ITD can’t be blacklisted for actions of an exec: Wissanu
It is too early for the government to consider blacklisting Italian-Thai Development (ITD) from acquiring state concessions following the arrest of its president for alleged poaching, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said on Thursday.
The wrongdoing is personal and not the firm’s, he said.
“You cannot charge the whole company, which has several shareholders, unless it [the guilt] is related to others [in the company],” Wissanu said.
Premchai Karnasuta, president of ITD, has been charged with poaching after being arrested at the World Heritage Thung Yai Naresuan Sanctuary in Kanchanaburi province on Sunday. Guns and ammunition as well as carcasses of protected wild animals were found at his camping site.
However, Wissanu said it’s possible that ITD could reshuffle its executives, but he agreed to probe the corporate governance of the firm.
The high-flying Premchai is one of Thailand’s most powerful businessmen, having helmed the construction giant’s operations in the Kingdom and the Asean region.
ITD, one of the country’s biggest construction firms, is the builder of many well-known infrastructure projects, including Suvarnabhumi Airport, the BTS Skytrain system, and multiple expressway and highway projects across the country.
In 2017 alone, ITD won several mega-infrastructure projects worth a combined Bt130 billion, including the Bt35-billion Mae Moh power plant project.
