| Bt73 billion, tax-free sell-off an ‘innovation in corruption’ |
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January 31, 2006 - The complex and questionable dealings used by the prime minister’s family to pave the way for the Shin Corp sell-off were an “innovation” in corruption, a respected academic said yesterday. Sangsit Piriyarangsan, director of Chandrakasem Rajabhat University’s Good Governance Research Centre, said “this complex form of corruption” involved abuses of legal mechanisms, tax and stock-market experts, foreign nominees, as well as abuses of political authority.
“It appears Prime Minister Thaksin is dealing with this issue as a businessman and not the prime minister of Thailand,” Sangsit said.
He said it was difficult to be-lieve that Thaksin was unaware of the shady dealings behind the deal involving members of his family.
“Corruption has become more and more complex. The prime minister said the share sell-off was legal. For me, not being corrupt means not only doing things legally, but also doing them righteously and legitimately,” Sangsit said.
The academic was addressing a press conference at the university concerning the findings of his research into the sale of Shin Corp shares. The report was called: “Bt73 Billion: An Innovation in Corruption.”
He said that since Thaksin rose to power in 2001, the prime minister had been dogged by suspicions of conflicts of interest, because his family retained ownership of Shin Corp.
Sangsit noted that Shin Corp, which benefited from a virtual monopoly in many of its businesses such as mobile-phone and
satellite services, made profits of Bt85.6 billion between 2001 and 2004, a jump of 226 per cent from the period spanning 1998 to 2001.
He said that Bt60 billion in various taxes had been saved by selling the Shin shares as individuals. Shin would have paid taxes on Bt103 billion from selling 1.26 million shares (at a market price of Bt104) in Advanced Info Service, the group’s flagship business and which is believed to have been the real target of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.
Wuthipong Priabjariyawat, director of the Millennium Institute, said the Shin sell-off should serve as a case study in “plundering of the country”. He said it appeared the deal was designed for foreigners to take control of national assets that should have been reserved for Thais.
Thirapat Serirangsan, a political science lecturer at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, called on the National Counter Corruption Commission to investigate allegations of asset concealment levelled against the prime minister.
Veera Somkwamkid, secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular Democracy, said the PM had committed a crime against the country for allowing the Shin deal to go ahead. He called on the relevant agencies to take action on the matter.
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