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Published on November 14, 2007

But speculation is running wild that Chulakorn Singhakowin is now the front runner for the job, because of his close connections with the Dutch bank. Chulakorn, currently a director of TMB Bank, had reportedly suggested the ING Group acquire a stake in the bank.

Chulakorn's friends refused to confirm the news yesterday after Matichon newspaper ran his mugshot in its "Man in the News" column on the political page, speculating on his ascendancy to the top at TMB Bank. The troubled bank suffered a net loss of Bt20.69 billion in the first nine months of the year.

TMB Bank, formally known as Thai Military Bank, was the brainchild of Field Marshall Sarit Thanarat.

The bank's official website says it was established to pool all of the widely dispersed military funds outside of the country's budget, as well as provide the added benefit of financial services to military personnel and their families.

Although it has come a long way from its beginnings, TMB Bank has failed to put in a satisfactory performance in recent years.

A former Bank of Asia chief, Chulakorn may be the kind of the professional banker TMB needs to make a turnaround.

However, Chulakorn's people may not want to speculate on his nomination, especially after Chulakorn earlier this year narrowly lost in his bid to head Siam City Bank.

Now that he is likely to get full support from TMB Bank's new investors, we just hope he will not be disappointed this second time around.

... and a second monk

National Telecommuni-cations commission member Prasit Prapinmongkolkarn will enter the monkhood for the first time in his life.

Although he said he had planned to ordain many times before, he never fulfilled his ambition. But this year, he thinks the timing is right.

Prasit yesterday announced he would become a monk from December 2-16 as a tribute to His Majesty the King. He will spend his first five days at Wat Aom Noi and then go on a pilgrimage in Kanchanaburi for the rest of his monkhood.

After we reported yesterday that former iTV chief Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan also entered the monkhood, executives these days have apparently found the monastery to be

a good way to calm their minds.

busdsk@nationgroup.com

The Nation