BURDEN OF ECONOMIC HOPE ON UTTAMA'S SHOULDERS
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The public seems to have pinned much hope on new Information and Communications Technology Minister Uttama Savanayana, a fresh face in the Cabinet handpicked by the head of the new economic team, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.
Uttama is known as a close aide of Somkid. He was called in to assist Somkid in various capacities, including vice minister for commerce and adviser to the finance minister during the Thaksin administration several years ago.
Like new Deputy Commerce Minister Suvit Maesincee and Somkid, Uttama has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He earned a bachelor degree in electrical engineering at Brown University and a doctorate degree at the University of Massachusetts.
Uttama was a rector of Bangkok University and managing director of Thai Prosperity Advisory. He was on the boards of directors of Big C Supercenter and Dhipaya Life Assurance.
In other words, his qualifications for the job are not in question.
But he raised some eyebrows when he showed up on his first day at the ICT Ministry with a Chinese sin-sae, who performed some strange ritual seemingly aimed at expelling and/or preventing bad luck from his office.
Some jitters were in evidence when the sin-sae began the ritual at the entrance to the office and grabbed the hands of the wrong person standing nearby, instead of the minister’s hands, to lead him into the office to continue the ritual. But he eventually got hold of Uttama’s hand.
SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS?
Durian is not a common fruit served at formal functions due to its strong smell.
But Supakit Phucharoensilp, the plant operations manager for Kampot Cement, SCG’s Cambodian subsidiary, loves to serve durian to his VIP guests from Bangkok since the province is famous for its fruit, which tastes a lot like Mon Thong durian in Thailand. It is even more expensive than Thai durian, priced at about Bt500 each.
Supakit said Kampot Sapodilla is also very tasty, perhaps due to reduced use of chemicals.
Contributed by Pichaya Changsorn
