Shin Corp vice chairman Olarn Chaipravat has resigned, fuelling rumours he is preparing to become the new finance minister.

His resignation became effective on April 4, Shin Corp said in a statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday. Olarn was the chairman of Shin's audit committee.

Shin chief executive Boonklee Plangsiri is currently on an overseas trip and other directors of Shin were not available for comment on his resignation yesterday.

But a source on Shin's board of directors last week said Olarn might have been approached to join the next cabinet.

"The resignation could be part of his preparation," the source said.

It is widely believed that caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak will become the next prime minister. Somkid has a very high opinion of Olarn's economic views, which have been used as an alternative to act as a check on forecasts by the Bank of Thailand and the National Economic and Social Development Board.

In 2001 Somkid nominated Olarn for the post of Bank of Thailand governor, but MR Pridiyathorn Devakula eventually won the position.

Olarn obtained an economics degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as president of Siam Commercial Bank for years, before joining Shin's board.

His resignation comes amid increased public concern over conflicts of interest.

Olarn has featured prominently in the debate about conflicts of interest since the Supreme Adminis-trative Court resolved on March 23 that Olarn was a connected person who could benefit from the privatisation of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat).

In fact, Olarn's involvement was one of the reasons the court nullified two decrees that would have cleared the way for Egat's transformation into a public company.

Olarn has featured on the boards of a number of state-controlled companies.

He is currently PTT Plc's audit committee chairman. Olarn's directorship at PTT was cited as a reason by the Federa-tion of Consu-mer Organi-sations that the privatisation of the former Petroleum Authority of Thailand should be nullified.

Until recently, Olarn also served as a director of Thai Airways International Plc (THAI).

Olarn's resignation from Shin, announced yesterday, was submitted on the same day that he resigned as a director of THAI, together with Vichit Surapongchai. Both were working concurrently for Shin and the national airline - a fact the THAI labour union argued rendered them unfit to serve THAI, given that Shin is a major shareholder in Thai AirAsia Co Ltd, a rival airline.

"This must be a result of the pressure which forced him to resign from THAI. But even if he also resigns from PTT, our petition will remain valid. We are suing them over errors that have been committed," said Rosana Tositrakul, the Federation of Consumer Organisations' chairwoman. She insisted the petition would be filed this month.

Vichit was appointed a director at Shin in February, after the telecom holding company underwent a major shareholding restructure. Vichit was then named one of three directors representing the new owners, led by Singapore's Temasek Holdings, along with Pong Sarasin and S Iswaran.