Thaksins Assets

[Bagwan]

His money is as good as gone. I hope it will be spent educating the rural poor. But, really, Im sure that is what Thaksin was planning to do with his money anyway, right?

Great idea! I love it. Too bad all the greedy mitts of the government are already out pre-purchasing their new benzes and beamers. That is the education the rural poor will get

Yes, agree that don't want Taksin cashed up, but this is the real reason, to dilute it as it passes through many hands. Educating the rural poor, unfortunately many still don't realize that the current regimes idea is to keep them ignorant and in their place. Well I suppose that helps keep the bars full, some may see that as maintaining the staus quo for expats as well.

Actually, as a university educator, I have seen several positives signs from the current education minister. The lastest is the Thailand Quality Framework, which we just had a seminar about last week. It will look at curriculum, not only vertically, but horizontally, as to how certain issues are taught in classes, such as critical thinking, ethics and responsibility, etc. One of my friends, who is a past present of the SE Asian International schools assoc. thinks that this type of curriculum reform is badly needed, and quite good in concept.

I would say that the government trying to make 12 year access to schools for free (or at least lessen the "extra costs" as much as possible, its one of its greatest political platforms. I have enjoyed seeing them talk about spending more to renovate school buildings, and they seem to work working to make universities more accountable (more for the lower tiered unversities). Perfect, no. I would spend even more money, and make teacher retraining a huge national agenda target. But a step up from a few of the previous recommendations (One latop, one child, one extra baht for me, from Thaksin's playbook, etc).

My university enjoys a nice benefit from Abhisit being in charge, as Abhisit's father used to be the president, so we get good budget consideration. I appiciate that, and try to produce the best graduates I can, as do my collegues.

I do hope that the subject matter of your lectures is not English. However I will not labour the point lest a fully paid up member of the hard of thinking fraternity calls me a language Nazi.

It is not a teacher retraining programme that is needed; it is a teacher re-education programme. There is a significant difference.

If your young daughter came home from school and told you that one of her lessons for the day was sex education you might well be pleased about that and certainly would not cause you any alarm. If she told you that she had undergone sex training you'd probably make a rocket assisted trip to the school in a state of high dudgeon.

I have a ten year old niece up country with whom I have sat down and taught the basic rules of arithmetic. I didn't use a laptop or any fancy paraphernalia, just granite chippings and coins of the realm. She is currently assisting her 'teacher' in explaining decimal fractions and percentages to her classmates - and sometimes to the 'teacher'. She amazed her 'teacher' by explaining her thought processes in arriving at the answer of 9 times 9. As I had taught her, she multiplied 9 by 10 and then subtracted 9. Simple. How this lady 'teacher' has the balls to wear a flash uniform with medals and epaulettes displaying her rank, and presumably basking in the respect of others, is beyond me.

It is shameful that university graduates require a calculator to perform simple arithmetic calculations, and given the ever increasing rate of technological advances, this state of affairs ensures that Thailand will always be a third world country. The first world invests in its young people which indirectly leads to innovation and new or better products which the third world, through their blindness and corruption, are condemned to buying in. When will the hi-so's who run this country learn that having a highly educated and motivated work force leads to more commercial and industrial opportunities, a by-product of which would mean even more money for themselves?

To return to the subject matter of the thread from which I have strayed. Every last sitang that Thaksin and his cronies and cohorts have stolen from the Thai people needs, as a matter of priority, to be confiscated and ploughed into a fully comprehensive and well thought out education programme.

[mca]

When will the hi-so's who run this country learn that having a highly educated and motivated work force leads to more commercial and industrial opportunities, a by-product of which would mean even more money for themselves?

Why would they want that Bagwan? Then the proles might start asking awkward questions rather than showing subservience to the "puu yai'

[jayboy]

My university enjoys a nice benefit from Abhisit being in charge, as Abhisit's father used to be the president, so we get good budget consideration. I appiciate that, and try to produce the best graduates I can, as do my collegues.

LawnGnome. What would your stance be if Thaksin was still in power and decided to give a university "good budget consideration" because maybe he was pally with the dean or something? Genuine question.

Exactly but I suspect he inhabits an irony free zone.

[ballpoint]

Say you are put in charge of a state livestock project that provides great facilities for all cow-owners. You get the job on one major condition: you cannot raise your own cow, let alone use it to reap any benefits from the project.

