Apinan back in the pilot's seat

Chaisawat Kittipornpai-boon, permanent secretary for transport and THAI chairman, said the reinstatement would lessen the internal conflict within the national flag carrier.

However, Rachanee Tripipatkul, a board member, tendered her resignation yesterday in protest at the change.

Supporters of Apinan also protested against the board's Thursday decision, reportedly backed by Transport Minister Santi Prompat.

Sources close to the minister and former transport minister Pongsak Ratapongpaisarn said the board wanted to name a new president because of Apinan's mismanagement. In addition, he was alleged to have failed to comply with the transport minister's requests about unspecified projects concerning the national flag carrier.

"Over the past four months, Santi could not do anything about the airline. He's upset - so was former transport minister Pongsak," said an adviser, who asked not to be named.

The airline's board on Thursday demoted Apinan to the post of co-president, while naming executive vice president Norahat Phloiyai as another co-president, in charge of the airline's top management.

Porpong Sanpakit, a vice president, said staff who supported Norahat as the new chief executive would continue to press for the top-level change, even though Apinan was already reinstated. "If the chairman and the minister cannot do that, we will ask the prime minister to intervene," he said.

THAI staff are apparently split into two camps: one supporting the board's reinstatement of Apinan, the other wanting Norahat as president.

Under Thursday decision, Apinan would have been stripped of management power, even though he would have remained a co-president. Based on that same decision, Norahat, also a co-president, would take over the top management.

THAI labour-union leader, Chamsri Sukchotrat, said the union had opposed Norahat as heis closely connected to former PM Thaksin Shinwatra.