Anutin seeks royal removal of Sarana as NBTC chairman
PM Anutin has signed a submission seeking a royal command to remove Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck as NBTC chairman and commissioner
- Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has signed a submission seeking a royal command to remove Dr Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck from his posts as NBTC chairman and commissioner.
- The move follows a ruling by the NBTC selection committee that Sarana was disqualified because he held another position that overlapped with his role when he took office.
- Anutin said the process was being carried out in accordance with the law and required procedures. Sarana’s status had previously become the subject of a dispute that caused four NBTC board meetings to collapse.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has signed a submission seeking a royal command to remove Clinical Professor Dr Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck from his positions as chairman and commissioner of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
The move on Tuesday (August 11) follows the Central Administrative Court’s decision not to accept Sarana’s lawsuit seeking the revocation of a ruling by the NBTC selection committee, allowing the executive process concerning his position to proceed.
The selection committee had voted unanimously 4-0 on July 17 that Sarana had prohibited characteristics under Section 8(2) of the Frequency Allocation Organisation Act B.E. 2553 (2010). It ruled that he was consequently deemed to have waived his right to assume office as an NBTC commissioner under Section 18 of the law.
Sarana challenged that decision before the Central Administrative Court. The court subsequently declined to accept the case for consideration and disposed of it. Reporting on the case confirmed that the dispute concerned his attempt to overturn the selection committee’s ruling on his legal qualifications.
Anutin said on August 11 that he had now signed the submission seeking a royal command for Sarana to leave both the chairmanship and his position as an NBTC commissioner, stressing that the process was being conducted within the legal framework.
Sarana’s removal is therefore being sought through the formal royal-command process rather than taking effect merely through the prime minister’s signature. Earlier reporting on the dispute also noted that his departure from office required the relevant formal process to be completed.
The latest step comes after weeks of uncertainty over Sarana’s position. Before the court ruling, the dispute over his legal status had repeatedly disrupted NBTC board meetings, with some commissioners unwilling to proceed while the issue remained unresolved.
Four consecutive board meetings have now failed amid disagreements over Sarana’s status, leaving the country’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulator struggling to proceed with its work.
