Top Malaysia-based budget airline AirAsia will not dilute its 49 percent stake in its Thai unit, the company's executive director Kamarudin Meranun said.

"AirAsia will remain a 49 percent shareholder in Thai AirAsia," Kamarudin told AFP .

"We have come to an agreement that our shareholdings will not be diluted and our rights in the existing agreement will remain in force," he said.

"As far as the restructuring is concerned, what needs to be done will be done at the Shin Corp level," he added.

Thailand's AirAsia said Tuesday it would find new partners in order to comply with foreign ownership rules after the sale of its stakeholder Shin Corp to Singapore's Temasek.

The budget carrier is a joint venture between Malaysia's AirAsia Bhd which holds 49 percent and Thai telecommunications giant Shin Corp, founded by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, which owns 50 percent.

His family's 1.9 billion-dollar sale of the business to Singapore's state-owned investment firm Temasek has caused AirAsia to fall foul of rules which state Thai-registered airlines must be at least 51 percent Thai-owned.

The Shin Corp sale has unleashed a furore and calls for Thaksin's resignation, with critics saying it puts strategic telecommunications assets in foreign hands.

Transport Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal said he had asked the Department of Aviation to review the foreign shareholder structure of Thai AirAsia after Temasek became the largest shareholder in Shin Corp.

He warned that Thai AirAsia could lose its licence if it has more foreign ownership than Thai ownership, or breaches the 51 percent level.