The cabinet on Tuesday shunted civil aviation chief Somchai Phiphutthawat to an inspector-general's post a few months before retirement, for slow progress in improving aviation standards.
Transport Minister Prajin Juntong said after the cabinet meeting that transport inspector-general Parichat Kotcharat succeeded Mr Somchai at the Department of Civil Aviation.
Mrs Parichat used to be a deputy director-general at the department and was a capable woman. Mr Somchai was a legal expert and his work was subject to procedures and thus slow, ACM Prajin said.
Both Mr Somchai and Mrs Parichat will retire at the end of September.
Somchai Phiphutthawat
A source said that Mr Somchai had refused to decentralise his power to speed up work as ACM Prajin had instructed.
Mrs Parichat said she had not been tipped off in advance about the transfer, but she was prepared for the job because she had been a deputy director-general of the department in 2012 and 2013.
She said she would quickly solve significant safety concerns of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), review a corrective action plan, restructure the department and prepare personnel for the change.
ACM Prajin also quoted Deputy Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith as reporting that the ICAO was satisfied with Thailand's overall corrective action plan to clear up significant safety concerns about the department's safety certification for Thai-registered airlines.
Mr Arkhom met ICAO management in Canada on Monday.
ACM Prajin also said that the ICAO might speed up its review on the department's certification standards instead of waiting for its fresh certification for all Thai-registered airlines.
The ICAO raised its significant safety concerns early this year as the Department of Civil Aviation seemed to compromise its safety standard checks for Thai-registered airlines. That prompted Japan to restrict the visits of Thai-registered airlines from late March to mid-April.
