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Suvarn vows to clear up concerns
February 01 , 2006 - Tax expert promises to explain role of Ample Rich, timing of controversial stock transactions. MORE
Eyebrows raised from Bangkok to Virgin Islands
February 01, 2006 - The “sale of the century” has sparked a flurry of questions that shift from Bangkok to the British Virgin Islands via the city-state to the south. MORE
Stock sale sends govt into an all-out spin
February 01, 2006 - Despite a week of arguments by the pro-government camp, the legitimacy of last month’s Bt73-billion Shin-Temasek deal remains tough to comprehend for non-partisan academics, senators, civil society groups and the mass media. MORE
Watchdogs to probe deal
February 01, 2006 - PCT, Law Society to highlight joint study; sale ‘involves national security’. Two media and legal watchdogs yesterday vowed to publish a white paper on the controversial sale of Shin Corp to Singapore’s main investment arm by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s family and his Damapong in-laws. MORE
Takeover sets bad precedents, forum told
February 01, 2006 - The recent sale of Shin Corp to a Singaporean company has set several unwelcome precedents, members of a symposium at Thammasat University concluded yesterday. MORE
Heat on PM's children
January 31, 2006 - Relationship to Ample Rich a key point as SEC gives Panthongtae, Pinthongta seven days to answer disclosure queries. MORE
ANALYSIS: ‘Clarification’ only adds to the mystery
January 31, 2006 - The Ample Rich affair has taken a bizarre twist. Pinthongta and Panthongtae Shinawatra, the children of the prime minister, have said that prior to their sale last week, they had been holding a total of 329.2 million Shin Corp shares, or a 10.98 per cent stake in the company, in an offshore tax-haven firm, Ample Rich Investments Ltd. Moreover, they had been holding them there for some time before last week’s takeover deal by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings. MORE
Bt73 billion, tax-free sell-off an ‘innovation in corruption’
January 31, 2006 - Civic groups to ask Admin Court to weigh deal; cite national interest. Civic groups are planning to ask the Administrative Court to block the sale of Shin Corp to a Singapore-based company on the grounds that the deal imperils the national interest and consumer rights. MORE
Groups plan to fight sale in court
January 30, 2006 - Civic groups to ask Admin Court to weigh deal; cite national interest. Civic groups are planning to ask the Administrative Court to block the sale of Shin Corp to a Singapore-based company on the grounds that the deal imperils the national interest and consumer rights. MORE
AIS share sales raise new questions
January 30, 2006 - Analysts expect S’pore investment arm to dispose of non-core businesses; some see Thaksin eventually regaining control. Singapore’s Temasek Holdings stands to profit handsomely from its buyout of Shin Corp Plc, despite the huge cost of Bt73.3 billion, as it will very likely move soon to divest non-flagship businesses such as Shin Satellite (ShinSat) and iTV, probably back to Shin’s former major shareholders, investment bankers said last week. MORE
SINGAPORE’S BIG BUY: Temasek may sell off ShinSat, iTV
January 30, 2007 - The premier’s denial of Ample Rich Investments in his asset-concealment case in 2001 seems to have the potential of coming back to bite him where it really hurts. MORE
ANALYSIS: Thaksin too clever by half?
January 29, 2006 - The premier’s denial of Ample Rich Investments in his asset-concealment case in 2001 seems to have the potential of coming back to bite him where it really hurts. MORE
SHIN CORP SHARE SALE: The Ample riddle
January 28, 2006 - Accusations of insider trading arise as experts suggest Thaksin’s children must have known about the deal beforehand. MORE
SHIN CORP SHARE SALE: PM ‘condoned dodgy deal’
January 28, 2006 - Thaksin should be held responsible for any legal improprieties: Abhisit. Emerging evidence suggests Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra condoned a questionable deal preceding his family’s Bt73.3-billion sale of Shin Corp shares, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday. “Based on newly uncovered evidence, preparations for the Shin Corp transaction were not straightforward, and their manner has raised questions about tax liability and stock-market rules,” Abhisit said. MORE
Ample Rich deal queried
January 27, 2006 - SEC looking into stock exchange’s failure to list sale of Shin shares by PM’s company. The Securities and Exchange Commis-sion (SEC) is investigating why big-lot share transactions between Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s son and daughter, Panthongtae and Pinthongta, and Ample Rich Investment Co Ltd, a company owned by Thaksin, did not appear on the main trading board of the stock exchange on the day of the transactions, when they might have given the public advance knowledge of the Temasek Holdings-Shin Corp deal. MORE
Any way you look at it ...