Violate that condition and the state will take away whatever is deemed your undeserved produce.

The question is if you do breach the rule, can the state take your cow? You bought it yourself. You have spent a lot of money raising it. When it fell ill, you paid the vet with your own cash.

If the answer is no, another question emerges: what is the undeserved produce? The legs? The body? The head? The entire cow has grown remarkably in its entirety since you fed it at the project site. And you did it knowing full well the consequences of your actions...

The answer definitely is not no. You were aware of the rules when you took the job. No one forced you to take it, in fact, you went so far as to pay someone to get it. It now transpires that you were doing the job illegally, by violating the one major condition it came with. The cow is forfeited. The only decision that needs to be debated by the court is the size of the additional fine paid, and maybe a jail sentence, for defrauding the public. You should either have sold the cow when you got the job, and not just divided its ownership up amongst your family and staff, and recouped the expenses you incurred raising it then, or you should have turned down the job. There's no middle ground here. The people who gave you the job without checking on this one major condition, indeed, even knowing at the time that you were breaking it, but not caring, should also be standing in the dock beside you. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen in this country any time soon.

Honestly, this article unintentionally sums up all that is rotten in Thai politics. The fact that it even seriously discusses that the cow may not be confiscated is a frightening one. "Oh, it was only one little rule, and the cow was his before he got the job". Rubbish. It was the single major condition of the job that he intentionally broke in order to profit himself. Besides which, as we are all aware of, the cow was acquired through dubious methods in the first place. Sell the cow and transparantly use the proceeds for the good of the country. Electrifying and revamping the main rail routes would be a good choice. It would provide jobs for unskilled workers, improve the lot of the many rural rail users around the country, and cut the country's dependence on imported fuels.

[h90]

Say you are put in charge of a state livestock project that provides great facilities for all cow-owners. You get the job on one major condition: you cannot raise your own cow, let alone use it to reap any benefits from the project.

Violate that condition and the state will take away whatever is deemed your undeserved produce.

The question is if you do breach the rule, can the state take your cow? You bought it yourself. You have spent a lot of money raising it. When it fell ill, you paid the vet with your own cash.

If the answer is no, another question emerges: what is the undeserved produce? The legs? The body? The head? The entire cow has grown remarkably in its entirety since you fed it at the project site. And you did it knowing full well the consequences of your actions...

The answer definitely is not no. You were aware of the rules when you took the job. No one forced you to take it, in fact, you went so far as to pay someone to get it. It now transpires that you were doing the job illegally, by violating the one major condition it came with. The cow is forfeited. The only decision that needs to be debated by the court is the size of the additional fine paid, and maybe a jail sentence, for defrauding the public. You should either have sold the cow when you got the job, and not just divided its ownership up amongst your family and staff, and recouped the expenses you incurred raising it then, or you should have turned down the job. There's no middle ground here. The people who gave you the job without checking on this one major condition, indeed, even knowing at the time that you were breaking it, but not caring, should also be standing in the dock beside you. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen in this country any time soon.

Honestly, this article unintentionally sums up all that is rotten in Thai politics. The fact that it even seriously discusses that the cow may not be confiscated is a frightening one. "Oh, it was only one little rule, and the cow was his before he got the job". Rubbish. It was the single major condition of the job that he intentionally broke in order to profit himself. Besides which, as we are all aware of, the cow was acquired through dubious methods in the first place. Sell the cow and transparantly use the proceeds for the good of the country. Electrifying and revamping the main rail routes would be a good choice. It would provide jobs for unskilled workers, improve the lot of the many rural rail users around the country, and cut the country's dependence on imported fuels.

There are a lot solutions:

a) it was just a honest mistake

if someone find out about it, than the cow is in fact the cow of my home maid (sister, brother, children)

c) go with a lunch box full of money to the court which will result in either point a) or everything will be delayed for 20 years or someone loose the evidence, so as the document about the cow can't be found anymore the court can't proceed.

d) claim that you only want to help the poor, but some elite want to be rich alone (that has nothing to do with the cow, but lack of Jews and Black we need to create another enemy as this method works for all political problems).

etc etc etc

[LawnGnome]

My university enjoys a nice benefit from Abhisit being in charge, as Abhisit's father used to be the president, so we get good budget consideration. I appiciate that, and try to produce the best graduates I can, as do my collegues.

