New team takes over at controversial Shin Corp
Thailand's largest telecom holding company, Shin Corp, has appointed new top management to the company and to subsidiary Advanced Info Service (AIS) as part of the major shareholders' plan to focus on the mobile-phone business.
A company statement yesterday said Shin appointed Somprasong Boonyachai as its new executive chairman, replacing Boonklee Plangsiri. Somprasong is currently chief executive of AIS. He is also being appointed as Shin's acting president.Shin promoted Vikrom Sriprataks to succeed Somprasong as CEO at AIS. Vikrom is currently chief technology officer at AIS. The appointments of Somprasong and Vikrom will take effect on July 1, and Boonklee will become the only board director. Vikrom served as the engineering manager and executive vice president from 19-95 before taking the current chief-technology post in 2003. The move is in line with Boonklee's plan to adopt a low profile and pave the way for his successor. Boonklee is Shin's executive chairman and CEO, and the role of the new team is to deliver and execute policies. Shin's major shareholders, led by Singapore's state investment arm, Temasek Holdings, will focus on AIS and are expected to sell off the other Shin's subsidiaries, including a low-cost airline, television group, satellite operator and advertising agency. Shin owns 42.8 per cent of AIS, which has about 20 million subscribers. The family of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra sold its controlling stake of almost 50 per cent in Shin to a group led by Temasek in January 2006 in a deal worth Bt73.3 billion. A subsequent tender offer saw the group take over 96 per cent of Shin. The government is investigating whether the company Kularb Kaew acted as a nominee for Temasek in the deal. Usanee Mongkolporn, The Nation
|
