Thaksin faces up to 26 years in jail

Bangkok Post (27 November 2007)

Four criminal charges to be pressed by ASCThe Assets Scrutiny Committee will, in two weeks, press four criminal charges against deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra for abuse of authority when he was in power, which could land him in jail for 26 years if he is found guilty. The four charges announced by the ASC yesterday relate to Mr Thaksin's alleged illegal concealment of his share holdings in Shin Corp and his administration allegedly having favoured his company's telecoms businesses.

ASC secretary Kaewsan Atipho said the sub-committees looking into Mr Thaksin's alleged abuse of authority were basing the charges on four cases.

Under the process, the ASC will file the criminal charges with the Attorney-General's Office, which is responsible for taking the cases to court. This would take about two weeks, said Mr Kaewsan.

In the first case, Mr Thaksin allegedly failed to declare to the National Counter Corruption Commission his total Shin Corp shareholdings while in office.

The alleged stake holding concealment also led to the second charge related to the sale of Shin Corp shares by his family to Singapore-based Temasek Holdings.

The ASC has already frozen 66 billion out of the 73 billion baht that Mr Thaksin's family netted from the Shin Corp sale.

In the third case, Mr Thaksin allegedly ordered the issuance of a cabinet resolution in 2003 to convert the mobile-phone operators' concession fee into excise tax that caused about 40 billion baht in damage to two state enterprises, TOT Plc and CAT Telecom Plc.

In the fourth case, the ASC sub-panel found Mr Thaksin allegedly ordered the Export and Import Bank to lend a 900-million-baht soft loan, out of a total of four billion baht, to the Burmese government to improve its infrastructure and telecom sector in 2004. This came with the condition that the Burmese government purchase materials from Shin Corp, said Mr Kaewsan.

After the loan agreement, Burma reportedly contracted Shin Corp's subsidiary, Shin Satellite, to be a major supplier to its 600-million-baht broadband satellite telecoms project.

Altogether, the four charges would make Mr Thaksin liable to a maximum 26 years in jail.

Mr Kaewsan said ASC sub-panels are still investigating three more cases to see whether they can be linked to any abuse of authority by Mr Thaksin.

''Information is being gathered on the three cases from all the officials involved. Up to now there is no evidence linked to Pol Lt-Col Thaksin,'' he said.

One of the three cases involves the reduction in revenue sharing of pre-paid mobile phone services between TOT and private mobile phone operators to 20% from 25%, causing the TOT some 70 billion baht in financial damage.

Another case concerns a contract between Advanced Info Service (AIS) and the TOT that was changed during the Thaksin administration, obliging the TOT, instead of private operators, to bear 25% of mobile phone roaming service costs, costing the TOT 13 billion baht for the contract's term.

The third case is related to the amendment of Shin Satellite's concession which allowed Shin Corp to cut its stake in the firm from 51% to the minimum 40%. The change was seen as an attempt to help foreign investors avoid laws limiting foreign shareholdings in telecom firms to 49%.

The share holding restructuring was allegedly carried out to raise funds for Shin Satellite to launch iPSTAR, the world's largest broadband satellite, for commercial purposes. This was considered to breach a concession contract requiring the firm to launch Thaicom 4, a basic communications satellite.

The ASC sub-panels are questioning people involved in the cases and gathering related evidence.

High baht cuts fund's return from overseas

The Nation (27 November 2007)

Returns from investments in foreign markets have been marginalised by the appreciation of the baht, says Somkiat Chayasriwong, chairman of the Government Permanent Employee Registered Provident Fund (GPEF).

However, yesterday he announced the fund's overall return on investments in the first nine months of the year was 7.15 per cent, a figure he called "satisfactory". Somkiat was speaking at a seminar marking the GPEF's 10th anniversary.

The fund's total investment portfolio amounts to Bt10.45 billion. Eighty-five per cent is invested in the bond market and 15 per cent in the stock market. Under its investment strategy, only 5 per cent of the fund's assets have been placed in foreign bond and share markets.

"From foreign investments, we've not seen a clear sign of good returns, because the strengthening of the baht has offset returns," he said, adding that the GPEF had not invested in sub-prime collateral debt obligations in the US market.

The GPEF is currently studying new investment strategies, in order to diversify its investments, probably by investing more abroad or more in the property sector, he said. But the decisions will be left to a new GPEF board, and in any case they will place priority on fund stability.

Returns from the GPEF's investments in bonds between January and September grew 48.63 per cent year on year, while its returns from stock-market investments in the same period jumped 51.37 per cent, he said. The fund's overall return was 7.15 per cent. Over the decade it has been in operation, the GPEF's average overall return has been 6.62 per cent per year, compared within inflation of 3.05 per cent and an average bank interest rate of 3.57 per cent.

Somkiat said 161,197 out of 220,000 permanent government employees were members of the fund. "We'll persuade more government employees to participate," he said.

He said under the new Constitution, the government was required to facilitate the establishment of national savings pools for the elderly. If, because of this provision, the new government required private companies to set up new national saving pools, the GPEF would also create a new savings fund of its own.

The GPEF is not a part of the Government Pension Fund (GPF), which manages government-staff savings assets worth more than Bt400 billion.

Provident Fund Association president Pisit Lee-ahtam told the seminar that the GPEF should diversify its investments and look for opportunities in foreign financial markets. He suggested higher-risk investments with higher returns be offered as an option to some GPEF members. Compared with the GPF, which provides benefits for government officials, the GPEF offers fewer benefits to its members, Pisit said.

ING Funds Management managing director Maris Tarab and Finansa Asset Management chief investment officer Monchai Jaturanpinyo, representing the GPEF's two fund managers, told the seminar that the GPEF should invest more in stock, property and foreign markets.

True Move plans to pass DTAC

The Nation (27 November 2007)

Company targets surpassing rival within two years.
True Move has set itself the ambitious target of beating.

Total Access Communication (DTAC) in terms of customer base within the next couple of years.
Chief executive Supachai Chearavanont announced the target yesterday as True Move, the country's third-largest cellular operator that made its debut five years ago, celebrated achieving a subscriber base of more than 12 million. Of the total, 60 per cent are in the provinces.

DTAC has about 16 million subscribers, while Advanced Info Service leads the field with more than 23 million.

DTAC chief commercial officer Thana Thienachariya said his company had focused on revenue more than subscriber numbers.

"If True Move can surpass us in terms of subscriber numbers, it's still okay. If it surpasses us in terms of revenue and profits, my boss might fire me," Thana said.

True Move reported a net profit of Bt213 million for the third quarter, including the one-time gain from change in the useful life of assets. This represented a turnaround from a net loss of Bt122 million in the second quarter.

DTAC posted net profit of Bt1.362 billion in the third quarter.

True Move has capitalised on the group's synergy to quickly build up its market share, especially in the teen segment. True group businesses range from cellular, broadband Internet and pay TV, to wireless payment services.

Supachai said True Move had to work harder if it wants to increase market share in the corporate customer segment.

Next year, True Move has targeted to acquire one-third of the forecast 5 million additional mobile-phone subscriber numbers in the market.

Speaking on a separate issue, Supachai said many foreign telecom operators had approached the firm about a possible strategic partnership deal, given that True Move is the only cellular operator without an overseas partner.

But he said True Move preferred to wait for the National Telecommunications Commission to issue new cellular licences, which would open up new business opportunities, before he starts thinking seriously about a foreign strategic partnership.