Like some of the most respected royal families around the world, the Thai royal family is acutely aware that its position rests not just on trust between itself and the people, but also on a certain mystique. It does not communicate with the media unless it is absolutely necessary.

My jaw dropped when I saw in the Sunday Times (29 Oct 2006) a report that the Crown Prince's office had issued a public statement about someone who, just days before, had been connected with Temasek Holdings Ltd, the Singapore-government-owned investment firm.

The royal statement said that Mom Rajawongse Tongnoi Tongyai [1] was "a cunning man and personally immoral". He was "ungrateful" and a "perverse abuser of power". Stronger language you can hardly imagine coming from a royal office.

This is very serious, I said to myself. Although the statement made just a brief mention of Temasek Holdings, it can only be a severe embarrassment to them. It may even damage relations with the Thai royal family.

Tongnoi's name first appeared (in conjunction with Temasek Holdings) in a press statement issued by the company on or about 19 October 2006.

As reported by the Straits Times and Thailand's The Nation newspaper,

20 Oct 2006
The Nation 

Temasek to open office in Bangkok 

Temasek Holdings is opening a Thai office by the end of the year, and it be will helmed by two men well-connected to the country's top brass, The Straits Times understands.

The move comes at a time when the Singapore investment company's corporate activities in Thailand are coming under close scrutiny.

And it appears to be an attempt at reducing some of the tension sparked by Temasek's controversial investment in Shin Corp, the country's biggest telecoms company, earlier this year.

Temasek will set up its Thai representative office by the end of the year. The Bangkok outfit will be Temasek's sixth overseas outpost, joining those in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City and Mumbai.

The new office's key role is reportedly to help Temasek build relationships with both the government and private sector, and also enable Temasek to better spot, and respond to, investment opportunities in Thailand.

Sources told The Straits Times that former Republic of Singapore Air Force chief Goh Yong Siang, 54, was appointed to head the office two months ago. Major-General (Ret) Goh became Chief of Air Force in 1995, a year after the local air force first participated in an annual joint exercise with its United States and Thai counterparts.

He has also been awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Crown of Thailand - one of the country's top honours.

In addition, Thai royal counsellor Tongnoi Tongyai has been appointed Temasek's corporate adviser.

Tongnoi, who is in his early 70s, is the personal counsellor of Thailand's Crown Prince, and has been in charge of the royal's personal affairs since 2000.

[snip]

Tongnoi was previously also an adviser to the Thai King on foreign and technical affairs. He was appointed as Temasek's adviser Thursday (Oct 19), a day after he resigned from the board of Total Access Communication (TAC), with which he had been a director for six years. TAC is Thailand's No.2 mobile operator after Shin Corp unit Advanced Info Service.

Bangkok Post's version of the story was punchier:

19 Oct 2006
Bangkok Post

Prince's aide to join board of Shin
Move by Temasek to help restore image

M.R. Tongnoi Tongyai, the private secretary to His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, has been recruited to take up a board position with Shin Corporation by major shareholder Temasek Holdings. M.R. Tongnoi on Wednesday resigned as a director and audit committee chairman of Total Access Communication, the second-largest mobile operator behind the Shin flagship Advanced Info Service. The Oxford graduate had been on the board of DTAC since 2000.

Sources said the appointment was part of a broader revamp by Temasek of Shin Corp, which has seen its public image battered since the Singaporean investment company took over the telecom conglomerate in January.

''[M.R. Tongnoi] will be joining the board of Shin very soon, and he has been promised the position of chairmanship in the near future,'' a source said.

[snip]

A Temasek spokesman confirmed that M.R. Tongnoi would join the Shin board.

''We can confirm that M.R. Tongnoi is joining our board and will be an adviser to Temasek's operations in Thailand,'' said Myrna Thomas, a Temasek managing director for corporate affairs.

[truncated]

 
However, a day later, the Bangkok Post issued a "clarification", denying that Temasek Holdings had said anything about Tongyoi joining the Shin Corp board.

21 Oct 2006
The Bangkok Post

CLARIFICATION: A story headlined "Prince's aide to join board of Shin", published on page one of yesterday's Business section, quoted Myrna Thomas, a managing director of Temasek Holdings, as stating that M.R. Tongnoi Tongyai would soon join the Shin board and had been named an "adviser to Temasek's operations in Thailand".

Temasek Holdings has clarified that M.R. Tongnoi had been named as an adviser to Temasek Thailand's proposed office. Ms Thomas's comments did not include any aspect of board appointments either in Temasek or Shin corp. Any board changes to the company would have to be decided by the Shin board.

 
So, did Temasek say it and then withdraw it, or did the Bangkok Post misreport?

