Panthongtae Shinawatra (Thai: พานทองแท้ ชินวัตร; RTGS: Phanthongthae Chinnawat; nicknamed Oak; born 2 December 1979) is a Thai businessman and the only son of former prime minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra. He became a billionaire after having been transferred a large portion of his father's stock in Shin Corporation shortly before Thaksin became prime minister.
Panthongtae Shinawatra | |
|---|---|
พานทองแท้ ชินวัตร | |
 | |
| Born | 2 December 1979 Huntsville, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Founder of Voice TV |
| Political party | Pheu Thai |
| Spouses | Natthiya Puangkham |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Paethongtarn Shinawatra (sister) Yingluck Shinawatra (aunt) Pitaka Suksawat (brother-in-law) |
Early life and education
editPanthongtae was admitted to the Faculty of Engineering at Thammasat University in 1998. However, he dropped out after one year. In 2000, he enrolled in Ramkhamhaeng University, an open admission government university, where he studied political science. In August 2002, his studies attracted media attention when he was accused of cheating in an exam.[1] A three-week university investigation concluded that Panthongtae had made a mistake by carrying unrelated notes into the exam room and he was cleared of wrongdoing, yet he automatically failed the political science subject he was sitting.[2] He graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2003.
Careers
editAn amateur photographer, Panthongtae founded in 2003 a production company called How Come Entertainment (now Voice TV Co. Ltd.), which was awarded an exclusive advertising contract for the MRT and many other government contracts when his father was prime minister. This caused controversy and drew charges of nepotism, as How Come was a new firm and the advertising concession for the subway had previously been awarded to the long established Triad Networks Company.[3]
In early 2006, Panthongtae was involved in his family's sale of Shin Corporation stock to Temasek Holdings of Singapore. Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission ruled that Panthongtae, as director of Ample Rich Investments (a shell company set up in the British Virgin Islands to control Shin stock), had failed to properly notify the regulators of his holdings in Shin and sale of Shin shares, in transactions that occurred in 2000, 2001 and 2002.[4]
Prasong Vinaiphiat, deputy director of the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission, said: "The case is not severe because Panthongtae did inform the SEC but his report was not totally correct."[5] He was fined 5.982 million baht (about US$150,000) for three violations of the Securities and Exchange Act.
In November 2009, Panthongtae's company Voice TV (formerly How Come Entertainment) launched its own digital TV station of the same name with 300 million baht.
References
edit- ^ "TIME Asia Magazine: Hide the Report Card -- Sep. 09, 2002". January 13, 2005. Archived from the original on 2005-01-13.
- ^ "Thai PM's son cleared of cheating". BBC News. September 19, 2002. Retrieved April 3, 2006.
- ^ "Thailand: Subway cake carved up". AsiaMedia. Archived from the original on March 13, 2007. Retrieved August 27, 2006.
- ^ http://www.bangkokpost.net/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=81324 Bangkok Post Archived May 25, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Borneo Bulletin Online". Retrieved March 22, 2006.[dead link]
- "Premier's son graduates", The Nation, June 24, 2003.
- "The How Come subway deal", 2bangkok.com.
- "Panthongtae breached reporting regulations - SEC", The Nation, February 24, 2006.