Takorn Tantasith, former secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), and Korkij Danchaivichit, chief executive of Thailand Post, submitted applications yesterday to vie for new board positions with the NBTC as the two-week application period wraps up tomorrow.
The two showed up at the Secretariat of the Senate yesterday to submit applications for the post, according to a source at the NBTC office who requested anonymity.
Two NBTC executives -- NBTC deputy secretaries-general Air Marshal Thanapant Raicharoen and Pakdee Manaves -- applied last week.
Based on legislation, the seven executives on the NBTC board must come from seven different fields: telecom, broadcasting, TV business, law, engineering, economics and consumer protection.
Mr Takorn applied for the telecom post and Mr Korkij opted for the legal seat. Mr Pakdee applied for economics and AM Thanapant the engineering post.
As of yesterday, 37 applications have been submitted since the application process kicked off on Oct 14.
According to observers, applications for the posts have drawn less interest than expected because an amendment to the NBTC Act is still pending. The amendment would apply to the recruitment of NBTC board members among other facets.
Once the amendment comes into force, a new recruitment round will have to be undertaken. The amendment has been pushed through the Lower House's working committee, but has yet to be deliberated on by the Senate.
In addition, the current application requirements are considered tough in the eyes of many interested parties. For example, the candidates must not hold shares or have served as a director in companies involved with telecom or broadcasting businesses for at least a year.
The ongoing recruitment process is being done under the existing NBTC act, which came into effect in 2017.
Under the act, applicants must be 40-70 and need to specify their field of expertise.
After receiving the applications, 14 shortlisted names from seven fields of expertise must be sought, two from each field. The Senate will then vote to select seven of them -- one from each field.
A shortlist of qualified candidates is expected by the end of this year. The Senate is projected to vote in new board NBTC members early next year.
Mr Takorn stepped down from his position as secretary-general on July 1. The source said Mr Takorn's application is being closely watched as he was a key driver for the telecom and broadcasting industry, organising 3G, 4G and 5G spectrum licence auctions, which generated a total of 500 billion baht for the state.
He is also expected as a candidate for the new chairman of the NBTC board, the source said.