Yesterday, the Thai press exercised every possible means to track information on Surin Upatkoon, the Thai national who was earlier awarded the honorary title of "Datuk" in Malaysia. Search engines produced some results of him and his Kuala Lumpur-based company Multi-Purpose Holdings. Given that he is said to have done business in the South, The Nation attempted to call several Democrat Party members who hail from the South for more information, without success.

His name first appeared in a report by The Star, a Petaling Jaya-based daily. The report appeared a day before Temasek Holdings reported the result of the tender offer for additional shares of Shin Corp Plc.

Sources in Thailand said Surin was approached by both Temasek and Boonklee Plangsiri, chief executive of Shin Corp.

"They had discussed a partnership with some Thai companies but all of them opted out, fearing possible involvement in the political conflicts," a source said.

Surin was highlighted in the report as a possible partner for Temasek in maintaining foreign ownership in Shin Corp below the statutory maximum of 49 per cent. So far, it is unclear if he would directly buy Shin shares from Temasek or through a joint venture with the Singaporean state's investment arm. Nonetheless, he has become a significant piece of this huge jigsaw puzzle.

Temasek's success in attracting another 46.9 per cent from Shin Corp's shareholders may complicate issues regarding the status of Shin Corp's subsidiaries, mainly Advanced Info Service (AIS) Plc, Shin Satellite Plc and iTV Plc. Now that Shin's foreign ownership is near 100 per cent, it is practically considered a foreign company and this in turn has increased the foreign ownership of the subsidiaries.

As these companies operate under concessions granted only to Thai entities, the foreign ownership issue must be resolved or the three companies might not be qualified to hold the concessions. And in a way, without the concessions, they are worthless. Without AIS which contributes 90 per cent of Shin Corp's revenue, Shin Corp would be worthless as well.

The alien ownership issue is now weighing heavily. Now the ball is in the Commerce Ministry's court to find out if any of these companies related to Shin Corp have breached foreign business laws on shareholding.

The PM's Office, which granted iTV a broadcasting license, refrained from commenting on the issue.

Choochart Promphrasid, chairman of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), said that the commission isl in the process of collecting information for its examination of the possible effects on competition in the telecom industry after the entry of Temasek.

Recently TOT informed the NTC that the change of major shareholders in Shin Corp from the Shinawatras to Temasek had no effect on its concession granted to AIS.

ShinSat meanwhile operates on a concession from the Information and Communications Technology Ministry.

Shin Corp has insisted that it remains a Thai company, despite Temasek's 49.6 per cent stake before the completion of the tender offer. That was possible under the complicated shareholding structure that included several newly formed companies like Kularb Kaew and Cedar Holdings.

But this stands to change now that Temasek has built up its stake to 96.3 per cent.

All the problems can be solved if Shin Corp's foreign ownership is brought down to meet the statutory limit of 49 per cent. And this is where Surin comes in.

A source in the banking sector said that Surin emerged because Siam Commercial Bank was opting out of buying new shares in Cedar Holdings, which is indirectly controlled by Temasek.

SCB holds a 10 per cent stake in Cedar Holdings, enough to make the company a Thai entity. The other shareholders are Kularb Kaew and Temasek's Cypress Holdings, which hold 41 and 49 per cent, respectively.

"Cedar is doubling its capital to cover the cost of the tender offer. If SCB opts out, its shareholding would then be reduced by half. Cedar would then no longer be a Thai entity," the source said.

It is necessary that a Thai national or entity be involved in this deal to hold shares in Shin Corp, he said.