LawnGnome. What would your stance be if Thaksin was still in power and decided to give a university "good budget consideration" because maybe he was pally with the dean or something? Genuine question.

Well, when Thakin was in power, he gave my university a lot of budget consideration as well. Maybe our university officials are just better at wooing politicians than most.. lol Whatever the means, it has allowed us to create a top tier program, which definitely benefits the country.

[LawnGnome]

I do hope that the subject matter of your lectures is not English. However I will not labour the point lest a fully paid up member of the hard of thinking fraternity calls me a language Nazi.

It is not a teacher retraining programme that is needed; it is a teacher re-education programme. There is a significant difference.

If your young daughter came home from school and told you that one of her lessons for the day was sex education you might well be pleased about that and certainly would not cause you any alarm. If she told you that she had undergone sex training you'd probably make a rocket assisted trip to the school in a state of high dudgeon.

I have a ten year old niece up country with whom I have sat down and taught the basic rules of arithmetic. I didn't use a laptop or any fancy paraphernalia, just granite chippings and coins of the realm. She is currently assisting her 'teacher' in explaining decimal fractions and percentages to her classmates - and sometimes to the 'teacher'. She amazed her 'teacher' by explaining her thought processes in arriving at the answer of 9 times 9. As I had taught her, she multiplied 9 by 10 and then subtracted 9. Simple. How this lady 'teacher' has the balls to wear a flash uniform with medals and epaulettes displaying her rank, and presumably basking in the respect of others, is beyond me.

It is shameful that university graduates require a calculator to perform simple arithmetic calculations, and given the ever increasing rate of technological advances, this state of affairs ensures that Thailand will always be a third world country. The first world invests in its young people which indirectly leads to innovation and new or better products which the third world, through their blindness and corruption, are condemned to buying in. When will the hi-so's who run this country learn that having a highly educated and motivated work force leads to more commercial and industrial opportunities, a by-product of which would mean even more money for themselves?

To return to the subject matter of the thread from which I have strayed. Every last sitang that Thaksin and his cronies and cohorts have stolen from the Thai people needs, as a matter of priority, to be confiscated and ploughed into a fully comprehensive and well thought out education programme.

Agree with the later - as for my language and spelling errors, i would mark that up to typing quickly and not spell checking. I teach music anyway. If you want to challenge my intonation, you are welcome to give it a go.

[LawnGnome]

My university enjoys a nice benefit from Abhisit being in charge, as Abhisit's father used to be the president, so we get good budget consideration. I appiciate that, and try to produce the best graduates I can, as do my collegues.

LawnGnome. What would your stance be if Thaksin was still in power and decided to give a university "good budget consideration" because maybe he was pally with the dean or something? Genuine question.

Exactly but I suspect he inhabits an irony free zone.

Ahh Jayboy - i still love you.

[zzaa09]

If found guilty, Thaksin could see Bt76.6 billion in assets seized, if the money is deemed to have been acquired improperly.

Wasn't it already "seized"? I thought it was in holding until this ridiculously long court case is completed? Hopefully recent events will speed things up a bit.

I think that if the decision is not made in Thaksin's favour, and there is no recourse for an appeal, he will lose interest in his shenanigans. The red shirts, black Songkran, and now all of this in Cambodia are all an attempt to get back in and stop this case.

When will we see a conclusion to this? I remember something about a December judgment?

And pray tell, where might such seized assets go if/when a judgement is made against him...?? Charitable cause, I reckon?

[LawnGnome]

If found guilty, Thaksin could see Bt76.6 billion in assets seized, if the money is deemed to have been acquired improperly.

Wasn't it already "seized"? I thought it was in holding until this ridiculously long court case is completed? Hopefully recent events will speed things up a bit.

I think that if the decision is not made in Thaksin's favour, and there is no recourse for an appeal, he will lose interest in his shenanigans. The red shirts, black Songkran, and now all of this in Cambodia are all an attempt to get back in and stop this case.

When will we see a conclusion to this? I remember something about a December judgment?

And pray tell, where might such seized assets go if/when a judgement is made against him...?? Charitable cause, I reckon?

