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Published on December 29, 2007

Charas Suwanwela, Chulalongkorn University Council president, said a selection committee had unanimously elected Phirom, the sole candidate, with a 22-0 vote.

He said Phirom, a former dean of the Faculty of Medicine, is capable of handling the university's affairs when it becomes independent of bureaucratic supervision following the promulgation of a law earlier this month.

Phirom's four-year term officially begins on April 1, a day after incumbent rector Prof Khunying Suchada Keeranant retires.

Phirom said earlier that real estate and properties worth billions of baht belonging to Chulalongkorn University would be handled in a transparent manner, although outside inspection into its management of the assets was impossible now that it had become independent.

A group of academics and activists, including two Chulalong-korn University lecturers, opposed to state universities becoming independent, had earlier submitted a petition to the Parliament's Ombudsman Office.

They said Article 16 in the law was unconstitutional because it prohibited individuals from lodging lawsuits against the university relating to conflict of interest over its assets.

The Nation