January 27, 2006 - The Shinawatra’s Bt73.3-bn cash haul is so huge it’s hard to grasp. Imagine it this way: His son could spend Bt1.3m a day for 45 years … MORE
Analysis: Complex transaction a model for avoiding tax, ownership law
January 27, 2006 - The Temasek-Shin Corp deal was structured to be complicated and achieve two objectives: Enable the parties to avoid transaction taxes and keep Shin’s foreign shareholding within the statutory limits. It has long been known that Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS) is the jewel in the Shin crown. MORE
SEC responds to waiver outcry
January 27, 2006 - Watchdog explains decision on ‘leniency’ over tender offer rules MORE
Doubts over SEC, SET decisions on Shin
January 27, 2006 - Fund managers cast doubts yesterday over the actions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in discharging their responsibility to protect the interests of retail investors during the Shin Corp sell-off by the Shinawatra and Damapong families.MORE
EDITORIAL: Forgiveness unending for PM
January 27, 2006 - Thais must ask themselves how they can allow Thaksin to get away with so much while he shows so little respect. In the five years he has been in power, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has run up an exhaustive catalogue of transgressions virtually unparalleled by any other elected politician in this country. MORE
EDITORIAL: PM writing the book on wealth creation
January 27, 2006 - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has executed a timely exit strategy for his family business – selling Shin Corp at its peak price. Over the past five years, shares of Shin Corp have jumped from Bt15 to yesterday’s closing price of Bt44. The Shinawatra and Damapong families have sold the stocks at Bt49.25 apiece to Temasek of Singapore, mustering a staggering Bt73.2 billion (US$1.8 billion). MORE
SHIN TAKEOVER: Tax spotlight on brother-in-law
January 26, 2006 - Minute scrutiny of huge deal begins to focus on ‘weakest link among those who avoided tax’. The focus of the scrutiny of the Shin Corp takeover deal has now shifted to Bhanapot Damapong, who is not paying any tax on the big sell-off, nor has he ever paid any related tax, all the way from his obtaining the Shin stocks from his sister Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra in 2000 to his sale of 404.43 million shares to Temasek of Singapore on Monday for Bt19.92 billion. MORE
Faith in PM plunges: poll
January 25, 2006 - Move to limit PM’s conflicts of interest has backfired as critics slam ‘unethical tax avoidance’. Is it an end to conflict of interests, or is it conflict of interests in the extreme? MORE
Who does he serve?
January 25, 2006 - Move to limit PM’s conflicts of interest has backfired as critics slam ‘unethical tax avoidance’. Is it an end to conflict of interests, or is it conflict of interests in the extreme? MORE
Watchdog wakes up to legal nightmare
January 25, 2006 - The Securities and Exchange Commission’s freeing of Temasek Holdings from making a public offer for listed Shin Corp subsidiaries Shin Satellite and iTV could create a moral hazard, as other deals are likely to seek a similar waiver. “We’re discussing how to proceed with the acquisitions that had failed to win the SEC’s tender-offer exemption regarding the target companies’ subsidiaries,” a legal expert said yesterday. MORE
A classic display of double-talk
January 25, 2006 - After repeatedly insisting his children were in control of Shin’s future, Thaksin suddenly has a lot to say about the deal. In the last few months, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra repeatedly denied knowledge of a plan – purportedly hatched by his children – to sell off Shin Corp to Singapore’s Tamasek Holdings, for which his family and relatives have finally netted Bt73.3 billion. MORE
Revenue Dept should do tax audits on Yingluck and Bhanapot, Chirmsak says
January 25, 2006 - Senator Chirmsak Pinthong called yesterday for tax audits of beneficiaries of the Bt73.3-billion Shin Corp takeover, including a sister and a brother-in-law of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. “The Revenue Department should particularly target Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra and his in-law Bhanapot Damapong,” he said. MORE
CAPITAL INFLOW: Temasek deal ‘won’t affect baht’
January 25, 2006 - Bt200-bn injection a small sum: BOT. The Bank of Thailand is undaunted by the possible strengthening of the baht, if Temasek Holdings is to bring in as much as Bt201 billion in cash to finance tender offers for the remaining shares in Shin Corp Plc and Advanced Info Service Plc. MORE
