New Thai Airways President--piyasvasti Amranand

[thailandlover]

THAI names Piyasvasti as president

Piyasvasti Amranand

Board of Thai Airways International Plc on Thursday appointed Piyasvasti Amranand, a former Energy Minister, as the carrier's president.

Former energy minister Piyasvasti Amranand was approached by the government to take the post of president of the Thai Airways International (THAI).

The government decided to approach Piyasvasti, now Chief Advisor of Kasikorn Bank, due to the national airline's financial problems. The source said the government hoped that the former minister would be able to help rescue the company.

Mr Piyasvasti is one of 11 candidates contending for the post.

THAI is currently in urgent need of a recovery plan following a major loss of profits.

Profile : Piyasvasti was Thailand's Energy Minister between Oct 9 2006 and February 6 February, 2008. In the past, he held positions as Secretary General of the Thai National Energy Policy Office, Director General of the Public Relations Department, Chairman of Kasikorn Asset Management, and Chairman of Panel of Advisors for CEO of Kasikorn Bank.

His current position is Advisor to the Energy for Environment Foundation.

During the 1990's, Piyasvasti played a key role in deregulating and privatizing a number of energy-related state enterprises like PTT and power generation business. During his term as Energy Minister he implemented wide ranging reforms in the energy sector.

Piyasvasti was born in 1953, and graduated from Brasenose College, Oxford in 1975 with B.A. (First Class Honours) in Mathematics. He later obtained MSc. (Distinction) in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics, and PhD. in Economics from the London School of Economics.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/06/18...ss_30105478.php

[thailandlover]

Is the new President capable of turning Thai around? Do you think he will be allowed to make the changes necessary to return Thai to a world class airline? Is he qualified to do so?

[samran]

Is the new President capable of turning Thai around? Do you think he will be allowed to make the changes necessary to return Thai to a world class airline? Is he qualified to do so?

The man has a take no prisoners approach to working with the civil servants in Thailand. His experience at the MoE is proof of that, he is respected and feared, and one of the best policy brains in Thailand. He has a thorough understanding of the need for, and how to, make a sector grow and become stronger by virtue of market competition, and a track record of opening up the Thai power sector to competition in provision of power to EGAT. He knows how to get the public service to come around to what needs to get done.

As an intellect is just about without peer in Thailand, the guy is incredibly bright (as is his wife), without making him ineffective in the real world, as was shown during his stint in K-Bank, where reportedly, he made bucket loads of money. Moreover, he doesn’t suffer fools.

Although his wife is a democrat advisor, I believe this is one of the best choices that could have been made. He has shown he can work well under any government, indeed he worked under TRT while at the MoE before becoming energy minister in the coup government. It should be noted that the Transport Ministry is currently controlled by ex.TRT/thaksin followers, so the fact that he got up is testament to his ability to work with all sides of politics.

[JohnGotti]

Please bring back JFK direct flight.

Also, why would anyone fly Thai Air when you get practically the exact same thing on discount Airlines like Air Asia for certain routes? Maybe Thai Air is a bit safer, but who is paying 2x the price for the same ticket cause the chance of crashing is 1 in 10m instead of 1 in 8m? Many businesses can make alot of money selling the exact same product as another business for more money under the guise that its better solely because it costs more (think liquor) but i don't think airlines are one of them these days of high fuel costs and bad economies. plus, airasia you can order several meals for 90 baht each and the girls are cuter.

Edited June 23, 2009 by JohnGotti

[samran]

Please bring back JFK direct flight.

That flight was never economic and never made a cent for thai airways. It was undertaken on a type of aircraft which Thai airways was forced to buy due to some dodgy deals made under the Thaksin administration. Forced to do ‘something’ with the aircraft, they tried the direct to NYC route as a stop gap.

[JohnGotti]

why didnt it make money? not enough passengers? the la flight lands late at night with no time for a transit flight so you have to book a hotel room. im surprised it was not more popular.

[meelousee]

I am sure he can turn the World Economy around

Give all the tourist money so they can fly to Thailand or out of

It is not just a Thai Airways problem it is World Wide. He can do little but raise fares, layoff people and park aircraft.

[samran]

why didnt it make money? not enough passengers? the la flight lands late at night with no time for a transit flight so you have to book a hotel room. im surprised it was not more popular.

not enough premium demand, which is how all airlines make their money.

I am sure he can turn the World Economy around

Give all the tourist money so they can fly to Thailand or out of

It is not just a Thai Airways problem it is World Wide. He can do little but raise fares, layoff people and park aircraft.

getting Thai airways to adopt efficient work practices will be what makes or break the new preseident. No one to date has had the stomach to take them on...

Edited June 23, 2009 by samran

[rinpoche]

He has shown he can work well under any government, indeed he worked under TRT while at the MoE before becoming energy minister in the coup government. It should be noted that the Transport Ministry is currently controlled by ex.TRT/thaksin followers, so the fact that he got up is testament to his ability to work with all sides of politics.

He has not shown that he can work under the Democrats.

[jackdanielsesq]

One needs a charismatic Branson or Trump to maybe turn it around. It has to start from within.

To wit - it is a global thingy. It takes more than a simplistic, bureaucratic bean counter.

Which is what most parastatals employ.

One of these guys would have grown Thai tourism, not trashed it, like they did.

Management is everything.

BR>Jack

[rinpoche]

Please bring back JFK direct flight.

That flight was never economic and never made a cent for thai airways. It was undertaken on a type of aircraft which Thai airways was forced to buy due to some dodgy deals made under the Thaksin administration. Forced to do 'something' with the aircraft, they tried the direct to NYC route as a stop gap.

