STREET WISE
Why are resources still being wasted?
When meeting with reporters on Monday, Shin Satellite vice president for finance Tanadit Charoenchan admitted that shareholders and all others involved were concerned about the company's prospects.
Since Council for National Security chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin mentioned the possibility of taking back the rights to the satellite orbits, the company has received an avalanche of questions.
"Even my mother has asked me how the company will fare. She's concerned about whether this will affect my employment," Tanadit said.
While the company is uncertain what the government will do to nullify ShinSat's concession, the government seems equally uncertain that it can do so without having to spend a single baht.
What approach will the government take? Even if Kularb Kaew is found to be a nominee of Singapore's Temasek Holdings, ShinSat will remain a Thai company,with foreign shareholding of less than 49 per cent.
As such, it is impossible for the government to say ShinSat is a foreign company and thus claim it has every right to nullify the concession.
But Information and Communications Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom is certain it can be done.
At first, he seemed cautious, warning that simply taking back the concession could further damage the country's image in the eyes of investors. Then he asked the National Statistics Office to conduct a poll.
But now, while the poll results are still not available, he says he is convinced Temasek broke Thailand's foreign-ownership laws when it bought its stake in Shin Corp last year. He said Shin might return to Thai control as the government reopens its investigation into the deal.
"Both AIS and ShinSat may not stay in Singapore's hands for long," he said, referring also to Shin affiliate Advanced Information Services. "There are many ways the government can take back ShinSat without paying any money."
What on earth gives him such confidence?
As far as we know, the investigation into Kularb Kaew has gone nowhere. The police and the Department of Special Investigations started wrangling over the right to investigate the Kularb Kaew case.
If so many parties are convinced Kularb Kaew is a nominee, why we are wasting resources to continue the investigation?
Now that we know there are wrongdoers, why they are still at large? Do we or do we not have a case?
achara_d@nationgroup.com
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