Sale clears air for Shin
January 25, 2006 - The exit of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s family from Shin Corp Plc on Monday enables the telecom giant to diversify into new business areas free of conflict-of-interest criticism,” said Boonklee Plangsiri, Shin’s chief executive.MORE
SHIN CORP SOLD TO FOREIGNERS: Deal of the century
January 24, 2006 - Temasek promises no changes to Thailand’s largest telecom company. The Shinawatra and Damapong families have netted Bt73.3 billion from the sale of their shares in Shin Corp Plc in a historic deal that some claim could eliminate Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s conflicts of interest and introduce new challenges to the Thai telecom industry. MORE
Sale had been bubbling along for months under cover of a security blanket
January 24, 2006 - The sell-off of Shin Corp follows months of top secret talks between the Shinawatra family and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and the involvement of several influential individuals. MORE
Method of sale nagates tax liability
January 24, 2006 - Opposition MP Korn Chatika-vanij has questioned whether Prime Minister Thaksin Shina-watra’s family and relatives evaded paying hefty income tax of as much as Bt20 billion on yesterday’s mega-deal with Singaporean investors. MORE
Timing of family deal 'suspicious'
January 24, 2006 - The fact that a key amendment to the Telecommunication Act became effective just days before the Shinawatra family’s share sell-off in its flagship firm Shin Corp was proof Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was in a conflict of interest, critics said yesterday. MORE
Share trading strikes all-time high of Bt94 billion on back of Shin Corp sell-off
January 24, 2006 - Trading volume on the Thai stock market hit an all-time high of Bt94.6 billion yesterday, thanks to Temasek’s Bt73.3-billion buyout of Shin Corp Plc (SHIN). The impact of the country’s biggest-ever acquisition deal did not boost just stocks, it saw the baht strengthen to Bt39.02 against the dollar in the morning, marking a 10-month high against the greenback. It later weakened to Bt39.2 in late trading. MORE
CROSS-BORDER TAKEOVER: Two new firms pay Bt73 bn for Shin
January 24, 2006 - Companies with cross holdings created just weeks before purchase. Three companies involved in the takeover of Shin Corp Plc – Cedar Holdings Co Ltd, Aspen Holdings Co Ltd and Kularb Kaew Co Ltd – were hastily established in Thailand this month, showing how intense the manoeuvres have been. MORE
FOREIGN INVESTMENT: Political situation causing concern
January 24, 2006 - Shin sale and worries that Thaksin may stick around longer spark unease.There is growing concern among foreign investors about local politics now than in the past few years, said Supavud Saicheau, managing director of Phatra Securities Plc. MORE
SET probes brokerages for ‘insider trading’
January 24, 2006 - Five brokerage houses are being investigated by the Stock Exchange of Thailand for possible insider trading following transactions in shares of Shin Corp Plc prior to the formal announcement to the exchange of the change in the company’s shareholding structure. MORE
STREET WISE: Dad, it’s Temasek on the lined
January 24, 2006 - For weeks, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declined to comment on Temasek Holdings’ takeover plan for Shin Corp. Whenever asked, he would refer the question to his son, Panthongtae, who held a 15.29 -per-cent share in the telecommunications giant. MORE
EDITORIAL: PM confuses gain with public good
January 24, 2006 - Shin Corp sell-off does not mean conflicts of interest would disappear. Even as Thaksin’s family sold its controlling stake in telecom giant Shin Corp, which he founded, to a group of investors led by Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek in a deal worth Bt73.3 billion, the PM could not resist patronising the Thai citizens he swore to serve. MORE
EDITORIAL: Lesser officials cannot match PM’s At Samat largesse
January 24, 2006 - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra probably had every reason to tell himself he was on top of the world while basking in the publicity during his so-called “reality show” in Roi Et’s At Samat district last week. After all, how many other political leaders have had the luxury of having their every move and word covered live and uninterrupted for five full days? Only those in communist states could have commanded such attention. MORE
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