5 Applicants For Thai Airways' Top Job

[webfact]

THAI

5 applicants for THAI's top job

Bamrung Amnatcharoenrit

The Nation

MCOT Chairman Sorachak Kasemsuwan is one of the applicants

BANGKOK: -- Thai Airways International's board of directors has received applications from 5 individuals vying for the top post at the national carrier, following the dismissal of Piyasvasti Amranand in May.

Finance Permanent Secretary Areepong Bhoocha-oom, as chairman of the selection committee, said yesterday after the board’s meeting that the selection result should be known in September.

In the next two weeks, the selection committee will screen the qualifications of the applicants and then interviews will follow. In August, names of the candidates will be presented to the board of directors, Areepong said.

The Finance Ministry owns 51 per cent in the Thai national carrier.

"All the five applicants are outsiders, but this should pose no problem. There is no need to extend the application period," Areepong said.

"Whether the new president will earn as much as Bt900,000 a month that the former president received depends on the qualification and capability."

Areepong did not reveal the names of the applicants. Yet, sources said that among them is Sorachak Kasemsuwan, currently chairman of another state enterprise, MCOT Plc. As MCOT is a state enterprise, he is allowed to keep the job until he is appointed president of THAI. Sources close to the matter said he is the most likely candidate to succeed PIyasvasti, whose employment contract was prematurely terminated in June.

The other two applicants are ML Hathaichanok Kridakorn who is now general manager of Accor Asia Pacific Corporation; and Krissanet Sriprasert, commercial counsellor of Embassy of the State of Qatar in Thailand. Two others submitted their applications by mail and are expected to be dismissed due to requests for remuneration of over Bt150 million.

Dismissed despite high performance scores, Piyasvasti brought the unfair contract termination to the Labour Court, seeking more compensation. Some small shareholders of THAI also asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to see if the board of directors’ decision violated any securities laws.

-- The Nation 2012-08-10

[rheinwiese]

Jobs for the loyal boys.

TG needs aviation professionals to get the airline out of it's mess.

Hire foreign expertise if not avail domestically.

But I guess that's a no go.

[jerrysteve]

1. The problem is the "Local Boys" will work for less...which is obviously what they are worth anyway.

2 They won't hire anyone from the west who has their act together coupled with both the knowledge and savvy, who knows precisely what to

do to get that overpriced crapy airline out of the doldrums and hole they are in.

3. Besides that, they won't pay the kind of salary for that kind of western management, expertise anyway, so let them rot and go under.

4. Let them take their lumps in the market place like everyone else.

[geriatrickid]

1. The problem is the "Local Boys" will work for less...which is obviously what they are worth anyway.

2 They won't hire anyone from the west who has their act together coupled with both the knowledge and savvy, who knows precisely what to

do to get that overpriced crapy airline out of the doldrums and hole they are in.

3. Besides that, they won't pay the kind of salary for that kind of western management, expertise anyway, so let them rot and go under.

4. Let them take their lumps in the market place like everyone else.

By west what do you mean? The long line of poorly managed pompous pinheads that put US carriers in and out of bankruptcy and who have destroyed the airlines? Or do you mean some of the geniuses that led EU carriers to economic disaster? Not that the South Americans were any better. There really hasn't been any expertise at the western led legacy air carriers in a decade and it shows.

Thai Airways is a legacy carrier and its biggest problems right now are related to equipment and aviation fuel costs. Fuel and equipment costs (both leasing and maintenance) are also two of its largest expenses. What's needed is someone that understands the energy supply market and can oversee the fuel hedging, and someone with experience in the financing of large equipment purchases. The issues of service, catering and labour relations are minor compared to the aforementioned 2 big items.

[Payboy]

Hope Thai Airways medical insurance covers dental care.

[jcw]

Yet, sources said that among them is Sorachak Kasemsuwan, currently chairman of another state enterprise, MCOT Plc. As MCOT is a state enterprise, he is allowed to keep the job until he is appointed president of THAI. Sources close to the matter said he is the most likely candidate to succeed PIyasvasti, whose employment contract was prematurely terminated in June.

Looks like the decision has been made eh...

[steveromagnino]

By west what do you mean? The long line of poorly managed pompous pinheads that put US carriers in and out of bankruptcy and who have destroyed the airlines? Or do you mean some of the geniuses that led EU carriers to economic disaster? Not that the South Americans were any better. There really hasn't been any expertise at the western led legacy air carriers in a decade and it shows.

