Bangkok, Feb 26 (NNN-TNA) The Thai government won't rush to decide whether to buy back the formerly Thai-owned telecom satellites from Singapore, pending the results of the public opinion survey now
underway, according to Thai Information and Communication Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom.

"Today I can't say precisely whether the government will buy them back or not, because a public opinion survey is being conducted on approximately 30,000 to 40,000 people across the country and it's expected to take about four to six weeks to complete", he said.

The ICT minister said the government won't make a decision on this issue due to some strongly-expressed current nationalist sentiments among some sectors of the Thai public. However, he affirmed, thoughtful consideration will be given to the pros and cons of the matter after assessing all the available information.

Mr. Sitthichai was asked to comment on the issue following reports suggesting that Temasek Holdings, Singapore's state-linked investment arm, showed its readiness to sell Shin Satellite, Thailand's sole
satellite operator, back to the Thai government.

The ICT minister said there are two options to buy the satellite firm back -- one by using the government's money, which will be a big problem, and another by using investment funds from the private sector.

If any private companies are interested, it is up to them to decide whether they have capacity to buy it back.

However, he said, if it is agreed that Shin Satellite should be repurchased and returned to Thailand, there still remains a question regarding the business worthiness of making such a move.

The company reported a net loss of 45.6 million baht (US$1.4 million) for the twelve-month period through December due mainly to higher expenses and the write-off of a satellite.

"If it is bought back, and then run with poor management, it will cause a great loss. If so, it means we have to pay for the cost of 'stupidity' twice," the minister said.

Asked whether the government will leave the deal to the private sector interests without government involvement, Mr. Sittichai said "the government won't get involved now since it has been learned that the
firm has a lot of debts. We'll leave it to private companies which may have enough knowledge and capacity and think it is worth their investment".

Shin Satellite was founded in 1991 by Shin Corp –- owned by deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family -- with a 30-year concession to operate satellite services under a build-transfer-operate contract.

Shin Corp's tax-free sale last year to Temasek led to a public outcry that the Shinawatra family who controlled the conglomerate had handed national telecom assets to a foreign entity.

Calls for the return of the satellite facilities by some groups of Thais as well as their sense of patriotism were highlighted when Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, the head of the Council for National Security (CNS),
vowed to reclaim the satellites, deemed "national assets", from foreign control.