Well, hopefull into making the country a better place (With the unavoidable 10% taken buy corrupt state officials. lol

[zzaa09]

If he gets the lions share back, he will have enough to bring the country to it's knees and take over...

He will want revenge. They know it he knows it, they can't allow that at this point in time.

And the AEC guy just testified there is a paper trail to show that it is shadily acquired.

Potjamin might get some back, but Thaksin will have a much higher level of proof to provide.

Yes in Thailand often guilty until proven innocent. There was visible reasons to freeze the cash,

and proof must be provided of the money's provenance.

What a circus.

[zzaa09]

If found guilty, Thaksin could see Bt76.6 billion in assets seized, if the money is deemed to have been acquired improperly.

Wasn't it already "seized"? I thought it was in holding until this ridiculously long court case is completed? Hopefully recent events will speed things up a bit.

I think that if the decision is not made in Thaksin's favour, and there is no recourse for an appeal, he will lose interest in his shenanigans. The red shirts, black Songkran, and now all of this in Cambodia are all an attempt to get back in and stop this case.

When will we see a conclusion to this? I remember something about a December judgment?

And pray tell, where might such seized assets go if/when a judgement is made against him...?? Charitable cause, I reckon?

Well, hopefull into making the country a better place (With the unavoidable 10% taken buy corrupt state officials. lol

Oh sure, the most moral and ethical decision will be rendered. When pigs fly. I might add that our beloved T-Squared is among good fraternity of those whom have become wealthy be ill gotten means.

[marshbags]

SPECIAL REPORT

WEB OF INTRIGUE

By The Nation

Published on November 23, 2009

Prosecution reveals how the Shinawatras hid and multiplied their assets while in power

Would you cheat your son out of Bt3 billion? That could happen if your assistant was in a hurry to cover up something very important to you.

That was what the prosecution in the Bt76-billion asset seizure case against ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra told the Supreme Court last week.

The story was part of the prosecution's detailed argument that Thaksin and his ex-wife, Pojaman na Pombejra, did own altogether 46.87 per cent of Shin Corp shares worth more than Bt69 billion while the former held the country's highest office from 2001-2006.

The alleged cover-up of massive wealth was in blatant violation of Article 100(3) of the National Counter-Corruption Commission Act of 1999, which bars public office holders and their spouses from owning shares in companies holding state concessions.

In this case, Shin Corp was the holding company for Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Shin Satellite, which enjoyed government concessions for lucrative cellular and satellite service businesses.

Back in 2000, Thaksin and Pojaman were busy preparing to hide their multibillion-baht assets ahead of the general election.

After winning the election by a landslide, they could have sold off the assets or put them under a "blind" trust to comply with the law, but these options were never used.

Instead, a highly complex web of offshore and onshore entities and nominees was used to conceal their tremendous wealth.

Behind the scenes, the motives were multifaceted, ranging from tax avoidance to election campaign financing and other political reasons.

The entire process of concealing such massive wealth was unprecedented in Thai history. So was the subsequent government policies and measures used to increase the value of the holdings over a period of more than five years.

Kaewsan Atibhodi, a member of the now-defunct Assets Examination Committee, which investigated this and other Thaksin cases, said the overall process of asset concealment and "policy corruption" was just intriguing.

As a key prosecution witness in the Bt76-billion asset seizure case pending in the Supreme Court, Kaewsan last week testified that the whole Bt76 billion fortune should be devolved to the state.

"First of all, Thaksin hid his vast shareholdings even after being elected the prime minister, so he intentionally violated Article 100(3) of the NCCC law.

"Secondly, as prime minister, he introduced measures and policies that benefited Shin Corp so he violated Article 100(1) of the NCCC law.

"Therefore, Thaksin abused his office to gain his wealth, resulting in a loss to the state of more than Bt100 billion. Since he and his former wife controlled as much as 46.87 per cent of Shin Corp, the benefits from such a large shareholding were therefore ill-gotten and should be forfeited."

Yet, the prosecution would have to convince the court that Thaksin and Pojaman did really conceal their wealth while the former was in office - a key point consistently countered and dismissed by the defence lawyers.

Given that the burden of proof rests with the accused in corruption and related cases, the prosecution concluded that they were not satisfied with evidence presented by the defence, which argued that all Shin Corp shares were "sold" to the couple's children and relatives before Thaksin assumed the premiership.

