In what has been branded abuse of power, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has invoked the all-powerful Section 44 to delay payments by the three big mobile players and bail out digital TV operators from their financial obligations.
Worse still, this decision was made at the expense of taxpayers and consumers.
The order, published in the Royal Gazette on Thursday, gave the 4G licence operators -- AIS, True Move and DTAC -- more breathing space to make their final payments for the concessions.
A combined final payment of 150 billion baht was due in 2020 and 2021. But the NCPO's order has given them an extra five years.
The winning 4G auction bids in 2015, which fetched a combined 151.95 billion baht, were the highest in Asia and the second highest in the world. It was partly the result of the the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) setting high reserve prices.
The three players had lobbied the government for a payment postponement, saying that without it they would not have enough capital to bid in the 5G spectrum auctions planed for this year.
Despite issuing the order to satisfy their demand, the NCPO has not yet received any assurance from them about their participation in the 5G auction.
The NCPO's order also allows money from the 5G auction to be spent on subsidising the operating costs of digital TV operators who have suffered because of the NBTC's irrational licence auctions in 2013 that resulted in excessively high bidding, as much as 39.65 billion baht, for 24 digital channels.
The order also waives the remaining licence payments for all digital TV operators and lets them exit the industry without having to pay any outstanding fees or financial penalties.
That means the government will use the money, that should have gone directly to the state coffers, to bail out these digital TV operators who should have been held responsible for their own actions.
The NCPO's order will help the auction winners get away with their failure to live up to expectations. At the same time, it spares the NBTC from having to deal with what it called a "deadlock" in the industry, which stemmed from its granting of licences based on the highest bid rather than the real value of the spectrum.
Since the country is waiting for a new elected government to be formed following the general election, the NCPO should have left this decision to the new administration because it involves tens of billions of baht.
By invoking Section 44, the regime does not have to take responsibility for any consequences caused by this decision.
The NBTC itself should not rush with the 5G auctions because the 4G spectrums have not been fully utilised. Critics have pointed out that Thailand still needs better plans in place before adopting 5G.
Even if the NBTC wants to hold the 5G auction this year, it should not worry about the three big operators not having sufficient capital to take part in the bidding.
There are still other new players, both domestically and overseas, entering the bidding process. This will allow for a wider playing field and promote competition that will eventually benefit consumers.