Tesco may face a new setback as it tries to expand in Thailand after the country’s military-installed government endorsed a new law to curb the expansion of foreign retailers. The Times

The proposed legislation would create a central Retail and Wholesale Supervision Committee to regulate retail businesses nationwide, and assess and approve or reject plans for any new supermarkets. The government is also enforcing city zoning laws to slow the expansion of foreign retailers.

Deputy commerce minister Oranuj Osathananda said: 'The new law approved today will decentralise authority to provincial regulators and allow greater hearing of public opinion.' His department has claimed that more than 100,000 small shops have been forced to shut over the past decade due to rapid expansion of large retail chains.

Since the military coup in Thailand last year, Tesco was forced to temporarily halt the expansion of its chain of small convenience stores and only recently reactivated the programme in one of its most successful overseas markets.