Zookeepers rally to oust national chief

Wearing black T-shirts, 300 zookeepers from seven state-run zoos nationwide – Ubon Ratchatani, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Songkhla and Dusit – marched around the grounds of Dusit Zoo.
They called on the Zoological Park Organisation’s executive board to sack director-general Sanchai Jullamon over what they described as his inability to efficiently manage the organisation, which has more than 1,500 employees.
Protesters waved banners and shouted “Sanchai get out!”
“We give the executive board 24 hours to issue an order to oust Sanchai,” said Boripat Siri-aroonrat, an assistant director of the Bureau of Conservation Research and Education, who led the protesters.
He said this was the first time in the 75-year-history of the Zoological Park Organisation that zookeepers from across the country had stood up to oust their chief.
Boripat said Sanchai, a former head of the legal execution division of TMB Bank, was only able to apply for and be selected as the director-general of the Zoological Park Organisation because the current executive board had revised the qualifications for the position.
Under previous qualification standards, the applicant needed be an organisation deputy director or vice president at minimum; now the applicant must have worked as a government official, state enterprise official or manager.
During the 14 months since Sanchai was named chief of the organisation, Boripat said the investment budget to build infrastructure and support research had regularly been delayed by Sanchai.
Moreover, last year, Sanchai did not give the green light for a research team to perform artificial insemination on a female giant panda, Lin Hui. Sanchai reportedly worried there was no official letter from panda experts in China permitting the Thai researchers to proceed. But after Boripat sent an e-mail to the Chinese Embassy asking for approval, the embassy replied the research team did not need approval from its panda experts to undertake artificial insemination.
“Because of Sanchai’s decision, we missed a precious opportunity to make the giant panda pregnant,” he said.
Boripat said if the executive board members did not respond to the zookeepers’ demands, thousands of signatures would be collected and another demonstration organised.
Meanwhile, Sanchai refused to step down, saying that the procedure to select him as director-general complied with regulations designated by the executive board.
He said he had been able to increase the Zoological Park Organisation’s profit to 12 per cent of annual revenue during his term.
He also supported the development of zoological research and received an award from an international institute based in Switzerland. “I have the right to hold this position. I will only quit if I want to,” he said.
The Zoological Park Organisation generates about Bt600 million a year in revenue. Of this amount, about Bt300 million to Bt400 million is derived from admission fees. The government allocates about Bt900 million for zoo investments.