Though she signed up as the new governor on January 11, Pornsiri remains working in her old office on the 16th floor of the TAT building on Phetburi Road. Upon her appointment, her office should have been moved to the top 18th floor, where the official governor's office is located. But the office isn't yet available.

Still, Pornsiri is pleased with her old office. It's cool. The room is spacious enough for a big desk, a comfortable chair, sofas and a rectangular glass-top table fitting six people.

Beyond the wall-to-ceiling glass wall is a space big enough for the healthy growth of small trees and bamboo brought in by Pornsiri herself, rendering a sense of nurturing greenness and blocking her office from the gaze of outsiders.

Besides, seeing the urgent need to implement TAT policies to lure back tourists following recent setbacks like the coup and the Bangkok bombings, Pornsiri believes that moving elsewhere would only delay her work.

Last but not least, Pornsiri, who has served the TAT for over 30 years and snatched the governorship in the face of cut-throat competition, believes that the feng shui of her current office is supporting her.

It should be. Or else she would not have been appointed as governor of an agency which deals with an industry that generates 10 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.

achara_d@nationgroup.com