Thai Airways is a legacy carrier and its biggest problems right now are related to equipment and aviation fuel costs. Fuel and equipment costs (both leasing and maintenance) are also two of its largest expenses. What's needed is someone that understands the energy supply market and can oversee the fuel hedging, and someone with experience in the financing of large equipment purchases. The issues of service, catering and labour relations are minor compared to the aforementioned 2 big items.

Entirely agree on the major issues.

I would say the skills in purchasing and fuel management exist within Thai Airways, the difficulty of the job is being a strong leader who can lead the organisation to do all of the above effectively plus expand the airline to profitable routes and manage the board to support the right decisions while also dealing with the legacy issues of unions, connected parties and skim, particularly relating to the selection of buying aircraft and fuel and services (allegedly why the previous President was deposed, because he is actually honest and was trying to cut a lot of the skim out). The previous president also was unable to build the alliances that would have seen him still in power, that to me was his failure.

I doubt that second rate experience in another psuedo government department running a few TV ads and selecting pretty girls to host TV shows while managing the skim is sufficient to run an airline, but then again, we did used to say back in my old career abroad when we ended up owning an airline, the best way to make a nice little fortune is to start with a nice big fortune and buy an airline.

I doubt there are many foreigners who could successfully run a very Thai style business like Thai Airways, without the mandate of ownership behind them, I hope to godness it doesn't end up being a promotion from the Nok Air President, my guess is perhaps Srettha from Sansiri may be in the running but not revealed yet.

I hope I am wrong but worry that the aim of this President is not to actually make Thai Airways successful, it is to make the connected parties who give him/her the job successfully rich, as seemed to be the case with the TAT, MCOT and most other state related businesses with large capex expenditure and opaque operations procedures.

Edited August 10, 2012 by steveromagnino

[badgerbailey]

1. The problem is the "Local Boys" will work for less...which is obviously what they are worth anyway.

2 They won't hire anyone from the west who has their act together coupled with both the knowledge and savvy, who knows precisely what to

do to get that overpriced crapy airline out of the doldrums and hole they are in.

3. Besides that, they won't pay the kind of salary for that kind of western management, expertise anyway, so let them rot and go under.

4. Let them take their lumps in the market place like everyone else.

By west what do you mean? The long line of poorly managed pompous pinheads that put US carriers in and out of bankruptcy and who have destroyed the airlines? Or do you mean some of the geniuses that led EU carriers to economic disaster? Not that the South Americans were any better. There really hasn't been any expertise at the western led legacy air carriers in a decade and it shows.

Thai Airways is a legacy carrier and its biggest problems right now are related to equipment and aviation fuel costs. Fuel and equipment costs (both leasing and maintenance) are also two of its largest expenses. What's needed is someone that understands the energy supply market and can oversee the fuel hedging, and someone with experience in the financing of large equipment purchases. The issues of service, catering and labour relations are minor compared to the aforementioned 2 big items.

Emirates and Etihad, 2 of the fastest growing airlines in the world, one led by an Australian and the other led by an Englishman.

[SOTIRIOS]

......'qualifications'.what a joke.....all you have to do is 'redirect money', as advised......

[xkmasada]

The CEO position at Thai Airways is, and has always been, a political appointment.

How else do you think Piyasawat, who was the military government's Energy Minister and husband of a Democrat MP, got the position in the 1st place???

The position is both a reward as well as an obligation to funnel funds back to the party.

[geriatrickid]

Emirates and Etihad, 2 of the fastest growing airlines in the world, one led by an Australian and the other led by an Englishman.

I knew someone would raise the Gulf carriers as examples. Yes, the foreign managers have done well. However, they have the advantage of the following;

1. Indirect and direct government backing with access to deep pockets.

2. Free from the obligations of pension plan obligations which are is one of the reasons why western legacy carriers have so many problems. AC, UA, DL, BA, AF etc. all are straining under the burden of pension obligations that are not fully funded.

