Asean-focused. Ex-Head of Thai Research

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

Athaporn served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 22 years, of which 19 were in research and 9 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006.

Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also performs financial advisory services for TKC Services and provides 11 other on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely:

1) Snippets (news-driven);
2) Sathorn Series (financial services);
3) Silicon Stories (technology); 
4) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin series);
5) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative);
6) Thai Media Spotlight;
7) Political Pit Stop; 
8) Telecom Review; 
9) Thai Macro Watch (read-through from foreign events);  
10) Small Cap Diary; and
11) Property Grid

There are also 3 limited-time series driven by specific events or locations, namely:
1) Thai Corona Crisis;
2) South Series; and
3) Mechanics and Details (deal forensics).

The Week that Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma - Booming Thailand, Department Stores, and Hospitals

StubWorld: Hang Lung's Implied Stub At Extreme Levels

Thai Media Spotlight: The Shift Back to the Big Screen

Snippets #16: MINT's India Adventure, Consumption Stimulus Programs

Thai Media Spotlight: Digital TVs Get New Lifeline From License Fee Cuts

Snippets #15: Central's Big Plans, BAY's Big Garage Sale

Snippets #14: Prayuth's Election Run, the Year's Biggst IPO

Asean (Thailand) Focused Independent Research

M Corp Review

M Corp is led by Athaporn Arayasantiparb who served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 17 years, of which 14 were in research and 4 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006. Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also provides six on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely: 1) Silicon Stories (technology) 2) Sathorn Series (financial services) 3) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin stories) 4) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative) 5) Thai Media Spotlight; and 6) Thai Macro Watch (global market drivers).

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Thailand Media / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p>In a grand plan to 'shoot too birds with one stone', the Thai regulators plan on swapping the 470MHz and 700MHz spectra between the media and telecom industries. Why or how are they doing this?</p><ul>
<li>The 700MHz spectrum currently used by digital TV can be telecom operators to deploy 5G networks, which are said to be a 100x faster than the current 4G networks.</li>
<li>By agreeing to move to the 470MHz, some Bt10bn can be transferred from bidding to help the ailing media industry, which has been suffering from cutthroat competition.</li>
<li>Consumers benefit if the digital TV channels don't go under, so they have more choices.</li>
<li>Borderline employees in digital TV business may not have to be laid off.</li>
</ul><p>Overall, this is a very positive sector reform, and we have to give some credit to the NBTC guys. Great news for some of the stocks in our own portfolio such as BEC, but no impact on others such as MAJOR, which doesn't use spectrum.</p>

In a grand plan to 'shoot too birds with one stone', the Thai regulators plan on swapping the 470MHz and 700MHz spectra between the media and telecom industries. Why or how are they doing this?
The 700MHz spectrum currently used by digital TV can be telecom operators to deploy 5G networks, which are said to be a 100x faster than the current 4G networks.
By agreeing to move to the 470MHz, some Bt10bn can be transferred from bidding to help the ailing media industry, which has been suffering from cutthroat competition.
Consumers benefit if the digital TV channels don't go under, so they have more choices.
Borderline employees in digital TV business may not have to be laid off.
Overall, this is a very positive sector reform, and we have to give some credit to the NBTC guys. Great news for some of the stocks in our own portfolio such as BEC, but no impact on others such as MAJOR, which doesn't use spectrum.

Thai Media Spotlight: Government Rescue Plan