Thailand's Shin Sat to change name to Thaicom

BANGKOK, March 4 (Reuters) - Shin Satellite PCL SATT.BK, Thailand's only satellite operator, said on Tuesday it planned to change its name to Thaicom PCL.

The plan was subject to shareholder approval at a meeting on April 9, the firm said in a statement which gave no reason for the change. Thaicom is the name of the company's satellites.

Shin Sat, originally named was Shinawatra Satellite, has four satellites and the high-speed IPSTAR communications satellite, or Thaicom 4, is the key growth driver.

It launched its fifth sateliite, Thaicom 5, in 2006 to replace Thaicom 3, shut down because of technical problems.

Shin Sat was founded by ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra before his relatives sold their controlling stake in Shin Corp SHIN.BK, which owns 41 percent of Shin Sat, to Singapore's Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] in January 2006. ($1 = 31.62 Baht) (Reporting by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Michael Battye)