Ministry may approach council of state over InTouch reply
The Information and Commu-nications Technology Ministry might consult the Council of |State on its next move after Thaicom had already informed |it that its parent InTouch has no policy to raise its shareholding in the satellite operator to the original l
A ministry source said that Thaicom had already submitted a document informing the ministry on the matter at the ministry’s request. The ministry might have to consult the Council of State to determine its next move.
The case is in connection with the verdict of Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders in February 2010 |to confiscate the assets of |former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. As part of its decision on the ruling, the court cited InTouch’s reduction of its shareholding in Thaicom to 41 per cent in 2004 from the original 51 per cent without the Cabinet’s approval due to Thaksin’s abuse of power to benefit his telecom empire.
The Thaicom document to the ministry says that the court ver-dict applied to Thaksin, not to InTouch’s subsidiaries. Moreover, it added that Thaicom’s iPSTAR broadband satellite is a satellite under the ministry concession and the company has always paid revenue on all its satellites as concession fee to the ministry.
The previous government had the InTouch case examined by the joint private-state committee founded under Article 22 of the Public-Private Joint Venture Act. A majority of the panel’s members concluded that InTouch should restore its stake in Thaicom to the original level.
They also concluded that the iPSTAR broadband satellite was not a backup satellite for the conventional broadcasting satellite Thaicom 3 and that Thaicom still had to build a backup satellite under the provisions of the original concession.
An ICT Ministry source added that it would conclude the details in the document for consideration of ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap, who is expected to forward his final decision on the case for Cabinet approval in October. The ministry has no choice but has to look into the case or it will risk facing the charge of negligence of duty.
