The move comes at a time when the Singapore investment company's corporate activities in Thailand are coming under close scrutiny.

And it appears to be an attempt at reducing some of the tension sparked by Temasek's controversial investment in Shin Corp, the country's biggest telecoms company, earlier this year.

Temasek will set up its Thai representative office by the end of the year. The Bangkok outfit will be Temasek's sixth overseas outpost, joining those in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City and Mumbai.

The new office's key role is reportedly to help Temasek build relationships with both the government and private sector, and also enable Temasek to better spot, and respond to, investment opportunities in Thailand.

Sources told The Straits Times that former Republic of Singapore Air Force chief Goh Yong Siang, 54, was appointed to head the office two months ago.

Major-General (Ret) Goh became Chief of Air Force in 1995, a year after the local air force first participated in an annual joint exercise with its United States and Thai counterparts.

He has also been awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Crown of Thailand - one of the country's top honours.

In addition, Thai royal counsellor Tongnoi Tongyai has been appointed Temasek's corporate adviser.

Tongnoi, who is in his early 70s, is the personal counsellor of Thailand's Crown Prince, and has been in charge of the royal's personal affairs since 2000.

Temasek has been very much in the news in Thailand since former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's family sold a 50 per cent stake in Shin Corp to a Temasek-led group in January.

The US$1.9 billion (S$2.9 billion) purchase, made in partnership with a group of Thai investors, triggered widespread protests in Thailand.

It is now being investigated by the Thai authorities over allegations that control of strategic national assets had fallen into foreign hands.

An official verdict has not yet been announced, but speculation that Temasek may reduce its interest in Shin Corp has been increasing since Thaksin was ousted in a bloodless coup last month.

Maj-Gen (Ret) Goh comes to Temasek after spending several years in the private equity sector.

Married with a 24-year-old daughter, he has served as a director with a number of American private equity and venture capital firms since 2001, when he became a partner of Dallas-based Beta Capital Group.

The former F16 fighter pilot is said to have well-established ties with influential people in Thailand.

After leaving the military in 1998, he joined Singapore Technologies (ST) Industrial Corp as an executive vice-president for a year before becoming president of ST Engineering's US operations.

Tongnoi was previously also an adviser to the Thai King on foreign and technical affairs. He was appointed as Temasek's adviser Thursday (Oct 19), a day after he resigned from the board of Total Access Communication (TAC), with which he had been a director for six years. TAC is Thailand's No.2 mobile operator after Shin Corp unit Advanced Info Service.

by the Straits Times/Asia News Network