Bangkok Post : Thaicom fair probe promised

Transparency and strict adherence to contract details will be paramount in the investigation into the satellite concession held by Thaicom Plc, the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) minister said Wednesday.

Ranongruk Suwunchwee made the assurances in light of the Feb 26 Supreme Court ruling in the Thaksin Shinawatra assets case. The high court ruled that the former premier abused his power to promote the satellite business of Shin Corp, the telecoms conglomerate he founded. In one case, the Exim Bank was directed to offer low-cost funding to Burma to use the company's satellite services.

The court also singled out compensation payments for Thaicom 3 to rent an international satellite, and a concession amendment that allowed Thaicom, then known as Shin Satellite, to launch the iPSTAR broadband satellite as a backup for Thaicom 3.

Mrs Ranongruk said a ministry committee was now scrutinising the amendments. It may seek an interpretation from the Office of the Attorney-General about whether any of the agreements committed Thaicom to launch a Thaicom 6 satellite.

She said the committee was uncertain whether two of the amendments would cover Thaicom 6, since Thaicom 1 and 2 would reach the end of their service lives this year. Newer satellites have longer lifespans of 20 years.

Thaicom's concession has nine years left and the company was now considering whether launching a new satellite would be worthwhile, she said.

The ICT ministry will also consider whether to extend the concession for Thaicom, as well as whether compensation payments for Thaicom 3 should go to the Finance Ministry, as the company had used the funds to rent capacity on foreign satellites.

While the obligation of Thaicom to launch Thaicom 6 was one matter, the case of iPSTAR or Thaicom 4 was a different case that was directly relevant to the asset seizure ruled by the Supreme Court.

The minister said it was too soon to conclude whether the launch of iPSTAR breached the firm's concession terms.

iPSTAR is a broadband satellite with different technology from Thaicom 1 and 3, she said. Its main service is broadband internet and not broadcasting, and most of its customers are overseas. It has to be clarified whether the previous cabinet understood this point when it endorsed iPSTAR as a backup for  Thaicom 3, which was a conventional broadcast satellite.

Mrs Ranongruk said the ministry would invite Thaicom executives to provide documents and information on iPSTAR because the government officials and ministers who dealt with the matter had retired or been replaced.