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Published on March 5, 2008

Among them, Aditheb Bisalbutr, president and chief executive of PTT Chemical will retire next year, followed by group chief financial officer Pichai Chunhavajira, group chief operating officer Chitrapongse Kwangsukstith, and Thai Oil's managing director Viroj Mavichak in the next two years.

Prasert and another group chief operating officer, Prajya Phinyawat, are due to retire in 2011.

Four to five years from now, none of the current management team will remain.

Prasert said the the next chief executive's job will be "complicated" and demanding.

Prasert said that while in a private company, external parties do not interfere once the board has made a decision, top management is nevertheless accountable to the board and the company's shareholders. Indirectly, politicians, the media, academics, NGOs and many others can impact decisions.

"The chief executive has to remind himself all the time of how to make the organisation efficient and successful. But that's still not enough: He must also be recognised in corporate governance and as a good citizen who pays attention to what matters to society, such as the environment," Prasert said.

He said the recent restructuring has not only been done to manage the growth of the business but also to prepare for the transition to the next generation of executives.

"One of my duties in my second term is to build the new team. The current management team has built and grown this organisation since the initial years," he said.

Prasert said he is rotating executives within the group from the top to the department-head level.

Since PTT Group has integrated production, executives must be well-versed with the various businesses of the group.