It's a A340. A long-range Airbus that can fly non-stop to JFK without refuelling. You can't say that it's a bad choice by someone in the Thaksin admin given that this plane has just been enhanced for fuel efficiency. Nobody could have predicted the free fall in global economy and demand fell way short of expectation. Given better global economic health, there is a good chance that there will be enough passengers willing to pay a premium for the non-stop flight. With the current situation, the airline will only lose money if it continues to operate this flight.

Cathay Pacific is in a similar bind, but there is nothing wrong with the aircraft. It is still economical to run flights on it without a full tank needed for long-haul flights.

[Maizefarmer]

I am sure he can turn the World Economy around

Give all the tourist money so they can fly to Thailand or out of

It is not just a Thai Airways problem it is World Wide. He can do little but raise fares, layoff people and park aircraft.

Therein lies a large part of the problem - the world economy: which he is not going to solve.

Thai is a never ending roller coaster of corporate performance.

With guys like BA not able to keep their heads above the water - British Airways lost nearly half a billion dollars last year, largely due to a weak Sterling and the impact that had on fuel contracts - quite how Thai is going to keep things together I don't know, especially if the Baht turns round and starts to weaken (which most folk accept is going to happen within the next 12 months or so).

I think things may just be beyond him.

[khunjake]

TG used to be a good option for flying within Asia a few years back, however their prices have increased quite a bit in recent years. Mostly fly MH or AirAsia within SEA now.

[samran]

He has shown he can work well under any government, indeed he worked under TRT while at the MoE before becoming energy minister in the coup government. It should be noted that the Transport Ministry is currently controlled by ex.TRT/thaksin followers, so the fact that he got up is testament to his ability to work with all sides of politics.

He has not shown that he can work under the Democrats.

His wife is a democrat advisor and he is well know to the democrats during his time heading up varuous divisions at the MoE when he was in government. So they know him very well, and I suspect they consider him one of 'theirs'.

Having said that, he is no lacky, far from it. Highly suspect that in taking this role he has sought guaranatees for his independence, which is why it has taken so long for him to accept this role.

For sure is that the unions at Thai won't be happy, which is the most important thing....

[jackdanielsesq]

Virgin is also subject to the weak UK Pound, but managed to flourish.

BR>Jack

[rinpoche]

His wife is a democrat advisor and he is well know to the democrats during his time heading up varuous divisions at the MoE when he was in government. So they know him very well, and I suspect they consider him one of 'theirs'.

Having said that, he is no lacky, far from it. Highly suspect that in taking this role he has sought guaranatees for his independence, which is why it has taken so long for him to accept this role.

For sure is that the unions at Thai won't be happy, which is the most important thing....

No lackey? That's the whole problem, isn't it? Well, what would he do? How about this?

1. Reduce engine types. This lowers staff cost as fewer engineers and technicians will be required. TG has over 27,000 employees. SIA has just 14,000.

2. Acquire new aircraft (TG aircraft much older than SIA, MAS and even Garuda).

3. Promote budget airline and differentiate TG with premium service.

4. Stop pioneering, high premium flights that will take a long time to generate demand (leave that to SIA).

5. Dissociate it from the air force.

Well, if you've been following the news, these are exactly the same things that Thaksin recommended and that made him many enemies in TG. Hopefully, the powerful folks at TG were just prejudiced against Thaksin and not his ideas.

[rinpoche]

I am sure he can turn the World Economy around

Give all the tourist money so they can fly to Thailand or out of

It is not just a Thai Airways problem it is World Wide. He can do little but raise fares, layoff people and park aircraft.

Therein lies a large part of the problem - the world economy: which he is not going to solve.

Thai is a never ending roller coaster of corporate performance.

With guys like BA not able to keep their heads above the water - British Airways lost nearly half a billion dollars last year, largely due to a weak Sterling and the impact that had on fuel contracts - quite how Thai is going to keep things together I don't know, especially if the Baht turns round and starts to weaken (which most folk accept is going to happen within the next 12 months or so).

I think things may just be beyond him.

It's not beyond him to cut TG down to size and run at minimal cost. However, he has the TG management to deal with. They didn't listen to Thaksin. They won't listen to him.

[jayboy]

Is the new President capable of turning Thai around? Do you think he will be allowed to make the changes necessary to return Thai to a world class airline? Is he qualified to do so?

The man has a take no prisoners approach to working with the civil servants in Thailand. His experience at the MoE is proof of that, he is respected and feared, and one of the best policy brains in Thailand. He has a thorough understanding of the need for, and how to, make a sector grow and become stronger by virtue of market competition, and a track record of opening up the Thai power sector to competition in provision of power to EGAT. He knows how to get the public service to come around to what needs to get done.

As an intellect is just about without peer in Thailand, the guy is incredibly bright (as is his wife), without making him ineffective in the real world, as was shown during his stint in K-Bank, where reportedly, he made bucket loads of money. Moreover, he doesn't suffer fools.

Although his wife is a democrat advisor, I believe this is one of the best choices that could have been made. He has shown he can work well under any government, indeed he worked under TRT while at the MoE before becoming energy minister in the coup government. It should be noted that the Transport Ministry is currently controlled by ex.TRT/thaksin followers, so the fact that he got up is testament to his ability to work with all sides of politics.

I fully endorse this opinion.He has a superb intellect (Oxford, first class honours) and a combative temperament to boot.Unusually among Thai bureaucrats he has an incredibly analytical way of thinking and I don't believe for a moment that he won't be able to diagnose and come up with solutions for TG's problems.As another member points out he is bound to come up against resistance from elite factions, notably the airforce.It will be an interesting ride.