FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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ThaiHealth unveils 7 new board members after marathon meeting

ThaiHealth unveils 7 new board members after marathon meeting

THE THAI Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) yesterday unveiled the individuals who will be the seven new faces on its board.

“We will ask the Cabinet to officially appoint them,” Deputy Prime Minister ADM Narong Pipatanasai said in his capacity as the chair of the ThaiHealth board. 
He gave an interview after an hours-long board meeting, during which existing board members participated in a secret vote to select the newcomers.
The new board members were selected from 14 finalists, who a selection committee had short-listed from 124 candidates. 
Narong revealed that Dr Weraphan Suphanchaimat, a former vice minister of public health, had emerged with a senior role.
“He has also got the post of the board’s deputy chair,” he said.
Narong said the six other successful candidates were: Dr Kumnuan Ungchusak, an adviser to the Disease Control Department; Suwannee Khamman, a deputy secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board; Wichet Pichairat, a board member of the Education Council; Assoc Prof Dr Panya Khaimuk, a lecturer at Mahidol University; Sanphasit Koompraphant, a member of the National Committee on Child Protection; and HGST Thailand’s vice president Sampan Silapanad.
The seven newcomers will be the successors of seven prominent figures who Prime Minister and National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) chief General Prayut Chan-o-cha abruptly removed from the board last month. 
Some of those removed were: Dr Vichai Chokevivat, a former chairman of the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO), Somporn Chaibangyang, a former deputy permanent secretary for Interior, and Assoc Prof Prapapat Niyom, founder of the Roong Aroon School.
These figures were removed most likely because they had also held executive posts in other organisations or foundations, some of which directly received funding from ThaiHealth. 
ThaiHealth has had an annual budget of over Bt4 billion.
Narong said yesterday the seven newcomers for the ThaiHealth board did not hold any posts in any other organisations that could be seen as having a conflict of interest. 
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