"That's the reason why I've no full management authority," he said yesterday.

He questioned if anyone would dare to contend for his post after his exit since the

new president would find himself or herself in the same situation.

"I'm sure many people are much more capable than me, but who would want the president's job when they have to say yes all the time just to survive?" he asked.

He said that if half of the TOT employees signed up to support him, he would run for the post again.

The TOT's board last week asked the Information and Communications Technology Ministry to appoint a panel to select a committee to pick a president. The board decided late this month to fire Teerawit, citing his failure to

achieve the TOT's revenue target, to list the agency on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and to launch 3G technology.

Teerawit will leave on May 12 after filling the post since January 1, 2005.

Teerawit said the decline of TOT revenue last year was due to extra expenses, including the regulatory fee and asset depreciation worth Bt5.527 billion.

He added that TOT had posted a higher net profit of Bt3.148 billion in the first quarter this year than the Bt2.661 billion over the same period last year.

TOT board member Air Marshal Somchai Thean-anant denied that the board interfered in management's work and blamed management for failing to show progress in many assignments.

He added that Teerawit had failed to achieve his commitment to give TOT telecom-service revenue of Bt57 billion last year.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation