Deputy Permanent Secretary for Finance Chakkrit Parapuntakul has been nominated to lead the Thai Airways (THAI) executive board, in the hopes of bringing out Thailand's flag carrier from its chronic financial problems.
The nomination was revealed on Monday by Deputy Transport Minister Thaworn Senneam, who said he "remains optimistic" about THAI's future, despite the fact that the carrier posted a loss of about 10 billion baht this year.
"Mr Chakkrit, who has been handling expenses and liabilities of the Finance Ministry, has been nominated for the top job [at THAI]," Mr Thaworn said.
"The matter will be decided by the company's shareholders."
On Nov 1, Ekniti Nitithaprapas stepped down from as the chairman of THAI's executive board amid growing pressure over the flag carrier's poor financial performance.
According to Mr Thaworn, the chairman of THAI's executive board must be adept at marketing, capable of strategic thinking in order to come up with strategies to increase revenues, and possess a comprehensive knowledge of information technology and Thai procurement laws.
"The time has come to start thinking of ways to bring THAI out of the crisis," said Mr Thaworn.
The deputy minister also said that despite the fierce competition faced by the carrier which was partly fueled by the boom of budget airlines, THAI is not at risk of an immediate shutdown.
"The 10-billion-baht [loss] figure accounts for only 5% of THAI's total yearly revenues of about 200 billion baht," he said.
“We only need to increase revenues by a little bit to get rid of the red figures.”
