Information and Communications Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said yesterday that General Saprang Kalayanamitr, assistant Army chief, had been made chairman of TOT's board, while Air Chief Marshal Sommai Dabphet, Air Force chief of staff, is tipped to be chairman of CAT Telecom's board. Lt-General Somchai Malanet, director of the Army Signal Department, was named chairman of Thailand Post's board.

The ministry owns 100 per cent of the three agencies, while the ICT minister oversees them.

Sitthichai said the directors of the three state agencies would be officially announced on Friday.

He added that former TOT chairman Sathit Limpongpan had been nominated as a director of CAT's board as representative of the Finance Ministry, while Somchai Thean-anat, a former acting president of TOT, was also nominated as TOT director.

A telecom industry observer said the three state agencies had gone back to the old days when TOT and CAT were under the chairmanship of the Army and Air Force, respectively.

The appointment of the new board directors followed the resignation of Kraisorn Pornsutee, the ICT Ministry's permanent secretary, from his posts as CAT board chairman and TOT board director last month. Shortly afterwards, the boards of TOT, CAT Telecom and Thailand Post all resigned.