TDRI researcher details favours for Shin firms at Thammasat mock trial
The Bt73.3 billion paid by Temasek Holdings for the Shin Corp shares of the Shinawatra and Damapong families could have exceeded the market price because Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra might have offered the Singapore government's investment arm "extra concessions" to sweeten the deal, a senior researcher claimed yesterday.
Somkiate Tangkitvanij, a research director at the Thailand Development Research Institute, made the claim during a mock trial at Thammasat University. He was one of the three witnesses giving evidence on whether Thaksin's alleged conflicts of interest can be made into a valid case before the judiciary. "Could the money paid perhaps be compensation for something in advance?" Somkiate asked. He claimed the Thaksin administration has been trying to "give away" the latest 3G telephone communication concessions to telecommunication firms at a very low price. He claimed Temasek may have learned of plans to sell land belonging to Klong Toey Port and convert it into a new central business district, even before the Thai public has been told of the proposal. Somkiate also alleged that two major funds benefiting from the privatisation of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand are based in Singapore. The research director told the three mock judges presiding over the "trial" at Thammasat University's minor auditorium that to give details of Thaksin's conflicts of interest would take more than three days and nights. An audience member asked if any court could be relied upon to mete out justice, because most tribunals had been interfered with, to which Somkiate replied: "In the end, the lowest court, which is the people's court, is the highest court." Somkiate also alleged that the Board of Investment (BoI) has given favoured treatment to Shin Corp. He said Thaksin is chairman of the BoI and, of late, the list of firms receiving its support has been removed from its website. He accused Thaksin of delaying the liberalisation of the telecom industry until Shin Corp could secure a prominent share of the market and then adjusting the law to allow the sale of more than 25 per cent of telecom firms to foreigners just two days before selling Shin Corp to Temasek. Somkiate went on to claim that Advanced Info Service, a Shin Corp subsidiary, has managed to avoid paying 10 per cent revenue tax because the government altered its concession so the firm could deduct the amount from the 25 per cent of revenue it has to pay to the Finance Ministry. Newcomers to the telecommunications industry don't get the same treatment, he added The research director criticised Thaksin for making the Export-Import Bank of Thailand give a Bt4 billion loan to Burma to set up a mobile phone business and hi-speed Internet access, despite the fact that Burma has hardly any landline telephones or Internet connections. He claimed Shin Corp benefited from the loan because it helped the Burmese military junta set up the system. In the event of Burma defaulting on the loan, Thai taxpayers will have to shoulder it through the Finance Ministry, while Shin Corp has already reaped its benefits. "It's part of [his] income distribution policy," Somkiate said sarcastically. He said that when Thaksin claims he has paid this or that much tax, he fails to tell the public how much more tax he has evaded. "So can this be considered tax cheating?" asked plaintiff lawyer Danai Anandtiyo, from the Law Society of Thailand. "The tax law jargon is 'tax planning'," Somkiate replied. The research director raised more cases of alleged conflicts of interest until one of the 500-strong audience suggested that the Shinawatra's assets should be confiscated and Thaksin hanged as a warning to others. Another witness, Vuthipong Priabjariyawat, said that although more and more people want Thaksin to resign, he will probably persist until he has to "flee abroad". Pravit Rojanaphruk The Nation
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