Thai Business Destabilized, Thai Satellite Deorbited

Let’s face it: military juntas make businessmen nervous.

Last week’s military coup in Thailand has destabilized the business climate — if only briefly — with many business leaders holding off on planned deals as they assess the situation in Bangkok.

One big example of the law of unintended consequences: GE Capital put its deal with Bank of Ayudhya on hold until the situation clarifies itself.

But what impact has the coup had on satcom in Thailand?

For Shin Satellite Plc, the greatest problem in recent weeks is not change in power in the governement but a sudden loss of power on their Thaicom 3 satellite:

Shin Satellite Plc yesterday immediately de-orbited its glitch-ridden Thaicom 3 broadcasting satellite, following its power loss, which affects its plan to tap the Middle East market.

However, the company’s executive chairman Dumrong Kasemset denied that the de-orbit would affect the company’s projected revenue this year as it has yet to include Thaicom 3 income’s from the Middle East into the calculation.

He added during the teleconference with the presses that the company is also evaluating the deeper financial impact of the de-orbit incidence. He said ShinSat de-orbited Thaicom 3 at approximately 01.37 am, due to the power loss to such extent that it could not provide further service.

t de-orbited Thaicom 3 by moving it beyond its existing orbital slot of 50.5 Degrees East.

Thaicom 3 has had its share of problems, as has Thaicom’s owner, Shincorp. Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce recentely completed its investigations of the sale of Shin Corp to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.

One thing’s for certain — businessmen, and those of us hoping for a Christmas trip to Phuket, will welcome a return to normalcy.