"This argument was not convincing because the documentation, such as notices of share transfers, promissory notes, annual reports of Ample Rich Co (one of the offshore nominees) could have been tampered with or backdated to alter the whole story," Kaewsan said.

"However, we're not given any hard evidence that couldn't be meddled with, such as share depositories or transaction records that Thaksin could have asked from UBS Bank (Singapore branch) to prove that his son, Panthongtae, was the authorised owner of those shares, not just his father's nominee."

Pojaman testified before the court that Panthongtae earlier paid her Bt4.5 billion in promissory notes for a total of 450 million shares of TMB Bank that were sold to her son.

Her testimony raised even more questions than answers on the contentious point of whether the son and other Shinawatra children as well as relatives were genuine buyers of Thaksin and Pojaman's shares or just their nominees.

The facts show that if the Bt4.5 billion payment by Panthongtae to her mother for the TMB shares was real as claimed by Pojaman, the mother would have probably conned her son out of as much as Bt3 billion in just one go.

Why? The entire 450 million shares of TMB Bank as cited by Pojaman included 300 million shares that Pojaman got for free via the exercise of 300 million warrants, so the actual cost of all 450 million TMB shares was just Bt1.5 billion, not the hugely-inflated Bt4.5 billion.

Any decent mother wouldn't have done this to her beloved children. In other words, it simply defies conventional wisdom.

So what could have happened? Besides Pojaman's aides, who prepared the document for court evidence, no one else would have a clear idea of what went wrong, but the glitch clearly undermines the defence's credibility as far as true ownership of all of the Thaksin-Pojaman assets is concerned.

In fact, this is one of the most fundamental points in the prosecution's argument for taking permanent possession of the Bt76 billion.

The prosecution firmly believes that Thaksin covered up his wealth illegally and then launched policies and measures that enormously benefited his financial interests over his years in office before selling those assets to Temasek Holding of Singapore at a huge gain in 2006.

Company above state

Five policies and measures |that benefited Shin Corp:

- Reduction in the concession fee of AIS from 25 per cent to 20 per cent of its revenue, resulting in state-owned TOT losing Bt70 billion.

- Amending AIS's contracts with TOT and state-owned CAT to share roaming charges resulting in a combined loss of Bt21.7 billion for the state.

- Enacting legislation to convert concession fees into excise tax on telecom services in bid to keep AIS's market lead at the expense of competitors.

- Approving Shin Sat's IP Star satellite project so that it did not have to put into orbit a Bt4-billion Thaicom 4 satellite, resulting in a Bt20-billion loss in state benefits.

- Approving a Bt1-billion increase in Exim Bank loan for Burma from Bt3 billion to Bt4 billion, so the extra Bt1 billion could be used to buy satellite services from Shin Sat.

-- The Nation 23-11-09

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

ref url:-http://nationmultimedia.com/2009/11/23/politics/politics_30117125.php

marshbags

Edited November 22, 2009 by marshbags

[animatic]

If he gets the lions share back, he will have enough to bring the country to it's knees and take over...

He will want revenge. They know it he knows it, they can't allow that at this point in time.

And the AEC guy just testified there is a paper trail to show that it is shadily acquired.

Potjamin might get some back, but Thaksin will have a much higher level of proof to provide.

Yes in Thailand often guilty until proven innocent. There was visible reasons to freeze the cash,

and proof must be provided of the money's provenance.

What a circus.

Indeed,

and in deeds done.

[animatic]

All that cash and he couldn't have hired better lawyers....

A paper trail sop deep and wide would take a Kenworth to bring home...

[waza]

Ousted premier and convicted fugative, Thaksin Shinawatra and his ex-wife seems to have ripped off the rich and poor, every aThai citizen to feather their own nest. It time that money was redistributed into the Thai economy. Perhaps to set up a anti corruption agency, and to compensated those who suffered finacial loss due to Thaskins corrupt practices.

[animatic]

The saddest part is they could so easily have done this totally legally

and ended up rich as Croeseous AND with a world class political career intact.

Greed, stupidity, hubris, and truly appalling amateur financial machinations,

Like they got their financial advice from bad novels, and what does he get?

To be like a chicken hawk circling a farm waiting to pick off a few chickens,

but the farmer sitting with his scatter gun waiting for him to get close enough

and pick him off with buckshot.

