Why Kritsada Jinavijarana resigned as Deputy Finance Minister
In a surprising development after the recent cabinet reshuffle, Deputy Finance Minister Kritsada Jinavijarana on Wednesday tendered his resignation from the Cabinet, although he has been asked to reconsider his decision by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
The reshuffle saw Srettha passing the finance portfolio, which he had previously held, to Pichai Chunhavajira, ex-chairman of the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s board of directors. Pichai also doubles as a deputy prime minister.
Political analysts believe the reason behind Kritsada’s resignation is a lack of satisfaction with the lower level of responsibilities assigned to him after the division of duties under the reshuffled cabinet.
So who is Kritsada and what are the possible reasons behind his decision to quit?
Born on April 20, 1963, Kritsada, whose nickname is “Tu”, graduated with a Law degree from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and later obtained his Masters in Business Administration from the University of New Haven, United States.
After returning to Thailand in 2009, he worked in the Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Policy Office as deputy director general, and was promoted to financial policy advisor in 2012, then to executive director in 2014.
In 2017, he was appointed the director-general of the Excise Department and became the director-general of the Customs Department the following year.
He served as the Finance Ministry’s Permanent Secretary from 2020 until September 1, 2023, when he resigned to assume the position of Deputy Finance Minister in Srettha’s first cabinet.
In addition to Kritsada, the Ministry of Finance has two other deputy ministers – Julapun Amornvivat and Phaophum Rojanasakul – both affiliated with the Pheu Thai Party.
A news source said that after the reshuffle was announced on April 28, Julapun was given the responsibility for supervising the Customs, Excise, and Revenue departments, as well as the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, the Liquor Distillery Organisation, the Playing Card Factory, and the Student Loan Fund.
Meanwhile, Phaophum was tasked with supervising the Fiscal Policy Office, the State Enterprise Policy Office, the Treasury Department, EXIM Bank, the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation, and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand.
This left Kritsada with the supervision of the Public Debt Management Office, the Tobacco Authority of Thailand, the Deposit Protection Agency, the Office of Insurance Commission, and the Neighbouring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency.
Supervision of the Comptroller General's Department, Government Lottery Office, Krung Thai Bank, the Government Savings Bank, the Government Housing Bank, and the Islamic Bank of Thailand is to be handled by Finance Minister Pichai.
