As the Commerce Ministry's probe into Kularb Kaew Co Ltd's status continues, a bigger question the public should ask is which of the state agencies supervising the licences or concessions awarded to Shin Corp's four subsidiaries would act if Kularb Kaew is proved to be a nominee, a lawyer said.

"Certainly, if it is proved to be a nominee, the Commerce Ministry is empowered to file a lawsuit against Kularb Kaew, even if the company agrees to lower its foreign shareholding later on. Then, the focus would shift to the four subsidiaries of Shin.

"If the ruling indicates violation of licences or contracts, it's up to the relevant state agencies to decide whether they want to take action," said the lawyer at an international law firm, who did not want to be named.

His comments followed last week's seminar on the nominee issue hosted by the Thailand Development Research Institute, where economists and academics expressed their belief that Kularb Kaew had breached the Alien Business Act by being the nominee of Temasek Holdings, which took over Shin Corp in January. They held this view despite the emergence of Surin Upatkoon, a Thai businessman with big investments in Malaysia, who holds a 68-per-cent stake in Kularb Kaew.

If Kularb Kaew is proved to be a nominee, it would affect the status of Shin Corp, in which the foreign ownership would exceed the statutory limit of 49 per cent. Politicians and academics have contended that if Shin Corp is a foreign-owned company, its subsidiaries should not be eligible for licences or concessions awarded by state agencies.

Advanced Info Service Plc, Thai AirAsia Co Ltd, Shin Satellite Plc (ShinSat) and iTV Plc fall into that category.

However, it is uncertain whether any action would be launched against the four companies.

"Take Thai AirAsia as an example," said the lawyer. "It violated the foreign shareholding limit, but the authorities have already fined it and the shareholding structure was adjusted. The case was settled," he said.

Thai AirAsia narrowly escaped having its aviation licence revoked after Shin Corp transferred its 50-per-cent stake in the company to a new subsidiary called Asia Aviation Co Ltd and avoided breaking the statutory limit of 49 per cent for foreign ownership in a Thai firm. Shin held a 49-per-cent stake in the new company, while Sithichai Veerathammanoon, a little-known Thai businessman, was the other shareholder with 51 per cent.

Chaisak Angsuwan, director-general of Aviation Department, which awarded the licence, said at the time: "We are satisfied with this. I don't know who Sithichai is or if somebody has nominated him. As a regulator, we have to make sure that the licensee is a Thai national."

Even though the case against Thai AirAsia ended days after the formation of Asia Aviation, Kiat Sitthee-amorn - a Democrat party-list MP - said he had checked out the address Asia Aviation had given the Commerce Ministry as the location of its office: 15th floor, 408/60 Phaholyothin Place.

He said nobody worked at the office, which was full of leftover wood and rubbish bags. He said he was also told by the building's guards that the office belonged to E Dotcom Internetwork, which had moved out sometime before.

Meanwhile, AIS president Wichian Mektrakarn said last week that its mobile-phone concession would remain unaffected by the investigation into the status of Kularb Kaew, regardless of the results. Referring to the concession awarded by TOT Plc, Wichien said the contract contained no condition that AIS remain a Thai entity to be further eligible for the concession.

While there is pressure on the PM's Office to revoke the concession to iTV, the Office has made no move. Likewise, the Information and Communications Technology Ministry, which awarded the satellite licence to ShinSat, has also made no moves.

The Commerce Ministry's probe into Kularb Kaew's status sparked doubt as to whether it was politically motivated. A tax lawyer said attorneys working for Temasek could have done a better job in handling the nominee issue, or this would not have attracted the authorities' investigation.

"The conditions are so clear about the rights of foreign shareholders over local shareholders. They were also written in the company's book as a public record, although these conditions can be set aside privately in the shareholders' agreement," he said.

He is not certain what would become of all the concessions held by subsidiaries of Shin Corp if it were found to be an alien company in violation of Thai business law.

"If they are found to have committed a wrongdoing, can the matter be sorted out? It is like after cutting off someone's hand, can you just give the hand back as if nothing has happened?" the lawyer said.

A consultant for an international accounting firm, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the nominee issue surrounding Kularb Kaew had raised concerns about Asean unity.

"If Shin Corp were to have been sold to a company from a country outside Asean, it might not have created this scale of controversy. I think the problem arose because Shin Corp was sold to Temasek of Singapore. A similar problem would have arisen if it had been sold to a Malaysian telecom company," he said.

He added that there was mutual suspicion among Asean countries and fears about the neighbouring country dominating.

"But in future, Asean is not going to deal with cross-investment alone, but also with cross-ownership," he said.