And the bad bird thinks he can run off the farmer,

and get ALL the eggs in his claws.

Dang too many mixed metaphors.. lol

Edited November 25, 2009 by animatic

[marshbags]

Being in a priviledged positon, installing new laws, rules and guidelines, supposedly to benefit everyone, then interpreting them to suit the chosen few / individuals and disadvantage the majority are played out on a regular basis and sadly those doing it are, seemingly beyond reproach.

Thaksin will hopefully get a just and costly penalty for his repeatative manipulation and in his case, discreditable self rewarding abuse of his years in office.

Way beyond the monies already being withheld, along with a very long holiday.

I was pondering which thread to post this on as yet others of same same content hava opened recently, but as I have posted similar material on here, decided to stick with this one.

I hope there isn,t to much confusion on where to debate, with so much similar material / threads ongoing.

Personally, I find it counter productive and feel the repeatative subject matter, reduces the interest and hunger to exchange different views and participate.

What we need are less threads that cover the same old subject matter and more quality debating, just like it used to be not so long ago.

The threads were on fire every time you went on them.

IMHO as always of course

Now which thread shall I read up on now

I wish I could get the fire going again and look forward to the input and differing points of view from a much wider base, this is what healthy debate is supposed to be about, after all.

Then again I reckon most of our members are bored to death with the lack of variation and the same old stuff being churned out by the few active and dedicated people participating.

marshbags

P.S.

The olny thread that attracted such input was the one on P*n*s sizes and boy did that thread attract a variation of member participation and the view statistics for so short a publication date wise, were unbelievable.

While the actual news worthy material was actually lost in the ongoing participation and I admit that I along with many others turned it into a farang pub type debate.

The thing is that it demonstrates the potential of our members wanting to read up on and debate matters of variating / differing subject matter.

Encouraging our members to add to the TNC would also enhance and revigorate the thread, of course.

IMHO as always

Edited November 26, 2009 by marshbags

[cornerback]

Former TOT Executive Testifies in Thaksin's Assets Seizure Case

A former executive of state-run TOT Corporation admitted during a court hearing today that deduction of its service fee collected from AIS, formerly owned by ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, resulted in the company gaining unfair advantage over competitors.

Former TOT finance and budget director Sayan Tinsumran today testified with the Supreme Court's division for cases against political post holders in the 76 billion-baht assets seizure case against fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Sayan told the court his company's service fee for the prepaid scheme for AIS, the country's biggest mobile phone operator, was less than that of another player DTAC.

Sayan told the court that AIS pledged to curb its customers' prepaid charge if TOT would bring down its service fee but he accepted it was difficult to find out if the clients received such a price benefit.

He admitted the deduction of service fee for AIS was unfair for other operators in the mobile phone service sector.

The former TOT executive denied Thaksin personally asked him to approve the deduction but he was unsure if the former premier approached other TOT executives.

The final examination of witnesses for the case has been postponed to December 15 from December 8 as the tribunal will be tied up with engagements overseas.

Former members of the now-defunct Assets Examination Committee will be the last group of witnesses to testify before the court. Its ruling is expected by January next year.

-- Tan Network 26-11-2009

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[scorecard]

SPECIAL REPORT

WEB OF INTRIGUE

By The Nation

Published on November 23, 2009

Prosecution reveals how the Shinawatras hid and multiplied their assets while in power

Would you cheat your son out of Bt3 billion? That could happen if your assistant was in a hurry to cover up something very important to you.

That was what the prosecution in the Bt76-billion asset seizure case against ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra told the Supreme Court last week.

The story was part of the prosecution's detailed argument that Thaksin and his ex-wife, Pojaman na Pombejra, did own altogether 46.87 per cent of Shin Corp shares worth more than Bt69 billion while the former held the country's highest office from 2001-2006.

The alleged cover-up of massive wealth was in blatant violation of Article 100(3) of the National Counter-Corruption Commission Act of 1999, which bars public office holders and their spouses from owning shares in companies holding state concessions.

In this case, Shin Corp was the holding company for Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Shin Satellite, which enjoyed government concessions for lucrative cellular and satellite service businesses.

Back in 2000, Thaksin and Pojaman were busy preparing to hide their multibillion-baht assets ahead of the general election.

