STREET WISE
Fourth time lucky for new TOT chief
Somkual Bruminhent, the newly elected president of TOT, is walking on the moon these days since being named the head of the agency at which he's been working for 38 years.
It was fourth time lucky for the 59-year-old, whose ultimate dream has been to preside over the organisation where he has been working for almost four decades. But the success didn't come easy, especially for a man who was voted down due to his difficult personality, so they said. Some TOT staff who are not big fans of Somkual say he's self-centred and tends to "go solo", even though they never question his capability. However, he eventually won the post on Friday, after applying four times over the years. Several years back, he applied for the top job at TOT for the first time. But the board didn't vote for him. When he applied for the second time, he had the top score but the TOT board didn't give him their blessing. Some said some old board members couldn't connect with Somkual, who later filed the case to the Administrative Court, claiming he had been unfairly treated. The case is still pending. The third time saw Teerawit Charuwat named TOT president. However, Teerawit was removed from office in May, leaving the field open for a new contest. Somkual never gave up. No offence to him, but he was not considered a front-runner because he's not a popular guy. When the final round boiled down to three candidates - Somkual, Wichien Naksrinual and Chatri Sahavejjabhand, all senior TOT officials - insiders had expected the winner to be Chatri or Wichien. On judgement day, TOT broadcast the score-count live at several places inside its headquarters for staff to monitor with suspense. The board gave the scores for the three candidates after they let each of them express their vision for 20 minutes. Crowds of TOT employees gathered in the canteen, and they cheered and jeered when their favourites led or fell behind in the race. The scores fluctuated, but it eventually became clear who was the winner. The final result showed Somkual got a score of 13 score, Chatri, 10 and Wichien, 9. The crowd reacted in stunned silence. Somkual later boasted to the press that he would become one of the best TOT presidents ever. "I will turn around the organisation until the persons who took the early-retirement programme and quit TOT have regrets and want to come back," he said with a beaming smile.
Busdsk@nationgroup.com
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