According to Thailand’s Energy Minister, Prommin Lertsuridej, the IPO has been postponed “indefinitely” and the minister blamed a combination of “bureaucratic hitches and worker protests”. However, Thaksin placed the failure of the IPO upon himself.
“I must blame myself because I tried to hurry the share offering. We did not explain [to] the staff how the shares will be allocated, and we did not clarify the role of the regulator and whether the share sale will affect electricity prices,” said the Prime Minister.
The Thai government had originally planned to sell a 25% stake in the utility to raise funds to reduce debt and to invest in new power plants. The announcement of the IPO received a hostile reception from EGAT workers culminating in a 100,000 strong protest in the streets of Bangkok calling for the cancellation of the IPO.
The cancellation of the IPO is also being seen as a setback to Thaksin’s plans to offer stakes in more state-owned firms.