After winning the election by a landslide, they could have sold off the assets or put them under a "blind" trust to comply with the law, but these options were never used.

Instead, a highly complex web of offshore and onshore entities and nominees was used to conceal their tremendous wealth.

Behind the scenes, the motives were multifaceted, ranging from tax avoidance to election campaign financing and other political reasons.

The entire process of concealing such massive wealth was unprecedented in Thai history. So was the subsequent government policies and measures used to increase the value of the holdings over a period of more than five years.

Kaewsan Atibhodi, a member of the now-defunct Assets Examination Committee, which investigated this and other Thaksin cases, said the overall process of asset concealment and "policy corruption" was just intriguing.

As a key prosecution witness in the Bt76-billion asset seizure case pending in the Supreme Court, Kaewsan last week testified that the whole Bt76 billion fortune should be devolved to the state.

"First of all, Thaksin hid his vast shareholdings even after being elected the prime minister, so he intentionally violated Article 100(3) of the NCCC law.

"Secondly, as prime minister, he introduced measures and policies that benefited Shin Corp so he violated Article 100(1) of the NCCC law.

"Therefore, Thaksin abused his office to gain his wealth, resulting in a loss to the state of more than Bt100 billion. Since he and his former wife controlled as much as 46.87 per cent of Shin Corp, the benefits from such a large shareholding were therefore ill-gotten and should be forfeited."

Yet, the prosecution would have to convince the court that Thaksin and Pojaman did really conceal their wealth while the former was in office - a key point consistently countered and dismissed by the defence lawyers.

Given that the burden of proof rests with the accused in corruption and related cases, the prosecution concluded that they were not satisfied with evidence presented by the defence, which argued that all Shin Corp shares were "sold" to the couple's children and relatives before Thaksin assumed the premiership.

"This argument was not convincing because the documentation, such as notices of share transfers, promissory notes, annual reports of Ample Rich Co (one of the offshore nominees) could have been tampered with or backdated to alter the whole story," Kaewsan said.

"However, we're not given any hard evidence that couldn't be meddled with, such as share depositories or transaction records that Thaksin could have asked from UBS Bank (Singapore branch) to prove that his son, Panthongtae, was the authorised owner of those shares, not just his father's nominee."

Pojaman testified before the court that Panthongtae earlier paid her Bt4.5 billion in promissory notes for a total of 450 million shares of TMB Bank that were sold to her son.

Her testimony raised even more questions than answers on the contentious point of whether the son and other Shinawatra children as well as relatives were genuine buyers of Thaksin and Pojaman's shares or just their nominees.

The facts show that if the Bt4.5 billion payment by Panthongtae to her mother for the TMB shares was real as claimed by Pojaman, the mother would have probably conned her son out of as much as Bt3 billion in just one go.

Why? The entire 450 million shares of TMB Bank as cited by Pojaman included 300 million shares that Pojaman got for free via the exercise of 300 million warrants, so the actual cost of all 450 million TMB shares was just Bt1.5 billion, not the hugely-inflated Bt4.5 billion.

Any decent mother wouldn't have done this to her beloved children. In other words, it simply defies conventional wisdom.

So what could have happened? Besides Pojaman's aides, who prepared the document for court evidence, no one else would have a clear idea of what went wrong, but the glitch clearly undermines the defence's credibility as far as true ownership of all of the Thaksin-Pojaman assets is concerned.

In fact, this is one of the most fundamental points in the prosecution's argument for taking permanent possession of the Bt76 billion.

The prosecution firmly believes that Thaksin covered up his wealth illegally and then launched policies and measures that enormously benefited his financial interests over his years in office before selling those assets to Temasek Holding of Singapore at a huge gain in 2006.

Company above state

Five policies and measures |that benefited Shin Corp:

- Reduction in the concession fee of AIS from 25 per cent to 20 per cent of its revenue, resulting in state-owned TOT losing Bt70 billion.

- Amending AIS's contracts with TOT and state-owned CAT to share roaming charges resulting in a combined loss of Bt21.7 billion for the state.

- Enacting legislation to convert concession fees into excise tax on telecom services in bid to keep AIS's market lead at the expense of competitors.

- Approving Shin Sat's IP Star satellite project so that it did not have to put into orbit a Bt4-billion Thaicom 4 satellite, resulting in a Bt20-billion loss in state benefits.

