Satellite Row Rich in Contradictions

Thailand bristles about the sale of telecommunications assets to a Singaporean state-owned firm by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. A few months after the sale, in September 2006, a group of military officers accused the prime minister of corruption and took control of the government. Still distraught about the sale of assets to a neighboring nation, the military officers suggest that the Singaporean firm could tinker with official Thai phones and question whether satellites and other assets from the former prime minister’s family corporation should be returned to Thai ownership as a matter of national security. The row between two Asian nations with historical economic, military and diplomatic ties serves as a warning about the danger of mixing politics and business as well as need for caution in global deals involving sensitive sectors and foreign buyers, suggests this article in the “Bangkok Post.” Siriporn Sachamuneewongse writes, “Clarifying policies on how to deal with state-owned enterprises engaging in foreign direct investments deserves attention on the agendas of Asean, the WTO and other international gatherings.” – YaleGlobal