list would help make the domestic market more attractive, he said.