Staff worry about govt silence on next TAT chief

The term of the current TAT governor, Thawatchai Arunyik, will be complete at the end of this month. While the procedure to select a replacement began early last year, the ministry has been silent on its progress.A group of TAT employees have called the media’s attention to this issue. They said many staff members were worried about the apparent lack of progress on appointing their new leader.

It has been reported that the TAT board will hold an urgent meeting today to discuss the situation.

The staff members said internal workflow and management might become unstable and inefficient if the agency lacks a leader with full authority. Moreover, they worry that the competitiveness of the country’s tourism industry may suffer from poor internal organisation.

According to the TAT administrative office, there are three finalists for the governor’s post. They are Nalikatibhag Sangsnit, director-general of Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA), Sorayut Phettrakul, assistant to the industry minister, and Somrak Kumputch, the TAT’s deputy governor for administration.

The employees noted that the current military-led regime had claimed it was focusing on revitalising the tourism industry, yet had said nothing about getting a new governor for the TAT.

Last year after seizing power from the elected government, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha appointed Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul as minister of tourism and sports. She was assigned to run the national tourism campaign, “Discover Thainess”. During Prayut’s regime, the TAT board has also got a new chairman, Kalin Sarasin. 

“There have been many changes among the top executives, except the governor position. And we should have the new one [in place] to continue our job,” one of staff members said, adding that Nalikatibhag was claimed as the most likely choice because of his direct experience and expertise compared with the other two candidates.