FTI rift grows as rivals call separate meetings
The internal conflict at the Federation of Thai Industries seems set to intensify yet further, with the heads of the organisation's two rival camps calling separate extraordinary meetings for next Monday.
FTI chairman Payungsak Chartsutipol has called for a meeting at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, where the federation is located, while the meeting of the opposition camp will be held at the Dusit Thani Hotel.
The two gatherings’ agendas will be focused on different areas, with Payungsak concentrating on the FTI’s priority task, in particular the assistance package for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), on which his team is pressing ahead and holding discussions with government agencies.
The other side, led by Tanit Sorat, the unofficial secretary-general of the FTI, will push further for the election of a new chairman after his team proclaimed a victory over Payungsak at the committee meeting held on November 26.
However, Payungsak said nothing about the election when calling the meeting for Monday, stressing only the plan to alleviate the burden on SMEs after the government increases the daily minimum wage to Bt300 across the country early next year.
Each of the scheduled meetings requires the attendance of at least 50 per cent of the federation’s 348 committee members for it to be valid.
Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk said yesterday that he had received details of the meetings from the two sides, but he did not want to interfere in the conflict and wanted them to reach a compromise among themselves. “The ministry cannot interfere in the internal tasks of the federation, but rather monitors the FTI’s regulations,” he said.
Payungsak said the executive board meeting yesterday had considered a reshuffle to fill some vacant posts as a means of smoothing the FTI’s operation. “I’m still working as chairman of FTI as usual, particularly during a tough time when members need some help to ease rocketing costs resulting from the minimum-wage hike next year,” he added.
It is expected that the wage increase will result in the production costs of some businesses rising by 80-90 per cent. The FTI has, therefore, urged the government to subsidise affected SMEs, mainly via tax reduction.
Sing Tangcharoenchaichana, chairman of FTI in the Central region, said he believed members from the provinces would attend the meeting at Dusit Thani Hotel on Monday rather than going to Payungsak’s meeting.
