PTT chairman resigns citing ‘pressure from other board members’

Energy Ministry permanent secretary Prasert Sinsukprasert will replace Tossaporn as PTT’s chairman of the board, a news source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The meeting also approved the nomination of two candidates to fill the vacancies for directors caused by Tossaporn and Danucha Pichayanan, who had resigned from the board on October 9.

Danucha is also the secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council.

The chairmanship of the PTT board made headlines earlier this week after Tossaporn, on Monday, filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Tossaporn claimed that there was an attempt to replace him and other PTT board members, allegedly in violation of the company’s regulation.

The election of PTT’s new board chairman and members was reportedly included in the agenda for the board meeting on October 16, but was later shelved indefinitely.

The source said that after several hours into the meeting on Thursday, Tossaporn decided to resign due to “pressure from other board members".

Analysts speculated that the move to oust Tossaporn was a bid to find a new chairman and board members who would make sure that PTT’s operations complied with the new government’s energy policies.

The Pheu Thai-led coalition government has been focusing on reducing people’s expenses on energy, specifically fuels, cooking gas, and electricity bills in line with the party’s election promises.

Prasert, 57, holds a Master’s degree in energy conversion, power and transmission from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in energy management and policy from University of Pennsylvania, United States.

Before being promoted to Energy Ministry permanent secretary in October this year, he was the director-general of the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency since 2020.