Some have said that all the telcos, DTAC and TrueMove included, benefited from the changes to the tax system. While this may be true, DTAC has publicly stated that the key difference is that they are innocent third parties to a change in government policy. AIS cannot make that claim as a the time, they were owned by the wife, children (as well as cook and driver) of the person who approved the changes, Thaksin Shinawatra and it seems that the ICT Ministry committee agrees.
Damages are expected to be in the tens of billions of Baht, up to 83.5 billion ($2.8 billion) according to early reports from TOT.
The situation for Shin Satellite is typical for Thai concessions. The bid is for one low value project and once approved, it morphs into another higher value one through back door deals.
The original project was for a pair of satellites focused on the domestic market. How that became five satellites with an international footprint is one issue. How the Board of Investment approved a subsidised loan through the Exim Bank (Export Import Bank of Thailand) for ShinSat for Myanmar is another. Then there is the rather more blatant issue of insurance money which should have been paid to CAT, but a request to have it paid directly to Shin Satellite was approved by politicians.
It is said that the worst form of regulation is a failed system when the courts have to get involved. Once lawsuits are filed, the process will drag on for years and years and usually organs of regulation and government will wait for a court decision. If, as many polls predict, a Thaksin-sympathetic government gets elected later this year, will these investigations get bogged down or even thrown out? Then, will they be resurrected once the Democrats come to power again? Will this madness ever end? Perhaps more importantly, will any of these lawsuits be completed before the concessions run out, True being the most pressing with just two years left.
Don Sambandaraksa is a former reporter with the Bangkok Post. He now writes for the tech blog Amitiae
