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Published on January 17, 2008

"If I simply tendered my resignation, the public could be convinced that I would return.

"Therefore, I opted for the early retirement programme to indicate that I would not come back," he said, while meeting Nation Group editors yesterday.

While saying it would be the last day he would be seen on The Nation's premises, Thepchai said he got the urge to join TPBS because he felt there was a lot to do with public TV.

A person close to Thepchai said that through early retirement, Thepchai had bid his last goodbye to the Nation Group.

Although his term at the TPBS could end within six months, Thepchai could apply to be president at TPBS or find something else to do, he said.

Thepchai's appointment as one of the five-member interim board to operate TPBS raised criticism that Nation Multimedia Group could benefit from the transformation of TITV into a public TV channel.

It was reported there was a lengthy discussion on his credentials at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

To guarantee true independence of the station from influence by any group, all members were required to represent no interest groups.

Apichart Thongyou was another target of criticism. The independent academic said yesterday he could defend his independence from political pressure to the Cabinet.

Apichart was a party-list candidate for Thai Motherland Party. He said his name appeared on the list due to his experience in rural development and the party wanted him to draft environment policies. Earlier, he was also asked by the Mahachon Party to draft new policies and to be the party's spokesman.

"Once I got involved in politics, I knew it was worse than I expected. I retired from politics in 2005 and have joined a non-profit environment foundation," he said.

On his new job, Apichart said it should not be difficult to make it a true public TV station, although this was a new concept in Thai society.

He also insisted that with the permanent board, political interference should be nil, as the board consisted of 15 people from various fields.

The Nation