3. Access to lower cost fuel supplies.

4. A much lower landing fee and airport "rent" basis.

It is much easier to succeed when a cash rich state is fully backing the airline. Look at the dispute currently going on between *A and Emirates. LH is leading the fight and when Emirates wasn't able to get the regulatory approval in Canada to expand, the UAE retaliated evicting the Canadian military base, costing Canada a massive expense when it had to relocate. Meanwhile LH has suffered flight restrictions as a retaliation. Even the great Qatar airlines can count on the full backing of the Qatar government.

And then there are the airlines like Thai where government involvement does not work. I think one of the barriers to success for Thai is the fact that it is a state company. Some crown corporations can succeed, but in this case, being a government asset is not the way to go. TG needs to be fully privatised and stop being forced to provide the perks to the government. Same goes for the AoT. The military needs to butt out and its Air Force staff should not be running the airports as is the case in Phuket. As long as TG is a government company there will be meddling from incompetent people who are clueless as to how an airline should be run.

[BonzaLad]

1. The problem is the "Local Boys" will work for less...which is obviously what they are worth anyway.

2 They won't hire anyone from the west who has their act together coupled with both the knowledge and savvy, who knows precisely what to

do to get that overpriced crapy airline out of the doldrums and hole they are in.

3. Besides that, they won't pay the kind of salary for that kind of western management, expertise anyway, so let them rot and go under.

4. Let them take their lumps in the market place like everyone else.

By west what do you mean? The long line of poorly managed pompous pinheads that put US carriers in and out of bankruptcy and who have destroyed the airlines? Or do you mean some of the geniuses that led EU carriers to economic disaster? Not that the South Americans were any better. There really hasn't been any expertise at the western led legacy air carriers in a decade and it shows.

Thai Airways is a legacy carrier and its biggest problems right now are related to equipment and aviation fuel costs. Fuel and equipment costs (both leasing and maintenance) are also two of its largest expenses. What's needed is someone that understands the energy supply market and can oversee the fuel hedging, and someone with experience in the financing of large equipment purchases. The issues of service, catering and labour relations are minor compared to the aforementioned 2 big items.

Emirates and Etihad, 2 of the fastest growing airlines in the world, one led by an Australian and the other led by an Englishman.

That's actually one Australian and one Irishman!!

[Skywalker69]

I held a private pilot licence in the late 80s, can I apply for the job. PS I can work late hours.

[h90]

1. The problem is the "Local Boys" will work for less...which is obviously what they are worth anyway.

2 They won't hire anyone from the west who has their act together coupled with both the knowledge and savvy, who knows precisely what to

do to get that overpriced crapy airline out of the doldrums and hole they are in.

3. Besides that, they won't pay the kind of salary for that kind of western management, expertise anyway, so let them rot and go under.

4. Let them take their lumps in the market place like everyone else.

rofl...you don't make that work for the salary...you make it for the kick backs in Thailand.

[h90]

Jobs for the loyal boys.

TG needs aviation professionals to get the airline out of it's mess.

Hire foreign expertise if not avail domestically.

But I guess that's a no go.

I read what happened with the Austrian Airline.....not too different

[yoshiwara]

There was a moment in the history of Thai Air that not only did members of parliament demand that they and their families travel first class when travelling on Thai Air but that they should also accrue frequent flyer miles. Now ask yourself why the previous CEO of Thai Air was relieved of his responsibilities. And then ask why you should want to consider the necessary skillset of a CEO signed off by the Thaksin government. And stop.

[chooka]

Jobs for the loyal boys.

TG needs aviation professionals to get the airline out of it's mess.

Hire foreign expertise if not avail domestically.

But I guess that's a no go.

Didn't they say that all 5 applicants were outsiders? Does this mean foreigners or those thais not working for the airline?

[h90]

There was a moment in the history of Thai Air that not only did members of parliament demand that they and their families travel first class when travelling on Thai Air but that they should also accrue frequent flyer miles. Now ask yourself why the previous CEO of Thai Air was relieved of his responsibilities. And then ask why you should want to consider the necessary skillset of a CEO signed off by the Thaksin government. And stop.

One more thing: thai airways want to make a low cost carrier to be competitive against Air Asia. This idea was immediately canceled after the previous CEO was relieved.

Thaksin is part owner of Air Asia.

NOK Air slipped out of their control: The Manager is know as complete crazy (or what Thai politicians consider as crazy) who not let anyone influence decisions and he can't be removed.

[paymaster]

there is a little homo-leprechaun at qantas they can have.