He will be dispatched with eight months of severance pay at his Bt450,000-per-month salary.

Teerawit said yesterday that he needed time to consider whether he would file a lawsuit against the board for its decision, adding that he would go to the office as usual.

A TOT source said the board informed the state-run company's executives that Teerawit no longer had authority to sign any documents and that two directors, Khemchai Chutiwongse and Gritsanaruck Theeraraj, had been given joint authority to sign documents in his stead.

The board chairman, Sathit Limpongpan, called an urgent meeting of directors yesterday morning and notified executives of the decision to sack Teerawit in the afternoon.

When he met the media yesterday, Sathit declined to announce Teerawit's dismissal, saying it would be officially announced on April 18.

The board convened to evaluate Teerawit's performance on Friday and there were reports later that he would be sacked for poor performance.

Teerawit has reportedly been in conflict with members of TOT's board for several months, and particularly with Sathit. TOT Plc's union responded to the news yesterday by announcing that if the board sacked Teerawit, it had to come up with a clear explanation. Moreover, the director appointed as acting president would have to commit to the same goals as those in Teerawit's job contract. The union said the board also had to start a selection process for a new president within three months of Teerawit's removal.

"If the board cannot meet all the requests, its members should resign en masse to show responsibility and their resignation should take effect on the same day as Teerawit's [dismissal takes effect]," the union said.

Teerawit took the helm at TOT in January 2005 after leaving his post as chief finance officer at MCOT.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation