Unusually low profile, she explained at length about the central bank's decision to impose capital controls and why it was slow in cutting interest rates.

The interview marks a new strategy from the first female central-bank governor, who has been criticised for failing to communicate with the market. Even on the "judgement day" of last December 19, Tarisa was criticised for fading into oblivion. Former deputy prime minister and finance minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula was quick to defend the controversial decision on her behalf.

Now that Pridiyathorn is gone, Tarisa is said to be in the "hot seat", because she was hand-picked by Pridiyathorn to sit at the helm of the BOT. And in fact, she was also responsible for some of the criticism against Pridiyathorn, especially her capital-control measure to halt the rise of the baht. But Tarisa insisted the measure was necessary to stabilise the baht, stressing the BOT's sanctified mission of stabilising the economy.

On interest-rate cuts, Tarisa said she preferred cautious steps.

"The decision will be made anew every six weeks. It's not a long time to wait," she said.

What Tarisa told the television audience might not reflect a big shift in her thoughts, but her style is different. With her new hairstyle and bright blue silk dress, Tarisa looked more confident and ready to confront her critics.

"I'm glad that you ask this question, so I can clear up the issue," she said to

her hosts several times during the interview.

Tarisa portrayed herself as an inde-

pendent governor. She said independence had been sacred to her throughout her 32 years at the BOT.

"I recall when the military people came with guns to the central bank to draw Bt60 million, and former governor Dr Puay Ungpakorn refused to succumb to their demand. See, even under the gun, the Bank of Thailand was still independent."

She also wanted to show she could work with anyone, against speculation that she had come this far only because of support from Pridiyathorn.

"I have had a good relationship with all central bankers, both Mom Aui and Mom Tao," she said, referring Sonakul to MR Pridiyathorn and MR Chatu Mongol Sonakul, respectively, the latter of whom is a candidate to become the new finance minister.

Nonetheless, the question of independence is not the issue for Tarisa. She faced strong criticism from the market for introducing an unremunerated reserve requirement two and a half months ago. Tarisa has tried hard to fine-tune the measure, in order to comply with practical requests from the market. The market may, more or less, understand the central bank's intention, but the measures did not help facilitate foreign investment.

Over these couple of months, Tarisa has spent time at many educational institutions and foreign-business forums explaining the withholding reserve, insisting that the measure is necessary to curb rapid growth of the appreciating baht. At the same time, in formal and informal settings, she has acknowledged what the market thought about the impact of the measure and considered any requests for exemptions, leading to the granting of several of them.

Also since last December 19, Tarisa, known as a soft-spoken and low profile technocrat, has become guest speaker at several seminars, addressing audiences numbering in the thousands. These include at Chulalongkorn University's Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration, Thammasat University's Faculty of Economics, the Thailand Securities Depository, property developers, Indian businessmen, European heads of mission and the Foreign Banks' Association.

Tarisa has also held several private discussions with parties who have been adversely affected by the measure, such as foreign investors, fund managers and Thai borrowers like PTT.

The central banker's new approach marks a shift in strategy to make the BOT better connected to investors. Although Tarisa stressed that the sacred mission of the central bank was stability, she felt the need to communicate more with the market.

Academics and economists who believe in market mechanisms have criticised the BOT decision to impose the 30-per-cent capital control. Thai debtors complained about the impact on foreign borrowings created by the measure because they could spend only 70 per cent of the total for investment but had to pay interest calculated on the entire loan.

Tarisa still insists on the necessary of the withholding reserve during every public forum, but her tone has recently changed.

In several of her speeches to conferences, she has tried to restore confidence by saying the measure will be maintained only temporarily.

The central bank has called for meetings with custodians and fund managers, to brainstorm on how the measure could facilitate foreign investment without creating loopholes for baht speculation.

Eventually, the central bank did relax capital controls substantially.

Although Tarisa may prove she was trying to listen to outsiders, she still faces a difficult task supervising the Kingdom's monetary policy against the backdrop of the turbulent political situation at home.

Anoma Srisukkasem

The Nation