His Majesty the King yesterday endorsed the new cabinet in which Charnchai Chairungruang will oversee the Industry Ministry instead of his Puea Pandin party colleague, Ranongruk Suwunchwee.

The King's endorsement was announced yesterday so the cabinet members led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva could take their oath before His Majesty tomorrow.

Mrs Ranongruk will serve as the information and communications minister according to the official line-up.

She had previously been tipped to take the industry portfolio, an appointment which had disappointed business people seeking a more experienced politician or an outsider to oversee the ministry.

A coalition source said Mr Charnchai had lobbied Puea Pandin to make him industry minister and that had persuaded the party to move Mrs Ranongruk to take charge of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry instead.

The change was seen as a win-win situation for the two, and would help defray criticism by the business sector, the source said.

Chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce Pramon Suthiwong was happy the coalition government had heeded the concerns of business people who opposed Mrs Ranongruk as industry minister.

Mr Pramon said many businessmen were not convinced Mrs Ranongrak was the best person to take up the post at the Industry Ministry.

In addition, the businessmen did not think the core leader of the Puea Pandin party had done anything to prove her ability while she was a deputy finance minister in the past administration led by the now dissolved People Power party, he said.

But he said he had no idea about Mr Charnchai, a former Thai Rak Thai MP and now an acting Puea Pandin leader. "Personally, I do not know him and don't know whether he will be right for this tough job or not," Mr Pramon said.

"I will let him get to work first. If he can't do better, he should take this into consideration himself or I will come out to put pressure on him to resign from the position."

Political analyst Sukhum Nualsakul was disappointed with the cabinet line-up as the minister and deputy minister portfolios appeared to have been allocated simply to appease the Democrats' coalition partners.

The government's stability has been put before competence or considerations of who would be best for what job, Mr Sukhum said.

"Quarrels in the coalition government are due to the quota system," he said.

The former Ramkhamhaeng University political scientist warned the government that its popularity and stability could decline unless it tackles the country's economic problems.

The Democrats held a meeting yesterday on Ko Samui in Surat Thani province to deal with a rift that formed after the announcement of the cabinet.

Mr Abhisit tried to appease those members unhappy with the cabinet line-up.

He said the number of Democrat MPs qualified for a cabinet post far exceeded the number of available seats.

The prime minister said the government would take the country forward in its efforts to solve economic and other problems.

If politics remain uncertain, even a strong leader with good policies might not be able to help the country move on, said Mr Abhisit.

Many MPs in the Democrat party have been crying foul over the new cabinet.

Mr Abhisit said he had talked things through with them, adding he understood their concerns and would assign them to jobs that would improve their chances of making it into the cabinet later.