The government is already out of line for even considering new subsidies for the Big Three mobile phone companies. But its admission that it can only put billions of baht from taxpayers into such a scheme by using Section 44 is outrageous. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his chief legal adviser Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam seem not to realise they are in charge of a lame duck administration. Their obligation is to put this questionable issue on the shelf for the next government and parliament to consider.
At issue are the suspiciously identical claims by AIS, DTAC and TrueMove that they cannot afford to invest in next-generation telecoms technology known as 5G. The mobile network owners are correct that 5G is an expensive proposition. These three firms state say the problem is the high prices they paid at auction for spectrum to provide 4G services. Final payments for that bandwidth will soon be due, and the firms say they can't cough up for the old auction as well as participate in a new one.
The broadcast regulators are once again being sympathetic to the private companies. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) also has its own interests to protect. But the repeated requests from the telecoms firms for government help is shaping up much like the issue last year in the digital TV controversy. Private companies overbid for broadcasting contracts then demanded a Section 44 bailout. They got one, too. Gen Prayut used Section 44 to gift them a 4.8 billion baht contract payment holiday.
It was just three months after that Section 44 action that AIS and TrueMove first applied for permission to legally default on payment for the 900-megahertz spectrum.
DTAC joined the plea in September. The NBTC has twice delayed planned auctions for the 5G-capable spectrum. Without bids from the Big Three, there will effectively be no meaningful auction -- and no movement towards 5G.
Gen Prayut has the legal power to give away more billions to private companies who didn't plan their futures. His power as prime minister continues until a successor is sworn into office. His Section 44 powers also continue until then. But while the prime minister has the power to hand out telecoms subsidies, he should not do so.
The nation is 34 days from a national election. Gen Prayut, who came into office through special means in 2014, should realise that once an election date was set, his authority to bring in new bills, new programmes and new spending ran out. His government has already lost ministers to the election process.
Good governance requires Gen Prayut to take the high road by assuming a low profile. There is no telecoms emergency and no scheduled auction for which mobile network owners urgently need funds.
Committing taxpayer funds to private firms is an issue for a new government and, especially, an elected House of Representatives with the duty of accounting for all spending.