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NACC asked to probe NBTC secretary-general after complaints of misleading reports on True-Dtac deal

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 07, 2022

THE NATION

Today (October 7, 2022) at 10.30pm, Mr Pornchai Wetwiboon travelled to submit a letter to the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to demand urgent investigation of the conduct of Mr Trairat Wiriyasirikul, acting Secretary-General of National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBCT), concurrently Deputy Secretary-General, on the grounds of the improper discharge of duties in submitting documents to meetings and giving testimony, or the distortion of facts and legal principles, and making announcements to media giving rise to misunderstanding in a way to favor the interests involved in the merger proceeding successfully, with no regard for legal procedure.

Mr Pornchai said that it was well known that NBTC must consider its founding laws and other pertinent laws. These require mandatory compliance under the Constitution and the Act establishing NBTC as an independent organization with the obligation to regulate and oversee telecommunications businesses independently. No other party may be allowed to interfere with the duties of NBTC, or this might be considered improper conduct, including the actions of the acting NBTC Secretary-General in particular.

Distorting data about the merger before submission to NBTC board 

In studies by different subcommittees and the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) it was clearly apparent that if the merger was allowed to proceed it would cause a permanent monopoly and impact increased prices which consumers would have to pay. It is an effective barrier preventing new entrants in the market. NBTC does indeed possess the legal authority to consider approval or disapproval, but the acting Secretary-General preferred to distort the facts and submit the matter to NBTC board saying that NBTC only had the authority to acknowledge a report and then determine specific measures of control after the merger, but NBTC did not have the authority to forbid the merger. This is in conflict with the opinion of the NBTC’s self-established legal subcommittee of legal scholars, consumer councils and university law professors. In particular there was distortion from the fact that NBTC had previously given testimony to the Administrative Court in Case Black No. 775/2565 that NBTC had the authority to approve or not approve.

Cherry picking the study of an (in)dependent advisor despite full knowledge that the information was incomplete

There were irregularities in the conduct of the acting NBTC secretary general on the issue of appointing Finansa Securities Co. Ltd. as an independent advisor, all the while that a senior True executive was a shareholder in a company connected therewith both indirectly and directly. Also, Extraordinary Committees of the House of Representatives considering the True/Dtac merger and retail/wholesale have previously made protests concerning the qualifications of an independent advisor who may not in fact be completely independent. This may also be in contravention of the criteria for selecting independent Commissioners on the NBTC board as has been stipulated. By virtue of receiving a complaint it has been negligent, and it has not carried out any enquiry. It has instead confirmed the opinion of the original independent advisor. The Office of NBTC has never explained to NBTC whether there was a real issue here. If NBTC has already considered, and subsequent problems arise with the qualifications of the advisor, it would make the resolution unlawful.

Also, the report prepared by the independent advisor did not contain all the information required. Despite being requested to make amendments and additions, the advisor refused to make them. Subsequently the office preparing the data in this matter had an issue that may have the result of making the NBTC’s deliberations improper. Also, the acting Secretary-General was negligent in not raising any objections, but rather helping the process, even though it was not his duty. And this was actions furthering the interests of other parties improperly.

Rumours rife about Council of State deceiving the public; speculation in mergees’ listed stock rampant

Subsequently on September 20, 2022, it was disclosed to media (Manager Online) from the acting Secretary-General that the Office of the Council of State had interpreted NBTC’s authority to consider the merger, that it did not have the authority to approve the merger, and that it only had the authority to stipulate conditions or specific measures. However, in actual fact, the Office of the Council of State had had exactly the opposite opinion, that NBTC did have the relevant legal authority to approve a merger of businesses in the same category. This gave the general public the wrong impression, and confused consumers nationwide about the powers and responsibilities of NBTC, as well as citizens concerned that NBTC is properly executing its duties.

Despite subsequent denials from the acting Secretary-General that he had released this news, the first result of its publication was to stimulate greatly increased trading volumes of True and Dtac stocks, with subsequent falls later on as the denial was released. It is rather suspicious that if the acting Secretary-General was not the news source as claimed, he would be denying it rather more vehemently rather than waiting for a while. Vested interests also did not rush to correct media presenting distorted information which could be damaging or misunderstood. This is not the first time that the acting Secretary-General has been a source of news that turned out to be unfactual. There were previous reports that the Office of NBTC had made a complete review of the information and was about to report to a meeting of NBTC on September 14, 2022. It subsequently appeared that this matter was not on the agenda on that day, coinciding with a suspiciously sharp increase in the price of True and Dtac stock simultaneously. 

Mr Pornchai concluded by saying that from the facts and evidence which were clearly apparent, it was obvious the conduct of Mr Trairat Wiriyasirikul, acting Secretary-General of NBTC, as a state official, came under the scope of improper negligence pursuant to Section 157 of the Criminal Code with a potential punishment of 1-10 years in prison or a fine of 2,000 to 20,000 THB, or both. Finally, with behavior tending to unusual wealth, the National Anti-Corruption Commission has now been requested to investigate officials’ conduct, as well as to verify assets and increases in value thereof, in detail.

THE NATION