The State Enterprises Policy Commission or superboard is mulling five options for a planned supervisory body to govern state enterprises, says a Finance Ministry source.
The options are empowering the State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) to supervise state enterprises and retaining it under the Finance Ministry, authorising Sepo to supervise state enterprises but transferring it to the Prime Minister's Office, setting up a new ministry, establishing an independent body such as the Bank of Thailand or the Securities and Exchange Commission and incorporating a holding company.
The five options have been initiated by a subcommittee tasked with studying formats for supervisory units.
Thailand has 56 state enterprises. Some are financially ailing, while most have been criticised as vehicles used by politicians to enrich themselves and reward cronies.
Strengthening state enterprises, shielding them from political influence and giving them a clear-cut role in the country's development are among the priorities of the National Council for Peace and Order.
The superboard earlier instructed loss-making state enterprises including Thai Airways International (THAI), the Islamic Bank of Thailand, the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand and the State Railway of Thailand to rehabilitate their businesses.
It has also cut perks offered to board members and executives by some state enterprises including THAI's 15 international and 12 domestic free flights a year for board members.
Sepo's duties are now limited only to giving advice and setting working frameworks for state enterprises.
The source said all state enterprise shares now held by the Finance Ministry would be transferred to the new supervisory body.
However, the government and the ministry will still take responsibility for outlining overall state enterprises' policies, the source said.
If the option of setting up a holding company is chosen, the supervisory unit will have the same format as Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Singapore's Temasek Holdings, the source added.