However, this little mystery was soon overshadowed by a bigger one. Tongnoi wasn't going to be an adviser to Temasek Holding's Bangkok office after all.

27 October 2006
The Bangkok Post

Tongnoi says no to Temasek

M.R. Tongnoi Tongyai, the private secretary to His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, has declined an offer to become an adviser to Temasek Holdings amid ongoing political pressure surrounding the Singapore investment arm's takeover of Shin Corp last January. ''After due consideration, M.R. Tongnoi Tongyai and Temasek Holdings wish to announce that both sides have mutually agreed that M.R. Tongnoi will not proceed as a corporate adviser to Temasek's proposed representative office in Thailand,'' Temasek said in a statement yesterday.

M.R. Tongnoi earlier this month resigned as audit committee chairman of Total Access Communication, the second-largest mobile phone operator after Shin flagship Advanced Info Service, in anticipation of becoming an adviser to Temasek's new local office and taking a seat on the Shin board.

Temasek's purchase of a 49% stake in Shin from the family of deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra for 73.3 billion baht in January touched off widespread protests over alleged conflicts of interest by the twice-elected Thai Rak Thai leader.

Temasek has also come under investigation over the use of nominee companies to allegedly violate the 49% foreign shareholding rule in the Foreign Business Act.

 
News agency AFP put out a very similar report:

27 Oct 2006
AFP

Temasek withdraws appointment of well-connected Thai adviser

Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings has withdrawn the appointment of a figure close to the Thai royal family as its corporate adviser in the country, a company spokesman said.

State-linked Temasek last week announced it will open an office in Thailand, where its controversial takeover of telecoms giant Shin Corp from the family of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is under scrutiny by Thai authorities. Temasek also announced at that time that M.R. Tongnoi Tongyai, a former adviser on foreign and technical affairs to Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, had been appointed corporate advisor to the Bangkok office.

But the company said Friday Tongnoi would no longer be its corporate adviser. Tongnoi is currently the personal counsellor of Thailand's Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, according to media reports.

"After due consideration, Mr Tongnoi Tonyai and Temasek Holdings have mutually agreed that Mr Tongnoi will not be the corporate adviser for the Temasek office in Thailand," a Temasek spokesman told AFP on Friday without giving a reason.

[truncated]

 
"Without giving a reason", it said. Very curious, and so much for transparency. 

48 hours later, the Office of the Crown Prince released its statement, published in full in The Nation newspaper.

29 Oct 2006
The Nation

The official statement 
Statement from HRH the Crown Prince's Personal Affairs Office

Some press reports have stated that Temasek Holdings has approached MR Tongnoi Tongyai to be adviser to an office it is about to set up in Thailand. They have mentioned that was the personal secretary and adviser to HRH Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, assigned to take care of royal properties in 2000.

HRH the Crown Prince's Personal Affairs Office would like to announce that the reports have caused misunderstanding and confusion as the claims are false and intended as a means to further MR Tongnoi Tongyai's own business interests. The claims have not only damaged the country but also destabilised international investment in Thailand.

In fact MR Tongnoi Tongyai is a cunning man and personally immoral. After being denied permission to extend his term as HM's Deputy Principal Private Secretary, he asked to be transferred to HRH the Crown Prince's Personal Affairs Office. HRH the Crown Prince was compassionate enough to engage him, and he was assigned to work suiting his professional abilities, translating and drafting English documents and occasionally writing letters.

However, he proved a shrewd deceiver, habitually passing himself off as closely linked to HRH the Crown Prince, and he worked to a hidden agenda, often without transparency, which caused discontent among his colleagues at all levels. He was unswayed by the kindness of HRH the Crown Prince in having given him an opportunity to prove himself.

On the contrary, he took advantage of his position to make false claims for his personal gain, claims which led to his being approached by Temasek Holdings to be an adviser. His behaviour has shown him ungrateful for HRH the Crown Prince's mercy and has damaged both the institution and the country.

HRH the Crown Prince's Personal Office considers MR Tongnoi Tongyai a perverse abuser of power for his own benefit. His acts have misled the public and harmed HRH the Crown Prince's Personal Affairs Office, which thus finds itself obliged to publicise the facts of the matter.

And Temasek Holdings fell for it? Did they not do background checks before going public about his appointment as corporate advisor?

This only serves to remind people that Temasek might not have done sufficient political due diligence prior to finalising its purchase of Shin Corp, thus causing the political problems it now faces. It lost Thaksin as a patron within months. Now this incident may muddy its goodwill with the Thai royal family. As the Prince's statement said, Tongnoi's behaviour "has damaged both the institution and the country."

Oscar Wilde famously wrote, "to lose one parent...may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness."

© Yawning Bread