andrewcraig
September 25th, 2006, 07:02
Eric Ellis, Singapore
September 25, 2006
Page 1 of 2 | Single page
THAILAND'S military junta has gone out of its way to assure all that it's business as usual in Bangkok.
The baht has wobbled, as has the stock exchange, but neither with symptoms that would have neighbours sniffling with the contagion they caught during the late-'90s financial crisis. The coup has been smooth as silk, as Thais like to say.
But one woman in Singapore desperately hopes the generals are as good as their word: the person whose deal with Thailand's ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, precipitated the coup.
She is Ho Ching, the chief executive of the Singapore government-owned Temasek Holdings, which controls a $US100 billion-plus ($A130 billion) portfolio, including Australia's Optus.
She bought Thaksin out of his family businesses, Shin Corporation, in March in a questionable $US4.5 billion transaction that outraged Thais. Temasek bought the Thai leader's controlling half-share in Shin Corp and then snapped up most of the rest on the stockmarket. It now controls 96 per cent.
As Thaksin banked Temasek's tax-free cash, Thais burnt Ho's effigy on Bangkok streets, maligning the reputation created for her by Singapore spin-doctors as a safe pair of hands.
It was, at best, a spectacular misjudgement. Far from being the great buy Temasek claimed, the deal ignited six months of political turmoil, culminating in the coup. Thais stopped using the businesses Temasek had bought, including an airline, a finance company and telco AIS Thailand, also part-owned by Singapre Telecommunications. Now the Shin buyers wear a $US2 billion paper loss on the deal after less than six months.
As Thai regulators deepen their probe into the transaction and Thaksin's "rampant corruption", Temasek and partners face fines of up to $US2 billion if it's proved, as many suspect, that Thai laws have been breached.
In these post-Enron days where blameless corporate governance is paramount, if the chief executive blows $US2 billion in six months, the blood-letting in the boardroom would be swift and brutal. But even if her Thai adventure worsens, that seems unlikely to happen to Ho, the wife of Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and the approved daughter-in-law of Singapore's long-time strongman Lee Kuan Yew.
Ho has been Temasek's unsmiling chief executive since 2001, presenting as a corporate dominatrix protected by the formidable Lee family edifice.
The Lees maintain Ho got her job on merit and the appointment had nothing to do with her being part of the family.
September 25, 2006
Page 1 of 2 | Single page
THAILAND'S military junta has gone out of its way to assure all that it's business as usual in Bangkok.
The baht has wobbled, as has the stock exchange, but neither with symptoms that would have neighbours sniffling with the contagion they caught during the late-'90s financial crisis. The coup has been smooth as silk, as Thais like to say.
But one woman in Singapore desperately hopes the generals are as good as their word: the person whose deal with Thailand's ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, precipitated the coup.
She is Ho Ching, the chief executive of the Singapore government-owned Temasek Holdings, which controls a $US100 billion-plus ($A130 billion) portfolio, including Australia's Optus.
She bought Thaksin out of his family businesses, Shin Corporation, in March in a questionable $US4.5 billion transaction that outraged Thais. Temasek bought the Thai leader's controlling half-share in Shin Corp and then snapped up most of the rest on the stockmarket. It now controls 96 per cent.
As Thaksin banked Temasek's tax-free cash, Thais burnt Ho's effigy on Bangkok streets, maligning the reputation created for her by Singapore spin-doctors as a safe pair of hands.
It was, at best, a spectacular misjudgement. Far from being the great buy Temasek claimed, the deal ignited six months of political turmoil, culminating in the coup. Thais stopped using the businesses Temasek had bought, including an airline, a finance company and telco AIS Thailand, also part-owned by Singapre Telecommunications. Now the Shin buyers wear a $US2 billion paper loss on the deal after less than six months.
As Thai regulators deepen their probe into the transaction and Thaksin's "rampant corruption", Temasek and partners face fines of up to $US2 billion if it's proved, as many suspect, that Thai laws have been breached.
In these post-Enron days where blameless corporate governance is paramount, if the chief executive blows $US2 billion in six months, the blood-letting in the boardroom would be swift and brutal. But even if her Thai adventure worsens, that seems unlikely to happen to Ho, the wife of Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and the approved daughter-in-law of Singapore's long-time strongman Lee Kuan Yew.
Ho has been Temasek's unsmiling chief executive since 2001, presenting as a corporate dominatrix protected by the formidable Lee family edifice.
The Lees maintain Ho got her job on merit and the appointment had nothing to do with her being part of the family.