AIS CEO Somchai appointed chairman of PTT Oil and Retail
The chief executive officer of telecom giant Advanced Info Service (AIS), Somchai Lertsutiwong, has been appointed the chairman of PTT Oil and Retail Business (OR), the subsidiary of national oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc.
OR notified the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Tuesday of the board’s decision to appoint the new chairman.
The selection of the new chairman came after Auttapol Rerkpiboon, chief executive of PTT, retired on May 12.
Auttapol also resigned from the post of OR board chairman, as well as every board in the PTT group.
Somchai was an independent director and a member of OR's good corporate governance and sustainability committee before being nominated as chairman.
He has served as CEO of AIS since 2014. During his tenure at the helm, AIS successfully bid for mobile frequency waves from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), acquiring a total of 1,420 megahertz.
The most expensive frequency it obtained was the 900-megahertz band, at 75.654 billion baht.
Throughout his more than three decades at AIS, Somchai has helped navigate the telecom giant through crises during the transition from concession to licensing.
He also helped secure additional frequency waves during the February 2020 auction of the 5G network, enhancing AIS's competitive position by overcoming limitations on frequency bandwidth.
As CEO, Somchai has led AIS to maintain its position as the No. 1 in market share with 45 million subscribers.
The 62-year-old CEO made national headlines in March when he announced his marriage to 31-year-old Kuntita “Pear” Chartsomboonchai, one of the 10 brand representatives under the AIS Smart Gen 2018 project.
Somchai graduated from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok with a bachelor's degree in commerce and accountancy and a master’s degree in marketing.
