Telecom tax decision: Thaksin to be charged
The Assets Examination Com-mittee (AEC) resolved yesterday to charge and investigate former prime minister Thaksin Shina-watra for his government's decision on the telecom excise tax, which the panel viewed as beneficial to a particular mobile-phone operator and unfair to consumers, its secretary Kaewsun Atibodhi said.
The AEC, acting on a suggestion from a subcommittee probing the matter, agreed Thaksin should be charged with malfeasance in accordance with the Penal Code, Kaewsun said. The panel agreed the Thaksin Cabinet made the February 2003 resolution improperly and without any legal provision to support it. The controversial decision, which was recently reverted by the current government, allowed all private telecom operators to deduct part of their concession fees to be paid as excise before sharing the remaining concession fees with the state concession owners. In a separate case, the AEC yesterday also resolved to charge former National Housing Authority (NHA) governor, Chuanpit Chaimuanwong, and nine other NHA officials with malfeasance involving the agency's Ua Arthorn housing project. It was found that the NHA made a dubious money transfer to a project contractor, which led the agency to "make a profit" it did not deserve, according to Kaewsun. The profit was shared among the NHA officials. Meanwhile, Khunying Poja-man Shinawatra yesterday postponed giving testimony to the AEC over the Shin Corp share sale. Noppadon Pattama, legal adviser to the Shinawatra family, reported to the AEC that Pojaman was unable to testify today as scheduled because "she is engaged with business" overseas. "This postponement is not a tactic to buy time because Khun-ying Pojaman will testify as a witness - not as the accused. So the AEC should be flexible," Noppadon said. Noppadon did not, however, specify for how long Pojaman wanted to postpone her testimony. He also said that his team of lawyers would this week file a suit against the AEC, taking recourse in Article 157 of the Criminal Law Act, accusing the panel of not giving fair treatment to the Shinawatra family. In related news, AEC chairman Nam Yimyaem yesterday said he and Prasert Bunsri - chairman of the subcommittee probing the purchase of fire-fighting equipment - had last week filed a libel suit with the police against former Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej. The suit claims he gave a false statement to police in accusing Nam and Prasert of malfeasance. Meanwhile, the Cabinet yesterday decided to extend the AEC's term. Government assistant spokes-man Nattawat Suthiyothin said the Cabinet had given the nod to a proposal from the Justice Ministry to amend the 30th announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform - the forerunner of the Council for National Security - to extend the term of the AEC so that it ends at the same time as that of the Cabinet.
Budsarakham Sinlapalavan, Bancha Khaengkhan The Nation
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