Fired MCOT head 'reapplies for his old job'
After applications closed last week to fill the post of MCOT president vacated by Tanawat Wansom when he was fired last year by the board, Tanawat appeared as one of the 12 applicants, an MCOT source said yesterday.
The long-awaited recruitment process started on April 5 and ended last Friday after a second postponement. Applicants had to hand their cover letter and documents directly to acting president Premkamon Tinnakorn Na Ayutthaya, who serves as chairman of the nomination committee.
The source said Tanawat could be invited in for an interview if he is deemed as meeting the qualifications and as not involved in a conflict with the organisation.
After he left MCOT on November 13, he decided to file for legal remedy against the organisation and some former directors because he believed that the accusations against him were unfair.
After complaints against him in the middle of last year, MCOT’s board, led by chairman Surapon Nitikraipot, who was later ousted himself, set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the issues raised by the labour union and employees, including possible rifts from the organisational restructuring proposed by Tanawat.
The panel’s key findings were slow performance, neglecting compliance, failing to manage human resources and not practising good governance.
The board agreed unanimously to cancel the president’s employment contract.
Tanawat received about Bt2 million in compensation for his dismissal.
Among the reported 12 applicants were Anusorn Tamajai, economics dean at Rangsit University; Anek Permvongseni, who resigned as an MCOT director last week; |and Tom Kruesopon, Asia-Pacific head for Panda Software and a |political adviser for international media.
MCOT, which runs Modernine TV, aims to forward the shortlist of candidates to its board by next month.
Those passing the initial criteria will be interviewed by the committee. The candidates must give a presentation on their vision for managing and developing the organisation during the president’s four-year term.
Once negotiations over salary and benefits are completed, the committee will submit the list of finalists for the board’s approval by the middle of October.
The directors on the board now are different from those involved in Tanawat’s departure.
