"We don't deny that that the satellite business is interesting but we have to study carefully first what is the appropriate price and if we can seek strong partners. At this stage, we have yet to make any study," secretary-general Visit Tantisunthorn said.

The fund is the second entity to state it is considering its options regarding ShinSat, following local telecom firm Samart Corp.

The fund's investment policy caps its stake in any investment at 25 per cent and excludes it from taking on a management role.

Advanced Info Service, a sister firm of ShinSat, is the only telecom business it has invested in, with a stake of 0.78 per cent.

The fund earned Bt8.85 billion on its assets worth over Bt320 billion last year.

Earlier, the fund joined PTT and the Vayupak Fund in taking a majority interest in Thai Petrochemical Industry, now IRPC. It was the fund's first corporate acquisition.

This week, the information and communications technology minister said that one way to take back ShinSat's concession would be to buy all its shares.

According to Dow Jones Newswires, Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings declined comment on Wednesday on whether it is in talks with the Thai government on the possibility of selling its stake in ShinSat.

ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyudom on Tuesday said the government had held informal discussions with Temasek to buy back the country's only satellite operator.

His suggestion to buy ShinSat shares came after Council for National Security leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin declared last Friday that Thailand wanted its satellites back and defined the ShinSat concession as a "national asset".

ShinSat operates the Thaicom 1, 2 and 5 broadcasting satellites and the iPSTAR broadband satellite.

Boonchai Bencharongkul, founder of telecom firm United Communication Industry, questioned why the government had to buy ShinSat back from Singapore in order to retrieve its satellites when they are already owned by Thailand.

"The satellites belong to the country and their orbital slots also belong to the government," he said. It should instead channel its efforts into examining if there is anything illegal in the satellite concession, he added.

Shin Corp, which was founded by the family of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, holds 41.3 per cent of ShinSat. Based on ShinSat's US$214-million (Bt7.63 billion) market capitalisation, that holding is worth $88 million.

The Thaksin family sold off its controlling stake in Shin to a group led by Temasek in January last year, prompting massive protests against the sale of national assets.

The Department of Special Investigation is probing whether Kularb Kaew, a partner in the Temasek deal, was a nominee for Temasek's group to take over Shin, which would be a breach of Thai foreign business law.

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