AIS, ShinSat may not last in Singapore hands: Thai minister

The Straits Times, February 27, 2007



MORE pressure piled on Shin Corp on Tuesday with its television subsidiary headed for bankruptcy and government seizure.

Strong comments from Thailand's Information and Communication Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyudom at the same time also raised doubts about the concessions now held by another two subsidiaries: Shin Satellite and mobile phone operator, Advanced Info Service (AIS).

'Both AIS and Shin Satellite may not last in Singapore hands for long,' said Dr Sitthichai in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

He was commenting on investigations into Shin Corp, which was bought over last year by a consortium led by Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

The telco giant yesterday announced its net profits fell 60 per cent last year, due to poor performance by its television, mobile phone and satellite operations.

On the same day, the Thai Cabinet gave notice that if Shin Corp's ITV station fails to pay 100 billion baht (S$4.29 billion) in concession fees and fines by March 6, its licence will be revoked.

The sum relates to a dispute over the terms of the concession. Analysts say such an amount far outweighs ITV's own net worth and the company is almost certain to be declared bankrupt and taken over by the government.

'If ITV can pay, they can continue operations, but if they can't, we have no choice,' said Finance Minister Piridyathorn Devakula on a possible government seizure.

A seizure will leave all six free-to-air Thai networks under the control of the government, which came to power following a coup against then-prime minister Thaksin Shinwatra last September.

The executive chairman of Shin Corp, Mr Boonklee Plangsiri, stepped down as chairman of ITV on Monday, a move analyst see as paving for a government takeover of its management.

Yesterday, the minister in the prime minister's office, Khunying Dhipawadee Meksawan, was appointed to take charge of running the station should its concession be revoked.

ITV staff - who number over 1,500 - were told there would be no layoffs but there would be a name change.

The pressure on Shin Corp has been growing along with rising Thai nationalist feelings following a controversial deal last year which saw a Temasek-led consortium buying over a controlling stake in the telco giant from Mr Thaksin's family.

'The regime has become increasingly hardline,' one analyst told The Straits Times, citing Dr Sitthichai's remarks on Shin Corp on Tuesday.

'(Temasek) broke the law,' the minister had told Dow Jones, referring to a probe into whether it had used a nominee company to control more of Shin Corp than allowed under Thai law.

Dr Sitthichai also indicated it was better for private Thai concerns to buy over Shin Satellite sat as it would cost the government some 10 billion baht to buy its shares and assume its debts.

How the government acts will depend partly on a public opinion survey. Dr Sittichai said yesterday the poll, which would canvass the views of 30,000 to 40,000 people nationwide, is expected to take about four to six weeks to complete.