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Published on December 20, 2007

The court also upheld the central court's ruling that both parties settle the dispute at an arbitration panel, which can be set up under Section 15 of the joint business agreement between iTV and the state agency.

Section 15 states that both parties in a dispute have to form the arbitration panel.

An analyst questioned why - given that the case has not yet reached a conclusion - had the government hurried to take over iTV's concession.

He also asked what would happen to the PM's Office and the iTV concession seized by the state agency if the arbitration panel decided that iTV could pay the overall penalty and damages claim to the PM's Office.

"If after the panel's ruling, iTV can pay the fine, does the PM's Office have to return the concession to iTV?" he said.

The PM's Office took over the iTV concession because the company failed to pay the fine of about Bt100 billion to the PM's Office by the deadline in March, arguing that it should only be about Bt2 billion.

Thailand's largest telecom holding Shin Corp owns 52.92 per cent of iTV.

The Office of the Permanent Secretary of the PM's Office, which owns the iTV concession, filed a lawsuit against iTV to demand an overdue concession fee of Bt2.21 billion and also a fine of more than Bt100

billion for breaching the concession contract, plus annual interest of 7.5 per cent.

The station was taken over on March 6 as iTV could not pay the massive fines. The station is now under the supervision of the Public Relations Department and is ready for transformation into a public television station on January 1. Staff and producers at the channel on Tuesday submitted a letter to the prime minister, asking for clarification of the transformation which would ban all advertising on the channel.

iTV had won a 30-year concession from the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office. After the dispute over unpaid concession fees to the Prime Minister's Office, iTV's concession was taken over by the Public Relations Department and its name was changed to Thai Independent Television (TITV).

The government plans to transform TITV into the country's first public television station. iTV has been suspended since March as the dispute is affecting its finances significantly.

Sirivish Toomgum

 The Nation