- Approving a Bt1-billion increase in Exim Bank loan for Burma from Bt3 billion to Bt4 billion, so the extra Bt1 billion could be used to buy satellite services from Shin Sat.

-- The Nation 23-11-09

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

ref url:-http://nationmultimedia.com/2009/11/23/politics/politics_30117125.php

marshbags

Here's a side question:

I wonder if Temasak conducted deep and broad 'due diligence' into Shin Corp and the other associated entities, before they made the purchase?

In the past I always though of Temasak as a very professional organization with high values.

One wonders!

[trogers]

Here's a side question:

I wonder if Temasak conducted deep and broad 'due diligence' into Shin Corp and the other associated entities, before they made the purchase?

In the past I always though of Temasak as a very professional organization with high values.

One wonders!

I always have the impression Temasek is a family business...

[Samuian]

The saddest part is they could so easily have done this totally legally

and ended up rich as Croeseous AND with a world class political career intact.

Greed, stupidity, hubris, and truly appalling amateur financial machinations,

Like they got their financial advice from bad novels, and what does he get?

To be like a chicken hawk circling a farm waiting to pick off a few chickens,

but the farmer sitting with his scatter gun waiting for him to get close enough

and pick him off with buckshot.

And the bad bird thinks he can run off the farmer,

and get ALL the eggs in his claws.

Dang too many mixed metaphors.. lol

Yes they could, but they didn't - imho this indicates the way they have (probably) amassed this wealth all along,

yes unprecedented greed and "influence", a "big Name", they way which has become public through their very own undoing - non-professional Opportunists, do simply make mistakes like this - cause the lack of expertise that's explains his "defense" when caught first time "honest mistakes" he indicated that it was obvious a big mistake how the transfer has taken place - unprofessional, so his "honest" explanation!

I believe that this part was truly honest, he/the team might have been stunned THAT someone found out!

But now he comes along with this "deal" and it becomes way too obvious that all the trouble he has caused to this country since, HE initiated the red trouble makers as bargain tool!

Now one local Newspaper reports, which can't be quoted here, if he get's away with legal proceedings, he will keep the Reds off the streets!

How far is this man ready to go?

I repeat: "The whole nine yards..."!

One may imagine how much he invested, spent already to get off and his "life savings" back!

And he thinks in rather large returns for his "investments"... after all he may want an apology from all involved in his outing!

I hope after this "deal offer", which is a confession, is out, they won't let him off and no pardon!

The way he tries to get this money and back to power.... tell's whole volumes and may one day fill a book!

Admitted wrongdoing - Treason!

Who can ever, ever trust this man again?

Edited November 27, 2009 by Samuian

[LawnGnome]

This is what Takki Shinegra hears - constantly

Tick

Tick

Tick

etc...

Time is running out. It will breed desperation.

[junkofdavid2]

With all due respect to our sponsor who's known for very good writing and unbiased journalism (The Nation),

are headlines such as "Tacky Thaksin" and "Desperate Thaksin" examples of credible impartial "journalism"?

[KireB]

With all due respect to our sponsor who's known for very good writing and unbiased journalism (The Nation),

are headlines such as "Tacky Thaksin" and "Desperate Thaksin" examples of credible impartial "journalism"?

Cant blame The Nation really, can you?

After Thaksin's 'army' of taxi drivers and the heavily sponsored Caravan of the 'Poor' blockading the Nation Building and after all the billion Baht lawsuit threats against journalists who had the guts to write negatively about Takki.

Edited November 27, 2009 by KireB

[marshbags]

This is what Takki Shinegra hears - constantly

Tick

Tick

Tick

etc...

Time is running out. It will breed desperation.

Sure it,s not Tick Tacky, Tick Tacky, LG ???............ oops sorry the clock goes Tick Tock, Tick Tock doesn,t it, silly me:lol:

On a serious note, desperation is already surfacing in some very worrisome ways that can only get worse in the days / months ahead and yes it will breed and multiply his desperation

marshbags

Edited November 27, 2009 by marshbags

[Terminator]

Watch his red shirt brigade coming out in droves after the king's birthday weekend....

On a serious note, desperation is already surfacing in some very worrisome ways that can only get worse in the days / months ahead and yes it will breed and multiply his desperation

marshbags