Panthongtae Shinawatra
{{Short description|Thai businessman (born 1979)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Panthongtae Shinawatra
| image = Panthongtae Shinawatra 2562.jpg
| native_name = พานทองแท้ ชินวัตร
| native_name_lang = th
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|12|2|df=y}}
| birth_place = Huntsville, Texas, U.S.
| spouses = Natthiya Puangkham
| children =
| party = Pheu Thai
| father = Thaksin Shinawatra
| mother = Potjaman Shinawatra
| relatives = Paethongtarn Shinawatra (sister)
Yingluck Shinawatra (aunt)
Pitaka Suksawat (brother-in-law)
| occupation = Founder of Voice TV
}}
Panthongtae Shinawatra ({{langx|th|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.
Early life and education
Panthongtae 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501020909-346289,00.html|title=TIME Asia Magazine: Hide the Report Card -- Sep. 09, 2002|date=January 13, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050113025334/http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501020909-346289,00.html |archive-date=2005-01-13 }} 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.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2268564.stm|title=Thai PM's son cleared of cheating|publisher=BBC News|date=September 19, 2002|accessdate=April 3, 2006}} He graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2003.
Careers
An 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=10488|publisher=AsiaMedia|title=Thailand: Subway cake carved up|accessdate=August 27, 2006|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313010501/http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=10488|archivedate=March 13, 2007}}
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.http://www.bangkokpost.net/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=81324 Bangkok Post {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525090956/http://www.bangkokpost.net/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=81324 |date=May 25, 2006 }}
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."{{cite web|url=http://www.brunei-online.com/weekend/news/mar11w12.htm |accessdate=March 22, 2006 |title=Borneo Bulletin Online }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} 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
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070312031611/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=5&id=80894 "Premier's son graduates"], The Nation, June 24, 2003.
- [http://2bangkok.com/2bangkok-subway-howcome.html "The How Come subway deal"], 2bangkok.com.
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070312031700/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/02/24/business/business_20001440.php "Panthongtae breached reporting regulations - SEC"], The Nation, February 24, 2006.
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051210033329/http://www.howcome.co.th/ How Come Entertainment]
- [http://www.voicetv.co.th/ VoiceTV]
{{Thaksin Shinawatra}}
{{Yingluck Shinawatra}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinawatra, Panthongtae}}