Thaicom is the name of a series of communications satellites operated out of Thailand and the name of Thaicom Public Company Limited, which is the company that owns and operates the THAICOM satellite fleet and other telecommunication businesses in Thailand and throughout the Asia-Pacific.
Thailand-based Shinawatra Computer and Communications Co. Ltd. (now Shin Corporation) signed a US$ 100 million contract with Hughes Space and Communications Company Ltd. in 1991 to launch Thailand's first satellite communications project. The first Thaicom satellite was launched on December 17, 1993. This satellite carried 12 C-band transponders coveting a region from Japan to Singapore. Thaksin Shinawatra sold Shin Corporation, which owns 41% of Thaicom Public Company Limited.
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It was launched in 1997, and became a key for the company in providing international communications services from central Europe and Africa to eastern Asia and Australia. It had 25 C-band transformers out of which 18 connect to Asian regional beam that covered India, southern China, and Southeast Asia. Thaicom 3's fourteen Ku band transponders are divided between Thailand and India. Thaicom 3 is now deorbited.